Alex Murdaugh’s defense is set to call three final witnesses before resting their case TODAY

Alex Murdaugh’s defense says selfie-taking mobs are raiding the alleged double murderer’s property to take pictures where his wife and son were killed.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian asked the judge this morning to allow jurors to visit the kennels where Maggie and Paul were shot to death to give them a better “spatial” understanding of the crime scene.

But Harpootlian warned the judge that police must close the road and secure the gates beforehand to prevent the jury from being swayed by the “carnival atmosphere” true crime fanatics have brought to the property in Moselle, South Carolina. South.

Harpootlian said Alex’s brother, John Marvin Murdaugh, was forced to call the sheriff last weekend because “literally dozens” of intruders were taking photos in the kennels’ feeding room where Paul was shot twice with a shotgun. .

Judge Clifton Newman said a visit to the estate could be arranged, overturning the prosecution’s objection. He assured Harpootlian that the scene would be secured.

The request comes as the defense is set to call three final witnesses before resting their case later today.

The defense first called Dr. Jonathan Eisenstat, a pathologist and former chief medical examiner for the Georgia Office of Investigation.

Harpootlian began by asking how much he had been paid, preempting the constant questioning of defense experts by prosecutors.

He told the jury that he had already received $3,000 to review the evidence and that he would be paid another $5,500 to testify today.

During his testimony, he called one of Maggie’s injuries “beautiful” before quickly withdrawing the inappropriate comment and apologizing in court.

Eisenstat said what he meant was that it was a ‘textbook’ bullet hole.

He disputed several of the findings of state pathologist Dr. Ellen Riemer, including the direction of the shots.

Eisenstat agreed with Riemer about the direction of the first shot to Paul’s chest, but disagreed with her finding out that he was shot in the front of the head.

The pathologist said the shotgun would have been pressed directly against the top of the back of Paul’s head.

Murdaugh cried during testimony and a piece of cardboard was placed on the television screen in front of him so that he would not have to see any graphic images.

Regarding Maggie’s five gunshot wounds, Eisenstat said he agreed with Riemer on the directions of the shots that hit him in the torso, wrist, and back of the head.

But he believed that the first fatal shot, which Riemer claimed went through her left breast and into her brain, was actually fired from the opposite direction.

He said he believes Maggie bent on all fours towards the shooter, while Riemer said the killer would have been behind her.

Murdaugh took the witness stand last Thursday in the latest dramatic twist in the saga to admit that he lied to police about his alibi the night his wife and son were killed.

But the disgraced legal scion, 54, said he was telling the truth when he claimed vigilantes killed Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, on the family property on the night of June 7, 2021.

Prosecutors have called 61 witnesses, compared to 11 for the defense. Murdaugh’s lawyers said they planned to cross-examine three additional witnesses before ending their case early Monday afternoon.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters said that he then planned to call “a couple” of response witnesses with the intention of rebutting the defense evidence, indicating that their testimony would not take long.

That will be followed by closing arguments and the judge will instruct the jury, which could happen on Tuesday or Wednesday, Murdaugh’s defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, said in court Friday. The judge did not set a strict schedule.

Murdaugh floated his own theory Friday about who killed his wife and son, testifying that someone was out for revenge after the fatal boating accident involving his youngest son, Paul.

At the time of Maggie and Paul’s deaths, Murdaugh was being sued for his son’s drunken swing that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

But prosecutors argue that it was the ruinous financial aspect of this case that helped drive the legal heir to commit murder.

In addition to the $30 million he stood to lose in the boat case, Murdaugh was faced on the day of the murders with more than $792,000 in “missing” fees from his company.

In the months after the murders, it would be discovered that he had stolen more than $10 million from his firm’s clients and partners over the past decade.

During cross-examination, Murdaugh admitted that he routinely lied to the victims of a horrific accident whom he was supposed to represent, as well as to his colleagues.

Prosecutor Waters tried to paint him as an unscrupulous liar who, when faced with calamity, would choose to act with violence in an attempt to cover up the litany of financial crimes.

Murdaugh admitted to lying to investigators after the murders by telling them that he was not at the pound on the night of the murders.

He changed his account after jurors viewed cellphone video containing audio of Murdaugh’s voice that placed him at the scene minutes before investigators said his wife and son were killed.

Waters asked: ‘And you want this jury to create a fabricated story to fit the evidence you presented yesterday after hearing all the testimony in this trial?’

Murdaugh replied, ‘No sir, that’s not correct.’

He said Paul had been threatened and attacked after the drunken boat capsizing in February 2019.

Murdaugh told the jury: “The social media response that emerged was vile. The things that were said about what they would do to PawPaw were exaggerated.

I believed then and I believe today that the wrong person saw and read that because I can tell you with certainty that the person or people who did what I saw on June 7th hated Paul Murdaugh and had anger in their hearts. .’

Murdaugh, a scion of an influential South Carolina legal family, was indicted by a grand jury in July and pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon.

The case has attracted intense media coverage given the political influence of the Murdaugh family in South Carolina.

Murdaugh’s only surviving son, Buster, 26, has been in court every day and testified last week. He was staying with his girlfriend near Charlotte at the time of the murders.

The disbarred attorney’s brothers, John Marvin and Randy, and his sister Lynn have also attended the Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro most days.