Missing rifle Alex Murdaugh bought for his son Paul could be MURDER WEAPON trends now

A missing rifle Alex Murdaugh bought for his son Paul could be the murder weapon as an expert told jurors that markings on ammo used to kill Maggie are identical to those on other shells found at the family's hunting lodge.

Paul Greer, a weapons expert for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), told jurors Friday that .300 Blackout casings discovered near Maggie's body were fired by the same weapon as shells found outside the gunroom at the house, in a field and at the shooting range.

Prosecutors say Murdaugh killed Paul, 22, and Maggie, 52, at the kennels of the family's estate in South Carolina's Lowcountry on the night of June 7, 2021.

Paul was shot twice with a shotgun, while Maggie was shot five times with an assault rifle loaded with .300 Blackout. 

Neither murder weapon has ever been identified. However, jurors have heard about two .300 Blackout rifles owned by the Murdaughs that are unaccounted for.

Greer said the shells found around Maggie and elsewhere on the estate had been 'loaded into, extracted and ejected from the same firearm at some previous time.' 

The defense attacked Greer's evidence, arguing it was impossible to know if the casings had been shot from the same weapon without ever having recovered it. 

Defense attorney Jim Griffin asserted that two different .300 Blackout rifles could leave the same markings on a shell casing.

Griffin grilled Greer on whether every single Blackout rifle in the world leaves its own signature tool mark on the shell casing it ejects. 

The weapons expert did not answer directly, saying: 'It's hard to say.' When pressed for an answer he said he could not give a yes or no because he had not seen every .300 Blackout in the world.

He also admitted that firing pin marks on the shells were inconclusive, but breech, extractor and ejector marks all matched. 

The expert also testified about the two shotgun shells recovered from the feed room where Paul was killed. He said these were fired from the same shotgun.

Murdaugh was holding a Benelli 12 gauge shotgun when cops arrived on the night of the murders - he said to protect himself in case the shooters were still nearby.

Greer said the shells loaded into that weapon were consistent 'in construction and head stamp information' with the spent shells found near Paul.

But Greer's findings were inconclusive as to whether this gun or another similar weapon fired the shells.

Jurors heard earlier this week that Murdaugh bought two .300 Blackout rifles as Christmas presents for his two sons Buster and Paul in 2016. Paul lost his gun and a replacement rifle, a third .300 Blackout, was bought in April 2018.

Murdaugh's firearms dealer cousin John Bedingfield said Murdaugh paid $9,188 for the two original .300 Blackout rifles. They were each equipped with a thermal scope and a suppressor.

The replacement rifle bought two years later cost set him back $875, because it was not equipped with the same attachments.

It was Paul's mother Maggie who picked up the guns when they were ready.