Case Study: South Carolina Law Enforcement Division solves the Murdaugh double homicide with Magnet Forensics

How SLED helped solve the Murdaugh double homicide with key digital evidence

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) faced the challenge of analyzing multiple digital devices from a high-profile double homicide, where less comprehensive data extraction methods risked missing critical evidence. To compile and correlate complex evidence from phones and other sources, SLED utilized Magnet Forensics' tools, including Magnet Graykey and Magnet Axiom.

Using Magnet Forensics' solutions, SLED obtained full file system extractions from mobile devices, which provided the most information possible, including deleted data. This process recovered a critical video from a victim's phone that placed the suspect at the crime scene, along with supporting metadata and vehicle data. The evidence was pivotal in securing a conviction, with Magnet Forensics enabling SLED to deliver comprehensive findings to investigators and present understandable digital evidence in court, leading to two consecutive life sentences for the perpetrator.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division

Britt Dove

Supervisory Agent