5 things you should know about the Rowland murder trial on the last day of testimony

After five days of collecting testimony, the prosecutions announced it was finished detailing their case against Nathaniel Rowland, a 27-year-old Columbia man accused of killing University of South Carolina senior Samantha Josephson.

Rowland is accused of abducting and murdering Josephson after she mistook his car for an Uber while partying with friends in Five Points, a Columbia entertainment district frequented by USC students.

To read live updates from the day, read our story here.

Here are five things that happened Monday:

The state rests its case

The biggest moment Monday was when prosecutors announced they had finished presenting their evidence against Rowland. The announcement came at about 2:40 p.m., after five days of taking testimony.

The defense was then free to begin presenting its case.

The defense quickly followed suit

Within minutes of the prosecution resting its case, Rowland’s defense team announced that they, too, were resting their case.

“That means we’ve heard all the evidence in this case,” Judge Clifton Newman said Monday afternoon.

Newman then adjourned court for the day, deciding that the prosecution and the defense will give their closing statements Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m.

‘This is the weapon,’ pathologist says

Dr. Thomas Beaver, a forensic pathologist with the Medical University of South Carolina, held the multi-tool that the prosecution believes is the murder weapon and told the jury Monday morning that “this is the weapon.”

The multi-tool was found by investigators in Rowland’s ex-girlfriend’s trash can.

Beaver testified earlier in the morning that he found a number of parallel stab wounds on Josephson’s body as he was performing the autopsy. He said those wounds were “unique.”

“It’s very difficult to put wounds exactly spaced apart and exactly parallel. It made me think that we were dealing with an odd weapon that could be easily identified,” Beaver said.

Defense questions bruises on knuckles

During her cross examination of Beaver, public defender Alicia Goode focused on the wounds on Josephson’s hands, specifically some discoloration on her knuckles.

Goode asked whether the wounds could be offensive wounds. Beaver said the wounds could be indicative of a blow, like she hit something or something hit her.

This was significant because earlier in the trial, the defense pointed out that Rowland had no bruising or injuries to his body. If the victim of a crime fights back, they may leave wounds on the perpetrator’s body.

Beaver stressed that he didn’t know how Josephson got the wounds. He pointed out that the wounds were on the knuckles someone would use to knock on a door, not the knuckles someone would typically use to punch something.

Video shows Josephson’s kidnapping

Justin Martin, a video analyst with the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, showed the jury dozens of video clips tracking the movements of the black Impala down Devine Street and through Five Points during the early morning hours that Josephson was kidnapped.

Prosecutors say the Impala belongs to Rowland.

In the videos, the Impala goes down Devine Street, enters Five Points and circles the neighborhood for about 20 minutes. At one point, the Impala parks momentarily in the parking lot next to Natural Vibrations. On a nearby sidewalk, Josephson waits with her phone in hand, the video showed.

A silver car stopped in front of where Josephson was standing. She approached it, but it drove away, the video showed. The Impala then pulled out of the parking lot and parked in a handicap parking space near where Josephson was standing, and Josephson got into the car.

That video was the last footage Martin could find showing Josephson, he testified.

This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 4:16 PM with the headline "5 things you should know about the Rowland murder trial on the last day of testimony."

Emily Bohatch

The State

803-771-8664

Emily Bohatch helps cover South Carolina’s government for The State. She also updates The State’s databases. Her accomplishments include winning multiple awards for her coverage of state government and of South Carolina’s prison system. She has a degree in Journalism from Ohio University’s E. W. Scripps School of Journalism. Support my work with a digital subscription