PAUL & MAGGIE MURDAUGH: South Carolina vs. Alex Murdaugh for Double Homicide of wife & son *GUILTY*

This case is being kept pretty quiet, no major details released to speak of (other than it does say there were two different guns used), but no info regarding who found them, who called 911, very little else.

Of interest, the grandfather died just a few days after these murders and it sounds as if he was ill from various articles so probably not unexpected. I think of the typical motives, did grandpa have a big estate? How big in the overall family of grandpa's on down? They sound like a pretty well known family and a powerful one in their state, more on that in the article.

Questions abound in SC Murdaugh killing. Among them: Should prosecutor step aside?

Several days after two members of a prominent Hampton County family were fatally shot, questions about what happened still vastly outnumber answers.

www.postandcourier.com

 

[Guess Who]

Why can't he sue them if he gets off? Media here always say "alleged murderer"or "accused".

They did not ever say that. They know they can't say that

 

[Guess Who]

Maybe you should stop watching it? I don't think I can watch anymore - I feel I wasted a day watching his testimony but I thought the same as Guess Who, that they don't seem to be pulling it together into any sort of motive. Perhaps they don't have a motive yet? Perhaps he didn't do it? I certainly am not convinced he did. If he did it, why didn't he stay longer at his mum's and let someone else discover them?

They have plenty of motive given. I just don't think they are doing a very good job of tying it together so they know the jury understands how intertwined everything is. Hopefully they do a better job in closing

 

[Guess Who]

Buster and Alex, I think. That's why Buster settled after the death of Paul, I imagine.

Alex is (was?) the owner of the boat and that is who gets sued for damages

 

[Guess Who]

Lying liars are not necessarily murderers though.

We have all seen how people kill those they claim they loved soooooo m much and lied about it. There is no good reason why he lied about not being there and wanted the housekeeper to lie for him and the calls deleted from his phone. You add that up plus the timing of being found out about the millions in theft and Paul's case Chip coming up in a few days and the roadside shooting and.... There is plenty enough evidence

 

[kdg411]

I think a better motive for killing Paul is that it saves the family a civil suit. With him dead, who are they going to sue?

Buster and Alex, I think. That's why Buster settled after the death of Paul, I imagine.

Where criminal charges ever brought against Paul and the Murdaughs regarding the boat accident?

A good argument for a motive is money and that's what the South Carolina Attorney's Office has been pursuing during this trial.

The criminal charges against Paul were immediately dismissed upon his death. The civil suit was ongoing as well and after the murders the Beach family had to sue Maggie's estate to recover damages. Since Alex is incarcerated all of Maggie's financial holdings were left to Buster.

 

[kdg411]

Two additional points from my notes today .. sorry they didn't get copied over before;
Alex doesn’t believe any of the ‘kids’ or their families that were in the boat wreck were responsible;
was asked if he knew what a family annihilator was, response .. he had no idea what that was

Watching this case is like watching a movie script being acted out in real time. Creighton Waters (lead prosecuting attorney) has spent a LOT of time on financial crimes however during his cross exam today it helped the jury (and me) see the family dynamic and who Alex was as a person, basically a liar to which Alex agreed with.

How someone goes from a drug addict going thru withdrawal two nights before the murders to actually killing them I don't know. It's a big leap and I'm not convinced by the evidence presented that the jury will be able to come to a unanimous verdict. MOO

 

[Tresir]

He says (take that for what it's worth) h he had a full bottle in his pocket the day he was sitting in the car with the investigators the day after it happened

Codeine is addictive so I am not surprised. I guess that is why we cannot buy more than 16 aspirin, codeine, paracetamol etc anymore from the chemist. In fact, maybe he even gets them on prescription now his addiction is common knowledge. Has his doctor given evidence at all?

 

[Tresir]

A good argument for a motive is money and that's what the South Carolina Attorney's Office has been pursuing during this trial.

The criminal charges against Paul were immediately dismissed upon his death. The civil suit was ongoing as well and after the murders the Beach family had to sue Maggie's estate to recover damages. Since Alex is incarcerated all of Maggie's financial holdings were left to Buster.

I knew Buster had settled and realise money is a motive so I wonder why they have not mentioned that Alex will allegedly inherit Moselle now she has been killed. If he gets off, that is. If he is convicted, he won't be able to profit from his crime presumably. So BM wins out then. In fact BM could allegedly have more of a motive to frame his father actually.

 

[Tresir]

Alex is (was?) the owner of the boat and that is who gets sued for damages

Yes but Buster, allegedly, let Paul use his id to buy the alcohol. Without that the crash would likely not have happened. Alcohol use usually invalidates insurance too, and this was underage alcohol use as well, so doubly illegal.

 

[Tresir]

We have all seen how people kill those they claim they loved soooooo m much and lied about it. There is no good reason why he lied about not being there and wanted the housekeeper to lie for him and the calls deleted from his phone. You add that up plus the timing of being found out about the millions in theft and Paul's case Chip coming up in a few days and the roadside shooting and.... There is plenty enough evidence

You said it. Lying liars lie and addicts are the worst. We call it compulsive lying. It is in their nature. Lying when you don't even have to. He probably knew he would be the chief suspect and couldn't help himself. I still don't believe the state has proved he did it. I think they had so many LE and officials there that night, that they screwed up, trampling over evidence when it was raining and dripping off the rooves onto the bodies etc etc.

 

[Tresir]

They did not ever say that. They know they can't say that

Cuz said the Court TV had a banner saying he lied about his relationship with Paul and Maggie. When did he do that? If he gets off he could sue them for that. I listened to his testimony and I don't remember him lying about his relationship.

 

[Tresir]

Here's a recent UK publication summing up AM's testimony.

Alex Murdaugh accused of murdering wife and son admits to lying to investigators

Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney accused of murdering his wife and son, took the witness stand at his murder trial on Thursday.

metro.co.uk

 

[kdg411]

Cuz said the Court TV had a banner saying he lied about his relationship with Paul and Maggie. When did he do that? If he gets off he could sue them for that. I listened to his testimony and I don't remember him lying about his relationship.

There are no legal grounds for him to sue because Alex admitted in court that he is a liar and lies by omission. In the particular stream cuz was watching the commentators tend to make statements to draw in the public to their viewership. This is why I watch the trial to form my own opinion without bias.

Alex Murdaugh is not getting out of jail, ever, if he's found not guilty or there's a hung jury in the murder case. There are a LOT of additional lawsuits regarding his financial crimes that he's already admitted to.

 

[Tresir]

There are no legal grounds for him to sue because Alex admitted in court that he is a liar and lies by omission. In the particular stream cuz was watching the commentators tend to make statements to draw in the public to their viewership. This is why I watch the trial to form my own opinion without bias.

Alex Murdaugh is not getting out of jail, ever, if he's found not guilty or there's a hung jury in the murder case. There are a LOT of additional lawsuits regarding his financial crimes that he's already admitted to.

Has he been criminally charged with the financial crimes? I am not up to speed on that. I believe the banker is doing time but not sure exactly what financial stuff he or AM has been charged with. The banker was on the witness list but I don't think he has been called.

ETA he ( the banker) has been convicted on 6 counts and is out on bail awaiting sentence I just reminded myself. I read this a few days ago and meant to post it on here.

Banker for Alex Murdaugh convicted of bank fraud charges

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A banker charged with helping disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh take money from the legal settlements of clients was found guilty late Tuesday of wire and bank fraud charges in South Carolina.

apnews.com

I notice only "a banker" is mentioned in the headlines rather than the banker's name yet AM's name is mentioned in the headlines.

 

[Guess Who]

Codeine is addictive so I am not surprised. I guess that is why we cannot buy more than 16 aspirin, codeine, paracetamol etc anymore from the chemist. In fact, maybe he even gets them on prescription now his addiction is common knowledge. Has his doctor given evidence at all?

He was on oxy -according to him. Way stronger than codeine and he's claiming he was doing 30-80 pills a day.

 

[Guess Who]

I knew Buster had settled and realise money is a motive so I wonder why they have not mentioned that Alex will allegedly inherit Moselle now she has been killed. If he gets off, that is. If he is convicted, he won't be able to profit from his crime presumably. So BM wins out then. In fact BM could allegedly have more of a motive to frame his father actually.

All that will be gone after he's sued by all those people if he gets off on this. He's on record now of doing the rest so the lawsuits will pour in.

 

[Guess Who]

Yes but Buster, allegedly, let Paul use his id to buy the alcohol. Without that the crash would likely not have happened. Alcohol use usually invalidates insurance too, and this was underage alcohol use as well, so doubly illegal.

Asked is the owner that gave permission to the kids to use and cancelled his umbrella coverage because of another incident (can't remember what that was about) that would have covered it. The damages were far over the minimal coverage he had on it so they were going after his finances because the damages were in the millions.

 

[Guess Who]

You said it. Lying liars lie and addicts are the worst. We call it compulsive lying. It is in their nature. Lying when you don't even have to. He probably knew he would be the chief suspect and couldn't help himself. I still don't believe the state has proved he did it. I think they had so many LE and officials there that night, that they screwed up, trampling over evidence when it was raining and dripping off the rooves onto the bodies etc etc.

They were treating him with kid gloves. They HaVE proved he used his shots alliances with LE to his advantage. I'm just disappointed that they haven't connected all that together to make sure the jury understands that.

They also got him to admit how easily he got agitated while in the depths of his addiction.

 

[Guess Who]

Cuz said the Court TV had a banner saying he lied about his relationship with Paul and Maggie. When did he do that? If he gets off he could sue them for that. I listened to his testimony and I don't remember him lying about his relationship.

That is not calling him a murderer.

 

[Guess Who]

I'm just comforted in the fact that even if he gets off on this, he is far from over of being a defendant in court for probably many years. Life as he knew it should be over. All caused by him and his greed.