SC - Paul Murdaugh, 22 and mom Margaret, 52, found shot to death, Islandton, 7 June 2021 #12

[worm]

John Marvin Murdaugh explains why he was photographed with investigators at crime scene | Island Packet, 27 March 2022

Read more at: https://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/article259744360.html#storylink=cpy

…. John Marvin Murdaugh said he was sitting inside the house on the Moselle property and asked Alex Murdaugh if he could ping Maggie’s phone. Buster, he said, told him that he and his mother shared locations with each other and he could ping it.

Marvin Murdaugh drove down to the crime scene to a group of investigators and told them that Maggie’s phone was active and could be tracked, he said. The photographs were taken when he and the investigators were looking at Buster’s phone and began walking toward where Maggie’s phone was located, he said. The group soon realized that the phone was further away, so they drove together and found it “east of the gates” of the property, he said.

Murdaugh said he called either Alex or Buster (he said he thinks it was Alex) and asked them for the password to Maggie’s phone so investigators could unlock it.

“They were able to open the phone on site,” he said. “Of course, none of this is disclosed to me as far as, it wasn’t like I was sitting there peeking over their shoulder while they’re doing this.”

<snipped>

Police still have not said whether any new evidence was uncovered from Maggie’s phone. And they still have not announced a suspect in their deaths. …

I’m sure glad he was there since trained investigators wouldn’t have been capable of doing that themselves.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

Does anyone have a subscription to The State, who can cull out highlights for us? Anything new in this article?

Murdaugh's SC firm missed $4 million in thefts over | The State, 20 March, 2022

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Everyone trusted Alex Murdaugh. But for 10 years, without anyone noticing or reporting publicly, the disgraced South Carolina ...

 

[303gmf]

Murdaugh family hopes for answers as investigation continues in loved ones' killing

Their kids wear Paul’s hand me down clothes?? Ya kidding me…
Seems like a fluff piece

 

[Oakie]

Does anyone have a subscription to The State, who can cull out highlights for us? Anything new in this article?

"...How was Murdaugh able to take money out of his firm’s accounts without notice? Several factors might have been in play:


▪ His firm had few financial controls to guard against in-house embezzlements by lawyers. The firm recently told reporters with The State and the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette that since learning of Murdaugh’s action, the firm has “revamped” its procedures and now has strict financial security controls in place.


▪ An atmosphere of trust surrounds lawyers in general and Murdaugh in particular. Murdaugh used that trust to keep his clients ignorant of money due to them in various settlements, according to indictments.


▪ Murdaugh used banks where he had checking accounts that enabled him to launder money stolen from clients, according to indictments. One bank was the Palmetto State Bank, headquartered in Hampton and a few blocks away from where his former law firm is located. The other bank was the Bank of America, where Murdaugh had sham accounts he used to launder stolen cash, indictments said..."

https://amp.thestate.com/article257674118.html

 

[Oakie]

"'...To some extent, Murdaugh’s law firm appears to have operated on an honor system when handling client’s accounts.


“Partners in that firm, especially legacy partners (a partner related to the firm’s late founder) such as Alex Murdaugh, were not second-guessed or questioned when they requested checks to be written for client matters, or client settlements,” said a source familiar with how Murdaugh influenced his former firm’s check writing.


Numerous theft indictments against Murdaugh aren’t specific, but said he “caused a check” to be written and disbursed from the firm’s client trust account in a way that could start the process of laundering them into money he put to his own use.


In one case, in December 2011, Murdaugh “caused a check” from the firm’s Client Trust Account to be written, with the description “Settlement Proceeds: Natasha Thomas,” in the amount of $325,000 and to be made out to Palmetto State Bank, an indictment said.


“Murdaugh then used the $325,000 trust account check — which was supposed to be compensation to Thomas for her injuries — to purchase a money order payable to a (Murdaugh) family member. Instead of compensating Thomas, Murdaugh ... converted the money to his personal use,” the indictment said.


That 2011 alleged embezzlement was Murdaugh’s first theft, indictments said.


Lawyers said Murdaugh’s former firm likely held millions of dollars at times in client trust accounts.


The highly sought-after firm regularly won high-dollar settlements and sizable verdicts in lawsuits where plaintiffs sued corporations and wealthy defendants in personal injury, wrongful death and medical malpractice cases. Although clients’ money is often kept in one account in firms like Murdaugh’s, software keeps track of each individual client’s incoming and outgoing cash, lawyers said.


Same as the firm, the firm’s clients never noticed Murdaugh was taking their money.


Bamberg said Murdaugh appears to have made sure his victims who were due settlement money received at least one initial payment. Then, Murdaugh took additional money that came in later to the Client Trust Account — money that the client didn’t know about, Bamberg said. Money for clients from settlements often comes in various payments over time, he said.


“Alex cherry-picked what he stole,” Bamberg said....'

https://amp.thestate.com/article257674118.html

 

[girlhasnoname]

Their kids wear Paul’s hand me down clothes?? Ya kidding me…
Seems like a fluff piece

Hahaha, I rolled my eyes so hard at that they're still hurting this morning. The entire Murdaugh family cannot read a room to save their lives.

It's a shame, this stuff takes away from the real victims here; Paul, Maggie, Mallory Beach, Stephen Smith and the numerous embezzlement victims.

 

[swedeheart]

 

[Elley Mae]

In an interview published Sunday in The (Hilton Head, S.C.) Island Packet newspaper, John Marvin Murdaugh — the younger brother of disgraced Hampton County attorney Alex Murdaugh — said he recently had a “teaching moment” with his children.

One child had taken candy from another.

He told the Packet that he said to his kids: “This is where it starts.”

“You don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you. Look where Uncle Alex is. You don’t want to end up like that.”



https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/03/28...the-solicitors-office-tampered-with-evidence/

Turns out, John Marvin Murdaugh’s interview presents a “teaching moment” for everyone, especially those of us who have been hoping to learn what the 14th Circuit Solicitor Office’s investigators — Alex’s colleagues — were doing at the scene of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh‘s murders last June.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane first …

 

[Elley Mae]

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/03/28...the-solicitors-office-tampered-with-evidence/

The honorable Walter E. Hoffman — who was NOT from South Carolina, as Buster would later point out to the press — had infuriated the already enraged former solicitor, who had stepped down right before the trial and was expected to resume his office via re-election within the month.

Hoffman called Buster “grossly unethical” and suggested he should be ashamed to face voters.

Testimony had revealed that Buster — who, again, was a prosecutor — was also serving in federal court as a paid defense attorney for bootleggers accused of moonshining in his circuit.

Buster basically told the judge, “This is how we do it here. Mind your business.”

During the trial, it emerged that “badges” for volunteer law enforcement positions were coveted among the men running illegal whisky stills. One man testified that he tried to buy a badge so he could “bust” his competition.

Hoffman, according to news reports at the time, seemed aghast at these goings-on in South Carolina’s 14th Circuit.

“The practice of having special sheriff’s deputies without compensation,” he said, “leads to corruption.”

 

[Elley Mae]

Matney also asked Stone’s office for a list of all cases — as well as the dates of those cases — that Alex “worked on/assisted with/volunteered for the 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office between 2006 and 2021.”

The response to Matney’s question?

“We do not track instances when a lawyer (including Alex Murdaugh) provides assistance or works on a case to assist the lead attorney, which is primarily what Alex Murdaugh did. Our records indicate that in October 2019, Alex Murdaugh acted as lead counsel in a guilty plea in Colleton County in the case of State v. Emmanuel Buckner. Indictment number 2016GS1500829. The charge was failure to stop for a blue light.”

One case?

Yes. They could only cite one case.

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/03/28...the-solicitors-office-tampered-with-evidence/

 

[Satchie]

Every time I say "Can this get any more stupid?" it somehow does. I wonder what the professional casualties will total by the end of this?

How I despise this abuse of power.

Possibly worse, it was only $5,000. What does that buy you these days, that is worth sacrificing your integrity, and potentially, your career?

Maybe he sent his parents to Vegas for a few days and was too cheap to pay for it himself?

 

[worm]

In an interview published Sunday in The (Hilton Head, S.C.) Island Packet newspaper, John Marvin Murdaugh — the younger brother of disgraced Hampton County attorney Alex Murdaugh — said he recently had a “teaching moment” with his children.

One child had taken candy from another.

He told the Packet that he said to his kids: “This is where it starts.”

“You don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you. Look where Uncle Alex is. You don’t want to end up like that.”



https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/03/28...the-solicitors-office-tampered-with-evidence/

Turns out, John Marvin Murdaugh’s interview presents a “teaching moment” for everyone, especially those of us who have been hoping to learn what the 14th Circuit Solicitor Office’s investigators — Alex’s colleagues — were doing at the scene of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh‘s murders last June.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane first …

Since LE avoids this case like poison I don’t expect to ever know but do wonder if LE would back up this notion that he had to help them track that phone. That’s a pretty poor excuse for him even being there.

 

[Satchie]

That 2011 alleged embezzlement was Murdaugh’s first theft, indictments said.

Ten years is a long time to be stealing from your clients and colleagues. IMO, getting away with that for so long, might lead someone to believe they can get away with anything.

JMO

 

[lonetraveler]

"'...To some extent, Murdaugh’s law firm appears to have operated on an honor system when handling client’s accounts.


“Partners in that firm, especially legacy partners (a partner related to the firm’s late founder) such as Alex Murdaugh, were not second-guessed or questioned when they requested checks to be written for client matters, or client settlements,” said a source familiar with how Murdaugh influenced his former firm’s check writing.


Numerous theft indictments against Murdaugh aren’t specific, but said he “caused a check” to be written and disbursed from the firm’s client trust account in a way that could start the process of laundering them into money he put to his own use.


In one case, in December 2011, Murdaugh “caused a check” from the firm’s Client Trust Account to be written, with the description “Settlement Proceeds: Natasha Thomas,” in the amount of $325,000 and to be made out to Palmetto State Bank, an indictment said.


“Murdaugh then used the $325,000 trust account check — which was supposed to be compensation to Thomas for her injuries — to purchase a money order payable to a (Murdaugh) family member. Instead of compensating Thomas, Murdaugh ... converted the money to his personal use,” the indictment said.


That 2011 alleged embezzlement was Murdaugh’s first theft, indictments said.


Lawyers said Murdaugh’s former firm likely held millions of dollars at times in client trust accounts.


The highly sought-after firm regularly won high-dollar settlements and sizable verdicts in lawsuits where plaintiffs sued corporations and wealthy defendants in personal injury, wrongful death and medical malpractice cases. Although clients’ money is often kept in one account in firms like Murdaugh’s, software keeps track of each individual client’s incoming and outgoing cash, lawyers said.


Same as the firm, the firm’s clients never noticed Murdaugh was taking their money.


Bamberg said Murdaugh appears to have made sure his victims who were due settlement money received at least one initial payment. Then, Murdaugh took additional money that came in later to the Client Trust Account — money that the client didn’t know about, Bamberg said. Money for clients from settlements often comes in various payments over time, he said.


“Alex cherry-picked what he stole,” Bamberg said....'

https://amp.thestate.com/article257674118.html

This is just so disgusting to me. I can't even say what I'm thinking right now.

 

[lonetraveler]

Possibly worse, it was only $5,000. What does that buy you these days, that is worth sacrificing your integrity, and potentially, your career?

Maybe he sent his parents to Vegas for a few days and was too cheap to pay for it himself?

I don't think this $5,000 had jack to do with his parents. It, in my opinion, was just a teaser for a bigger pay out for the receiver to obstruct the investigation of the murder of his wife and son. JMO
What really amazes me is that he actually wrote a check for God's sake.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/03/28...the-solicitors-office-tampered-with-evidence/

The honorable Walter E. Hoffman — who was NOT from South Carolina, as Buster would later point out to the press — had infuriated the already enraged former solicitor, who had stepped down right before the trial and was expected to resume his office via re-election within the month.

Hoffman called Buster “grossly unethical” and suggested he should be ashamed to face voters.

Testimony had revealed that Buster — who, again, was a prosecutor — was also serving in federal court as a paid defense attorney for bootleggers accused of moonshining in his circuit.

Buster basically told the judge, “This is how we do it here. Mind your business.”

During the trial, it emerged that “badges” for volunteer law enforcement positions were coveted among the men running illegal whisky stills. One man testified that he tried to buy a badge so he could “bust” his competition.

Hoffman, according to news reports at the time, seemed aghast at these goings-on in South Carolina’s 14th Circuit.

“The practice of having special sheriff’s deputies without compensation,” he said, “leads to corruption.”

Ellie — could you give us the context for this text? I feel like I dropped into something mid-paragraph.

I can no longer access FitsNews so I appreciate your postings. Thanks so much.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

Matney also asked Stone’s office for a list of all cases — as well as the dates of those cases — that Alex “worked on/assisted with/volunteered for the 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office between 2006 and 2021.”

The response to Matney’s question?

“We do not track instances when a lawyer (including Alex Murdaugh) provides assistance or works on a case to assist the lead attorney, which is primarily what Alex Murdaugh did. Our records indicate that in October 2019, Alex Murdaugh acted as lead counsel in a guilty plea in Colleton County in the case of State v. Emmanuel Buckner. Indictment number 2016GS1500829. The charge was failure to stop for a blue light.”

One case?

Yes. They could only cite one case.

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/03/28...the-solicitors-office-tampered-with-evidence/

Another *very* fishy situation. MOO. They don’t record which attorneys worked on each case? There are no names on filings or on briefs? Is there anything on the straight and narrow in S.C. Lowcountry?

 

[meanmaryjean]

Another *very* fishy situation. MOO. They don’t record which attorneys worked on each case? There are no names on filings or on briefs? Is there anything on the straight and narrow in S.C. Lowcountry?

Reminds me of when someone associated with this case said AM didn't understand a document he signed ($10M insurance form). Lawyers are all about documents and records. Even crappy lawyers.
So in answer to the question- No- there is no one in the SC Low Country legal community on the straight and narrow. And I would add that if it happens in SC- it happens plenty of other places.

 

[StarryStarryNight]

Nowhere in John Marvin’s story about Maggie’s cell phone does he mention consulting the people actually investigating the murder…SLED. What JMM and the solicitor’s goons did was not OK. They don’t get a pat on the back for a job well done. Since when is a victim’s family allowed to independently investigate a murder and follow leads the day after a murder.
And to find it, pick it up, and open it?! What were they thinking they’d find? A last love text to Alex? A last text saying “Alex killed us”…oops need to get rid of that.
This is a Harpootlian spin. He knows murder charges are coming. He wants that phone ruled inadmissible.
In my opinion, Maggie’s phone spent time riding around in Alex’s pocket that night before he tossed it. And SLED knows it.

 

[TheLoadedGoat]

And what about fingerprints that were lost? Mighta been helpful.