SC - Paul Murdaugh, 22 and mom Margaret, 52, found shot to death, Islandton, 7 June 2021 #13

[Erutan]

I'm thankful they've exhumed the housekeeper's remains and are reopening the investigation.

Wasn't there another suspicious death involving a young man ?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alex-murdaugh-south-carolina-five-deaths-connecti

Evidence gathered by investigators looking into the shooting of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh led to the reopening of the investigation into the unsolved death of Stephen Smith.
The case was never solved and went cold until the House of Murdaugh came crumbling down one brick at a time.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/stephen-smith-death-what-happened-to-the-s-c-teen/on-investigation/

A brief video at the second link.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

QUESTION: Is it ethical for DH and JG to be representing a person accused of murdering their client?

I imagine legal fees for the murdered client were paid by their current client (does that make a difference?), but they were still the murdered client’s attorneys until their current client allegedly killed their late client.

Anyone care to untangle this?

 

[mark majors]

I’ve known of several SC cases where if someone is involved in LE or otherwise high profile inmate for whatever reason, they will move them to another county to be held.

oh mercy. i live in the carolinas, and am envisioning an episode from the andy griffith show, w/ barney letting alex escape...

 

[LetsSolvIt]

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: An Interview with Judge Clifton Newman | American Bar Association, 28 Sept. 2017​

Judge Clifton Newman has had many roles in the legal profession. Prior to being elected Circuit Court Judge by the South Carolina General Assembly in 2000, he was a partner in his own law firm, first in Cleveland, Ohio, then in Columbia and Kingstree, South Carolina. He also served as a defense attorney, civil practitioner, and prosecutor. …

 

[clearskies1]

I found it unusual that it was Randy Murdaugh, not Alex, who told Buster that his mother and brother had been killed. Wouldn't a parent think they should be the person to tell their child that? I wouldn't leave it to an uncle. JMO.

"We did some digging and discovered that — while no one has been excluded in connection with the Murdaugh Murders — it appears as though Buster Murdaugh was in the Rock Hill-Charlotte area at the time of the slayings, according to our sources.

Buster, 25, was living and working in the Rock Hill-Charlotte area in June, according to FITSNews sources.

This is corroborated by what Randy Murdaugh, Buster’s uncle, told a Good Morning America reporter 10 days after the murders.

Randy Murdaugh said that he had to call Buster, who lives in Rock Hill, to tell him that his brother and mother were killed."

https://www.fitsnews.com/2021/07/29/murdaugh-murders-what-about-pauls-brother-buster-investigation-update/

 

[LetsSolvIt]

I found it unusual that it was Randy Murdaugh, not Alex, who told Buster that his mother and brother had been killed. Wouldn't a parent think they should be the person to tell their child that? I wouldn't leave it to an uncle. JMO.

"We did some digging and discovered that — while no one has been excluded in connection with the Murdaugh Murders — it appears as though Buster Murdaugh was in the Rock Hill-Charlotte area at the time of the slayings, according to our sources.

Buster, 25, was living and working in the Rock Hill-Charlotte area in June, according to FITSNews sources.

This is corroborated by what Randy Murdaugh, Buster’s uncle, told a Good Morning America reporter 10 days after the murders.

Randy Murdaugh said that he had to call Buster, who lives in Rock Hill, to tell him that his brother and mother were killed."

https://www.fitsnews.com/2021/07/29/murdaugh-murders-what-about-pauls-brother-buster-investigation-update/

I was always shocked that they told Buster over the telephone and presumably the poor kid had to drive (2 hrs?) over to Moselle with that on his mind, probably sobbing. With several siblings and lots of connections you would think Alex would have sent someone over to get Buster or be with him. OMO.

I remember getting the call when my mother was killed in a car accident, it was more than excruciating to get a phone call. Luckily I had some to drive me ”home” to my dad.

 

[Luna20]

For those of you who have recently returned to this thread, here are photos I took of detention center when I was in Columbia a few months ago. It’s actually out of town quite a few miles. The lane up to the facility from the main road is lined with bail-bond financiers and one religious establishment that offers “redemption.”

View attachment 356151
View attachment 356152

“Redemption” gave me a good chuckle!
This looks bleak to me, but I imagine most of them are.

 

[Seattle1]

QUESTION: Is it ethical for DH and JG to be representing a person accused of murdering their client?

I imagine legal fees for the murdered client were paid by their current client (does that make a difference?), but they were still the murdered client’s attorneys until their current client allegedly killed their late client.

Anyone care to untangle this?

I'm confused by OP's post so please bear with me.

Assuming DH represents defense attorney Dick Harpootlian and JG, Jim Griffin.

Since AM is the only defendant charged here with murdering MM, his wife, and PM, his son, who else is a client of these two defense attorneys that OP believes poses a conflict of interest?

And what cause of action survived the client's death?

Nonetheless, IMO, if there was a conflict between a client that's since deceased, the lawyers would never have agreed to represent AM charged only weeks ago for the murder of MM and PM.

 

[worm]

I'm confused by OP's post so please bear with me.

Assuming DH represents defense attorney Dick Harpootlian and JG, Jim Griffin.

Since AM is the only defendant charged here with murdering MM, his wife, and PM, his son, who else is a client of these two defense attorneys that OP believes poses a conflict of interest?

And what cause of action survived the client's death?

Nonetheless, IMO, if there was a conflict between a client that's since deceased, the lawyers would never have agreed to represent AM charged only weeks ago for the murder of MM and PM.

I can only assume it means Dick Harpootlian representing Paul in the boat crash.

 

[Seattle1]

I can only assume it means Dick Harpootlian representing Paul in the boat crash.

Thanks, @worm. If true, the state can't charge a ghost and the pending criminal charges died with PM as did DH's representation to defend these charges. MOO

 

[worm]

Thanks, @worm. If true, the state can't charge a ghost and the pending criminal charges died with PM as did DH's representation to defend these charges. MOO

It is an interesting point that @LetsSolvIt brings in that Harpootlian is now representing the man accused of killing his client.

 

[RAISINISBACK]

I think one of the biggest giveaways for LE and the dispatcher was that — in the dark, well off the road, on a 1,700-acre property with timber and sheds all around, Alex Murdaugh found his wife and son brutally murdered and Alex Murdaugh standing out in the open and up near the bodies, and talking on the phone near the kennels wasn’t concerned for his own safety.

I absolutely agree.

Put yourself in his place for a second people.

According to his story, he left Moselle, and even if he did see MM and PM before he left, he went to visit his mother, came home less than an hour later to find them both brutally murdered at 10 pm on an extra dark, rainy 1700 acres of land with numerous outbuildings and sheds. Now would any of you stand out in the open to make that phone call knowing you have been gone (according to his story) less than an hour?

Not me, no way. I would have been looking over both shoulders while I beat a fast track back to my car, praying the killer didn't shoot me in the back. Then I would have locked all the doors and stayed on that line with 911 while praying the killer didn't shoot me through the windows of my car. Or drove down the road away from the crime scene. Or drove to the police station in town. lol

But no way, after finding 2 of my family members brutally murdered am I standing out in the open, in the dark and bravely making a phone call to 911, then calmly making another to my family.

That would be like facing Freddy Kruger who has a running chainsaw, and calmy stating "Hang on a minute Freddy, I need to call my brother."

Nobody is that brave, or stupid, unless you are the killer.

JMO

 

[coastal]

oh mercy. i live in the carolinas, and am envisioning an episode from the andy griffith show, w/ barney letting alex escape...

Andy, Andy Andy!

 

[Kemug]

This is my first post on this thread. It follows my usual pattern - I hang around for a while, determined not to start posting on yet another case, and then I finally give in! This is all just so confusing, isn't it? I do believe that AM is the killer here, but the timing of it is hard to understand. I just find it impossible to believe that MM would have waited for over 2 hours, I don't think any wife would have, but especially an estranged one. As one of you suggested, perhaps AM and PM were exchanging texts and calls during that time, with AM giving reasons for his tardiness. But if he was planning to kill her, which it seems he was, it seems a pretty feeble way to line up his victim, with every chance that she would be gone.

 

[Skigirl]

Interesting side note: If you listen to the jailhouse calls between AM and BM, they talk a lot about "Butch" helping Buster get back into law school and how well he was paid to help ($60k). "Butch" is Butch Bowers, who was one of the lawyers that represented Donald Trump in his second impeachment. He was fired or quit and replaced before the actual trial.

 

[Elley Mae]

Anatomy Of An Alleged Conspiracy: How Russell Laffitte And Alex Murdaugh Handled The Pinckney Case …

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/07/26/anatomy-of-an-alleged-conspiracy-how-russell-laffitte-and-alex-murdaugh-handled-the-pinckney-case/

Hakeem Pinckney died Oct. 11, 2011, of cardiac arrest, which — according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the nursing home in 2014 — occurred after his ventilator had become unplugged for more than 30 minutes before someone noticed.

His death came just four days after a multimillion-dollar settlement had been reached in his case.

In the aftermath of Hakeem’s passing, Murdaugh and Laffitte appear to have fraudulently represented Hakeem as alive to at least one insurance company.

They also seem to have determined on their own — outside the purview of the court and state law — who would receive Hakeem’s fortune. The part that wasn’t allegedly stolen, anyway.

Then the two embarked on what would become a three-year caper to cover their alleged tracks.

Their main objective seems to have been to keep Hakeem’s father, Melverick Edwards, far from Hakeem’s estate — and therefore nowhere near discovering their alleged crimes.

Documents obtained by FITSNews show that, in doing so, these two men created, in the plainest of terms, an unconscionable mess.

Hakeem Pinckney becomes a resident at PruittHealth in North Augusta — about two hours from his family in Hampton County.

NOTE: This means Hakeem is no longer a resident of Hampton County. Later Murdaugh and Laffitte will let the court believe that he is — presumably so they can conduct their business through the Hampton County Probate Court, where both men were well known.

The forms get filed in Hampton County Probate Court on June 2, 2010, even though Hakeem is now a resident of Aiken County.

State law dictates that the venue for guardianship proceedings is “in the place where the alleged incapacitated individual or ward resides or is present.”

NOTE: The decision to open Hakeem’s estate in Hampton County is a significant one because of Alex Murdaugh’s relationship with the court, which seems to have granted him broad access and unusual leeway in his cases. This unique access is seen a significant contributing factor in his ability to conduct his alleged scheme.

Also on this date, a “Consent to Appointment of Conservator” document is signed by Hakeem Pinckney with an “X.” Pamela Pinckney and a relative named Carrie B. Pinckney attest to witnessing Hakeem sign the consent document “freely and willingly.”

Though no notary stamp appears on the page, Alex Murdaugh appears to have signed the document as the notary, saying his commission expires Aug. 3, 2016.

 

[Elley Mae]

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/07/26/anatomy-of-an-alleged-conspiracy-how-russell-laffitte-and-alex-murdaugh-handled-the-pinckney-case/

Russell Laffitte signs disbursement sheets at Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick and receives two checks: one for $309,581.46 from the Estate of Hakeem Pinckney and $325,000 from Natasha Thomas’ client trust account. The money was intended for their conservator accounts but was never deposited, according to indictments.

According to the July 20, 2022, federal indictment of Russell Laffitte, Laffitte “distributed the funds” at Murdaugh’s direction, as follows:

$10,000 deposit was made to Maggie Murdaugh’s account.
$9,500 money order.
$920.29 principal payment to a loan on Alex Murdaugh’s boat.
$3,137.30 interest payment to a loan on Alex Murdaugh’s boat.
$100,000 money order to Laffitte’s father, Charlie Laffitte, to “pay off a personal loan.
$50,135.61 money order to repay loans from the conservatorship account of Hannah Plyler.
$91,220.57 money order to repay loans from the conservatorship account of Hannah Plyler.
$329,500 money order to Murdaugh’s father, Randolph Murdaugh III
$40,167.69 money order to “repay loans Russell Lucius Laffitte extended as conservator for M.W.”

NOTE: “M.W.” refers to Malik Williams. Laffitte served as conservator to Williams, who was a client of Paul Detrick, a partner at Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick in a 2004 case. According to the indictment, Laffitte gave himself a loan from Malik’s account. The details of Malik’s case are not known. Laffitte was also the conservator to two young sisters, Hannah and Alania Plyler, whose mother and brother were killed in a 2005 crash on Interstate 95 in Hampton County. Both girls were injured in the crash. Murdaugh served as their attorney. Earlier this year, it became clear that Laffitte had secretly loaned himself and Murdaugh money at below-market interest rates from Hannah Plyler’s account, which he managed. According to the July 20, 2022, federal indictment, beginning on July 18, 2011, Laffitte took eight unsecured loans from Hannah’s account, totaling $355,000. Beginning Sept. 14, 2011, Laffitte allowed Murdaugh to take 14 unsecured loans from Hannah’s account, totaling $990,000.

 

[Warwick7]

Anatomy Of An Alleged Conspiracy: How Russell Laffitte And Alex Murdaugh Handled The Pinckney Case …

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/07/26/anatomy-of-an-alleged-conspiracy-how-russell-laffitte-and-alex-murdaugh-handled-the-pinckney-case/

Hakeem Pinckney died Oct. 11, 2011, of cardiac arrest, which — according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the nursing home in 2014 — occurred after his ventilator had become unplugged for more than 30 minutes before someone noticed.

His death came just four days after a multimillion-dollar settlement had been reached in his case.

In the aftermath of Hakeem’s passing, Murdaugh and Laffitte appear to have fraudulently represented Hakeem as alive to at least one insurance company.

They also seem to have determined on their own — outside the purview of the court and state law — who would receive Hakeem’s fortune. The part that wasn’t allegedly stolen, anyway.

Then the two embarked on what would become a three-year caper to cover their alleged tracks.

Their main objective seems to have been to keep Hakeem’s father, Melverick Edwards, far from Hakeem’s estate — and therefore nowhere near discovering their alleged crimes.

Documents obtained by FITSNews show that, in doing so, these two men created, in the plainest of terms, an unconscionable mess.

Hakeem Pinckney becomes a resident at PruittHealth in North Augusta — about two hours from his family in Hampton County.

NOTE: This means Hakeem is no longer a resident of Hampton County. Later Murdaugh and Laffitte will let the court believe that he is — presumably so they can conduct their business through the Hampton County Probate Court, where both men were well known.

The forms get filed in Hampton County Probate Court on June 2, 2010, even though Hakeem is now a resident of Aiken County.

State law dictates that the venue for guardianship proceedings is “in the place where the alleged incapacitated individual or ward resides or is present.”

NOTE: The decision to open Hakeem’s estate in Hampton County is a significant one because of Alex Murdaugh’s relationship with the court, which seems to have granted him broad access and unusual leeway in his cases. This unique access is seen a significant contributing factor in his ability to conduct his alleged scheme.

Also on this date, a “Consent to Appointment of Conservator” document is signed by Hakeem Pinckney with an “X.” Pamela Pinckney and a relative named Carrie B. Pinckney attest to witnessing Hakeem sign the consent document “freely and willingly.”

Though no notary stamp appears on the page, Alex Murdaugh appears to have signed the document as the notary, saying his commission expires Aug. 3, 2016.

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/07/26/anatomy-of-an-alleged-conspiracy-how-russell-laffitte-and-alex-murdaugh-handled-the-pinckney-case/

Russell Laffitte signs disbursement sheets at Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick and receives two checks: one for $309,581.46 from the Estate of Hakeem Pinckney and $325,000 from Natasha Thomas’ client trust account. The money was intended for their conservator accounts but was never deposited, according to indictments.

According to the July 20, 2022, federal indictment of Russell Laffitte, Laffitte “distributed the funds” at Murdaugh’s direction, as follows:

$10,000 deposit was made to Maggie Murdaugh’s account.
$9,500 money order.
$920.29 principal payment to a loan on Alex Murdaugh’s boat.
$3,137.30 interest payment to a loan on Alex Murdaugh’s boat.
$100,000 money order to Laffitte’s father, Charlie Laffitte, to “pay off a personal loan.
$50,135.61 money order to repay loans from the conservatorship account of Hannah Plyler.
$91,220.57 money order to repay loans from the conservatorship account of Hannah Plyler.
$329,500 money order to Murdaugh’s father, Randolph Murdaugh III
$40,167.69 money order to “repay loans Russell Lucius Laffitte extended as conservator for M.W.”

NOTE: “M.W.” refers to Malik Williams. Laffitte served as conservator to Williams, who was a client of Paul Detrick, a partner at Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick in a 2004 case. According to the indictment, Laffitte gave himself a loan from Malik’s account. The details of Malik’s case are not known. Laffitte was also the conservator to two young sisters, Hannah and Alania Plyler, whose mother and brother were killed in a 2005 crash on Interstate 95 in Hampton County. Both girls were injured in the crash. Murdaugh served as their attorney. Earlier this year, it became clear that Laffitte had secretly loaned himself and Murdaugh money at below-market interest rates from Hannah Plyler’s account, which he managed. According to the July 20, 2022, federal indictment, beginning on July 18, 2011, Laffitte took eight unsecured loans from Hannah’s account, totaling $355,000. Beginning Sept. 14, 2011, Laffitte allowed Murdaugh to take 14 unsecured loans from Hannah’s account, totaling $990,000.

Woooooweeeeeee!!!! Are these men on crack?! Did they never think they'd get caught?!

And why does Daddy Murdaugh receive such a "nice" money order??! (This isn't the first time we've seen this.)

And the ventilator that just happened to be "unplugged"....... Ugh!

 

[girlhasnoname]

Woooooweeeeeee!!!! Are these men on crack?! Did they never think they'd get caught?!

And why does Daddy Murdaugh receive such a "nice" money order??! (This isn't the first time we've seen this.)

And the ventilator that just happened to be "unplugged"....... Ugh!

The amount of people, involved to some degree or another, who helped AM pull of these egregious acts of fraud is mind-blowing. From lawyers, bank presidents, coroners, local le, judges, politicians, etc. I truly wonder how far up the chain this goes or if it will ever all come to light? I wonder if AM is on suicide watch?

MOO

 

[Rosiebones]

Was the coroner who put down the time of death actually on the scene before the bodies were removed or did he rely on AM's account of what transpired? Can the time of death on an official first account ever be changed legally?