SC - Paul Murdaugh, 22 and mom Margaret, 52, found shot to death, Islandton, 7 June 2021 #14

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Diddian said:
From that article:
During his remarks before the court, Harpootlian took a dim view of the murder charges filed against Murdaugh – saying the state has presented “not much, if anything” related to a possible motive for the murders.

IMO, DH is spewing nonsense with a straight face and hoping his mere attitudinal bluster will appear to strengthen his argument.

Potential motivations I can think of without much struggle:
  1. Anger at PM for his part in the boating accident which led to serious criminal charges against him and to civil litigation against AM, BM, and the RMIII Residence Trust (that defendant likely settled as it had been dropped from the litigation).
  2. Anger at the audacity of MM for engaging a financial audit of her family's finances. How dare she investigate and potentially expose those to anyone outside the family?
  3. Imminent death of patriarch, related inheritance issues, and determination not to have any part of that inheritance potentially subject to loss or division through divorce or litigation (or any MORE of that inheritance lost - if RMIII, acting on behalf of RMIII Residence Trust had already paid a settlement in the Beach litigation).
  4. Likewise, determination not to have the very valuable family name and reputation - already sullied by PM's behavior which led to boating accident - further sullied by discovery and revelation of other wrongdoing (see next).
  5. Fear of discovery of embezzlement of client funds through MM's audit of AM's finances (incl. any associated with PMPED).
And these are just the things we know about.

Also, I am not familiar with SC law, but I doubt motive is an element that is required to be proven for a murder conviction. Even so, IMO awareness that strong motivation did exist does help individual jury members gain moral comfort in their weighty role of judging someone's guilt based on proof of the required elements.
Click to expand...
In SC the State does not have to supply a motive, but according to the last hearing where AM waived bond, the State's Attorney said the financial charges of fraud, embezzlement etc. were directly related to the murder charges.

So yes, DH is spewing hot air.

MOO
 
Elley Mae said:
Bond revocation hearing scheduled for Curtis Smith, alleged Alex Murdaugh accomplice

www.blufftontoday.com

S.C. judge revokes bond for alleged Murdaugh accomplice, Curtis Smith

Curtis Eddie Smith lied about finances, violates house arrest 26 times, say prosecutors, remanded to jail.
www.blufftontoday.com

On Wednesday, the AG’s office filed a motion to revoke bond with the State Grand Jury of South Carolina for two types of violations:

The motion alleges that during his June 28 bond hearing before the State Grand Jury Presiding Judge, Smith made false representations to the court about his financial condition, saying, “I ain’t got no money,” quoted the filing. After further investigation, prosecutors learned that Smith had on June 3 received a $78,166.20 insurance settlement check and on the day of the bond hearing had $58,478.52 in his checking account.
The motion further alleges that between the dates of July 6 and July 20 Smith violated the terms of his house arrest 26 times. While the terms of his house arrest limited him to leaving his residence only to go to work, church, school, doctor appointments or attorney consultations, Smith visited a nearby ACE Hardware, Food Lion, Walmart (multiple visits), six private residences, the Fort Jackson military base in Columbia, and made multiple trips to Dorchester Biomass, an electrical energy company in Harleyville, S.C. The visits range in duration from 11 minutes to 79 minutes.
Click to expand...

Stupid is as stupid does. IMO
 
John Monk at The State Newspaper got some additional information on a man named Spencer Roberts of Colleton Co. in relation to Eddie Smith:

“Murdaugh would give checks of stolen money to Smith, who would cash them. Then Smith would give the cash to Roberts, who would use the cash to buy drugs that Roberts would then give the drugs to Smith, who would give them to Murdaugh, the sources said. “This is an ongoing investigation. There is a lot more that’s being explored and that is to include a substantial amount of drugs,” Waters said.”

Read more at: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article264401811.html#storylink=cpy
 
Meet Spencer Roberts: The Newest ‘Murdaugh Murders’ Defendant


The first hearing appeared to be totally unrelated to the second … but as the ‘Murdaugh Murders’ crime and corruption saga continues to teach those of us covering it, expect the unexpected.

Roberts, 34, stood before S.C. circuit court judge Clifton Newman accused of fraud – specifically, of providing false information to multiple government agencies in order to collect more than $40,000 worth of benefits and loans in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to senior assistant deputy attorney general Creighton Waters, Roberts lied about being laid off from one fictitious company – and took loans related to another fictitious company he claimed to have created.

Waters began his remarks to the court by saying that Roberts was “part of an investigation down in the Lowcountry.” He didn’t say – at least not initially – that the defendant facing the charges could be tied to what is shaping up to be the “case of the century” in South Carolina.

As with anyone accused of committing such crimes, Roberts is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system. However his attorney, Charleston, S.C.-based Mark Peper, basically admitted his client’s guilt in open court – saying he was going to “man up” to the charges.

Continued
 
As Peper began to make his case for a reduced bond for Roberts, though, Waters piped up with a pretty stunning revelation: Namely that Roberts had been in receipt of checks which “allegedly originated from Alex Murdaugh.”

Wait … what?

Here we go again …

Waters did not disclose the amount of those checks – and attempts by this news outlet to obtain information related to his arrest were unsuccessful.

“He hasn’t been indicted yet,” said Robert Kittle, a spokesman for S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson.

According to Kittle, Roberts appeared in court on a “pre-indictment arrest warrant” – one which the S.C. statewide grand jury has yet to make public.

The plot thickened when Peper insinuated the state was using the fraud charges against his client in an effort to get him to testify against Murdaugh – and to jack up the amount of his bond (which Newman set at $200,000).

 
Woah.

“Mr. Parker said his team pieced together details about Alex Murdaugh’s family financial holdings, including allegations of questionable property exchanges and suspicions related to the deaths of Mr. Smith, the classmate of Buster Murdaugh, and Ms. Satterfield, the housekeeper, before last summer’s double homicide.”

www.wsj.com

A Convenience-Store Magnate, Teen Drinking and a Fatal Boat Crash: The Legal Case Shaking South Carolina

The sensational killing of two members of the Murdaugh family has become intertwined with a parallel lawsuit aimed at changing the state’s liability laws.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com
 
Rosiebones said:
I think it will be impossible to find any jury pool In South Carolina that can be considered neutral or unaware of the circumstances of this case. What then?
Click to expand...
You would be surprised the number of people who 100% avoid any type of news reporting. I think sometimes we at WS think we are 'normal' in how we follow certain cases. WE are really the outliers - they'll seat a jury.
 
Rosiebones said:
I think it will be impossible to find any jury pool In South Carolina that can be considered neutral or unaware of the circumstances of this case. What then?
Click to expand...
I don't think the requirements of sitting on a jury is being unaware of the case, rather just not being prejudiced in guilt or innocence beforehand as you mentioned.

They'll be able to seat a jury, but might ask for a change of venue from Hampton County. Although, AM might have enough cronies in the area that would be sympathetic towards him. I think it's a toss up.

moo
 

Prosecutors in the office of South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson are in the process of complying with the state’s rules of criminal procedure which require them to turn over over all evidence and other materials in their possession related to the double homicide investigation of 54-year-old Alex Murdaugh.

The only question is whether anyone can talk about these materials once they have been provided to the accused killer’s defense attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin.

Obviously, S.C. circuit court judge Clifton Newman declined to impose a gag order in this case – but protective orders could potentially be placed on documents tied to pending criminal investigations.
 
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