SC - Paul Murdaugh, 22 and mom Margaret, 52, found shot to death, Islandton, 7 June 2021 #4

[girlhasnoname]

I wonder if the prosecutor received threats?

I don't think I've read that anywhere, but I wouldn't doubt he was getting a lot of heat from all over the place. His future career might have been taking a hit.

Although, the way this is playing out, a threat wouldn't surprise me either.

 

[girlhasnoname]

This is very good drone video.
Note the position of the vehicle.
Is the driver side back tire on the pavement?
I dont think so.
It could be on the pavement, but I don't see it that way.
Would't pavement be preferable for changing a tire, using a jack?
Maybe not if the ground is very hard.

In addition,
Saw on TV a brief quick news video of the scene, police, evidence people. Counted individual yellow evidence markers A thru J.

There could have been more toward the driver side door but not visible.
Depth perception was not good, they looked to be very near the left back side of the vehicle, on the road and a bit off to the back side near the grass.
Also other yellow markers labeled 1 2 3.

My Depth perception could be way off or it is deceptive due to angle of video, but it seemed as though the shell casings were very close to the car.

My question is why didn't AM just pull into the church parking lot?

That's a very narrow, 2 lane road. It would have been much safer IMO.

 

[Snoopster]

What we know based on views of the vehicle and scene:

• The Mercedes SUV was parked on the side of the rural road, facing south. The front driver's side tire was on the pavement, pointing out toward the road. The other 3 wheels were on the dirt/grassy shoulder.
• The rear driver's side tire was flat. The hatch wasn't open and no spare/jack are out.
• There doesn't appear to be any bullet damage to the vehicle, but we may just not be able to see it. There are bullet casing markers indicating a cluster of 5 or so in the area of the back side/corner of the vehicle and behind the vehicle on the shoulder. There may have been other casings found in the deep grass and we just can't see them.
• There is no visible blood, despite the victim having been shot in the head. It's possible that he could have run into the grassy area and there could be blood there that we can't see.
• The doors on the vehicle were all shut and the 2 back windows were open.
• The SUV was pulled over only a couple hundred yards past a church parking lot.

 

[Snoopster]

How flat? Flat like a pancake or just low on air, or very very low on air?
Thanks!

flat like a pancake.

 

[stattlich1]

This is very good drone video.
Note the position of the vehicle.
Is the driver side back tire on the pavement?
I dont think so.
It could be on the pavement, but I don't see it that way.
Would't pavement be preferable for changing a tire, using a jack?
Maybe not if the ground is very hard.

In addition,
Saw on TV a brief quick news video of the scene, police, evidence people. Counted individual yellow evidence markers A thru J.

There could have been more toward the driver side door but not visible.
Depth perception was not good, they looked to be very near the left back side of the vehicle, on the road and a bit off to the back side near the grass.
Also other yellow markers labeled 1 2 3.

My Depth perception could be way off or it is deceptive due to angle of video, but it seemed as though the shell casings were very close to the car.

Nice analysis. The observations here are important. If indeed the markers indicate shell casings, and if indeed they are very close to the car (which from what I've seen, they are), then this appears to NOT have been a fast, drive by shooting.

 

[Snoopster]

flat like a pancake.

I'm amending my comment. It looks like it's flat like a pancake, but the tire is just an inch or two off the pavement on the shoulder which could be an inch or so lower than the pavement, so it could also just be very low on air, but look flatter because of the angle of the view.

ETA: fixed typo

 

[Ann99]

My question is why didn't AM just pull into the church parking lot?

That's a very narrow, 2 lane road. It would have been much safer IMO.

Right, the church parking lot so very close is suspicious for a few reasons.

As you say, he could have stopped there, if the flat tire had been evident before the church parking lot.

This is complete speculation no link.

What if it were known that AM was driving that route and the truck was concealed, waiting in the church parking lot to see him drive by?
It would have had to involve placing something on the roadway to disable AM vehicle just before he came by.
Maybe like those stop sticks that shred a tire or something else less obvious.

 

[bestill]

Someone must have known that AM was going to be driving that road that afternoon. I am so perplexed by this entire case. I have been checking in on and off but am very familiar with Hampton County, I have close relatives that are from there. If I were a local I would raising a bit of you know what for an update from LE. The only one speaking out is the family spokesperson and we are left to assume that is all truth. JMO

 

[Luna20]

A doctor friend of mine said when something like this happens at his hospital-the perp not apprehended that the hospital goes into lockdown. The hospital location is not announced as well as a code name is used for the victim. It’s done as a precautionary measure so the perps don’t make plans to finish the job or interfere in the victims care.

 

[Cabbage_the_cat]

AM may be rich, but that doesn't mean he's not capable of driving himself or changing his own tire. People who grow up in rural areas, regardless of status, are usually pretty handy and don't mind doing a little work.

He owns a 1,700 acre hunting property, that requires a lot of upkeep. I'm sure he paid caretakers and others to keep it up, but that doesn't mean he couldn't mend a fence, change his oil, change a tire, or fix all kinds of minor things.

I've known a number of prominant southern "old money" types. They're just as capable and willing as anyone else to do it themselves.

 

[bestill]

AM may be rich, but that doesn't mean he's not capable of driving himself or changing his own tire. People who grow up in rural areas, regardless of status, are usually pretty handy and don't mind doing a little work.

He owns a 1,700 acre hunting property, that requires a lot of upkeep. I'm sure he paid caretakers and others to keep it up, but that doesn't mean he couldn't mend a fence, change his oil, change a tire, or fix all kinds of minor things.

I've known a number of prominant southern "old money" types. They're just as capable and willing as anyone else to do it themselves.

They're mostly very thrifty too.

Of course we don't know how flat his tire was when he pulled over, it could have been just going flat and he was trying to figure it out. It doesn't look like he had any equipment out of the vehicle yet to change the tire, from the video and the photo above. JMO

 

[Elley Mae]

Maybe the tire was shot.

 

[raja]

Maybe the tire was shot.

Thank you that is what I think may have happened. Could someone in the parking lot have been blocking the drive and then shot at the tires as he passed? Or a second person out of the car who could have shot the tire. I don't think he would pull off onto the grassy area to change a tire would he? I can't believe he has anything to do with the shooting because if you wanted someone to shoot you with a non lethal shot would you choose your head? This is just MHO only.

 

[swedeheart]

Gunman who shot South Carolina legal heir 'had driven past in pickup truck before turning round' | Daily Mail Online

The gunman who shot the heir to a South Carolina legal dynasty whose wife and son were murdered three months ago was in a truck that drove past him as he changed a tire and then made a U-turn, it has been alleged.

Alex Murdaugh, 53, called 911 at around 1:30pm EST Saturday, his lawyer Jim Griffin said on Sunday, after Murdaugh was shot by a passing truck in Hampton County, South Carolina.

Around 45 minutes after making that call, Murdaugh then phoned his brother Randy, and has called his sibling again since being airlifted to a hospital in Savannah, Georgia, for further treatment.

Randy is said to have told Griffin that the truck initially passed by Alex Murdaugh without incident as he changed the tire of his black Mercedes-Benz SUV on Salkehatchie Road.

But the driver of the truck then turned around and drove toward Murdaugh. Moments later, the gunman inside the truck opened fire, it has been alleged.

As of Monday, no arrests have been made.

 

[Sleuth307]

I know a lot of people are confused about the whole tire issue. What if the statement that he was “changing a tire” was really just paraphrased by the attorney? JMO, but he probably had just gotten out of the car to see what was going on with his tire (before he had even really made a decision how to handle it) and they pulled up to shoot. He told RM he had a flat tire, then after a game of telephone that morphed into “he was changing a tire.”

 

[Ann99]

I know a lot of people are confused about the whole tire issue. What if the statement that he was “changing a tire” was really just paraphrased by the attorney? JMO, but he probably had just gotten out of the car to see what was going on with his tire (before he had even really made a decision how to handle it) and they pulled up to shoot. He told RM he had a flat tire, then after a game of telephone that morphed into “he was changing a tire.”

I agree. Could have been any issue. Looking at the tire, etc.
Also the phrases regarding the truck.
Passed or passed by or turned around.
Impossible to understand which direction the truck was traveling initially and then turned around. Could have been behind AC or could have been oncoming in the other lane.
The entire scenario is nearly impossible to have an accurate understanding.

 

[sunshineray]

They apparently don’t think the locals need to protect themselves from identifying the vehicle or personal characteristics (brunette, bald, tall, short, young, old, male, female) of a homicidal maniac(s)!

SLED wants no help from the public tracking down said homicidal maniacs. The family lawyer and family members didn't think the vehicle make and model nor the occupants descriptions was appropriate information to release to the public either.

It doesn't really surprise me that SLED would be extremely tight-lipped about all that info but that the family wasn't more forthcoming about specifics, since they decided to talk to the media about some information. That's a bit odd to me.

One thing that really bothers me as a result, it may seem a small thing but to me it's big, is that through the family lawyer a family member describes the shooters vehicle as a "pick-up truck" but in SLEDS official press release they call it a "car".

 

[MrsWatson]

Are there a lot of black Mercedes SUV's in the area?

It's really hard to think this wasn't targeted. And I find it very unusual that AM would not use the church parking lot to check his tire rather than pulling over on that narrow road unless it was something immediately alarming. Doesn't look like a blow out tire, so why pull off there?

So much hinky about the whole thing.

At least AM is alive and will recover from his wound. Hopefully more information is forthcoming.

MOO

 

[EGirl]

IMO there is no way this was a drive by with the car not hit at all and Alex with a minor head wound. Wonder if we’ll see an arrest this week?

 

[Quill]

That is a good point.

In the upper south of my youth, every one I knew had a church affiliation of some sort. Likewise, even nominally religious / distantly affiliated families arranged for church funerals for relatives.

<modsnip>

Right now with the pandemic, many of my friends and neighbors who are still very active in churches are opting for small graveside services only due to keeping the gathering small and outdoors. Some have opted for no service at all. <modsnip>