SC - Paul Murdaugh, 22 and mom Margaret, 52, found shot to death, Islandton, 7 June 2021 #6

[sunshineray]

With all the media coverage you would think the people who picked him up would come forward with their story.

JMO

Unless LE asked them not to talk to media.

 

[Snoopster]

Paul and Margaret cannot speak for themselves, so we have no choice but to wait for independent corroboration regarding their timelines. Alex, on the other hand, is alive and can speak for himself.

In the two links I provided regarding Alex's activities prior to discovering the bodies, one mentions that he checked on his mother as well.

But you mentioned that AM was at the hospital at 9:00 pm. Please don't post this as a fact. We have no idea when AM was at the hospital. He might have been there at 4pm for all we know. I worry others will quote your post as fact regarding the timing.

 

[Snoopster]

Did Paul state that he only drank alcohol purchased using his brother's ID?

I'm pretty sure Paul couldn't have stated anything that could have been relied on that evening. He was clearly blotto, and even stopped in a bar in Beaufort to seal the deal.

 

[Colorado303]

i’m referring to the first part. Where he says “the murders have CAUSED an incredibly difficult time in my life and I have made some decisions I regret.”

i’m reading that as whatever he did, he did it after the murders. Namely, the embezzlement.

I agree with you that the last part implies he has had a long-standing drug addiction, which has grown worse recently, but I don’t believe he has a drug addiction. I think that’s a cover to keep police away from him and explain his behaviors.

He may be in rehab for something other than substance abuse. Gambling addictions can be very expensive. As can sex addictions.

I’m wondering why he was headed to Charleston in the middle of the weekend. He obviously wasn’t going there for a case or a client. Do we know how often and why he visited Charleston?

 

[sunshineray]

Well I decided to go ahead and look up the legal liability of the party hosts and liquor store clerk. It's kind of complicated because there is no explicit law regarding it but the South Carolina Supreme Court did establish a legal precedent regarding civil liability in 2008.

SC Judicial Department

What it works out to is that in a case where a third party is injured by an underage adult, a social host is 20% liable for damages if they knowingly served such a person. It seems that the court affirms a social host has no obligation to stop an intoxicated person from driving. The clerk who sold the alcohol could bear both criminal and civil responsibility if he was aware he was selling to someone underage which is probably why the use of Buster's ID was established (it was probably scanned and electronically associated with the purchase).

Now its quite possible that all the details we know about these specifics were orchestrated from the beginning by people who were well aware of the letter of the law but the facts as we know them seem to absolve anyone but the boat operator of any technical liability.

So in SC if you have video of an establishment serving alcohol to an underaged person and they then, by their inebriated negligence, keave that establishment and cause a wrongful death, that establishment is not considered culpable at all?

 

[Colorado303]

But you mentioned that AM was at the hospital at 9:00 pm. Please don't post this as a fact. We have no idea when AM was at the hospital. He might have been there at 4pm for all we know. I worry others will quote your post as fact regarding the timing.

We don’t even know if he was at the hospital at all, do we?

 

[Harikari]

If AM showed up at the hospital following being shot and they administered pain medication would him being addicted to Opiates mean his tolerance was low and he had to come clean so he could have better pain management? I don't know how Opiates work.

No addict would come clean for that reason, but yes an addict could have a higher tolerance if they take them a lot. And, there are plenty of people who don’t get help from certain meds regardless of having a history of addiction or not. Aaannnddd, there are plenty of people who Need opioids daily, are taking them legally and if they need breakthrough pain meds for a situation like this - and it’s legit to ask for that. So it’s Very complex.

 

[Snoopster]

We don’t even know if he was at the hospital at all, do we?

No we don't. But I'd be surprised if he wasn't, since it would be easily checked.
But we don't know the timing, and the wording was vague around that, but implied "just dropped him off", which I believe to be misleading. "Just" can mean "just that day".

 

[Diddian]

So in SC if you have video of an establishment serving alcohol to an underaged person and they then, by their inebriated negligence, keave that establishment and cause a wrongful death, that establishment is not considered culpable at all?

The plaintiff originally sued multiple parties - among them that establishment in Beaufort - and subsequently removed several of those parties from the suit, which likely means settlements were already reached with all those parties no longer listed as defendants.

 

[Colorado303]

You can't tell me RM doesn't know anything. He's always the first person AM calls.

He may be the first person AM calls because he believes everything AM tells him. Probably not, but could be. AM’s assumed alibi for the murders came out of Randy’s mouth, not LE. The circumstances leading to AM’s head shot came from Randy, not LE. I assume Randy is a bright enough lawyer to know public lies can come back to haunt you. So I wonder if he knows what’s coming out of his mouth is a bunch of spoon-fed malarky. To some degree his statements remind me less of an attorney than a trusting brother. If that’s the case (and I’m not saying it is or isn’t—only Randy and AM know) he’s in the middle of a nasty awakening and I feel bad for him.

JMO

 

[LotusPawprint]

Why not? Everyone takes pics and recordings now to release to media for dollars. In a case as big as this I couldn't see why a couple of people in a, lets say, lower median income area, would not talk to MSM about it. Fox, Daily Mail and other channels would pay for an interview with them. So why haven't we heard from them since it would be to the Murdaugh families benefit since it would back up AM's story. They could even tell us whether it really was a superficial VS serious entry, exit wound. If they saw another vehicle in the vicinity. You would think RM or Griffin would be setting up their interview themselves.

JMO

Maybe they feel like they did their part. For as many people who take recordings of incidents and talk with news outlets for money, there are still a lot of people who don't want any part of that, and
Whether they had any idea who the Murdaughs were or not or were aware of what's been happening, I think it would be reasonable that they would not want their name or face known, or to have their account of what took place and maybe even their backgrounds analyzed and scrutinized.
The only thing that matters is they are speaking with LE. They don't owe the Ms, their attorneys, or the public anything else.

I am not saying I'm not interested in what they have to say or that they will speak publicly, but imo there is nothing strange at all about US not hearing from them.

 

[sunshineray]

The plaintiff originally sued multiple parties - among them that establishment in Beaufort - and subsequently removed several of those parties from the suit, which likely means settlements were already reached with all those parties no longer listed as defendants.

Ok so they settled out of court to spared their business prolonged attention. Thanks for your answer, it calmed me down about it, a bit.

 

[clearskies1]

So in SC if you have video of an establishment serving alcohol to an underaged person and they then, by their inebriated negligence, keave that establishment and cause a wrongful death, that establishment is not considered culpable at all?

The Mallory Beach wrongful death lawsuit apparently initially named four defendants, the gas station/convenience store, the bar, and a married couple. Family of teen killed in Lowcountry boating incident files wrongful death lawsuit
At some point, Paul's grandfather was also named as a defendant. The bar, the couple and the grandfather were then removed from the suit. 3 defendants removed from Mallory Beach wrongful death lawsuit | WSAV-TV

 

[sunshineray]

He may be the first person AM calls because he believes everything AM tells him. Probably not, but could be. AM’s assumed alibi for the murders came out of Randy’s mouth, not LE. The circumstances leading to AM’s head shot came from Randy, not LE. I assume Randy is a bright enough lawyer to know public lies can come back to haunt you. So I wonder if he knows what’s coming out of his mouth is a bunch of spoon-fed malarky. To some degree his statements remind me less of an attorney than a trusting brother. If that’s the case (and I’m not saying it is or isn’t—only Randy and AM know) he’s in the middle of a nasty awakening and I feel bad for him.

JMO

Older brother steps in to help younger brother, probably have had that dynamic all their lives.

 

[otto]

According to the deposition of one of the kids on the boat, one of the owners of the party house was a principal of a school. When I read that I just could not fathom a principal of a school letting underage kids drink at his house.

JMO

It sounds like other adults at the party, who witnessed drunk Paul round everyone up to go drunken boating, had a responsibility to stop Paul. If Buster can be blamed after Paul used his ID (which doesn't resemble Paul), then so can alcohol sellers who accepted ID with the wrong photo, and so can the adults who did nothing to stop Paul from drunk boating.

 

[sunshineray]

The Mallory Beach wrongful death lawsuit apparently initially named four defendants, the gas station/convenience store, the bar, and a married couple. Family of teen killed in Lowcountry boating incident files wrongful death lawsuit
At some point, Paul's grandfather was also named as a defendant. The bar, the couple and the grandfather were then removed from the suit. 3 defendants removed from Mallory Beach wrongful death lawsuit | WSAV-TV

Yes the store and the bar being caught on video, strong evidence in my mind. Thanks for your answer.

 

[otto]

Well I decided to go ahead and look up the legal liability of the party hosts and liquor store clerk. It's kind of complicated because there is no explicit law regarding it but the South Carolina Supreme Court did establish a legal precedent regarding civil liability in 2008.

SC Judicial Department

What it works out to is that in a case where a third party is injured by an underage adult, a social host is 20% liable for damages if they knowingly served such a person. It seems that the court affirms a social host has no obligation to stop an intoxicated person from driving. The clerk who sold the alcohol could bear both criminal and civil responsibility if he was aware he was selling to someone underage which is probably why the use of Buster's ID was established (it was probably scanned and electronically associated with the purchase).

Now its quite possible that all the details we know about these specifics were orchestrated from the beginning by people who were well aware of the letter of the law but the facts as we know them seem to absolve anyone but the boat operator of any technical liability.

Thank you for clarifying! Thinking this through ...

Host is 20% liable if they served the underage person. Affidavits state they got alcohol from the boat. Therefore, the host is not liable for Paul drinking or drunk boating.

The clerks who sold alcohol should be liable, as they should have seen that Paul did not resemble the ID photo. Paul and Buster do not look alike. However, if unaware for any reason, not liable.

That leaves Buster, who leant his ID to Paul, whose parents condoned his alcoholism ... and so on down the line until insurance companies successfully argued that they will not cover wrongful death liability.

Still, if I were a lawyer, which I am not, I would argue that Buster has partial liability (perhaps 20%, similar to hosts?) because he contributed to the accident by lending his ID to Paul. However, Paul may have obtained alcohol at the party, therefore may have become lethally drunk with party alcohol. I don't think that can be excluded. I think it can be argued that Buster is, at most, 20% liable, but given his youth, maybe 3% liable. ... but I'm not a lawyer.

 

[Colorado303]

With all the media coverage you would think the people who picked him up would come forward with their story.

JMO

Not me. If I were driving along and found someone who had been injured I would stop and help. But regardless of circumstances I’d have zero interest in being publicly identified let alone make a public statement. That said, I seldom post on SM and value my privacy, so I’m atypical.

However if I discovered the person I’d rescued was AM, my next few weeks would be quietly spent someplace where no one could find me. What rationale person would volunteer to be publicly associated with this mess?

 

[otto]

Two things I note about this, it does not list rifle wounds as a contributing cause of death and the onset of death is listed as seconds to minutes rather than instantaneous so we might assume that the wounds were not catastrophic, perhaps fired from some distance. That is if the coroner even makes a distinction between instantaneous and "seconds to minutes"

I also was a little surprised at cremation. I would have expected the Murdaughs to be the burying types.

Was Margaret buried next to her mother or grandmother? I came across an obituary while researching the details of the murders. Perhaps Paul wanted to be cremated?

Seconds to minutes is interesting. I wonder whether that is related to the posture he was in when found. Perhaps he bled out. He was shot once in the head and once in the chest? Sounds like heart and brain - hard to survive that.

 

[RAISINISBACK]

Suggest you pop some popcorn before reading this one

Murdaugh Murders: Embezzlement Claims Raise Stakes Of True Crime Drama

Hmmmmm.....guess we will be seeing "stay tuned, more to come".



endured a Labor Day weekend meltdown of Biblical proportions. Murdaugh’s weekend featured a roadside shooting, admissions of opioid addiction, a helicopter flight to the hospital, a subsequent trip to rehab, rumors of multiple mistresses …

Late last week, a source who spoke confidentially with one of the defense attorneys working the Murdaugh case reached out to me. According to this source, the attorney described the unraveling saga as something akin to “an episode of Ozark.” That’s a reference to the Netflix hit in which a financial advisor from Chicago (portrayed by Jason Bateman) drags his family against its will to rural Missouri – where they become key cogs in a massive money laundering operation at the behest of a Mexican drug cartel.

Another source close to the same attorney claimed they made a similar reference earlier last week comparing the Murdaugh case to Ozark.

Meanwhile, late last week an ominous email began making its way through South Carolina legal circles. I have been warned against quoting directly from this message, but it hints in no uncertain terms that the embezzlement allegations leveled by PMPED against Alex Murdaugh are just the beginning of a much larger scandal – one that is going to metastasize far beyond the family, the firm and the fourteenth circuit.

The email referenced compromised judges, financial institutions, law firms and elected officials – and intimated that the tentacles of corruption reached far beyond the borders South Carolina.

A source who forwarded the email to me spoke of “genuine panic” within the state’s legal community, adding that “while they may not know it yet, everyone in this state knows someone, perhaps many, in severe legal jeopardy right now.”

Local sources have offered similarly dire predictions.
“If Alex Murdaugh and his family goes down, there’s a lot of people – maybe a whole system – going down with them,” one Hampton native told me on Saturday. “There’s nobody who didn’t want to be on the Murdaughs’ payroll.”