Wow. The police-cam video embedded in the article is worth a listen. It doesn’t contain much new information and visually it might as well be a still shot but what’s said and how it’s said provides a lot of insight into personal dynamics.
What struck me first was the portion where you hear Paul talking to the police, giving his name snd saying “I’m fine”. He sounded like someone asked “are you OK” after accidentally bumping into him in a hallway. Not rattled. No concern about Mallory. Doesn’t sound remotely upset. (Interestingly, he also doesn’t sound drunk to me even though we know his BAL was off the charts. This is a guy who has had plenty of practice working to appear sober after consuming enough alcohol to put many of us under the table.)
Contrast that w/Connor who is clearly frantic about Mallory. It’s heartbreaking to listen to but telling. You can hear him lose it with Paul because Paul is smiling. He tells police to “keep that MF away from me” and shortly afterwards says to the cops
“Y’all know Alex Murdough? That’s his son. Gooood luck”. The distain in his voice was strong and the inference clear. Paul was untouchable. The comment’s made around the 12 minute mark and Connor’s tone even more than the words should convince anyone who has doubts that the Murdough’s held an incredible amount of power in that town.
