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

[Rush4087]

This one might be a reach..

Paul’s death prevented him from being tried and possibly found guilty of three felonies in the fatal boating accident.

AM and BM are being sued by Philadelphia Indemnity (in response to a coverage claim made by AM and BM pertaining to the accident). Philadelphia Indemnity is claiming that given the circumstances, they have no duty to defend or indemnify the two Murdaughs in the Beach lawsuit (this from an earlier post on this thread by clearskies 1).

Although Paul was not named in the civil suit, could the fact that he now cannot be convicted of the three boating under the influence felonies have any impact on whether Philadelphia Indemnity might have to honor/pay the Murdaugh’s claim? If so, there might be a motive there..

All complete conjecture

 

[stmarysmead]

Thank you for sharing! I noticed quite a bit of property in her name only. This info just adds more twists & turns followed by more question marks!

This is done to protect assets under certain circumstances. The fact that PM was facing trial draws attention to that situation, but we don’t know what other issues were occurring in the family.

I’m not saying this is the case here, but just speaking in general,sometimes family members are killed as a way to cause suffering to someone left alive.

 

[Scrupples]

Reading just part of the cousin’s deposition, has me backing away from the assumption that the boat crash figures in these murders….at least from the point of view of vengeance.

I think Paul would have had a hard time walking away from these charges with such testimony from a cousin and friend…and there is more than just this witness testimony. I think seeing him taken off to a jail cell and the family bereft and shamed would have sufficed for most people. Why do anything before the trial? Why not watch them all squirm in court? See what happens…

Power or not, many eyes would be on this trial.

I think this story will turn out to surprise us.

 

[Valiant]

Some thoughts:
I have not seen anything reported other than the father was "out shooting" that night. That could mean he was hunting, but it could mean he's at a gun range where there was lighting or even indoors. Most people I grew up with would say "hunting" if that's what they were doing or "shooting" if they were doing target practice or trying out a new gun.

If someone had some other grudge against these people, the boat crash revenge angle sure consumes all the attention.

Edit - fixed a type.

 

[Scrupples]

Reading just part of the cousin’s deposition, has me backing away from the assumption that the boat crash figures in these murders….at least from the point of view of vengeance.

I think Paul would have had a hard time walking away from these charges with such testimony from a cousin and friend…and there is more than just this witness testimony. I think seeing him taken off to a jail cell and the family bereft and shamed would have sufficed for most people. Why do anything before the trial? Why not watch them all squirm in court? See what happens…

Power or not, many eyes would be on this trial.

I think this story will turn out to surprise us.

This one might be a reach..

Paul’s death prevented him from being tried and possibly found guilty of three felonies in the fatal boating accident.

AM and BM are being sued by Philadelphia Indemnity (in response to a coverage claim made by AM and BM pertaining to the accident). Philadelphia Indemnity is claiming that given the circumstances, they have no duty to defend or indemnify the two Murdaughs in the Beach lawsuit (this from an earlier post on this thread by clearskies 1).

Although Paul was not named in the civil suit, could the fact that he now cannot be convicted of the three boating under the influence felonies have any impact on whether Philadelphia Indemnity might have to honor/pay the Murdaugh’s claim? If so, there might be a motive there..

All complete conjecture

This is what I thought...if there's no criminal conviction for accident, the civil trial may not be successful in the lawsuit against the Murdaugh. Eliminating the certain guilty verdict may eliminate civil case verdict. The whole scenario, including the police saying there's no risk to public, & there is no reward for information leads me to believe they have their suspect. <modsnip>

 

[bestill]

Welcome to websleuths @Scrupples

 

[CocoChanel]

Regarding the boat accident - I'm struggling with the fact that so many adults were at the oyster roast and not one of them prevented the kids from getting on that boat and heading for Beaufort when it was starting to get foggy and temps in the 50s. How did these older adults/parents think these kids were going to get the boat home after dark especially when they had been drinking ? And by kids, I mean late teens/early 20s.

Depositions released in Mallory Beach wrongful death lawsuit

According to depositions filed, the group of six attended an oyster roast on Paukie Island by boat on Feb. 23, 2019. It was cold and foggy.

Adults at the party asked them not to take the boat back because of foggy and misty weather conditions.

Some offered to drive them. But that didn’t happen, and the group left around midnight.

According to testimony, Paul was intoxicated at the party and insisted on driving his boat back.

“Adults” (but that technically means people 21 or over, so perhaps friends) DID attempt to dissuade PM and the others from taking the boat for the return trip. But those attempts failed, with tragic results. I have seen nothing that indicates ‘older adults’ or parents were there?

 

[moonriverfarm]

This case is "Who Killed Sara" mixed with "Your Honor". If you haven't watched the latter, you should.

 

[kaen]

Depositions released in Mallory Beach wrongful death lawsuit



“Adults” (but that technically means people 21 or over, so perhaps friends) DID attempt to dissuade PM and the others from taking the boat for the return trip. But those attempts failed, with tragic results.

I agree.

I think the issue is with the idea of "asking" rather than requiring that they didn't take the boat. The owner(s) of the boat is/are the person(s) who could have absolutely refused to let them take it back.

 

[stmarysmead]

Murdered Paul Murdaugh reportedly had more brushes with law

According to records obtained by the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, he received a traffic ticket in May 2020 for driving more than 15 mph over the speed limit, and was fined for a minor boating violation earlier this year in Charleston County.

In March, Paul Murdaugh received a ticket for boating with an expired fire extinguisher.
South Carolina Attorney General' Office
Paul was out on bond at the time of his death while facing charges of boating under the influence causing death and two counts of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury.

Two months after he was sprung from jail, a judge removed the only condition of his release — allowing him to travel outside the 14th Judicial Circuit, according to the news outlet.

Although he faced BUI charges, the state did not restrict him from drinking alcohol or driving a boat, the report said.

Prosecutors also did not ask the court to consider as evidence in Paul’s bond hearing a 2017 citation he received for possession of alcohol by a minor, according to the outlet.

 

[girlhasnoname]

Depositions released in Mallory Beach wrongful death lawsuit



“Adults” (but that technically means people 21 or over, so perhaps friends) DID attempt to dissuade PM and the others from taking the boat for the return trip. But those attempts failed, with tragic results. I have seen nothing that indicates ‘older adults’ or parents were there?

According to one of the depositions <the one from the girl> there were several sets of parents <hers> and other adults were at the 'party'. I'll see if I can find the link.

 

[Sustained]

“Adults” (but that technically means people 21 or over, so perhaps friends) DID attempt to dissuade PM and the others from taking the boat for the return trip. But those attempts failed, with tragic results. I have seen nothing that indicates ‘older adults’ or parents were there?

According to MA's deposition posted a few pages back, older adults/parents were at the oyster roast including her own parents.

 

[MrsWatson]

Murdered Paul Murdaugh reportedly had more brushes with law

According to records obtained by the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, he received a traffic ticket in May 2020 for driving more than 15 mph over the speed limit, and was fined for a minor boating violation earlier this year in Charleston County.

In March, Paul Murdaugh received a ticket for boating with an expired fire extinguisher.
South Carolina Attorney General' Office
Paul was out on bond at the time of his death while facing charges of boating under the influence causing death and two counts of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury.

Two months after he was sprung from jail, a judge removed the only condition of his release — allowing him to travel outside the 14th Judicial Circuit, according to the news outlet.

Although he faced BUI charges, the state did not restrict him from drinking alcohol or driving a boat, the report said.

Prosecutors also did not ask the court to consider as evidence in Paul’s bond hearing a 2017 citation he received for possession of alcohol by a minor, according to the outlet.

BBM

I wonder if that is normal in that court? Like the average joe would be granted the same privileges?

 

[girlhasnoname]

https://publicindex.sccourts.org/Ha...907685101106761141136569112971189898878811277

Yes on page 43, according to Miley, her parents were there, Madison's parents were there, the Z's were there and so on.

There were plenty of grown up adults that could have stopped that boat from leaving that night. IMO

 

[razzledazzle]

According to MA's deposition posted a few pages back, older adults/parents were at the oyster roast including her own parents.

Yes, she also stated that her parents had already left the party before they took the boat back out. I would venture to guess that there were older adults still there, but possibly not the actual parents. I wonder? I was talking to my 20 year old son about this case and he said rich kids and powerful parents are a whole other world.

 

[Valiant]

This is what I thought...if there's no criminal conviction for accident, the civil trial may not be successful in the lawsuit against the Murdaugh.

The burden of proof is less in a civil suit than a criminal suit. The OJ Simpson case is a perfect example. He was found not guilty in a criminal trial, but lost the lawsuit in a civil trial.

 

[Sustained]

Yes, she also stated that her parents had already left the party before they took the boat back out. I would venture to guess that there were older adults still there, but possibly not the actual parents. I wonder? I was talking to my 20 year old son about this case and he said rich kids and powerful parents are a whole other world.

Indeed - I'm not sure if the parents of the other kids are as wealthy or connected as the M's but rich kids tend to act out because they can and experience no backlash. PM most likely had a lot of $, dad's boat/cars to take as needed, and a lot of free time. It also seems when it comes to boating, there is a different sense of drinking while driving/boating than when in a car/truck. Probably because there is no traffic - just open water in most cases and less things to run into. The designated driver concept seems not to apply. And quite simply, I don't believe the legal penalties for BUI are as severe as for DUI.

And we don't know what condition the parents were in at the party - most of us have been to parties where parents/adults are worse abusers of alcohol than the kids. Combine that with the fact PM is a M and maybe parents didn't want to intervene.

 

[Knox]

https://publicindex.sccourts.org/Ha...907685101106761141136569112971189898878811277

Yes on page 43, according to Miley, her parents were there, Madison's parents were there, the Z's were there and so on.

There were plenty of grown up adults that could have stopped that boat from leaving that night. IMO

Definitely not arguing your point. But where did the oyster roast come in the number of stops that night? Just curious if it was early on in the evening.

 

[Sustained]

If the M's split time between Edisto Beach and Islandton, the killer(s) would have to have known that MM/PM were going to be staying at Islandton on June 7th and what time they would have fed and cared for the dogs. I sincerely doubt that MM/PM would have gone outside to the dog kennel unarmed if the dogs were furiously barking at something and I don't remember any of the M's weapons mentioned in the police report. I think we'll discover PM was the target and MM was murdered as she might have known the killer(s) or at a minimum was a witness.

JMO

 

[cvaldez1975]

This is what I thought...if there's no criminal conviction for accident, the civil trial may not be successful in the lawsuit against the Murdaugh. Eliminating the certain guilty verdict may eliminate civil case verdict. The whole scenario, including the police saying there's no risk to public, & there is no reward for information leads me to believe they have their suspect. <modsnip>

that didnt happen for OJ simpson.