SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #18

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1621651995181387779

 

[pumpfe]

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks

The state needs to absolutely crush the closing arguments and remind jurors of the important things they heard.

Not to imply that we are anywhere close to closing arguments of course

Griffin is cross-examining Greer now. He establishes that Greer can't tell the jury that any of the weapons presented in court were used to kill Maggie or Paul

Griffin establishes that Buster’s .300 Blackout rifle was malfunctioning with Greer tested it. The gun wouldn’t automatically load the next cartridge after each shot. So Greer had to manually load it. That means the gun could not fire rapidly.

That's exactly what Griffin is trying to show here. They don't have the murder weapon.

Griffin gets frustrated that Greer isn’t answering his questions directly. Even on yes or no questions, Greer is instead turning to the jury and providing lengthy explanations in complete sentences. It has been confusing at times.

Griffin asks Greer if every single .300 Blackout in the world leaves its own signature tool mark on the shell casings it ejects. Greer doesn’t really answer. “It’s hard to say,” he said. But says he can still support his analysis.

Griffin is attacking the state's assertion that the shell casings around Maggie's body matches older shell casings on Moselle. Griffin has supposed different .300 Blackout rifles can leave the same mark.

I believe Griffin is more concerned about what the jury knows than what "everybody knows.”

This is how Greer answered questions in the pre-trial hearing as well. He is clearly well drilled.

We are deep in the weeds with Greer's testimony and my mentions reflect that.

Griffin now moves on to challenging the field of firearms identification in general. He says it is subjective, up to the interpretation of the person reviewing the tiny tool marks on shell casings and looking for matching marks.

Griffin: You agree that your chosen field is part art, as well as part science? Greer: It’s an applied science.

Griffin asks Greer if he is 100 percent certain the shell casings near Maggie's body were fired from the same gun as the older shell casings ejected elsewhere on the Moselle property. Greer declines to say 100 percent. But he says that is his conclusion.

Griffin steps down. Prosecutor David Fernandez is up on redirect now. Then Griffin will get to re-cross Greer. And then hopefully we can all go home and purge this from our memories.

After that cross-examination, Fernandez gives Greer a chance to defend his field. Greer says firearms identification analysis has been around since the early 1900s. It is widely accepted.

The jury was just excused and told to return at 11:30 a.m. Monday.

AM's path of destruction in the lives of those around him is incredible. I really hope the evidence of financial crimes can be shown to the jury. It changes everything.

I am assuming the the opoid addiction will be introduced at some point?. If so, will there be detail about where AM got the drugs from, or simply that he had a problem?

I hope the judge allows it too since it's a character issue/flaw with respect to AM. I think the defense may have opened the door to let that testimony in when they kept saying that AM was a loving father and husband.

 

[MrsWatson]

I may have missed this.

Does/did Alex have a girlfriend? Or other extra-marital interest?

 

[Elley Mae]

The three locations of the 300 black out casings on the moselle property was very telling to me even without the weapon knowing that there are weapons there/stolen.

Jmo

 

[cocky0]

I may have missed this.

Does/did Alex have a girlfriend? Or other extra-marital interest?

There have been rumors about a mistress, but nothing concrete.

 

[MrsWatson]

There have been rumors about a mistress, but nothing concrete.

Thanks. I'll go with no, then, for now.

No desire to dip my toe into what I imagine is an ocean of rumors about this case!

 

[Seattle1]

What I caught.

AM wanted to sell both Edisto & moselle, they both belonged to Maggie.

Selling moselle would have crushed PM, as RG testified to was that PM loved moselle.

And if MM wanted to sell the properties in her name, she'd also need AM's consent as a co-guarantor.

 

[Boodles]

Somebody looking to sue does a title search and only one name appears (i.e., on paper only).

Putting the property in MM's name did not relieve AM of his payment responsibility or remove AM's name from the bank loan or change the joint-ownership collateral.

But Moselle was owned by Maggie, 100% after AM xfer’d it to her in 2016, no?

 

[Seattle1]

As family law attorneys in Charleston, SC, we’ve been asked whether South Carolina is a community property state. The short answer is “no.” However, South Carolina is called an “equitable division,” sometimes referred to as a “separate property,” state.

[..]

In an “equitable division state,” such as South Carolina, most of the marital property is considered the “separate property” of the spouses. It does not matter who the property is titled or deeded to or whose name an account is in. All that matters is whether the property is marital or non-marital. We explain how it is determined whether the property is marital or non-marital here.

If you are getting a divorce in South Carolina, you can basically forget the term “community property” because it will not have an impact on your case at all.

Is South Carolina a Community Property State?

Our Charleston legal experts explain if South Carolina is a community property state and the difference between community property & equitable division.

www.charlestonlaw.net

 

[MrsWatson]

As family law attorneys in Charleston, SC, we’ve been asked whether South Carolina is a community property state. The short answer is “no.” However, South Carolina is called an “equitable division,” sometimes referred to as a “separate property,” state.

[..]

In an “equitable division state,” such as South Carolina, most of the marital property is considered the “separate property” of the spouses. It does not matter who the property is titled or deeded to or whose name an account is in. All that matters is whether the property is marital or non-marital. We explain how it is determined whether the property is marital or non-marital here.

If you are getting a divorce in South Carolina, you can basically forget the term “community property” because it will not have an impact on your case at all.

Is South Carolina a Community Property State?

Our Charleston legal experts explain if South Carolina is a community property state and the difference between community property & equitable division.

www.charlestonlaw.net

Another interesting financial aspect.

One that I bet AM was well aware of.

 

[arielilane]

Ive noticed that his sister doesn’t sit with Buster or any family. Unless I’ve missed it. I’d like to know how the family members position themselves, for or against him.

I’ve not noticed that… AM’s sister did not sit with the bunch today only because she arrived to court @regular scheduled time around 9:30. Buster and friends didn‘t arrive until just before 11:30 am when jury was going to be present.

With the exception of today, I noticed the crew (sis, son, bro, etc.) usually sit together directly behind AM.

moo

 

[Seattle1]

But Moselle was owned by Maggie, 100% after AM xfer’d it to her in 2016, no?

Nope.

 

[BUF]

'Murdaugh Murders' Saga: Curtis Eddie Smith To Point The Finger At Alex Murdaugh - FITSNews

According to multiple sources familiar with the contents of his envisioned testimony, Smith will tell jurors that Murdaugh confessed to him that he murdered his wife and younger son at the family’s hunting compound on June 7, 2021.
……
Murdaugh’s alleged confession to Smith was reportedly made 89 days after the killings during a bizarre roadside shooting incident that took place on the Old Salkehatchie Road.
……
Smith’s original statement to law enforcement was that he asked Murdaugh on the roadside what happened at Moselle three months earlier.

“It all got up,” Murdaugh allegedly told Smith.
……
Will the prosecution call Smith to the stand? It’s a gamble …

Clearly, testimony related to a confession from Murdaugh could be a key piece of evidence for jurors – but Smith’s credibility is likely to face withering scrutiny upon cross-examination from Murdaugh’s attorneys.

 

[arielilane]

'Murdaugh Murders' Saga: Curtis Eddie Smith To Point The Finger At Alex Murdaugh - FITSNews

According to multiple sources familiar with the contents of his envisioned testimony, Smith will tell jurors that Murdaugh confessed to him that he murdered his wife and younger son at the family’s hunting compound on June 7, 2021.
……
Murdaugh’s alleged confession to Smith was reportedly made 89 days after the killings during a bizarre roadside shooting incident that took place on the Old Salkehatchie Road.
……
Smith’s original statement to law enforcement was that he asked Murdaugh on the roadside what happened at Moselle three months earlier.

“It all got up,” Murdaugh allegedly told Smith.
……
Will the prosecution call Smith to the stand? It’s a gamble …

Clearly, testimony related to a confession from Murdaugh could be a key piece of evidence for jurors – but Smith’s credibility is likely to face withering scrutiny upon cross-examination from Murdaugh’s attorneys.

curious about how his credibility will be received w/the jury too. It will be interesting for sure. IMO.

 

[HawthorneJuniper]

My thoughts are going in circles trying to figure out why Alex picked that day to murder MM and PM.


Is it possible the motive for murdering MM and PM was AM "buying time" before his financial house of cards crumbled ? Alex gained control of MM's estate so would not need her agreeing to obtaining a new mortgage on one of the properties or could sell valuables she may have owned just to get some cash flowing in. He could have been hoping for a new settlement case so he would have access to PMPED's funds by claiming expenses for the case but pocketing the money.

Was his motive to avoid/put off having to disclose his financial information for the boat case hearing on the 10th ?

Was his motive simply to buy time to dig himself out of his financial crimes being exposed ?
If AM could have reimbursed the $792,000 would the PMPED CFO stop investigating AM's financial records within the law firm ? If he could get the Chief Financial Officer to stop investigating his business dealings would PMPED decide to drop the matter as long as AM resigned ?

Was he buying time in an attempt to avoid destroying the 100 year old Murdaugh legacy ?

My best guess, partly based on prior family annihilator cases, is that the confrontation at the law firm was the death knell. Once the firm found ONE thing, they would look and find ALL things. His whole world would be destroyed. His wife would know. Then the call about his father being terminal. Father was the fixer in the family. So Alex was on his own. He freaked, panicked, popped a few oxy's, I don't know the rest. Was he going to kill himself too and just leave the rest for Buster figuring he'd be OK as he was the smarter one and close to one of the saner uncles I think.

Who knows really. He'll never tell the truth. Maybe if someone else was involved, they'll tell. Those are the parts of the case I worry about. The act is so outside the scope of relatability for any normal person that it's hard to believe any husband/father would do this. If you get past how he could do it then you need the why.

Not legally, but with the evidence here, yeah, jurors will want to understand why. I don't know how the prosecution will present their entire theory of the case. (Oops, just realized I never listened to the Opening Statement) It seems like they're more focused on saying he was doing it for distraction & sympathy. I don't see that as much as him being a family annihilator type. But he DIDN'T kill himself so he wasn't too embarrassed for Maggie to find out I guess. Maybe he didn't care about Maggie at all and he just wanted her out of the way so he could sell the Edisto beach house. Who knows?

 

[Boodles]

Nope.

View attachment 399967

That’s the Edisto beach house, not the Moselle property though.

 

[cocky0]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1621606904676978690

I caution you guys to take what he says with a huge grain of salt. That said, he does have some good information from time to time.

 

[Luna20]

Exactly! It only takes one.

I’ve always thought it should be two because it’s likely there will be one.

 

[KellyConQueso]

AM made a 6 digit salary and was struggling for cash. I know they lived well, but was their money siphoning off somewhere else? Gambling? Blackmail? Something more than an opioid addiction was at play. JMO

I feel the same way and I can't believe whatever it was has not been disclosed yet. Let's say his so-called opioid addiction was costing him $1000/day (which would literally kill anyone even with a sky-high tolerance). That's $365,000/year which is not all that much compared to his salary + all the money he stole.

Something's missing...

 

[PaulaDC]

I'm stuck at the blue raincoat.

He must have put it on at the house, before going to the kennels. Had the rain started? He wanted to protect his button-down (seen in the earlier tree video) and just happened to have it on when a sudden need to kill arose? Or it was very intentional.

What was Maggie wearing? Did AM have the only rainwear in the group? When did he acquire it? Had anyone ever seen him wear it prior?

Did Alex have the prepared dinner? Did he mention his workmoneytroubles to Maggie? Then throw on his raincoat?

How will the inevitable television series present that final +/- hour?

The missing weapon. Is it missing because it has Paul's fingerprints on it? Did he attempt to wrestle it from his father, perhaps resulting in the catastrophic head wound when AM got control of the weapon?

On the jailhouse, is AM still chatting it up with family members? Holding court, as it were. Does NOTHING drop his ego down a peg? How is there even room in his small cell for his big head?

JMjumbledO

I haven't read too far ahead to see if anyone responded about the raincoat but they mentioned and we see water in/around the kennels. Could it be he wore the raincoat to rinse down the kennels normally? It wouldn't look odd to see him in it if that was the case. Just my thoughts