SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #21

[Walela]

So do we think he will testify to explain this ‘small problem’ with his statements?

I don't think he'll testify. I think the defense will bring in drs and psychologists that will testify that the trauma of finding his family blown apart rendered him incapable of remembering anything accurately and yet at the same time, even though he's traumatized, he's able to think that he would be the logical suspect and therefore he lied. Basically saying, take your pick jury, he lied because he was afraid he would be a suspect or he lied because he was so out of it he couldn't remember accurately but he didn't lie because he was guilty.
jmo

 

[BeachSky]

Some of my favorite testimony from Blanca was about the designated storage locations for AM's clothes: closet shelf for casual, logo t-shirts, bottom bureau drawer for going to town (weekend) short pants, and the drawer above for the old and worn-out short pants.

And knowing the clothes and shoes on his back (and feet) would be confiscated by LE for testing, of course, AM was sure to dress from his easily disposable or well-worn wardrobe -- and not from his Vineyard Vines collection.

AM didn't rise early enough to pull anything over Ms. Blanca (or @Cindizzi, @Megnut, @Warwick7, ++). MOO

BBM
I said the same thing!
Big red flag …
He was stupid.


Team Blanca!
MOO

 

[gremlin444]

I also get the impression Maggie and Alex were more like friends to their boys rather than parental figures. After all, they constantly bought liquor for them whilst underage and hosted a lot of parties. My point, Alex comes off like a juvenile. I think there was arrested mental development in Alex's upbringing which probably carried over to the upbringing of Paul and Buster too.

The above BBM.

The thing that immediately sprang to mind is this still from a video Megan Doughty, Paul's girlfriend, submitted in an affidavit, as part of the Mallory beach civil suit.

Being fed an alcoholic shot by the bikini clad underaged girlfriend of your underaged son when you are a grown adult? Yeah, smacks of immaturity to me.

https://www.wsav.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/75/2022/05/mallory-and-alex-drinking.png?resize=665,720

 

[clearskies1]

So do we think he will testify to explain this ‘small problem’ with his statements?

I don't. I think DH will just be in the unenviable position of arguing in closing that these are plausible reasons based on the circumstances. JMO.

 

[BUF]

JMO but I’m thinking probably not.
The State has said they think or plan to wrap up their case by Wednesday.
Wish I knew if the Judge has definitely ruled it out ( the roadside thing.)
The Defense brought up Cousin Eddie’s name yesterday :

https://twitter.com/x/status/1624154457578651653

I agree. Prosecution still has to call the ME and SLED special agent Owen which we heard direct may take a full day.

Cousin Eddie is a gamble and they may not want to take it. moo

 

[Diddian]

The victim's car not searched? It must have been. That's why it was in impound no?

Wasn't it in impound after the roadside slashed tire/shooting? That is, Alex took to driving Maggie's car after the Moselle murders.

 

[Walela]

How is it all their properties didn't have security cameras? Was their homeowner's insurance THAT good that they didn't care about losing stuff in a burglary?

What I found really interesting (and perhaps, unrelated) was..... according to what I read/heard or watched, Mallory Beach's family hired a private detective to follow Paul. It was suggested that maybe cameras, like trail cams, were put up around his property surreptitiously. But I suppose if that was true, it didn't capture anything of value.

Does anyone know anything about Paul being tracked on behalf of the Beach family?

It was Parker, the store that sold the alcohol to PM. They hired a PI follow PM.
I have wondered about the lack of security cameras before and was told there were only trail cams around and going to the stands.
moo

 

[mrjitty]

I don't. I think DH will just be in the unenviable position of arguing in closing that these are plausible reasons based on the circumstances. JMO.

yeah

That is the kind of stuff that annoys me where counsel ends up sock puppeting a version that the accused doesn’t testify to …

 

[Warwick7]

I found Blanca to be one of the most credible witnesses to date. She had a professional history working with AM before ever meeting MM. In the end, she appeared to have MM's confidence, and her testimony to me came off as sincere and not trying to take sides.

Being honest about her recollection was sufficient to demonstrate how AM tried to influence her memory as to what he was wearing on June 7. She didn't have to say it -- his actions spoke louder than she could.

Her independent communication with MM also showed MM was lured to return to Moselle on June 7.

It was also clear the murders impacted her and she's grieving the loss of MM and PM. I found her emotion over the deaths of MM/PM more genuine than the husbands.

Surprisingly, Blanca also worked in both the State and Federal prison systems and I think she's since realized that the AM sitting at the defense table is very dangerous. She was only allowed to confirm that she and her police officer husband moved off of the Moselle property on the date of the phony driveby suicide but I wish she was allowed to say that was the moment she knew that AM was responsible for the murders of his family. MOO

ETA: Just as AM used the law firm's runner (Nathan Tuten) to routinely go to the bank to cash checks for AM, this similar check-cashing duty popular with the Murdaughs was assigned to Blanca. However, Blanca shared that MM needed the cash to pay the hired help and we can only speculate what AM was doing with his bank envelopes of cash.

BBM
This is so striking, she was lured to Moselle.

Also because of her we heard MM tell her that Alex wanted Paul there that night.

I hurt for her because, I feel she has put the puzzle pieces together and knows that he killed them...

 

[clearskies1]

Maybe I'm confused about Blanca's testimony. Was she saying that when AM left that morning that he was not wearing the blue shirt that he was seen wearing in the Paul/tree video later that day? If yes, why would it matter? I know AM was wearing a white tee shirt and shorts when LE arrived around 10:30pm. But why does it matter what shirt AM was wearing in the morning? Is it because a different morning shirt would mean three shirt changes that day? TIA.

ETA: Maybe he told LE that he changed once that day, from work clothes to the white tee/shorts, when in fact he changed three times -- morning polo shirt, blue shirt in video, white tee at the end. (Speculation, JMO).

 

[stmarysmead]

The above BBM.

The thing that immediately sprang to mind is this still from a video Megan Doughty, Paul's girlfriend, submitted in an affidavit, as part of the Mallory beach civil suit.

Being fed an alcoholic shot by the bikini clad underaged girlfriend of your underaged son when you are a grown adult? Yeah, smacks of immaturity to me.

https://www.wsav.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/75/2022/05/mallory-and-alex-drinking.png?resize=665,720

They all inew each other so well. Parents and children…fun in the sun.

Yet MM wouldn’t extend her influence to get the Mother of this dead girl beyond the crime scene tape.

 

[tmar]

Reading at a more relaxed pace today, so still have lots to catch up on, but go Blanca! I really enjoyed the more human side of MM and PM. The wedding ring in the car was interesting. I wonder why the PJs and underwear were laid out?

I have, in the past, watched the McStay famliy's murders, and the Jodi Aries trials, and in both was mislead by small, apparently interesting factoids about the murder sites. In the former, little domestic facts-the eggs were out of the fridge, credit card activity that day-were ultimately not important. Other minor details-the missing futon cover and dirty paint tray-were really critical. It will be interesting to see what will matter to this trial.

I wake up, in the early hours each morning to watch the trial here (Australia).
Cannot believe how manipulative this evil man has been to everyone around him.
How on earth can he sit there, while all his lies are revealed.
Surely, the stress +++ has a detrimental effect on his health (YIPPEE).
Learning a great deal how the wealthy live, while I'm driving to the market nearby, as food costs cheaper here, than in supermarkets.
Wonder, if these wealthy people have visited markets, as they count the millions they have 'stolen'.
How on earth, could he 'steal' from so many 'needy' families, and sit there, with his family support.
Pleased, he will forever, live in prison, no matter this outcome.
'Scum', to the core.

 

[Seattle1]

if i were the judge, buster the big spoiled brat, and his aunt would be banned from the court room.

I'd say they've been warned!

And, following the incident, ole DH ain't foolin' anybody with that passive-aggressive stunt of disrespect to the court by having Buster stand up in court for recognition, on DH's command. JMO

 

[Warwick7]

He was telling her he was going to stay with his parents, and she was worried it was wearing him out. However, the caregivers said he rarely was there at night. Oops.

If MM thought that's where Alex was, yet the caregivers said he rarely was there at night....well, where was he then??

 

[gremlin444]

Finding Maggie’s ring :

Around 1:08:00

For folks asking if the car cleaning was after the murders or the roadside shooting incident, look at 1:08:50. It was about a week after the murders, and Randy Murdaugh asked her and her husband to go pick it up from impound. The paint and pillows from the Edisto beach house remodel were still in it.

 

[bestill]

Since the killings happened less than 5 minutes later, they're going to have to claim that Alex left at that very moment to go back to the house, and that he somehow managed not to hear any of the shootings. And then that he left the house some 10 or 15 minutes later from that, which is also when he was then trying to call Maggie and text her without a response, but didn't think to simply go to the kennels to find her where he would have just left her. Not to mention also needing to explain why he told such humongous lies about his whereabouts to the police (and to his friends and family).

The last witness Nathan also brought up some bad points against Alex regarding the kennels. He said that they would have turned on the lights out there when it was dark. Apparently the lights were not on when Alex supposedly found them. Meaning an outside killer would have had to turn off the lights for some reason.

Defense have also been trying to say that the water on the ground was from them washing out the kennels at that time. But Nathan also testified that when they would wash out the kennels they would put the dog beds on top of the cages so they don't get wet. I'm sure the beds were not found on any cages that night. (Their defensiveness about this also convinces me that Alex did indeed wash something off out there.)

To be able to get in any explanation for all of that, I see no other way than for Alex to testify. But I don't see how that could be anything other than a disaster for the defense. Even if he managed to use his vaunted people skills on the stand, the jury has heard lots of testimony about how he has lied to his closest friends and family and fooled them for years and years, so whatever he says should get a lot of side eye.

To me, as soon as they got the cell phone timeline data in on when the phones go inactive combined with his voice being identified 100% on the kennel video, the case was over. Nothing other than his guilt explains that. Everything else is superfluous.

Great post!

I always listen closely to what a defense argues or brings up, often times it's an area that is weak for the defendant. They may know very well exactly what happened, and their line of questioning may really be telling the story. Such as, why didn't LE search the house more thorougly? (defense knows that LE missed evidence) - why didn't LE test the water around the kennels? (defense knows that this is where the defendent rinsed off his shoes, hands, etc.) - why didn't LE secure the crime scene better? (defense knows that LE allowed the scene to be contaminated by all of the visitors), etc...

Just my thoughts and I agree we need to be looking at everything AM related with a side eye.

 

[Tanager]

Maybe I'm confused about Blanca's testimony. Was she saying that when AM left that morning that he was not wearing the blue shirt that he was seen wearing in the Paul/tree video later that day? If yes, why would it matter? I know AM was wearing a white tee shirt and shorts when LE arrived around 10:30pm. But why does it matter what shirt AM was wearing in the morning? Is it because a different morning shirt would mean three shirt changes that day? TIA.

I could be wrong, but I think (per her testimony) he was wearing the same seafoam shirt in the video and when he left that am. The problem is that he never mentioned a shower or clothing change in his timeline in police interviews. He was wearing dingy white t-shirt #1 at the crime scene when police arrived and decoy t-shirt #2 is on the floor by the shower. Furthermore, he alluded to a Vinyard Vines t-shirt in his attempted manipulation of Blanca, which I think he purchased later to try to match the missing seafoam one.

It is, very intentionally, confusing.

Also, please dress up a bit more if you are allegedly going to visit your beloved mama, even if she is sound asleep and demented!

 

[LetsSolvIt]

This is my understanding: Paul's first AR had a scope. That gun was allegedly stolen around 2018. Buster's black AR also had a scope (this was the AR ID'd by NT in court). Paul's replacement (beige) AR did not have a scope when purchased but Paul and Will Loving added one on. This AR is now missing.

Your understanding stated above is exactly what I understood, too, but then I thought NT said the AR he was identifying in court was Paul's. Guess I heard it wrong.

 

[Walela]

Maybe I'm confused about Blanca's testimony. Was she saying that when AM left that morning that he was not wearing the blue shirt that he was seen wearing in the Paul/tree video later that day? If yes, why would it matter? I know AM was wearing a white tee shirt and shorts when LE arrived around 10:30pm. But why does it matter what shirt AM was wearing in the morning? Is it because a different morning shirt would mean three shirt changes that day? TIA.

Yes. She said he was wearing a "seafoam" (her word) colored polo shirt. She remembered because she adjusted his collar after he put on his jacket just before he left. Not the shirt in the tree video.

The state never asked her if she ever saw the polo shirt again so I'm assuming it was at the house. They did ask her if she ever saw the tree video shirt again and she said no. I have no clue, or even an idea, why it matters if he changed out of work clothes before going out with Paul to check the trees.
mo

 

[Knox]

Amen. I believe they were bigots and not very sophisticated. For Maggie to refer to her help as "Mexicans" was very telling. I think they employed people like slave owners once did. Sure they probably cared about them to a certain degree but I think that caring made their help almost idolize them. I don't sense any of the Murdaughs innately respected anyone or anything.

I also get the impression Maggie and Alex were more like friends to their boys rather than parental figures. After all, they constantly bought liquor for them whilst underage and hosted a lot of parties. My point, Alex comes off like a juvenile. I think there was arrested mental development in Alex's upbringing which probably carried over to the upbringing of Paul and Buster too.

Referring to a group of workers by their race is wrong, I don't care what part of the US you're from. If the group was white, what would she have called them? I agree with your opinions above.

As Blanca pointed out in her testimony - finding the dinner she made, in the fridge - pots with lids on, was unusual. This family didn't appear to tidy up after themselves, but left that type of thing to the "hired help".