SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #26

[Knox]

I’m wondering whether the scripture text was something he signed up for, like a daily devotional that was automatically sent to him each day. I know you can sign up to get emails like that.

But there was a name attached so likely not a mass send-out. Those usually have a numerical ID, not an actual name.

 

[Katrinepa]

Unfortunately, that comment,as reported by the media, is unconfirmed and was never put into evidence by the Prosecution. They gave us testimony that MM was worried about AM’s health, that she ordered juice for him, that her sister encouraged her to go to Moselle. But not that.

So either the media had sources that regulariy played them for fools, or the media played us. Or some entity wanted false information to become part of the ‘history’ of this case.

So much media garbage is imbedded in our minds. If the prosecution had this statement, it would have certainly been offered as part of the case. I certainly quoted it and believed it…until trial.

Otherwise, your point is well taken.

Blanca Did testify that Maggie said he was keeping secrets, not telling her everything, and by many accounts she was becoming aware of some financial issues. After all, she did own a couple properties on her own, so who knows. Perhaps, a wife of one of those he stole from/didn't pay back etc. told her something...I think there is still much we do not know. The Mob mentality goes deep in this area. MOO In any case, this is a tragedy, damaging many people, some we will never know about. So sad for all the victims.

 

[Cedars]

Good points. I think EDB said she thought prosecuting all the Very Provable Financial crimes first would have been better, but for me, I was angry that it took LE a Year to even Arrest him. How many other crimes might he have committed in that year? HIs influence let him literally get away with murder IMPOV.

Agree, ridiculous to waste court time on the financial crimes, if this can be proven they'll get confessions or just drop other charges...what's the point if he's serving life in prison anyway

 

[Regal Beagle]

I am amazed when I watch or listen to the interviews given by AM & Russell Lafitte. They both have an innate ability to come across as completely genuine, just a normal guy. They were taken advantage of just like everyone else. Even CW has this ability. All the lawyers that testified. How is it possible to have so many guys from this small area have this same master level talent? Do they teach a class on this in K-12?

 

[Area52]

I loved listening to Vinnie Politan on court tv talking about how the prosecution could sum up the closing arguments in just a few lines
" at 8:44 pm, there were 3 people at Moselle. Two of them are dead, and one of them is a liar!
Sounds very simple to me!!! MOO

 

[Regal Beagle]

I know people react differently, but if that was me, I would be not be within eye sight of my dead family members as police taped off the scene and started investigating. Even once sheets were placed over them I would want to be away from the horror. Seems very odd to me that he is hanging around there. Is he there to keep tabs on LE? JMO.

And repeated calls family members to see how soon they will be arriving. Who does this?

 

[Kroni]

I don't think that lying about not being at the kennels. And then state proving he was there..is circumstantial

BIB

They have a video that directly proves the accused was at the crime scene at the time of the murders.
us
Not trying to dissuade you, but clearly the case is not 100% circumstantial.

As I watched Officer McDowell’s bodycam footage, it occurred to me (and, apologies if this has been mentioned - trying to keep up with the whirlwind of activity on this case - but, I’m wondering if AM may have had some sort of vehicle (golf cart/ATV) parked on the gravel road partially blocking MM’s view of the area where PM was shot. We don’t really know where MM was standing prior to PM being shot, presuming he was the first one killed. AM could have been crouched down beside/behind/in front of that vehicle, out of MM’s view, and shot PM. Perhaps because of his positioning, the first shot did not kill as intended. The second gun could have been resting on the golf cart/ATV/ground and AM simply dropped the first weapon, picked up the second one and walked towards MM.​

My heart truly aches for MM and PM - the bewilderment and terror they must have felt.​

View attachment 403999

View attachment 403998​

Source for photos: Officer Buford McDowell Bodycam Footage ​

​

Did you notice the officer talking to others about Paul's wounds and the fact about his brains on the ceiling suggested that the gun was pointed upward from a lower position indicating suicide but that couldn't explain Maggie and also the amount of catridges found at the scene.

 

[Regal Beagle]

I loved listening to Vinnie Politan on court tv talking about how the prosecution could sum up the closing arguments in just a few lines
" at 8:44 pm, there were 3 people at Moselle. Two of them are dead, and one of them is a liar!
Sounds very simple to me!!! MOO

THAT IS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!!!

 

[10ofRods]

Blanca Did testify that Maggie said he was keeping secrets, not telling her everything, and by many accounts she was becoming aware of some financial issues. After all, she did own a couple properties on her own, so who knows. Perhaps, a wife of one of those he stole from/didn't pay back etc. told her something...I think there is still much we do not know. The Mob mentality goes deep in this area. MOO In any case, this is a tragedy, damaging many people, some we will never know about. So sad for all the victims.

Maybe some day, someone will interview a lot of people and write a book about this place (like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). It would be fascinating.

If it's true that Maggie had only $57 in her checking account (am I remembering that properly?) then yeah, she knew there were financial problems. IMO.

 

[Knox]

I know people react differently, but if that was me, I would be not be within eye sight of my dead family members as police taped off the scene and started investigating. Even once sheets were placed over them I would want to be away from the horror. Seems very odd to me that he is hanging around there. Is he there to keep tabs on LE? JMO.

I feel the same. I also didn't realize, until watching that video - how close Paul & Maggie's bodies were to each other.
I wonder where she was when Paul was shot? From her location, it looks like she was running from the kennels when shot?

 

[Katrinepa]

The prism each of us look through and see things at the same angle or a different one. Reasonable doubt another factor that each of deal with everyday of our lives this case taking the main stage at this point. It's not a far stretch looking at this from the human frame of mind for one to go from stealing everything in sight to murder and understand that many as well cannot find the connective tissue to see the path leading up to the murders, some stones are still missing but the ones still in place are real good fire starters. For me I ask myself after following this case from the start with the financial chaos, coverup's, roadside shooting clown act along with tech data gathered about videos, vehicle data and phone data...Ask myself would I trust this man with my life?, with my families life?, NO!. A question for others to chew on as well without listening to all the white noise babble, would they trust this man with their lives as well?. I personally refuse to put on my rose colored glasses to avoid the reality of human nature when they feel their backs against a wall. Wearing those glasses at this point would be like calling for a uber then watching a hurst pull up and some guy cloaked in black telling me to get in, I'll just thumb for a ride home thinking my odds of making it there would be better. Just my view through the prism tis all.

Amen!

 

[justtrish]

RSBM

Because my main anorak focus/fascination is crime scene staging, i've found it quite interesting what "people want' in terms of evidence, and why so much doubt is exhibited over seemingly obvious things. My 02c observations

1. Direct Evidence - you'll often see people demanding 'direct' evidence like blood spatter on the defendant's clothes, and in absence of such evidence, claim the case is purely circumstantial. Such spatter is actually circumstantial - so what i believe they really mean is they don't like making inferences unless there is truly no other possibility.

2. Priced in evidence - sometimes the best evidence against the accused is known from the start and becomes priced in... so somehow the prosecution requires even better evidence if they have no surprise bombshell. IMO Pistorius is the gold standard of this phenomenon. He was fairly obviously guilty from the start, but then what was known was treated as simply the baseline for a contrarian defence where somehow only defence counsel had understood the 'real timeline'

3. Wild speculation ≠ reasonable possibilities - anything that is speculated into existence by defence counsel, somehow has to be disproved. Even where the defendant himself never actually asserted the thing in a statement that is in evidence.

It's fascinating in the current case where the defendant obstructed the investigation, staged the crime scene and constructed a false alibi and it is obvious he is the reason why we don't have the spatter, the murder weapons etc, TV experts nevertheless complain the case is weak compared to some alternate case they imagine could be presented.

Yet how can any of this be explained short of his guilt?

We basically do have half a dozen notarised confession videos ... but somehow they are seen as a point of departure

YES! Thank you for breaking this down so very clearly. I can't wrap my head around some of the comments about not enough evidence and not being convinced and about the state throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. I know we all come at things with different life experiences and various ways of looking at things, but to say there is not evidence or that the state is just throwing things at the wall or that somehow charges never should have been filed I just can't see any path to this way of thinking. Those points of view attempt to excuse every single piece of circumstantial evidence with some excuse that looks favorable to Alex and sure one or two things that are coincidence I could dismiss if everything else pointed to him being innocent and not being present. It's just the opposite. He lied about everything. When he left work, how long he road the property, not being at the kennel, didn't recall when he changed clothes and made something up when confronted with the snapchat video, he has Blanca clean up the house, he wants people to lie for him, he's trying to contact Paul's friend frantically.. it's just so many things that would just be coincidence.. AND then add in some other person/people with reason to kill Paul and Maggie and happen to show up and do it while he's gone and use the victims own weapons to do it. It just defies any logic in this case, but people still want to see more evidence. The investigators messing up some of the investigation doesn't change the fact that Alex lied a lot and everything they do have points right to him. That is a distraction from the obvious evidence. Finding more evidence at the house would have pointed even more to Alex, not to someone else so wishing we had it is one thing, but thinking that anything at the house would exclude Alex is where I can't agree with.

 

[Kroni]

I feel the same. I also didn't realize, until watching that video - how close Paul & Maggie's bodies were to each other.
I wonder where she was when Paul was shot? From her location, it looks like she was running from the kennels when shot?

Me too. Then you bring in the 20 second issue and to be it appears more plausible from this scene. I don't think at that point I would hang around defenseless not knowing if the perpetrator could still be there waiting for me (explanation of immediately getting a gun from the house). However, when they are talking to him he gives exact information as to their names, date of birth, etc. I would be so grief stricken and in shock I don't think I would be able to communicate that well, but you know people react differently.

 

[Katrinepa]

Agree, ridiculous to waste court time on the financial crimes, if this can be proven they'll get confessions or just drop other charges...what's the point if he's serving life in prison anyway

I'm not a numbers person, but if the victims can recover any of the stolen monies, it's worth prosecuting All the crimes. If they find accomplices during the investigation of Each, they will have another avenue to recoup from, possibly.

 

[justtrish]

To me the lying about being at the kennel just minutes before the murders is something the defense can't overcome. He not only omitted being down there, he flat out denied it when asked directly. He also made other statements like he wasn't sure where they went because he woke up and they were both gone. So him napping is his way of excusing the fact they could have been murdered while he was still there (which he knows is true because he murdered them).. so if some evidence comes to light that shows they were killed at a specific time and he didn't leave yet, he has covered his butt because he was napping. Him going above that thought and saying he didn't go to the kennels, didn't know where they went and then even past that he calls and texts Maggie several times.. if he wanted to reach her so badly, he would have stopped at the kennels on his way out. He couldn't admit to that because they were already dead.

 

[Loveallmyhorsesdogsandcats]

IMO anyone capable of stealing from the Satterfield sons is capable of anything. JMO.

Agree, no conscious, able to justify to himself any action he deemed necessary. I don’t think he has the ability to be emotionally attached to anyone despite being very adept at mimicking genuine emotion. The defenses attempt to rehabilitate his character at any opportunity given is ridiculous because his actions belie any perceived "goodness". MOO

 

[Boodles]

I'm curious how the defence intend to create a rationale for AM lying about being at the Kennels. I feel they need something for a juror to latch on to, no matter how tenuous.

A significant issue for me, in determining whether there is any reasonably possibly true version for the defence, is that the obstruction of AM begins in the very first minute after the 'discovery' of the bodies.

He begins to mislead by omission, immediately during the 911 call which begins only 20s after he reaches the scene, and heavily once first responders arrive.

What can be the thought process here? It's not like he has had a chance to think anything through. And he has a solid alibi, so what possible innocent explanation can there be?

I don't see how you make it work.

I don’t think, as of Friday, they have decided whether to agree that Alex was at the kennel, or whether to dispute it. It was something Harpootlian said when examining a witness where he said (paraphrasing) “Alex being at the kennel…OR if you believe he wasn’t at the kennel…” That made me think they’re still deciding which story to spin and whether Alex testifies that he was at the kennel (or “I must have been”) but the shock and trauma affected my memory “badly.”

I think they’re prepping him to testify, but waiting until they see how things go with their defense witnesses and the State’s effectiveness at cross examination to decide.

JMO.

 

[Edvis]

Did you notice the officer talking to others about Paul's wounds and the fact about his brains on the ceiling suggested that the gun was pointed upward from a lower position indicating suicide but that couldn't explain Maggie and also the amount of catridges found at the scene.

Suicide with shotgun, not impossible but talk about awkward positioning to pull it off. If PM was really thinking of that route out there were pistols available for him to obtain one. More often then not those who plan on going through with suicide seek a place away from family and others IMO.

 

[Elley Mae]

To me the lying about being at the kennel just minutes before the murders is something the defense can't overcome. He not only omitted being down there, he flat out denied it when asked directly. He also made other statements like he wasn't sure where they went because he woke up and they were both gone. So him napping is his way of excusing the fact they could have been murdered while he was still there (which he knows is true because he murdered them).. so if some evidence comes to light that shows they were killed at a specific time and he didn't leave yet, he has covered his butt because he was napping. Him going above that thought and saying he didn't go to the kennels, didn't know where they went and then even past that he calls and texts Maggie several times.. if he wanted to reach her so badly, he would have stopped at the kennels on his way out. He couldn't admit to that because they were already dead.

I remember at least one of Paul’s friends said if they were at the hangers that Alex/Maggie would stop by there on their way out.

 

[Boodles]

MM must have bern fond of Bubba or one of them. Didn’t BM put a litgle dog toy on his Mother’s grave?

Speaking of which, I hope that wasn’t a Defense PR move and thry alerted the media to be there, take pictures. The idea would be that BM loved his Mother and wouldn’t be supporting AM if he killed her.

Oh boy. I’m so naive sometimes. I was livid at the Daily Mail (or whichever publication it was) for stalking and invading Buster’s privacy. But now that you mention it, my cynical side says “hmmm…I bet it was a PR ploy.”