SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #31

[Smelly Squirrel]

I'm also new to this trial, saw the documentary on Netflix. Very fascinating.

Can someone tell me what is the significance of his clothes "being everywhere" and the tarp?

Alex was wearing different clothes when police showed up than he was in a Snapchat video that Paul made earlier that night, which was also different than the clothes Alex wore when he went to work. So he made a couple of quick changes. One was to get rid of his murder clothes. The clothes you wore earlier in the night have never been seen again.

The tarp issue is that a caregiver at his mom's house says she saw him carrying in a blue tarp early one morning about a week after the murders. LE retrieved a blue raincoat that does look very much like a tarp from the back of a closet at that house and that raincoat tested positive for GSR. So it's possible that he used that raincoat to carry and hide the murder weapons.

 

[BrownRice]

Yes! Christian Longo is another one. By all accounts a very loving father and husband. When his lies about his fake jobs and money troubles were about to be exposed he killed his wife and 3 small children

Christian Longo - Crime Museum

At first glance, Christian Longo appeared to be an attractive and charming family man. Friends, family, and the entire nation was stunned when he turned out to be a cold-blooded killer. In the late 1990s, Christian Longo’s life with his wife Mary Jane and three children Zachary, Sadie, and...

www.crimemuseum.org

Urgh…so many of these family killers. I forgot about him!

 

[sunshineray]

I was just coming in here to post about this as we just got home from dinner and a friend sent me this. YIKES

I have not found out what it was for though.

Contraband...a book

 

[skyedaze]

Well, what kind of book?

Murder for Dummies

 

[10ofRods]

I agree -- and it sent shivers down my spine when Maggie's sister, MP, told us what he said: that whoever did it had been planning it for a long time.

The thing I really don't understand is why would he have to plan a crime like that for a long time. It was so poorly done, and he could have stashed the clothes and guns on the same day or a day ahead of the murders. Was that the best he could do? And why that particular day?

Can you think of better planning on the part of a convicted first degree murderer?

Most criminals think they've planned to the Nth degree. How was it poorly done? He may well get away with it, still. If so, his best was good enough.

Respectfully, why does the day matter? He had made up his mind, needed to get them both to Moselle, that day worked out.

I don't need an immediate trigger in this case - but I do think that if MM and PM had returned the pills to AM, this might not have happened. He's an addict of historic proportions.

IMO.

 

[Loveallmyhorsesdogsandcats]

I'm also new to this trial, saw the documentary on Netflix. Very fascinating.

Can someone tell me what is the significance of his clothes "being everywhere" and the tarp?

Shelly Smith, the caregiver of his mother, testified that AM was carrying a crumpled/wadded up blue tarp or rain coat - not sure what it was- when he came to visit his mother. Later when the house was searched there was a neatly folded blue tarp in a closet and also a crumpled blue rain coat. LE took the raincoat, tested it for GSR, found a ton on the inside. Theory is AM wrapped the raincoat around the weapons to carry them.

Blanca, the housekeeper, testified what clothing AM went to work in that day. There is a snapchat video made after work showing AM in different clothes, had already changed out of work clothes. When police arrived AM was in a 3rd set of clothes. Theory is he was wearing the second set when he killed his family, changed into 3rd set. Police never asked for 2nd set and AM has never produced the shirt to be tested. Defense is saying shirt could be anywhere because he has clothes all over the place. If I were AM, I would be finding that shirt if I had nothing to hide. MOO

 

[10ofRods]

When I heard that Alex would testify, I thought the verdict might swing to "hung jury." He's a tall, blond, charming lawyer who talks circles around almost everyone he meets. I found it interesting that the prosecution introduced that Alex brags about having a photographic memory.

Hung jury is an advantage for the prosecution because they know the defence strategy/ argument ... for the next trial.

Sorry, but he's decidedly not blonde. IMO.

 

[Cindizzi]

[…]

Later on Feb. 24, The Post and Courier learned local authorities had quietly charged Murdaugh with an additional misdemeanor related to a contraband violation involving a book.

Details were scarce about the new charge, which appeared on the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office’s website sometime on Feb. 24.

Efforts to reach the sheriff’s office for comment late Feb. 24 were unsuccessful.

Murdaugh’s defense attorneys said they were unaware of any new charge and could not comment.

Earlier in the trial, though, Murdaugh’s relatives got into trouble with Colleton County law enforcement and Judge Clifton Newman for alleged improper contact. That reportedly included fist bumping and passing him a Johh Grisham novel, which local authorities deemed contraband.

Judge Newman ordered the Murdaughs to be moved back several rows from their usual seat just behind Murdaugh.

[…]

Alex Murdaugh lied 'easily and convincingly,' prosecutor says in fierce cross-examination

 

[MassGuy]

Talk about a drop in the bucket. His financial crimes alone could result in life behind bars. By Wednesday, I think this will become a moot point.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1629300557092466690

 

[Skigirl]

We never found out about the Gucci receipt, did we?

I think there are a couple loose ends that either will come up at close, or which are weaker and not needed now that they have the On-Star data. In addition to the Gucci receipt, another tantalizing thread, which may or may not get tied up in this trial, are the envelopes of money that the family friend/law firm runner, Nathan Tuten, delivered to Alex in the presence of several people, including Greg Alexander (Yamassee Police Chief and rumored Murdaugh family fixer).

 

[bestill]

I have had to work this afternoon. What is the general opinion of the afternoon testimony by AM?

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Is that the book that his sister Lynn tried to give him in court and the judge reprimanded the family sending them rows back?

I guess someone still slipped him the book.

Remember when someone gave Jodi Arias that book in jail that had notes written throughout the pages?

This is exactly what I think happened.

Yep, I remember.

 

[Gardenista]

Is there time for a rebuttal witness?

Yes. CreighCreigh says he will have a rebuttal case

 

[Seattle1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1629300557092466690

 

[Skigirl]

I have had to work this afternoon. What is the general opinion of the afternoon testimony by AM?

I think it's safe to say that a good number think that AM is toast.

 

[passionflower]

I started watching the Netflix documentaries and all I can say is OMG! You must see it to believe it!!!

 

[Skigirl]

Yes. CreighCreigh says he will have a rebuttal case

Will be cray cray!

 

[vls12345]

[…]

Later on Feb. 24, The Post and Courier learned local authorities had quietly charged Murdaugh with an additional misdemeanor related to a contraband violation involving a book.

Details were scarce about the new charge, which appeared on the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office’s website sometime on Feb. 24.

Efforts to reach the sheriff’s office for comment late Feb. 24 were unsuccessful.

Murdaugh’s defense attorneys said they were unaware of any new charge and could not comment.

Earlier in the trial, though, Murdaugh’s relatives got into trouble with Colleton County law enforcement and Judge Clifton Newman for alleged improper contact. That reportedly included fist bumping and passing him a Johh Grisham novel, which local authorities deemed contraband.

Judge Newman ordered the Murdaughs to be moved back several rows from their usual seat just behind Murdaugh.

[…]

Alex Murdaugh lied 'easily and convincingly,' prosecutor says in fierce cross-examination

So will the Murdaugh (or whoever did it) who passed the book to AM also be arrested on a misdemeanor charge?

 

[otto]

Who put the dogs back in the kennels and when? Who hung up the hose and when?

283 steps. Paul was at the kennels with Bubba, Cash, Maggie (the dog), and other working dogs at 8:32 p.m. Paul had the hose pulled out to the feed shed at Moselle for Cash, Rogan's dog.

Paul walked 283 steps when he arrived at the kennels, Alex walked the same number of steps just before he left the kennels. Hose seems like the only thing they had in common before and after Paul was dead ... regarding 283 steps taken by two different people at the crime scene at 8:32 and 9:02.

https://www.fitsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/securepdfs/2023/02/murdaugh-murders-timeline-full.pdf

 

[geevee]

After today's testimony from Alex, I'm thinking his pills may have played a bigger part than I thought before. I think there was some truth in what he was saying about his timing for going down to the kennels.

Alex said that Paul left while he and Maggie were finishing dinner. Then after they ate, Maggie asked Alex to go to the kennels with her. He said no because he didn't want to get hot after he'd just showered so Maggie went without him. Then he admitted that within minutes of Maggie leaving, he changed his mind and left for the kennels.

What if Maggie and/or Paul found a stash of pills while Alex was showering and removed them without him knowing. Then when Maggie left for the kennels, he went for his pills. Minutes later, when he realized they were missing, he went in to a rage, hopped on the golf cart and went to the kennels to get them back. He may have confronted Paul and killed him because he was furious his pills were missing. He was furious with Maggy too. That may explain why he admitted he tried to turn Paul over (because he was looking for his pills).

JMO

I just posted a very similar scenario a few minutes ago, I've been thinking the same thoughts ever since the texts and AM saying he had withdrawals the day before in the hotel.