GUILTY SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #40

[10ofRods]

I also saw where AM had cashed out one of his retirement plans (I think ... which also incurred about a 40% penalty) and paid his defense team $600k.

Alex Murdaugh’s defense attorneys: Who are Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin?

When a fatal boat crash dragged Alex Murdaugh’s family into the crosshairs of a criminal investigation, the wealthy Hampton lawyer hired Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin to defend them. The

www.postandcourier.com

Yes, read that too. And he might use his 401(k) next, as he's not going to "retire" and have to spend it.

But if he did inherit from his father and that's not already tied up in legalities, it will be - and while he might eventually be awarded his portion of the estate, he might not be. There may well be so many people trying to collect from whatever he has (and anyone can file a lawsuit), just defending those suits will eat up the inheritance.

OTOH, it's possible he's already turned his portion over to his attorneys. And I find it hard to believe that each of the siblings actually inherited $4M at this point in time (maybe over time, but not in a lump sum - and maybe still in trust, so that the income producing portion of it might go to the grandkids of Randolph III).

Who knows. I won't have the attention span to follow the financial trials. But I'll be much obliged if others keep track of it!!

IMO

 

[Seattle1]

I don't know, I would have crossed the Sahara on my knees before admitting my marriage was a disaster to my sister. It really depends on their relationship. Some siblings are competitive, rather than friends.

By June 2021, her youngest son had been charged with the equivalent of manslaughter, another son kicked out of law school, her husband was hiding and abusing pills, and MM felt shunned and driven out of Hampton. And then MM located a new residence that she took her sister and parents to view only to be told by AM the timing was not right when MM wanted to make an offer.

So no, I don't think there were any more secrets left to hide between the only siblings, and MM needed MP more than ever.

On June 7, I counted not less than 10 calls/texts between MM and MP in the SLED timeline by S/A Rudofski. JMO

 

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1632537942466887681

 

[10ofRods]

In the case of Watts and Peterson, they weren't only trying to *HIDE* the affairs....they were attempting to ELIMINATE their spouses in order to *move on* to a new partners. ALL THREE are exemplar of narcissistic personalities. I must admit though, I still find it puzzling as to WHY AM summarily executed his wife and son in that kennel. He was literally chatting with them about a chicken in their dog's mouth MINUETS before shooting them!

I wrote a post about the many reasons why (last page or the page before). Others have been writing about it.

He was embarrassed and narcissists can't handle that. He felt Paul was a disgrace and a nuisance and basically put him down, as one would with the wrong kind of dog, after trying to correct its behavior for years. I tried to say it more delicately before, but basically, those are the two main reasons that I believe research shows results in family annihilation.

IMO.

 

[AskMeNoQuestions]

So, I'm going backwards here, back to the night of the murders. In the video you can hear the hose running/splashing. Bubba is loose and has gone off to get a chicken. Do you suppose Alex may be wearing a raincoat or poncho over his clothes to hose down Bubba's kennel? maybe he's barefoot even, or flip flops. If I was going to be jetting water around a poopy dog pen I'd for sure have protective gear hanging from a nail to put on when I did that chore. How convenient.

 

[keek]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1632537942466887681

Woooot! He IS a rockah! Loved it, thanks for posting.

 

[justtrish]

I am listening to the behavior panel right now. Am I allowed to link their analysis? IF so I can edit and add it.

They said something so interesting. Those that are innocent almost never tell a story in chronological order. Also, they don't give justifiers with their answers.

They don't explain why they did what they did. They don't say I picked up his phone and then was going to do something with it.. not sure why and then put it down. They wouldn't justify the actions they took.

 

[Walela]

IMO, AM is strategically not touching the trust, but I don't see how he can benefit from it while he is serving 2 consecutive life sentences....

JMO. moo

If the trust works the way the ones I'm familiar with work, he can draw a monthly allowance from it and/or submit bills for reimbursement for trust approved items. He could at least have a direct deposit into his prison canteen/commissary monthly. I don't think it matters if you're in prison or in a home for the hopelessly addicted to true crime message boards, as long as you are a beneficiary of the trust and you're still alive, you can get your money. But whomever set up the trust may have added a clause that specifically excludes any beneficiary that is a thief, murderer or convicted felon. IDK jmo

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1632523043703771137

 

[Luna20]

I only recently learned how the Jury was chosen, and frankly was shocked. Having studied some Criminal Justice in college in NJ, I never heard of such an odd 'procedure'. In the Northeast(I assumed everywhere, and Wrong) Both sides interview potential Jurors, which seems most fair to me. While I totally agree with this Jury's Verdict, the process overall irks me a bit. I'm sure there are good legal reasons, but surprised. I'll have to do some research when I have time, as I would love to understand. Of course, in many ways, South Carolina is a different world from the one I live in. JMPOV

What was shocking about it to you?

 

[arielilane]

I recall seeing this young lady sitting in the courtroom, looking captivated and wondering if she would be interested in a career in law.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1632538905764298752

 

[arielilane]

I am listening to the behavior panel right now. Am I allowed to link their analysis? IF so I can edit and add it.

They said something so interesting. Those that are innocent almost never tell a story in chronological order. Also, they don't give justifiers with their answers.

They don't explain why they did what they did. They don't say I picked up his phone and then was going to do something with it.. not sure why and then put it down. They wouldn't justify the actions they took.

Behavior Panel is not an approved site, they aren't listed on page one of this thread.

I'd like to read further about their analysis, if you're interested in posting it.

 

[Batman's Mommy]

Yes, read that too. And he might use his 401(k) next, as he's not going to "retire" and have to spend it.

But if he did inherit from his father and that's not already tied up in legalities, it will be - and while he might eventually be awarded his portion of the estate, he might not be. There may well be so many people trying to collect from whatever he has (and anyone can file a lawsuit), just defending those suits will eat up the inheritance.

OTOH, it's possible he's already turned his portion over to his attorneys. And I find it hard to believe that each of the siblings actually inherited $4M at this point in time (maybe over time, but not in a lump sum - and maybe still in trust, so that the income producing portion of it might go to the grandkids of Randolph III).

Who knows. I won't have the attention span to follow the financial trials. But I'll be much obliged if others keep track of it!!

IMO

IRB, I don't have the mental capacity for the financials, either, but will definitely touch base to see how it goes.

 

[Napoli]

I love the judge. He was wonderful. HOWEVER, I do NOT think he should be presiding over the 99+ cases that AM is facing in the criminal trials for his theft of money from clients. New judge should be mandatory. How can there NOT be bias? I would think if the outcome is unfavorable to AM it would be an automatic appeal. I am surprised his attorneys aren't SCREAMING for a different judge. To me, that is only common sense.

 

[arielilane]

Wow. Read awhile back that "Journalists keep everything,” and guess it's true.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1631785078240997376

 

[Loveallmyhorsesdogsandcats]

I love the judge. He was wonderful. HOWEVER, I do NOT think he should be presiding over the 99+ cases that AM is facing in the criminal trials for his theft of money from clients. New judge should be mandatory. How can there NOT be bias? I would think if the outcome is unfavorable to AM it would be an automatic appeal. I am surprised his attorneys aren't SCREAMING for a different judge. To me, that is only common sense.

I don’t disagree but I think it is common for judges to see the defendants more than once, sometimes multiple times . Maybe one of the lawyers will chime in how judges are picked. I assume by jurisdiction, where the crimes are committed. That said, AM admitted to many of his financial crimes on the stand so I’m not sure how they will defend that in trial. Moo

 

[turaj]

What was shocking about it to you?

as the poster explained in many states both sides get to ask questions of each potential juror after an initial process of eliminating some that know key people in the case...are extreme hardship due to health etc. I was involved in two minor (compared to these cases) and the voir dire seemed more extensive that what was described here. It went very fast.

 

[Napoli]

I don’t disagree but I think it is common for judges to see the defendants more than once, sometimes multiple times . Maybe one of the lawyers will chime in how judges are picked. I assume by jurisdiction, where the crimes are committed. That said, AM admitted to many of his financial crimes on the stand so I’m not sure how they will defend that in trial. I’m sure there are multiple accounts related to each theft. Moo

Perhaps, time for a change of venue or i dont know. I absolutely think there should be a new judge and i want to know WHY there isnt? Just because it might be "common" isnt enough of a reason IMO. Maybe, since this verdict was against AM and the judge WAS SO VOCAL IN HIS SENTENCING, THIS WILL CHANGE AND A NEW JUDGE WILL PRESIDE. IN THE INTEREST OF FUNDAMENTAL FAIRNESS, HE SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF or THE ATTORNEYS FOR AM SHOULD PETITION FOR A NEW JUDGE. jmo

 

[Napoli]

But he was cash poor and he had to be willing to sell the assets, admit his deceit and failures, something I don’t think he would ever do. The morning of the murders the law firm did ask him about missing funds, the murders stopped that inquiry. The murders effectively stopped the boat lawsuit. Tinsley testified that after losing his wife and son, there would be no way a jury would punish him further with a large settlement. Tinsley was asking for Mossell the beach house in addition to money because he was told Alex had no money. It was the $792K that he won in a settlement with his friend Chris Wilson that SG asked about, she said AM got sloppy. He told CW it was OK to pay the funds directly to Alex. After JS had asked him about the missing $$, he told Chris he would need to get the funds back to him and let Chris deposit them the correct way in the firms account. Alex only gave him 600,000 back and Chris Wilson put in his own 192K. This cleared that specific issue up. It was in believe late August, that JS testified a paralegal found a check on Alex‘s desk that he should not have had and that is when she reviewed Alex’s acct. and found the fake Forge account, Alex was fired/resigned. It seems the common denominators when somebody chooses murder is to retain they have, not have to share through divorce, and or save the reputation not have to reveal what they have been doing, trying to solve a problem. Alex had spent more than a decade robbing Peter to pay Paul, I don’t see him as someone who would find a conscious and stop doing that. Moo

CFO of Murdaugh's firm says he is gifted in the 'art of bull****'

Jeanne Seckinger told jurors in his double-murder trial Tuesday she confronted Murdaugh, 54, over $792,000 in stolen fees on the day Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were killed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Palmetto State Bank CEO Jan Malinowski testified that Murdaugh’s accounts were frequently overdrawn by hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2021 and a former executive, convicted in federal court in November, would loan himself and Murdaugh money from client trust funds.

He testified Murdaugh’s account balance was overdrawn by more than $347,000 in August 2021.
moo

An excellent post. Thank you!

 

[ch_13]

I love the judge. He was wonderful. HOWEVER, I do NOT think he should be presiding over the 99+ cases that AM is facing in the criminal trials for his theft of money from clients. New judge should be mandatory. How can there NOT be bias? I would think if the outcome is unfavorable to AM it would be an automatic appeal. I am surprised his attorneys aren't SCREAMING for a different judge. To me, that is only common sense.

I believe that Judge Newman was originally picked to be the judge of the financial trials first since AM was initially arrested for those crimes. Then when AM was also arrested for murder, that was added to Newman's caseload as well.

I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that with complex intertwining crimes one judge is often chosen to supervise the entire set of cases. That's because it would be a nightmare to have multiple courts all trying to hear motions, get witnesses deposed, schedule trials, make rulings on evidence, etc. It just so happens that due to circumstances the murder trial came up before any of the others.

Edit - Let me add that I disagree that a judge sentencing a criminal defendant to a life sentence without parole is evidence of bias. Nor is it biased for a judge to indicate that he disapproves of the actions of the criminal. Bias is unfair prejudice, e.g. if the judge sentenced him more harshly because he was rich or because he didn't attend church.