SC - Paul Murdaugh, 22 and mom Margaret, 52, found shot to death, Islandton, 7 June 2021 #13

[Elley Mae]

This posted april 26 Thanks @JaimeInLA

https://twitter.com/x/status/1519111631233556480

 

[RAISINISBACK]

Unfortunately, he may have stopped recording before he was shot. I think it would have leaked if the murder itself was actually captured in some form.

The thing is, on my phone (I will admit I am not the most cell phone tech savvy person around. Young grandkids and great GK's are a wonderful thing to have.) when I push record it keeps recording until I push it again to stop. But then maybe my GK's have it set that way to ease grandma's life. lol

JMO

 

[Elley Mae]

This posted by @MassGuy

A shirt worn by Alex Murdaugh on the night his wife and son were murdered was found to have a significant amount of high-velocity impact spatter on it from at least one of their bodies, sources familiar with the investigation recently told FITSNews.

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/04/26/high-velocity-impact-spatter-directly-ties-alex-murdaugh-to-double-homicide-sources-say/

 

[Elley Mae]

Murdaugh said he arrived home sometime after 9:30 p.m. and found his wife and son dead. He called 9-1-1 at 10:07 p.m.

“I been up to it now — it’s bad,” he told Colleton county dispatcher Angel Fraser, referring to the crime scene.

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/04/26/high-velocity-impact-spatter-directly-ties-alex-murdaugh-to-double-homicide-sources-say/

So he was there sometime after 9:30, 30 minutes or so before he called 911.

 

[MassGuy]

The thing is, on my phone (I will admit I am not the most cell phone tech savvy person around. Young grandkids and great GK's are a wonderful thing to have.) when I push record it keeps recording until I push it again to stop. But then maybe my GK's have it set that way to ease grandma's life. lol

JMO

No you're right about that. What I'm saying is perhaps he had finished recording, and hit stop. Then the bad stuff happened.

Because otherwise you're right, and there should be a lot more video.

 

[Seattle1]

Podcaster at 04:15 below said they know that the father was taken to Savannah Hospital, which is approx. 80 miles away from Moselle -- so about a 1.5 hour drive. ‎The Murdaugh Family Murders: Impact of Influence: 68: What Happened The Night of The Murders on Apple Podcasts

^^BBM

Making more sense why AM refused to tell MM what hospital RMsr was at!

I don't imagine this thought would ever enter AM's entitled mind but how many would intentionally charge into a hospital long past normal visiting hours to see a patient on the brink of death. Family or not, so incredibly disrespectful to staff.

Also, I've long believed MM didn't need AM as her chaperone to visit RMsr -- surprised she didn't suggest to AM she'd already made plans with their two sons to say their goodbyes to the father-in-law, granddad.

Sadly, this alleged hospital visit was simply a death trap. MOO

 

[Seattle1]

The thing is, on my phone (I will admit I am not the most cell phone tech savvy person around. Young grandkids and great GK's are a wonderful thing to have.) when I push record it keeps recording until I push it again to stop. But then maybe my GK's have it set that way to ease grandma's life. lol

JMO

Loving @RAISINISBACK and OP's grandkids and great GK's!!

 

[DeDee]

I suspect AM might've had an alibi for 9 pm.

And not one for 7 pm.

Paul probably had dinner AND planned to have Second Dinner at Moselle. Maybe MM invited him as a buffer against AM.

If MM arrived by 7:30, Paul was already there, attending to the sick dog.

AM could've been out of there by 7:35, off watching a game show in a fresh shirt, before returning after 9 pm to 'discover" them.

JMO

This theory holds more water for me, Megnut. Otherwise, the timeline for AM to change clothes and do whatever one does after killing two family members is too tight for a 9:30pm kill. Hence, it is possibly off by appx 2 hours if the Coroner relied upon Alex's words, ie. This agrees with Seattle1's estimation that Alex assassinated the two victims, then went to visit his father. AM returned to Moselle in order to call 911 [for an ambulance at 10:07pm].

It is never too late to be going to visit an ailing elderly parent. I sat with a loved one after their passing over with two fingers, gently holding the chin closed so the funeral parlor wouldn't need to break the jaw as they commonly do when rigor sets in and the patient dies with a wide open mouth.

What I'm saying is that for detectives and investigators arriving onescene that night, they probably could tell if the scene contained fresh murders or if they were killed an hour or two earlier but perhaps an expert can correct this concept. I think the bodies would be chilly to the touch even on a hot summer's night in South Carolina. Wonder what time the first responder/ambulance arrived.

According to Fit News (06/06/22 report), Alex Murdaugh called 9-1-1 at 10:07 p.m. that night. These murders and the Murdaugh Sagas are so dark, sad and far from over.
.

 

[Elley Mae]

Do defendants like Alex Murdaugh get the death penalty? SC will soon find out.

Do defendants like Alex Murdaugh get the death penalty? SC will soon find out.

Attorney General Alan Wilson will soon make one of the defining decisions of his 12 years as South Carolina’s top prosecutor: whether to seek the death penalty for Alex Murdaugh,

www.postandcourier.com

It won’t be an easy call, experts say, as Wilson’s office weighs a host of considerations — from the strength of the state’s evidence to the wishes of the victims’ family, who happen to be Murdaugh’s relatives as well.

Whatever he decides, Wilson’s reasoning will face extraordinary scrutiny, possibly by a Colleton County jury but certainly in the court of public opinion.

Murdaugh’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather served as the elected top prosecutor for the state’s 14th Judicial Circuit for 86 consecutive years until 2006. They lorded over the criminal justice system in a five-county region even as they operated a high-powered civil law firm that made the family untold riches by suing deep-pocketed corporations.

Together, the Murdaughs sought the death penalty against more than 30 defendants in the state’s southern corner, according to news clippings and available data.

…

There is much more and a race element in this article. I didn’t post, to not bring that into this thread.

Jmo

 

[Seattle1]

It is never too late to be going to visit an ailing elderly parent.

^^RSBM
Been there, done that, and OP's words are true and undisputed!

However, in this case, we have a son that's allegedly kicked back watching TV game shows, and not somebody with any demonstrated concern over his father, or the long drive to a Savanna hospital on a rainy evening. IMO, his dying father was nothing more than according to his lawyer, his iron-clad alibi, which it proved not.

(To my knowledge, there've been no reports from any hospital in Savanna or elsewhere attesting to AM being present during the hour(s) MM & PM were shot dead).

MOO

 

[Elley Mae]

^^RSBM
Been there, done that, and OP's words are true and undisputed!

However, in this case, we have a son that's allegedly kicked back watching TV game shows, and not somebody with any demonstrated concern over his father, or the long drive to a Savanna hospital on a rainy evening. IMO, his dying father was nothing more than according to his lawyer, his iron-clad alibi, which it proved not.

(To my knowledge, there've been no reports from any hospital in Savanna or elsewhere attesting to AM being present during the hour(s) MM & PM were shot dead).

MOO

Agree with very sick parent in hispital.


One thing that has stuck out at me is that the orher two brother’s where at there homes not at hospital.

Jmo

Jmo

 

[MerryB]

I suspect AM might've had an alibi for 9 pm.

And not one for 7 pm.

Paul probably had dinner AND planned to have Second Dinner at Moselle. Maybe MM invited him as a buffer against AM.

If MM arrived by 7:30, Paul was already there, attending to the sick dog.

AM could've been out of there by 7:35, off watching a game show in a fresh shirt, before returning after 9 pm to 'discover" them.

JMO

EXACTLY. And why did the coroner give such a tight window 9-9:30? Because that’s when Alex was gone. Seems very suspicious IMO.
I think many of us had assumed they had narrowed down the TOD because of when someone had last spoken with Paul or Maggie, but it seems the more that comes out about the specifics of that evening, the more it seems that’s not the case. This is important because if they were killed closer to 7:30/8 PM, Alex was there “napping” by his own account and would’ve had time to shower, wash his clothes, etc. before leaving for Varnville at 9 PM. MOO

 

[MerryB]

Agree with very sick parent in hispital.


One thing that has stuck out at me is that the orher two brother’s where at there homes not at hospital.

Jmo

Jmo

I believe it’s been stated they were there earlier that day after John Marvin drove him to the hospital and he was admitted. It will be interesting to find out if Alex had gone earlier with them or not.
He claimed to have gone to the hospital, come back to Moselle to take a nap, and then left at 9 PM to see his mother in Varnville (WSJ). My opinion is that he had no intention of going back to the hospital that night like he’d told Maggie. That was just his way to get her to meet him in a remote area. MOO

The Unraveling of the Murdaugh Dynasty: Unsolved Murders, Insurance Fraud and Missing Millions

Since Alex Murdaugh admitted last week to trying to stage his own murder, months after his wife and son were killed, new twists have landed by the day in cases involving the South Carolina lawyer and his family. “I feel like I’m in a three-ring circus,” said another lawyer.

www.wsj.com

 

[MerryB]

I suspect AM might've had an alibi for 9 pm.

And not one for 7 pm.

Paul probably had dinner AND planned to have Second Dinner at Moselle. Maybe MM invited him as a buffer against AM.

If MM arrived by 7:30, Paul was already there, attending to the sick dog.

AM could've been out of there by 7:35, off watching a game show in a fresh shirt, before returning after 9 pm to 'discover" them.

JMO

As for the dinner confusion, I think this is a misunderstanding. If Maggie was living apart from Alex and did not even want to ride in a car with him, I do not think she’d be planning a family dinner. I think this was an assumption Paul’s uncle made because Paul left for Moselle at dinner time. Maybe he asked Paul if he was going to eat and he said “No, I’m going to Moselle,” and John Marvin assumed it was to eat. Remember, Paul was staying in Okatie with John Marvin’s family and working there at his uncle’s Kubota shop. We don’t even know if he was on good terms with his father. He doesn’t seem to have talked to him to let him know he was coming.
I think he parked up at the house and walked down to the kennels with a shotgun as standard procedure. I don’t think Alex saw him do that, as Alex was waiting for Maggie in the red-roofed shed.
Maggie pulled up to the shed and got out, leaving her car running. Her car door was not open. Paul was very close by in the kennels recording a video of the dog that was never sent.
We all know what happened next. MOO

 

[clearskies1]

As for the dinner confusion, I think this is a misunderstanding. If Maggie was living apart from Alex and did not even want to ride in a car with him, I do not think she’d be planning a family dinner. I think this was an assumption Paul’s uncle made because Paul left for Moselle at dinner time. Maybe he asked Paul if he was going to eat and he said “No, I’m going to Moselle,” and John Marvin assumed it was to eat. Remember, Paul was staying in Okatie with John Marvin’s family and working there at his uncle’s Kubota shop. We don’t even know if he was on good terms with his father. He doesn’t seem to have talked to him to let him know he was coming.
I think he parked up at the house and walked down to the kennels with a shotgun as standard procedure. I don’t think Alex saw him do that, as Alex was waiting for Maggie in the red-roofed shed.
Maggie pulled up to the shed and got out, leaving her car running. Her car door was not open. Paul was very close by in the kennels recording a video of the dog that was never sent.
We all know what happened next. MOO

I have a feeling any planned meal would have just been with Maggie, not with AM. My understanding is that Maggie made a pretty long drive to Moselle. She may have wanted to have dinner with her son. She probably thought her father-in-law was at a community hospital nearby and so thought she could have dinner with PM at some point. If she didn't want AM to join, she probably didn't tell him about the plan. JMO and speculation.

 

[RAISINISBACK]

I have a feeling any planned meal would have just been with Maggie, not with AM. My understanding is that Maggie made a pretty long drive to Moselle. She may have wanted to have dinner with her son. She probably thought her father-in-law was at a community hospital nearby and so thought she could have dinner with PM at some point. If she didn't want AM to join, she probably didn't tell him about the plan. JMO and speculation.

Since Blanca, MM's domestic was mentioned by JMM in connection with the dinner perhaps MM arrived at 7pm, planned to make a short visit to FIL and then planned to pick PM up when she returned to Moselle so he could return to Edisto Beach for dinner with her.

Somehow I cannot imagine MM taking her domestic and all the miscellaneous groceries with her to Moselle so Blanca could prepare dinner at the hunting lodge.

Just seems off to me.

JMO

 

[clearskies1]

Since Blanca, MM's domestic was mentioned by JMM in connection with the dinner perhaps MM arrived at 7pm, planned to make a short visit to FIL and then planned to pick PM up when she returned to Moselle so he could return to Edisto Beach for dinner with her.

Somehow I cannot imagine MM taking her domestic and all the miscellaneous groceries with her to Moselle so Blanca could prepare dinner at the hunting lodge.

Just seems off to me.

JMO

I should listen to the podcast again but I think the Blanca thing was just speculation about where she was that night. I don't think PM would have gone all the way back to Edisto with MM that night but maybe I'm wrong. I was thinking if there was a dinner planned it was to go to a local restaurant. JMO.

 

[Seattle1]

If AM was visiting his father at the hour of MM/PM's murders -- why wasn't MM with him in Savanna at the hospital? Was that not the plan for MM to go visit RMsr at hospital on June 7?

From the timeline by News10:

JUNE 7, 2021

• Paul and Maggie died with “multiple gunshot wounds” around 9:00-9:30 pm at their Colleton County property near the dog kennels, according to SLED and the autopsy.
• Alex Murdaugh called 911 around 10:00 p.m. after finding his wife and child dead. According to the AP, Alex said he was visiting his ailing father at the time of the shooting.

JUNE 10, 2021

• Randolph Murdaugh III, Alex’s father, died of cancer.

TIMELINE: Key dates in the Murdaugh family investigations

The relevant dates in the case go beyond what has happened in the past few months.

www.wistv.com

 

[RAISINISBACK]

I am going to switch things up here and see what everyone thinks.

OP's have said that PM had a 4 million dollar life insurance policy that may have been assigned through AM's paid company policy. PM was in trouble, with a court date a few days after his death. PM was facing some serious jail time if convicted. (20 years I think) Also if PM was convicted that would add fuel to the MB wrongful death lawsuit naming AM and BM.

So let's switch it up with a theory.

What if PM's murder was a crime of opportunity? Speculation here, but PM could have arrived at Moselle before MM or AM and was filming the dog with his cell phone. OP's have confirmed the cell would have continued to record until a stop button was pushed.

So what if PM arrives first, is filming the dog, AM arrives and sees him in the kennel, but does not notice PM is filming. AM sees the opportunity for another huge insurance payout, with the added benefit that if PM is dead when the court date arrives, the charges will be dropped. Then the lawsuit naming BM would probably be dropped and there would be no need for AM to produce his financials since he could agree to a settlement with MB's mom out of PM's insurance payout.

AM grabs the shotgun and kills him and PM falls on his phone which keeps recording, audio if not video.

AM then lures MM to Moselle, in an attempt to have her there so they can "discover" PM's body together. (MM being there when PM is discovered would give AM's suggestions that it may have been a revenge killing because of the boating accident credence."

But MM is already suspicious of his motives for having her come to Moselle. "He's up to something" and "Sounds fishy".

MM and AM argue while PM's phone continues to record, and MM decides to go to the kennels to speak with PM whom she knows is there.

AM is cornered because he knows what she will find and is certain she won't buy any story he tells her because she is already suspicious. So he picks up the AR 15 and shoots her in the back as she walks toward the kennels.

This theory probably has holes in it but what does everyone think about this scenario?

ETA: AM may have also thought that PM's murder would draw MM back to him (after all the death of a child is a powerful thing and AM and MM would have probably grown closer by teaming up to find out who killed their son). Then AM thought he could talk her into dropping the audit and divorce.
JMO

 

[Seattle1]

Podcaster at 04:15 below said they know that the father was taken to Savannah Hospital, which is approx. 80 miles away from Moselle -- so about a 1.5 hour drive. ‎The Murdaugh Family Murders: Impact of Influence: 68: What Happened The Night of The Murders on Apple Podcasts

I believe it’s been stated they were there earlier that day after John Marvin drove him to the hospital and he was admitted. It will be interesting to find out if Alex had gone earlier with them or not.
He claimed to have gone to the hospital, come back to Moselle to take a nap, and then left at 9 PM to see his mother in Varnville (WSJ). My opinion is that he had no intention of going back to the hospital that night like he’d told Maggie. That was just his way to get her to meet him in a remote area. MOO

I'm beginning to suspect that the podcaster conflated details of AM's Savannah hospitalization (i.e., AM airlifted to Savannah hospital after the failed suicide shooting attempt) with the senior patriarch Randolph M III who reportedly died at home in Varnille, SC on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

It doesn't follow that the terminally ill patient would be driven 90+ minutes from home for hospital admission during COVID, only to be driven back home the following day to die at his home.

IMO, RMsr was most likely admitted to Hampton Medical Center located about 4 minutes from his home when AM allegedly visited. MOO

Alex Murdaugh shot in Hampton County, airlifted to hospital, attorney says

Alex Murdaugh was rushed to a hospital, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

www.postandcourier.com

9/4/2021

Alex Murdaugh called his brother, Randy, to report the shooting around 2:15 p.m., Griffin said. Alex Murdaugh was airlifted to a hospital in Savannah for treatment.

Randy Murdaugh has not been able to enter Memorial Health University Medical Center due to COVID-19 restrictions, Griffin said, but Alex Murdaugh has been able to communicate with him by phone, “which is obviously an encouraging sign.”