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

[LotusPawprint]

More from the Harpootlian interview and what he says:

1) They stood by the side of the road "for 30 minutes and the other guy didn't talk him out of it."
2) Alex collapsed and went blind for a while. [this 'story' likely to cover off why AM couldn't describe the person very well to LE.]
<sbm>

Harpootlian looks completely foolish and dishonest in this interview. I don't think he helped AM's case at all. It makes AM look more guilty, not less. IMO.

I agree with you (coming across as foolish and dishonest).

Everything he says is pointedly intended to make AM seem sympathetic or to excuse his actions.

BUT - how does he even square points 1 and 2 above... The comment about going blind and yet they spent half an hour together talking and it's his personal drug dealer.

 

[pizzaman12]

I admit that I didn’t dive too deeply into finances until I read the part about the 10 million life insurance payout. I figured that 10 mill wouldn’t be all that much to such a wealthy family, for the kid to have to survive the rest of his life. Common folk, more than one could ever dream. But this family? I figured they were worth much more. Come to find out, maybe not so much. What’s the deal on them?

I'm in the same camp. Yes 10 million is a lot but for a family to rule that area for this duration, you'd think there would be property and assets that would easily eclipse those numbers. I'm interested to find out more as well

 

[evilwise]

It seemed like Harpootlian is very practiced at making misleading and evasive statements in writing but he doesn't realize how much of a liar he looks like when he makes them on camera, especially when he's on the spot and concocting them as he goes along

 

[pearl]

During the interview, Melvin pressed Harpootlian about his client’s alleged misuse of law firm money. Harpootlian said that the “vast majority” of the millions Alex took was used on drugs.

“Dick, that’s a lot of Oxy….” Melvin said.

LOL BBM
Murdaugh Murders: Alex Murdaugh’s Attorney Says He Will Likely Be Arrested Soon

Lawyer said AM paid drug dealers with checks. I cannot believe a drug dealer taking checks.

 

[Rosiebones]

More from the Harpootlian interview and what he says:

1) They stood by the side of the road "for 30 minutes and the other guy didn't talk him out of it."
2) Alex collapsed and went blind for a while. [this 'story' likely to cover off why AM couldn't describe the person very well to LE.]
3) AM and legal team reached out to SLED to give them the statement. SLED didn't reach out to them. (hmmm...). And he offered up the statement because he didn't want LE to spend more time investigating a fake crime, rather than investigating the murder of Maggie & Paul.
4) When asked whether AM possibly had any involvement in MM/PM murders, Harpootlian says he doesn't think so. He managed to throw in a comment that, when working with the family on the boating case over the past year and a half he saw MM and AM holding hands and that the family was very affectionate.
5) And then, of course Harpootlian implies that he and Jim Griffen think they know of a possible person(s) who might possibly, maybe might be involved in the murders. But of course they don't have LE tools, so ya know...they can't say for sure if the one suspect bears any further scrutiny. And he stumbles over answering what the motive of that person might be.

Harpootlian looks completely foolish and dishonest in this interview. I don't think he helped AM's case at all. It makes AM look more guilty, not less. IMO.

In response to #2-The vision center of the brain are in the back and down low. I can't see how a grazing gunshot from the front could affect it. I bet his "blindness" dissappated by the time he got to the helicopter.
Also, a gunshot that close to his head or ear would render him temporarily hard of hearing and I can't see how he was on the phone so soon after he was allegedly shot. MOO MOO MOO

 

[pizzaman12]

I feel this way as well. I wonder if the meth charge was simply related to it being in the possession of CES, as in his own habit.

That would be possession of a controlled substance. Not "distribution". I too am curious if AM was just on Oxy or something more

 

[shefner]

Lawyer said AM paid drug dealers with checks. I cannot believe a drug dealer taking checks.

Apparently so many people have bought their far fetched lies to this point that they somehow believe we are also going to buy into them.

 

[evilwise]

I'm in the same camp. Yes 10 million is a lot but for a family to rule that area for this duration, you'd think there would be property and assets that would easily eclipse those numbers. I'm interested to find out more as well

It's probably enough to cover what he embezzled from his law firm and what the ultimate payout against his estate for the Mallory Beach lawsuit will be, that we've seen his insurance company had a specific exclusion from paying (boating accidents) in addition to what still owed to the 's family. With Paul and Alex both dead that would have probably been the end of it but as it stands maybe we'll still get to find out what actually happened to SS and he can get some justice.

I honestly think the whole stinking estate should be liquidated and distributed to the victims.

 

[Tiff23fr]

Murdaugh’s lawyers release statement on alleged insurance fraud conspiracy

Murdaugh’s lawyers release statement on alleged insurance fraud conspiracy

This statement in the article:
In response, Murdaugh’s lawyers Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian released a statement saying that Murdaugh was pushed to suicide by many people feeding his addiction to opioids.

They allege that people were taking advantage of Murdaugh’s drug addiction for over 20 years and that Smith was one of those people.

This opinion might make me the odd gal here, but I can see how this could be accurate. It could be possible this statement isn’t about the physical pills and actual consumption. It could be about once again, his reputation pride and ego. It could be possible for 20 years he hid this, and in those years his reputation and true self was threatened to be exposed. Could this have led to band aid after band aid of him attempting to keep things covered up? To do things to keep his true self from being exposed? Eventually band aids can’t stop the bleeding, lies and nefarious decisions get bigger and bolder as one attempts to keep things hidden.

 

[sarahw7147]

Court records from Colleton County showed Murdaugh had been Smith’s lawyer in a 2013 speeding case.
South Carolina lawyer arranged to be shot, police say


Harpootlian, a powerful Columbia, South Carolina lawyer who is also a state lawmaker, told Craig Melvin that he and Jim Griffin — who has contributed to a spin campaign on Alex Murdaugh’s behalf for the last week about how Murdaugh was a targeted victim in the alleged shooting — travelled to an-out-of state rehab facility to speak with Alex Murdaugh on Monday.

“It was the first conversation we’ve ever had with him where he wasn’t on opioids or oxy,” Harpootlian said. “As a result of that he clearly knew what he did was wrong.”
Murdaugh Murders: Alex Murdaugh’s Attorney Says He Will Likely Be Arrested Soon


A law enforcement official with first-hand knowledge of the situation told The Daily Beast that Smith and Murdaugh knew each other and that Smith allegedly supplied the lawyer with drugs. Court records show Murdaugh represented Smith in a personal injury lawsuit ten years ago.
https://www.fr24news.com/a/2021/09/...alex-murdaugh-shooting-in-south-carolina.html

Smith, from Walterboro, South Carolina, is a former client of Murdaugh, 53, who represented him in minor traffic matters as well as a 2015 lawsuit that Smith filed against a forest management company.
Police arrest suspect in the shooting of South Carolina legal scion Alex Murdaugh | Daily Mail Online

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Curious if he threw in the "Alex went temporarily blind" statement into the mix to try and explain away why he couldn't identify the shooter (that was known to him) and/or come up with a decent "sketch"... What a sad, crazy mess.

Lawyer said AM paid drug dealers with checks. I cannot believe a drug dealer taking checks.

Wonder if they were checks from a bogus business and/or if he was made to look like an "employee" of AM's, so they were technically "payroll" checks and not like handwritten checks from his personal account?

 

[Barry]

The storm clouds are only still on the horizon in this case. MOO.

 

[Elley Mae]

So the family that ruled the town, was the law in 4-5 counties was taken advantage of?

Not buying it.

Guess he decided not to pay back the stolen money.

Am I mistaken in the members of the firm that are left are parker/murdaugh out of pmped.

Was The $10 million policy new or did he have one on MM &PM&BM.

Seems if it was new it would be hard to get one with wife and son recently murdered.

 

[SuziQ]

I don’t see the planned suicide as generous or compassionate. IMO it is exactly the type of cowardly and selfish act someone would pull who doesn’t have the gall to deal with the misdeeds committed. I see Alex as a man of great pride. His pride and selfishness seems to have been his priority, not generosity or compassion. The tribulations of judgement from his family, former colleagues, and society at large will be his greatest punishment. IMO

This is why I believe the suicide story. Suicide for people like AM is about controlling the end. To not have to face their misdeeds. A cowards way out.

I'm going to bet that AM gave CES one last big pay off.

I think CES and AM had a love hate relationship. AM needed CES desperately to feed his drug addiction. And CES held all the cards by knowing all of AM's secrets. IMO, Am paid a lot to CES for drugs and to keep his mouth shut.

 

[MassGuy]

Statement from Stephen Smith’s mother Sandy Smith confirming that her family is NOT at all related to the man who was arrested in the shooting of Alex Murdaugh.

I urge all of you to think about the victims and their grief before theorizing in this case.

They don’t deserve this.

https://twitter.com/mandymatney/status/1438152326678814726?s=21

 

[Luna20]

As an ATTORNEY he is telling us AM didn’t pour over his insurance policy to find his suicide exclusion clause while concocting this “assisted suicide” scheme? I think he was hoping he could frame CES for his “murder” and that of his family and his plan failed.

 

[tara83]

So now his lawyer wants us to feel pity for AM.Where was AM's sympathy when poor Mallory Beach died?He acted like she and her family were NOTHING.

 

[Luna20]

So now his lawyer wants us to feel pity for AM.Where was AM's sympathy when poor Mallory Beach died?He acted like she and her family were NOTHING.

Correct and he refused to assist in the Beach and Smith investigations.

 

[Hope32]

Apparently so many people have bought their far fetched lies to this point that they somehow believe we are also going to buy into them.

Someone said it's not surprising. John Mulany (sp?) would write checks for artwork. When asked by his accountant what painting cost that much he admitted it was really his dealer that was the "artist."

Makes sense when you have money and are keeping records to use a check for "artwork" and valid compared to "why did you withdraw $100,000 for"

 

[Gardenista]

HAPPENING NOW: The man charged in the Sept. 4 shooting of Alex Murdaugh is about to face a virtual bond court judge in Colleton County on unrelated charges. Bond has been set...this is for the judge to go over his current charges.

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[Luna20]

My guess is they'll stick with something like ‘Alex was so overwhelmed with grief that he couldn't bare to live in a world without his beloved Maggie and Paul anymore. However, he knew that Buster would be devastated to lose all his family members. So, like the wonderful and loving father that he is, he decided to stage a murder so that he would at least be able to leave his son with some financial security’. Basically anything to try and keep people from thinking that this is proof of his guilt or that he lied about it being an assisted suicide after staging an attack by the 'real killer' to throw suspicion off of him and failing miserably.