SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #22

[arielilane]

Where is the ignore button for DH? moo

 

[StarryStarryNight]

So let me get this straight…according to the defense…there were two shooters. One was Paul, who used a gun he stole from himself, to shoot his mother who was about his own height, at close range, at a downward angle, that would require a ladder for the first two shots.
The second shooter was Paul, who after shooting his mother, shot himself askance with a shotgun, and then held the shotgun behind him, up over his head and to the right, stretch armstong-ed his arm long enough to reach the trigger, and shot himself in the upper back of his head.
Got it.


edit: typo

 

[bestill]

This poor witness having to participate in DH's fantasy in hopes of planting a seed of doubt with the jury or one juror.

 

[Edvis]

Hang on for a tearful story about AM coming clean that :
He was indeed at the kennels
He witnessed PM kill MM
Then PM killed himself
AM hid the guns
AM told lies to preserve the family honor

(Big eye roll)
MOO

Yup it sounds like it was a murder suicide due to the fact that of the defense trying to use the close contact damage that gases can do at very close ranges. I tell you the defense is stretching this to crazy theories.

 

[arielilane]

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[Edvis]

So let me get this straight…according to the defense…there were two shooters. One was Paul, who used a gun he stole from himself, to shoot his mother who was about his own height, at close range, at a downward angle, that would require a ladder for the first two shots.
The second shooter was Paul, who after shooting his mother, shot himself askance with a shotgun, and then held the shotgun behind him, up over his head and to the right, stretch armstong-ed his arm long enough to reach the trigger, and shot himself in the upper back of his hear.
Got it.

The defenses rabbit hole has no bottom to it.

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian has begun his cross-examination of MUSC forensic pathologist Dr. Ellen Riemer.

Judge Clifton Newman made no announcement regarding COVID-19 or any further jurors getting sick. So that's a good thing. Jurors will get tested tomorrow, though.

Riemer testifies that it’s not definitive that Maggie’s shooter was circling her. That was just one explanation since Maggie was shot from behind and then shot in the back of the head from the other direction. Maggie might have also been turning, and the shooter stationary.

Riemer testifies the first shot at Paul - buckshot to the chest- came at an angle. His body could have been perpendicular to the shooter as Paul stood in the feed room. A straight-on shotgun blast from that range would have hit his lungs and heart and been fatal, Riemer says.

Harpootlian has called fellow defense attorney Phillip Barber over to help him re-enact the juxtaposition of Paul and the shooter.

Yesterday, the state had Riemer draw on a diagram to show the jury how various gunshot wounds ripped through Paul’s body. Harpootlian has called over a real, live person. Riemer and Harpootlian are using a stick and (lightly) jabbing at various points on Barber's chest.

Barber went to law school and clerked for federal judge Richard Gergel for this.

One of the questions I've had is how Paul - who was around 5-foot-8 - was allegedly shot at such a dramatic upward trajectory by his father, who was well over 6-feet tall and wore 2XL shirts.

Riemer and Harpootlian are going back and forth over possible shotgun blast trajectories. Barber is showing great patience as Harpootlian pokes him at various spots with a stick and Riemer pushes his head around at various angles to suppose how the pellets traveled.

Harpootlian is trying to establish that Paul was killed with a contact shotgun wound, essentially a direct, execution-style shot to the head. Riemer isn’t buying it. She says Paul's wounds tell her the pellets traveled through his shoulder and neck before hitting his brain.

Riemer is so far scoring highly on the Mark Tinsley Formidable Witness Scale.

Riemer says she doesn't believe the gaping hole in the back of Paul's head could have been the entrance wound.

Harpootlian challenges whether she looked for stippling or soot. He notes she didn’t shave Paul’s head for a closer look, like she did Maggie’s. Riemer also didn’t log the absence of stippling or soot on Paul’s head in her notes. Riemer testifies she only shaves entrance wounds.

Riemer says she had already determined the hole in Paul’s head was an exit wound. She testifies she did look for stippling and soot and didn’t find it. She says she doesn’t log the absence of stippling/soot in exit wounds.

Harpootlian asks if someone else could look at the same evidence and reasonably disagree with her. Riemer: “People can disagree. That doesn’t change the truth.”

Harpootlian finishes his questioning of Riemer. Prosecutor Creighton Waters is back up on redirect, stressing Riemer's credentials.

 

[clearskies1]

I almost wish the State did no re-direct. Now we'll probably see DH on re-cross....

 

[Katrinepa]

DH is bound and determined to turn this into a suicidal contact wound … ugh!

He can't produce any weapon proving that.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

I may time DH's questioning today, he said that if he started yesterday at around 5:30ish it would take him until 7:00 to finish. I think that was another defense tactic to stall so he could prepare more. JMO

Hmm, it does seem his questioning is mostly useless filler.

 

[Chelly]

Thank goodness DH is finished with this witness. Now Attorney Waters is doing a great re-direct of pathologist to clear up the confusion DH created. Pathologist just stated she has done 5,500 autopsies and there is NO indication of a contact wound (thus, PM did not kill himself).
moo

 

[BeachSky]

I think this is their only hope but remember that AM said in his interview's that "they/I did him so bad". This suicide theory is their hail Mary. JMO

So how does a young man go from being concerned with his friends dog ….to minutes later murdering his mother & killing himself?!
I actually thought PM sounded happy & funny in the “Cash video”.
This insane defense theory is like killing them twice.

MOO

 

[Carolina Girl]

Unbelievable! He called Paul and Maggie home so that Paul could kill his mother? Yea right.

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/Angenette5

Redirect: Stippling was found on Paul's chest wound. Not closer than six inches - but within 3 feet. No soot

No evidence of contact wound with Paul, Dr. Riemer said

Dr. Riemer does not believe at all that Paul's wounds are consistent with a suicide wound

Dr. Riemer does not believe this was a contact wound from the top of the head. No soot, she agrees.

 

[Katrinepa]

Yup it sounds like it was a murder suicide due to the fact that of the defense trying to use the close contact damage that gases can do at very close ranges. I tell you the defense is stretching this to crazy theories.

Shows Desperation in my view, as I think they know they are probably screwed! When does the Tailor come to measure AM for his Jailhouse Jumpsuit...made to order, of course, him being a famous local citizen.

 

[StarryStarryNight]

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian has begun his cross-examination of MUSC forensic pathologist Dr. Ellen Riemer.

Judge Clifton Newman made no announcement regarding COVID-19 or any further jurors getting sick. So that's a good thing. Jurors will get tested tomorrow, though.

Riemer testifies that it’s not definitive that Maggie’s shooter was circling her. That was just one explanation since Maggie was shot from behind and then shot in the back of the head from the other direction. Maggie might have also been turning, and the shooter stationary.

Riemer testifies the first shot at Paul - buckshot to the chest- came at an angle. His body could have been perpendicular to the shooter as Paul stood in the feed room. A straight-on shotgun blast from that range would have hit his lungs and heart and been fatal, Riemer says.

Harpootlian has called fellow defense attorney Phillip Barber over to help him re-enact the juxtaposition of Paul and the shooter.

Yesterday, the state had Riemer draw on a diagram to show the jury how various gunshot wounds ripped through Paul’s body. Harpootlian has called over a real, live person. Riemer and Harpootlian are using a stick and (lightly) jabbing at various points on Barber's chest.

Barber went to law school and clerked for federal judge Richard Gergel for this.

One of the questions I've had is how Paul - who was around 5-foot-8 - was allegedly shot at such a dramatic upward trajectory by his father, who was well over 6-feet tall and wore 2XL shirts.

Riemer and Harpootlian are going back and forth over possible shotgun blast trajectories. Barber is showing great patience as Harpootlian pokes him at various spots with a stick and Riemer pushes his head around at various angles to suppose how the pellets traveled.

Harpootlian is trying to establish that Paul was killed with a contact shotgun wound, essentially a direct, execution-style shot to the head. Riemer isn’t buying it. She says Paul's wounds tell her the pellets traveled through his shoulder and neck before hitting his brain.

Riemer is so far scoring highly on the Mark Tinsley Formidable Witness Scale.

Riemer says she doesn't believe the gaping hole in the back of Paul's head could have been the entrance wound.

Harpootlian challenges whether she looked for stippling or soot. He notes she didn’t shave Paul’s head for a closer look, like she did Maggie’s. Riemer also didn’t log the absence of stippling or soot on Paul’s head in her notes. Riemer testifies she only shaves entrance wounds.

Riemer says she had already determined the hole in Paul’s head was an exit wound. She testifies she did look for stippling and soot and didn’t find it. She says she doesn’t log the absence of stippling/soot in exit wounds.

Harpootlian asks if someone else could look at the same evidence and reasonably disagree with her. Riemer: “People can disagree. That doesn’t change the truth.”

Harpootlian finishes his questioning of Riemer. Prosecutor Creighton Waters is back up on redirect, stressing Riemer's credentials.

“People can disagree. That doesn’t change the truth.”

Best comeback to DH yet!
I may put it on a t-shirt!

 

[arielilane]

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[Edvis]

DH. doesn’t want anyone to believe PM looked his father in the eyes as he blew his head off. Gosh knows he could have even yelled Dad at him. How horrifying this all is. What’s his point in all this?

For the defense to work in a murder suicide, just useless angle of impact points at this point. The jury is well aware of these fact's from yesterday.

 

[bestill]

So how does a young man go from being concerned with his friends dog ….to minutes later murdering his mother & killing himself?!
I actually thought PM sounded happy & funny in the “Cash video”.
This insane defense theory is like killing them twice.

MOO

I find it disgusting. Tarnishing Paul's memory even more. I wonder how the M's are feeling about this.

 

[Katrinepa]

If he is convicted, he can not profit from any Book, Movie deals, but other members of his family Can. If found not guilty, he can rake in the money from those, just as OJ Simpson did. Whew.