Anyone following the Murdaugh family murders in South Carolina?

[Bonfire]

I'm so relieved that the jury wasn't fooled by the performance he gave while on the stand. I saw an interview of one of the jurors this morning, who indicated that he watched Alex's mannerisms very closely: no actual tears, "just blew snot."

I’ve sat on two juries over the years. It really is theater. Thankfully justice was served in this case and also that South Carolina is quick to sentence.

 

[MissGotRocks]

He was given quite a dressing down by the judge. He has practiced law before him in that courtroom and socialized with him at various bar functions. Not the usual defendant to appear before him. He spoke of the death penalty and I was thinking he might be considering it. He really summed up his persona well. So ironic that Paul provided the video - unknowingly of course - that gave justice to he and his mother. I have never seen a case like this so interwoven with drug abuse, lies and murder in a man so upstanding (seemingly) in the community. May Maggie and Paul at least rest in peace. Just so tragic!

 

[Mreader]

I’m stunned the verdict came back so quickly.

I was too, and I actually find it disturbing. Honestly, I think that he did it, but I don’t think that the evidence proves it. The motive in particular is so weak. How is it that the death of his wife and child would mean that he wouldn’t be prosecuted for the financial crimes?

Again, I think he’s guilty, but it’s always a bit disturbing when a jury seems to go more by feel than by the facts.

 

[RMOO]

I was too, and I actually find it disturbing. Honestly, I think that he did it, but I don’t think that the evidence proves it. The motive in particular is so weak. How is it that the death of his wife and child would mean that he wouldn’t be prosecuted for the financial crimes?

Again, I think he’s guilty, but it’s always a bit disturbing when a jury seems to go more by feel than by the facts.

You have to remember though, they have been considering the evidence (individually) for weeks.

 

[Bonfire]

Again, I think he’s guilty, but it’s always a bit disturbing when a jury seems to go more by feel than by the facts.

It’s the preponderance of evidence. Beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s vastly different sitting on the jury day in and day out. There is so much acting going on between the attorneys and the defendants. Not all guilty verdicts are arrived at through DNA evidence or a smoking gun. Being a jurist in a case like this is really tough. It’s a twisted tale. I think they did their due diligence and arrived at the right verdict. Jmo

ETA. It’s not surprising they would litigate the most serious charges first. First degree murder vs the financial charges. Since he was found guilty and has been sentenced to life in prison, there’s no reason to litigate the financial charges.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I was too, and I actually find it disturbing. Honestly, I think that he did it, but I don’t think that the evidence proves it. The motive in particular is so weak. How is it that the death of his wife and child would mean that he wouldn’t be prosecuted for the financial crimes?

Again, I think he’s guilty, but it’s always a bit disturbing when a jury seems to go more by feel than by the facts.

That was always the problem - there was no direct evidence. However, all of the timelines and other facts left you feeling like there was no explanation. As I said before though, that is really not evidence. I think once he took the stand to admit he had lied, he opened himself up to the financial crimes as well. Those really painted a man that lied to everyone about everything ruining his credibility.
I think the prosecution asserted that he killed them because his financial fraud was about to come to light. He was sued for Paul’s accident and there were hints that Maggie might want a divorce. Both of those opened up his financial misdeeds. I think their murders would really do nothing but hold those investigations at bay for awhile. Buying him time would never have solved the problem though so again, you are left feeling that their deaths were all in vain. I had also thought that he probably knew Paul was going to go to prison for the boating death and he was not going to be able to stop it. Perhaps he didn’t want that to happen to Paul or Maggie to bear witness to it. That is probably giving him too much credit though; Alex was looking out for himself as he always did. You can’t blame the opioids for bad decisions either. He was on them for years while he swiftly swindled many out of their jury awards and fees. He could think clearly enough to do that. The whole thing is unsettling and upsetting but I honestly can’t see any other way that those two victims died but by his hand. The totality of it all surely convinced the jury as well.

 

[tyty333]

I never could find out if he had life insurance on Maggie. That might have helped him get out of his hole. I know he had a ton of
insurance on himself.

Does anyone know if Maggie had life insurance?

I feel for Buster. Lost his whole family. How do you move forward? I'm going to assume he is broke now too thanks to his Dad.

Edit...maybe not if his grandfather left him any money...or what if Maggie did have life insurance and Buster was the beneficiary of
it. Wonder if he would still get it?

 

[RMOO]

I never could find out if he had life insurance on Maggie. That might have helped him get out of his hole. I know he had a ton of
insurance on himself.

Does anyone know if Maggie had life insurance?

I feel for Buster. Lost his whole family. How do you move forward? I'm going to assume he is broke now too thanks to his Dad.

Edit...maybe not if his grandfather left him any money...or what if Maggie did have life insurance and Buster was the beneficiary of
it. Wonder if he would still get it?

I have been wondering this as well. All I have been able to find is that he surrendered (all of?) his inheritance from his mother, $530k, to the family of Mallory Beach, in order to get his name off the wrongful death lawsuit. But now that Alex can not inherit the hefty remainder of her $4+ million estate, one has to wonder where that money will end up.

I would have more sympathy for Buster if not for him flipping off a witness and kicking a water bottle in court, when the family had to be moved from the front row because of inappropriate behavior. In any event, he currently is residing on Hilton Head Island, so I won't be shedding any tears for him.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I have been wondering this as well. All I have been able to find is that he surrendered (all of?) his inheritance from his mother, $530k, to the family of Mallory Beach, in order to get his name off the wrongful death lawsuit. But now that Alex can not inherit the hefty remainder of her $4+ million estate, one has to wonder where that money will end up.

I would have more sympathy for Buster if not for him flipping off a witness and kicking a water bottle in court, when the family had to be moved from the front row because of inappropriate behavior. In any event, he currently is residing on Hilton Head Island, so I won't be shedding any tears for him.

It was said by his lawyer that he had no life insurance on Maggie or Paul so no motive for murder in that.

He has obviously needed a lot of money for legal representation and if he moves forward with an appeal, he will need a ton more.

I am sure Buster is not an angel - he was even kicked out of law school for plagiarism. However, I cannot imagine how he must feel. His father has been convicted for the murders of his mother and brother. He has basically lost his entire immediate family . He has lost his presumed protection under the family name as well as their standing. None of that means anything to me but you know it did to him. He does have two uncles that I am sure will support him in any way they can but still...he must feel like a lost soul at this point. It was said that the family paid 60k to get him back in law school but that hasn't happened yet. Not sure if it wasn't enough money or if he didn't want to go back. It was said he was working at Buffalo Wild Wings. He is truly his father's third victim.

 

[mom2dolls]

Regarding Buster, I also wondered what will come of him. However, when watching the sentencing this morning and Creighton Waters said there is no one to speak for Maggie & Paul as a victim impact statement. I don't wonder anymore. He is his father's son and couldn't even stand for his murdered brother and mother.

Alex can now rot in jail. Five lives taken senselessly by this families greed and ego.

 

[Slickk]

I haven’t read all the responses here yet but he did not have life insurance on his wife or son, but Moselle was in her name only. I think his motive (does not have to be proven in court) could have been a sympathy ploy. “If my wife and son have been murdered, I will be a sympathetic figure now and my financial misdeeds will be seen as minor compared to what I’ve been through…” insert snot/cry emotions.

 

[Bonfire]

I’m not surprised the jury reached a verdict so quickly, after six weeks of testimony they had it figured out. I think the video was key (put him at the scene).
Once Alex took the stand in his own defense, it’s pretty easy to see through the lies and fake emotions. Thought he could manipulate the jury. It’s such a tragic story.

 

[Calliecake]

ABC 20/20 is having a special about this tonight. A juror will be on this show,

 

[Diamond Girl 21]

I was too, and I actually find it disturbing. Honestly, I think that he did it, but I don’t think that the evidence proves it. The motive in particular is so weak. How is it that the death of his wife and child would mean that he wouldn’t be prosecuted for the financial crimes?

Again, I think he’s guilty, but it’s always a bit disturbing when a jury seems to go more by feel than by the facts.

I agree with you. I definitely think he had something to do with it, but I don't think they "legally" proved murder.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi.
If they could prove that Alex was on the scene, when he denied ever being there, at the time of the murder. that is enough proof for me. Alex was there. He then went to his mothers and changed clothes--no blood spatter. They probably had a fight. Motives abound. We cannot getinside his head. He was there. He did it.

Annette

 

[tyty333]

I have been wondering this as well. All I have been able to find is that he surrendered (all of?) his inheritance from his mother, $530k, to the family of Mallory Beach, in order to get his name off the wrongful death lawsuit. But now that Alex can not inherit the hefty remainder of her $4+ million estate, one has to wonder where that money will end up.

I would have more sympathy for Buster if not for him flipping off a witness and kicking a water bottle in court, when the family had to be moved from the front row because of inappropriate behavior. In any event, he currently is residing on Hilton Head Island, so I won't be shedding any tears for him.

I missed this stuff...I had hoped Buster was the nice guy in the family but it sounds like both the kids were spoiled and never told "no".
Paul's girlfriend said that he choked her and spit at her. Lovely...can you imagine?

Edit...I wonder if Buster can inherit from the Grandmother's estate? I'm really hoping that the money goes to all the people
Alex's stole from. What happens to Moselle? Does Buster inherit that or does the sale of that go to help the law firm pay
people off? I just read that Alex had put it up for sale after Maggie and Paul's death and there was a contract on it but then
all Alex's assets were frozen and the sale couldn't go through.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Hi.
If they could prove that Alex was on the scene, when he denied ever being there, at the time of the murder. that is enough proof for me. Alex was there. He then went to his mothers and changed clothes--no blood spatter. They probably had a fight. Motives abound. We cannot getinside his head. He was there. He did it.

Annette

Yes, his presence there via the video clip combined with the timeline pretty much wrapped it up. It certainly did for the jury. It was such a horrific crime against his family that I somehow hoped against hope that it wasn’t him. I know of a family in my area that something similar happened. He had someone kill his wife but he found her. He was quite the bereaved man too; floundering in the yard crying and screaming. I have been told that the police didn’t believe him from the very beginning and it turned out that he did hire someone to do it. While police work isn’t perfect, I guess there are times that things immediately don’t add up. They had stated early on that there was no threat to the public in this case. That says volumes about their thought process early on.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I missed this stuff...I had hoped Buster was the nice guy in the family but it sounds like both the kids were spoiled and never told "no".
Paul's girlfriend said that he choked her and spit at her. Lovely...can you imagine?

Yes, it seems that there were never any consequences for either of them. I heard last night that Buster completely broke down when leaving the court house and that his two uncles had to get him into a car. He probably believed that his Dad would walk free too. Makes me thankful to be just a normal person without conceived privilege by a name or birthright!

 

[Diamond Girl 21]

Hi.
If they could prove that Alex was on the scene, when he denied ever being there, at the time of the murder. that is enough proof for me. Alex was there. He then went to his mothers and changed clothes--no blood spatter. They probably had a fight. Motives abound. We cannot getinside his head. He was there. He did it.

Annette

Yes, I do think there was a dispute about the timeline/time of death which called into question how much time he had to clean up. I wish SLED found the weapons, clothes, or even tested the drains. Unfortunately they didn't do any of those things.

I pretty much watched the entire trial, and honestly I wasn't impressed by either side. To me, it feels like pieces of the puzzle are missing. Either way the jury found him guilty and he will serve his time.

 

[RMOO]

Yes, I do think there was a dispute about the timeline/time of death which called into question how much time he had to clean up. I wish SLED found the weapons, clothes, or even tested the drains. Unfortunately they didn't do any of those things.

I pretty much watched the entire trial, and honestly I wasn't impressed by either side. To me, it feels like pieces of the puzzle are missing. Either way the jury found him guilty and he will serve his time.

I have served on three juries, and each time I have come away with the same feeling: it is all so mundane and ordinary, and attorneys are human who stumble over procedure, error in their thought process, misspeak and then correct themselves, etc. I think we all see too many made for tv/movie court cases where there are these dramatic "aha" moments, and we somehow come to believe that that is what happens in real life. I actually think that Paul's video capturing his father's voice is the closest thing to a real life "aha, gotcha ya" moment I have ever seen. How poetically ironic! The dead victim catches the perpetrator.

I believed that Alex was guilty, but also thought that one could say "well, no smoking gun, no video tape, its all circumstantial." That is until I heard the closing argument of the prosecutor who laid it out from the other perspective: who else could have known that Maggie (who had been living in the couples beach house for some time, and had been asked to come there by Alex) and Paul would happen to be at the kennels together at that time of night, who else had access to the two family rifles, who else lied about where he was at the time of the murder, and on and on and on. I actually was very impressed by how the prosecutor laid it all out.

 

[tyty333]

So I saw a show last night speculating that the young guy that was found dead on the road may have known something
about the Murdaughs so they had to take him out. Maybe that Alex was buying/taking all those pills??? All speculation
at this point but it wouldn't surprise me with the number of deaths surrounding this family. They also say the police were
complicit in covering up the young guy's death. As in not doing the detective work to figure out who do it. I hope they can
get to the bottom of it.

 

[RMOO]

So I saw a show last night speculating that the young guy that was found dead on the road may have known something
about the Murdaughs so they had to take him out. Maybe that Alex was buying/taking all those pills??? All speculation
at this point but it wouldn't surprise me with the number of deaths surrounding this family. They also say the police were
complicit in covering up the young guy's death. As in not doing the detective work to figure out who do it. I hope they can
get to the bottom of it.

Yes, there must be a great number of complicit persons, in the police department, coroners office, and court system. Probably for generations of his family. I believe this is why he thought that planting the motive, that people were out to get Paul for the boat accident, when Alex was being interviewed by police for the first time on the night of the murders, would work. Because it had worked in the past.

I would love to see someone do an in-depth investigation of any criminal case in that county that was connected to a Murdaugh family member.

 

[kenny]

So I saw a show last night speculating that the young guy that was found dead on the road may have known something
about the Murdaughs so they had to take him out. ...

That boy found dead was openly gay and went to the same High School as the Murdaugh boys.
Many witnesses from the school stated Buster Murdaugh had a "close relationship" (Wink Wink Nudge Nudge ) with the gay boy.
I suspect that was a tad problematic in rural So. Carolina, in the Bible Belt.
He got silenced.

I can't imagine why the investigation went cold, and was abandoned.

I read the dead boy had his head bashed in; and was likely killed by Buster Murdaugh and two other young men/boys.

He had to be silenced.

I hope the investigation into this and other murders connected to Murdaugh, are reopened.

 

[MissGotRocks]

That boy found dead was openly gay and went to the same High School as the Murdaugh boys.
Many witnesses from the school stated Buster Murdaugh had a "close relationship" (Wink Wink Nudge Nudge ) with the gay boy.
I suspect that was a tad problematic in rural So. Carolina, in the Bible Belt.
He got silenced.

I can't imagine why the investigation went cold, and was abandoned.

I read the dead boy had his head bashed in; and was likely killed by Buster Murdaugh and two other young men/boys.

He had to be silenced.

I hope the investigation into this and other murders connected to Murdaugh, are reopened.

I do too Kenny. That young man was bludgeoned to death and there was clearly some reason for it but the investigation just went cold. His mother said she would never stop seeking the truth but up against the powers that be there, it was probably an uphill battle. He deserves justice too and I hope they find out who was involved in his death and punish them to the fullest extent of the law. That type of crime will never stop until all people are accountable for their actions and not protected by their name. Sickening!

 

[tyty333]

@kenny...I knew he was gay and at first thought, that's why they killed him (you're not welcome around our parts). But
you raise a good point about Buster.

The good news is that I heard they reopened the case. If what they speculated on the show was true then a whole lot of people
could be (let's say should be) in trouble as @RMOO pointed out!

Edit...I cant remember when this happened, before the sentencing or after but someone yelled at Buster that he was next. Like we
know you're involved and you'll be going to jail next.

 

[RMOO]

And now Murdaugh says he lied about the housekeeper's fall involving his dogs. Conveniently, this would make the insurance company's suit to recover the settlement monies against him go away, somehow, Does anyone know the legal reasons for this?

I mean, does the man even know what truth is? Interesting that he now says the dogs were not the cause of her fall, but he doesn't say what (or who) was the real reason for her fall. Actually, I'm surprised he didn't say Paul pushed her in anger, since he's dead and can't refute the claim.

 

[RMOO]

Ah yes, saying his dogs weren't involved would sent sick the insurance company after the Satterfield boys to recover the money. Satterfield attorneys responded that they didn't get the settlement from the insurance company. They got a settlement from Alex Murdaugh and others for duping them.

 

[MissGotRocks]

And now Murdaugh says he lied about the housekeeper's fall involving his dogs. Conveniently, this would make the insurance company's suit to recover the settlement monies against him go away, somehow, Does anyone know the legal reasons for this?

I mean, does the man even know what truth is? Interesting that he now says the dogs were not the cause of her fall, but he doesn't say what (or who) was the real reason for her fall. Actually, I'm surprised he didn't say Paul pushed her in anger, since he's dead and can't refute the claim.

I saw that! I actually thought the same thing - he will blame Paul because he is dead and can’t answer for himself. It seems to me - if I am remembering correctly - that the big insurance money on that place hasn’t been in place very long. Always wondered if he set that up to be able to collect the money. I would put nothing past him. Watched the testimony of Mark Ball, a partner in the law firm, the other day. He said Alex was a little stretched because of some land deals. Didn’t elaborate on that though. Have read there were some outer islands or something that he might have been involved in purchasing. My burning question has always been where is all of the money he stole? He didn’t spend it all on Oxy. He would not have been able to function if he had used the amount he said he did. I am sure he took it but not to the extent he said he did. Separating the truth from his lies is a Herculean task! His own bank account was like 300,000 in arrears. Each partner was making 125k a year before end of the year division of funds. That’s over 10k a month before taxes. Where did all the money go????

 

[MissGotRocks]

Here is my other question. Did his father know that Maggie and Paul were dead? It had been reported somewhere that his father came to Modesto the night of the murders. However, it was also said that he had come home from the hospital that day for hospice care. Was it possible that he was able to go to Modesto that night? His mother's caretaker testified that Alex came to the house to visit his mother that night. She never said anything about him checking in on his father. Was he there? Did he really get up and go to Modesto after the murders? He died a few days later so he clearly was very ill. I just always wondered if anyone had really told him about the murders or did he die without knowing?

 

[Rfisher]

Where did all the money go????

Has anything been said in court about what Maggie’s forensic accountant had found?
If that corp abandoned that task once she was murdered, or did it only to the surface
And if the prosecutor doesn’t dive into this to find out what’s lies vs what’s been done- this just gets stinkier and stinkier.

I think there’s a good chance he had a ‘partner’ in his thefts ( I’m sure they called it investments ) and that will account for a good deal of it - if indeed he isn’t exaggerating. Because that’s believable too.

Not the same - but It’s crazy how many and high executives and local to them bankers don’t seem to think check kiting is bad or stealing or illegal. Some just seem to think it’s a legit way to do business, even when they know skimming is going on with it.