SC - Paul Murdaugh, 22 and mom Margaret, 52, found shot to death, Islandton, 7 June 2021 #6

[clearskies1]

Murdaugh Murders: Helicopter Dispatched To Alex Murdaugh Shooting Before Sheriff’s Office

C.A.R.E. Flight officials confirmed Friday the helicopter that transported Alex Murdaugh from a landing zone about 7 miles from the alleged shooting scene was dispatched at 1:43 p.m. Saturday — approximately 9 minutes after Alex Murdaugh called 911.

This means that the helicopter was dispatched approximately 12 minutes before the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched at 1:55 p.m. Saturday, according to their news release written three days after the shooting.

If the shooting was reported to police as an “attempted murder” as the incident report says, why would it take 12 minutes for the law enforcement agency in charge of the area to dispatch officers?

Was local law enforcement’s arrival on the scene deliberately delayed?

Further, an eye witness (see top of article and below) told FITSnews her phone shows the helicopter landed at the scene along Charleston Highway in Varnville, South Carolina around 2:15 p.m. and left around 2:25 p.m. She told FITSNews that police appeared at the landing zone before the helicopter.

Was SLED only called when the helicopter was back in the air with AM on board??

 

[JaimeInLA]

Is this really okay on this website? Armchair psychiatrists are allowed to diagnose?

I’m not excusing Any godawful things AM may have done - but it’s really sad that such an esteemed site has become *this*.

I don’t understand the outrage, to be honest. You are assuming he is an addict. We don’t know that. We have no verification of that, only the word of his lawyer.

I personally find it demeaning to other people with addictions to say that addictions caused him to commit crimes. Other psychological problems would have caused him to commit crimes (coupled with his addiction, if it really exists).

And I said “potentially” — meaning that if he committed any crimes, which we don’t know that he did, but we are allowed to call him a person of interest, per the mods.

And we know he embezzled the $10 million. He admitted it!!

(I have been at Websleuths a long time too!!)

 

[Moma J]

If the shooter really had to make a u-turn in front of the church, it means it came from the south and hadn't follow AM? And drove away to the south after the shooting?

It’s important to remember that the sheriff’s department that screwed that document up, is not the investigative agency here. They responded, gathered some information, and secured the scene until SLED arrived.

So it’s annoying, but nothing to be concerned about.

Thank you for this information.

 

[otto]

We know that Alex said he has a problem with oxycodone.<modsnip - no link> There's no reason to connect prescription drug addiction with embezzlement.

Some professionals steal money because they are living beyond their means. They have a good income, but they spend more than they earn.

Do we have a timeline for when he might have started taking oxycodone? Was he in a car accident, or did he suffer some other sort of injury at some time in the past? That might help pinpoint the time that he became addicted to the prescription medication.

 

[Moma J]

I am a Drug addict and will always have the potential to go back to using. Been clean 15 years. I’m a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and I’ve never done anything to hurt others. So many addicts hurt themselves emotionally rather than hurting others.MOO

 

[Herat]

The knife HAS been traced back to him. (Per Fitsnews). I don’t think there ever was a gun. I think the graze wound was caused by the knife. If there were a gun, he would have gunshot residue on his hands, and he’s not going to take that chance. I think he cut himself, flattened his tire, and then drove down the road. That’s why they found blood inside the car. IMO, the church security camera will show that there never was any other car on that road except for him.

Getting him out of there by helicopter before LE arrived on the scene would do a lot to prevent his hands being tested for gunshot residue, especially taking his cell phone with him

 

[sunshineray]

If the knife is traced back to AM could he have slashed his tire after the shooting? Would it have been hard to explain why he was stopped on the side of a back road. Maybe he was meeting someone and something went wrong with that meeting? Sorry Mods if I should not have posted this possibility. I am in no way saying this happened it is just an idea. moo

I've said before, wondering about that very aspect of the AM shooting incident, if the tire was slashed, supposedly using AM's knife, before the shooting occured? That would opened up a whole can of worms as to what was the motive was, IMO.

If in fact the slashing occured after AM was injured, that would lead me to believe the shooting was self-inflicted.

IIRC LE has never commented on whether AM's wound was self-inflicted, only AM's family through their lawyer?

 

[Tippy Lynn]

I've said before, wondering about that very aspect of the AM shooting incident, if the tire was slashed, supposedly using AM's knife, before the shooting occured? That would opened up a whole can of worms as to what was the motive was, IMO.

If in fact the slashing occured after AM was injured, that would lead me to believe the shooting was self-inflicted.

IIRC LE has never commented on whether AM's wound was self-inflicted, only AM's family through their lawyer?

If the slashing of the tire occurred after AM was injured there would have been no need to change out a flat tire.

 

[Herat]

We know that Alex said he has a problem with oxycodone. We also know that he is accused of embezzling millions from the law firm during the last three years. There's no reason to connect prescription drug addiction with embezzlement.

Some professionals steal money because they are living beyond their means. They have a good income, but they spend more than they earn.

Do we have a timeline for when he might have started taking oxycodone? Was he in a car accident, or did he suffer some other sort of injury at some time in the past? That might help pinpoint the time that he became addicted to the prescription medication.

For thoroughness sake, I think the self-reported addiction to oxycodone needs to be verified, especially if there is prosecution emanating from this episode, or the embezzlement.

I think it's very curious that he is whisked away by helicopter for medical care and then transferred into rehab, so that he is not available for LE investigators.

It could have been a way to remove him from scrutiny and testing while the embezzlement deal is being worked out.

I think there have to be serious felony fraud and embezzlement charges pending.

 

[sunshineray]

UPDATE: Police now say Alex Murdaugh was visibly injured following Saturday's shooting

Murdaugh says a truck passed him before turning around a few o yards later in front of St. John Baptist Church and coming back.

Griffin said Murdaugh and the truck's occupants had a brief interaction about the car trouble and when Murdaugh looked away he heard a gunshot and the car sped off. Griffin said Murdaugh did not recognize the occupants, but was able to describe them to SLED investigators.

Does the church have securety cams?

How does this jive with AM saying he looked away, heard a gunshot and the car sped away? It doesn't, IMO.

"Police say they found at least seven shell casings at the scene."

Authorities investigating after Alex Murdaugh was found shot in the head | WCBD News 2

Yes the Baptist church did have cameras and SLED has the footage.

"Video cameras from St. John’s Baptist Church, just a few hundred yards from the scene, could reveal more about the incident. According to NBC News, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has now obtained that video footage, but the agency has not said what, if anything, is on it."

Alex Murdaugh attorney doubles down: Shooting wasn’t self-inflicted | WSAV-TV

 

[Bridger]

Getting him out of there by helicopter before LE arrived on the scene would do a lot to prevent his hands being tested for gunshot residue, especially taking his cell phone with him

Surely you aren’t suggesting that gunshot victims should be prevented from traveling to hospitals by air ambulances while police wait for CSI to show up to swab the victim’s hands. This thread has gotten out of hand. Of course ambulances are dispatched to the injured before police are dispatched. Would you really want it the other way around?

 

[sunshineray]

In the photograph displayed in connection with this article about investigators having recovered the knife used to slit the tire, the two evidence markers (identified as "4" and "5") shown on the ground appear to be over tiny pieces of red rubber (or plastic or latex), like a tiny red toy balloon that has been deflated or exploded. It also appears some of the officers might be carrying something red in their left hands (those could be red evidence flags of some kind or something like that) and there are a couple red splotches past the crime scene tape at the side of the roadway. What could those little pieces of red rubber/plastic/latex under the evidence markers have to do with the events of that day?

Sources: Investigators Recover Knife Used To Puncture Alex Murdaugh’s Tire

Good catch! there's also red on a tree past the crime scene tape and on the ground below the tree. I wonder if they did manage to get some ballistics to look at! I'd never seen that photo, thanks...interesting.

 

[Herat]

Surely you aren’t suggesting that gunshot victims should be prevented from traveling to hospitals by air ambulances while police wait for CSI to show up to swab the victim’s hands. This thread has gotten out of hand. Of course ambulances are dispatched to the injured before police are dispatched. Would you really want it the other way around?

It wasn't Medical First Responders that called for the helicopter. It was as-of-yet unidentified Good Samaritans. If I come across a car accident, I don't get on my phone and call Care Flight.

Nothing about this makes sense to me.

 

[sunshineray]

Jmo

That is the same pic that was used in some of the articles pertaining to the mosselle property, probably a file photo.

So it's from Moselle crime scene?

 

[MrsWatson]

AM's phone activity around the time of his shooting is going to be very enlightening, I think.

How many people have a private air ambulance phone number saved on their phone and that is their first thought if they are injured? Rather than just calling 911? Esp if you are a victim of a gunshot wound. That makes zero sense unless it's keep LE at bay as much as possible.

MOO

 

[MassGuy]

RUMOR CHECK: SLED just confirmed that Alex was NOT arrested today.

Will and I have been getting texts with that rumor all day and just wanted to clarify that.

https://twitter.com/mandymatney/status/1436445622329122831?s=21

 

[Razz]

Surely you aren’t suggesting that gunshot victims should be prevented from traveling to hospitals by air ambulances while police wait for CSI to show up to swab the victim’s hands. This thread has gotten out of hand. Of course ambulances are dispatched to the injured before police are dispatched. Would you really want it the other way around?

Well, actually, police would be dispatched first. It is there job to make sure the scene is safe before the ambulance is dispatched.

 

[10ofRods]

From what I am seeing, the embezzlement was not from the client's trust money or the business operations money, but from the partnership restricted funds.

The contributions and fund management was probably handled by an entirely different business.

The relationship of AM to that business will be interesting.

I agree with your first statement (it does look that way so far, especially given the probate of one the senior partner's estates - the elder Murdaugh).

But not sure they had a totally outsourced accounting firm - that would surprise me. But could also be true (in which case, they should have caught it, IMO).

 

[LotusPawprint]

[URL="https://www.fitsnews.com/2021/09/10/murdaugh-murders-helicopter-dispatched-to-alex-murdaugh-shooting-before-sheriffs-office/"]Murdaugh Murders: Helicopter Dispatched To Alex Murdaugh Shooting Before Sheriff’s Office
[/URL]
C.A.R.E. Flight officials confirmed Friday the helicopter that transported Alex Murdaugh from a landing zone about 7 miles from the alleged shooting scene was dispatched at 1:43 p.m. Saturday — approximately 9 minutes after Alex Murdaugh called 911.

This means that the helicopter was dispatched approximately 12 minutes before the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched at 1:55 p.m. Saturday, according to their news release written three days after the shooting.

If the shooting was reported to police as an “attempted murder” as the incident report says, why would it take 12 minutes for the law enforcement agency in charge of the area to dispatch officers?

Was local law enforcement’s arrival on the scene deliberately delayed?

Further, an eye witness (see top of article and below) told FITSnews her phone shows the helicopter landed at the scene along Charleston Highway in Varnville, South Carolina around 2:15 p.m. and left around 2:25 p.m. She told FITSNews that police appeared at the landing zone before the helicopter.

While I can't make exact sense of the timing and logistics of what happened, some of my thoughts -- Maybe AM and /or the Good Samaritans were communicating to the dispatcher that there was blood from the head but assessed that it wasn't life threatening, and communicated this to dispatch, who decided that a medivac was appropriate.


Old Salkehatchie Road and Varnville are close to the Colleton/Hampton County line so it could be that the Hampton County dispatcher first requested an airlift from Hampton and none were available, so then contacted CARE.

The 12 minutes between helicopter dispatch and LE dispatch seems long, but I am wondering if the fact that AM was now 7 or so miles away from the initial site was confusing the dispatcher who had to go back and forth between AM, the helicopter, and Sheriff's Deputies.

Just my attempt a to make it all fit.

 

[sunshineray]

It’s important to remember that the sheriff’s department that screwed that document up, is not the investigative agency here. They responded, gathered some information, and secured the scene until SLED arrived.

So it’s annoying, but nothing to be concerned about.

Well playing devil's advocate, any set of professional LE eyes can attest to whether or not there's a visible sign of injury or pin point pupils that don't respond to change in lighting. As well as any nose can smell alcohol (barring and physical condition to the contrary). So the Corporal who saw AM would most likely have an educated opinion.