SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #31

[Loveallmyhorsesdogsandcats]

I feel like so much of the story is missing. Likely all tied up with where the $$ really went.

But without that, AM has been shown to be someone who saw beloved members of his circle as marks to steal from and lie to. Specifically why he killed them is not entirely clear to me-I think it could be him saving what could be saved, Buster. But that's really too "noble" for AM. He might have seen some possible way out of all his financial crimes by shaking things way up with a murder that will also provide a solution to Paul's boat case & free up Maggie's property for him.

It might have been a last ditch Hail Mary providing him with the above and also sympathy which would deter pressures being put on him.

He can say whatever he wants, as he always will, but once Jeannie found the embezzlements, the clock was ticking. AM knew all he had stolen but no one else did. Dead family members relieved pressure on AM.

He was in a financial dumpster fire. I am now wondering if he was wanting to eliminate some of his dependents, help solve his money problems while distracting from the lawsuit and thefts from the firm. Assets were in Maggies name, he could not borrow against them without her ok, probably would have forged her signature. IIRC, MB testified he lost all of his land investments during the recession. I don’t think they ever cut back on their lifestyle to adjust for that. Bought Moselle after a big settlement instead of paying debt. Looks like the money went to support the expected lifestyle. While he still earned a substantial income, it was not near enough to support 3 houses, trips, etc In 2019 income was 655k.

MOO
In 2014 reported income was over $1M? Alex assumes Waters has a document that says that.
In 2015, $2M; 2016, $900K; 2019, 655K
During that period of time, you were still stealing? Absolutely. Doesn’t dispute that, haven’t disputed since he was confronted on September 4. Stolen money, mislead people he cared about still cares about, loved, and still loves and mislead them all.
During that time, were you borrowing significant amounts of money from Palmetto State Bank? Yes
You had a $1M debt outstanding and $600K line of credit maxed out? Yes
You borrowed money from law partners? From Johnny Parker
And you used the stolen money to pay back those loans? I don’t dispute that
When you needed money, you borrowed from your father? Yes
And you used stolen money to pay back those loans? I don’t dispute that if that’s what records show
Moving to June 7, you were out of liquid funds—money you could readily access? Don’t agree with that. Alex said between January to June of 2021, he could borrow from his father, Parker, the bank, and had equity in the Edisto house in his and Maggie’s name; Moselle was in Maggie’s name it had equity that could be borrowed from; for those reasons, Alex disagrees with Waters that he couldn’t access funds.
The vast majority of money paid to you from the firm comes from the end-of-year bonus? Yes
That’s why you stole Ferris fees? You were in desperate need of funds and couldn’t wait until the bonus? One of the reasons, yes

 

[HawthorneJuniper]

One of the rebuttal witnesses could be to contradict Alex regarding his claims that he never tried to interfere with the statements of the boat accident victims. That was a lie, and perhaps could lead to perjury charges?

There's also the disagreements between the pathologist's angle of gunshot injuries versus the engineer's angle of shots.

I do think the boat case is a comprehensive review of AM as a master manipulator who has no respect for LE or an LE investigation. Who would attempt to coerce traumatized friends to lie to save Paul, and thus AM. That Murdaughs were allowed beyond LE barricades while LE searched for Mallory Beach's body but her parents weren't allowed to be there-drove right by the parents into the secured area. Then then all committed to the lie-I'm sure AM ensured everyone adopted that story. That's all AM typical MO! I just hope the jury has common sense and actually uses it.

 

[mickey2942]

I actually think AM did better today than yesterday. He came across as more of a victim today, and sympathetic.

I believe AM is a killer, but I won't be surprised if the jury aquits. AM still has the rest of his crimes to face. Let's hope he goes away for a long time.

 

[Seattle1]

My impression after today is that Alex still has not faced up to his own cognitive and personality issues. Oh my.

I don't even know what a "conscious decision" would mean to this man. He does what he wants and remembers what he wants. He rewrites literally thousands of immoral, illegal interactions (when all his admitted wrong doings are broken down into their rippling effects). He rewrites in his own favor. He probably used "I have to care for my family" as the reason for all the stealing, and then he tosses that aside and kills ⅔ of that family.

He's a human wrecking ball but he actually believes himself and he believes he has the capacity to "love" people and hold people "dear." Reminds me of people like Emperor Nero (who obviously had his own story to tell - which only he believed).

Since he's also an addict on top of everything else, he is unaware of many, many moments of his own life. He has no continuous inner self or personal recording of life. It's very sad and very damning.

IMO.

It's also very sad that AM was parenting two sons!

We saw the consequences of being raised by this man-- in his own image -- never our fault, we are right, and everybody else is wrong.

 

[BeachSky]

The truth is out there and CW did an amazing job on cross. AM looked like a child, a cry baby, someone who got caught but he has no daddy to pay off anyone and get him out of this mess. I have thought from the beginning this jury would hang since they only need one. Now I’m not sure. They are going home and think of all AM admitted to and they have to decide what Maggie and Paul’s lives are worth. Did they deserve this? Of course not.

CW wore him down good. It was like AM had elective surgery. CW just let him go on & on.
It is interesting how AM keeps mentioning Rogan. I think AM was chasing him that day to find out if there was a video that went thru. Good thing it took so long to unlock Ps phone cause AM kept riding that fatal kennel lie

MOO

 

[rescuemom]

IMO, yes he could have done anything during the time of 8:45 until 9:02. We know Maggie's phone has steps from 8:53-8:55 I think it was.. 59 or 62 steps something like that. His phone doesn't record any steps until 9:02 and we know then that wherever he left his phone (assuming inside the house somewhere or outside up close to the house) is where he would have picked it up from at 9:02. So anything is possible from 8:45 to 9:02 I would narrow that down even more though because I think he picked her phone up at 8:53 so I think before that he was cleaning himself up, changing clothing or whatever down near the kennels. Then he gets her phone and goes to the golf cart and rides off.. he could have went over and dumped her phone for sure. He had 10ish minutes before he picked his phone up.

Another thought was he was pushing for the data because he wanted to know BEFORE he was suspect #1 what data they did or didn't have. If it showed her phone moved with his vehicle, then he would have made up some other story about how she left her phone in his truck.. his goal seemed to be to get the info that LE had so he could create a narrative from it. Now it's easy to get on the stand and say he knew it would help him because he knows what data they have and what it showed or didn't show.

Do we know or can we guess why MMs phone wasn't left at the scene like PMs was left there???

 

[Ray_of_hope]

No, we actually speak this way. In small southern towns, with generational Southerners. It's normal.

Using Mr and Ms is very common. I have a dear, very close neighbor of 48 years, I always call her MS. So and So. She has never given me permission to call her by her first name. Yea, I was raised, as most, you always MR/MS unless the person says...Oh, please call me Betty.

Lol...

True. That's one of the things we taught our children. Yes Ma'am, Yes Sir. We are originally from Boston. But the manners in the south are so nice. And when calling someone by their first name if they're older, it's Miss so and so. ie: 'Hey Miss Betty.' It's a breath of fresh air.

 

[Skigirl]

Imagine how the trial would have gone if Alex had taken Paul's phone and tossed it into a creek on the way to Almeda.

 

[justtrish]

^^rsbm

Thanks for the link. If I recall correctly, the bank testified AM did not receive a $600K extension on the Moselle property requested on June 3 because MM was murdered by 6/7.

Not getting an extension left AM unable to pay Chris Wilson $600K until July -- representing only a partial payment to him of the $792K AM received from Wilson's trust account. MOO

Would Maggie have needed to okay the $600,000 extension on Moselle if she owned it?

If so, did she refuse?

Did he ask her and that sparked her to reach out to an accountant to examine what was going on with their finances?

 

[detectivewannab]

Do we know or can we guess why MMs phone wasn't left at the scene like PMs was left there???

He deletes the text & calls information with Maggie on his so something to with this.

 

[Aquarian]

Do we know or can we guess why MMs phone wasn't left at the scene like PMs was left there???

Yea I don’t understand his thinking on that.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

Me too

Me three. I went out and mowed the lawn and used the leaf blower to clean up the leaves. I could not listen to AM's whiny manipulations any longer. Now I have to catch up.

 

[BeachSky]

Have they said anything about the hose or the Gucci receipt..

I thought CW asked AM if Maggie used the hose … AM said no.

JMO

 

[HawthorneJuniper]

Yeah, and I'm disappointed CW hasn't mentioned that.

I'm hoping he's saving all that for him to put it all together for the jury without AM chiming in to "explain". I mean, it's a fairly obvious fact so I expect it to factor into rebuttal or closing. IMO closing is better. Why tell AM & defense what CW is going to say to the jury. It's just a fact. If he didn't know WHEN they were killed why would he lie about his time & location?

 

[detectivewannab]

Would Maggie have needed to okay the $600,000 extension on Moselle if she owned it?

If so, did she refuse?

Did he ask her and that sparked her to reach out to an accountant to examine what was going on with their finances?s

Yes, she would need to sign to pledge the property. It was also their primary residence so their is a waiting time for disbursement.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

I didn't realize the prosecution had "rested their case" today (live court streaming went out), is that right? Or will the prosecution have another opportunity to present their case against AM? On Monday or in closing arguments? TIA

 

[otto]

I feel like so much of the story is missing. Likely all tied up with where the $$ really went.

But without that, AM has been shown to be someone who saw beloved members of his circle as marks to steal from and lie to. Specifically why he killed them is not entirely clear to me-I think it could be him saving what could be saved, Buster. But that's really too "noble" for AM. He might have seen some possible way out of all his financial crimes by shaking things way up with a murder that will also provide a solution to Paul's boat case & free up Maggie's property for him.

It might have been a last ditch Hail Mary providing him with the above and also sympathy which would deter pressures being put on him.

He can say whatever he wants, as he always will, but once Jeannie found the embezzlements, the clock was ticking. AM knew all he had stolen but no one else did. Dead family members relieved pressure on AM.

I agree, Alex was cutting his losses, putting all his eggs in one basket: Buster. There are jailhouse phone calls where Alex tells Buster that he put in a fix for Buster to be re-admitted to law school. Buster said no, the law firm legacy ends with Alex.

The financial fraud unravelled with the boat accident: the problem with Paul. Moselle was entirely in Maggie's name and she probably had no issue with Alex mortgaging the property. She did not comply with Alex's requests that she sign loan papers at the bank using Edisto Beach house as collateral: the problem with Maggie. Both relate to financial problems and over-spending.

Often, Alex says two things at the same time: I disagree with all of it, but agree with some.

 

[mickey2942]

Interesting, Court TV is now doing a special on "People Who Lie", Casey Anthony, Jodi Arias.

 

[Knox]

Would Maggie have needed to okay the $600,000 extension on Moselle if she owned it?

If so, did she refuse?

Did he ask her and that sparked her to reach out to an accountant to examine what was going on with their finances?

You don't think Alec faked her signature anytime it was needed on a document?

 

[Luna20]

Was he that wordy in Civil Court on his own cases, lol?

It may be a tactic to look like he is an open book.