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

[stmarysmead]

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/s...LUWWz8eNkdOU8MSWkYlzUXFBm4nQ8LhOFlPFXncyfd8Ac

A grand jury is investigating whether there was obstruction of justice in boating death probe.

 

[ReadySet]

Hope someone can clarify about the guns:

Do we know if the victims were armed?
Do we know if any guns were found at the scene?
If so, do we know if the guns found at the scene were the weapons used?
TIA!

 

[Born2BWild]

https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article227456544.html

You’ve probably already seen this article but in case you haven’t, thought I’d post. There’s a section that says that on the night of the boat accident, while survivors were receiving medical attention in the hospital and being questioned by law enforcement, that AM and his father, Randolph M, III arrived at the hospital and shut down the questioning and I’m assuming any blood tests, for the whole group.

 

[stmarysmead]

So even before the murders, this family was facing the terminal illness of the patriarch, possible imprisonment of the son and maybe more charges against various family members if the grand jury brought back indictments.

 

[Razz]

I'm wondering, if this was a hit, it seems AM should have been on the list too. And just maybe he was as it sounds like he just missed the killings.

 

[Hoytie]

This seems like some old fashioned hillbilly justice.

 

[stmarysmead]

I'm wondering, if this was a hit, it seems AM should have been on the list too. And just maybe he was as it sounds like he just missed the killings.

If this was planned…the killers could not have anticipated the emergency situation that caused AM to have to leave the lodge to take his father to the hospital.

 

[stmarysmead]

Hope someone can clarify about the guns:

Do we know if the victims were armed?
Do we know if any guns were found at the scene?
If so, do we know if the guns found at the scene were the weapons used?
TIA!

As far as I know, we don’t know the answers to any of these questions. But maybe another poster has more updated information.

 

[helpfulcharlie]

Hope someone can clarify about the guns:

Do we know if the victims were armed?
Do we know if any guns were found at the scene?
If so, do we know if the guns found at the scene were the weapons used?
TIA!

I've seen none of these confirmed.

 

[Sustained]

If this was planned…the killers could not have anticipated the emergency situation that caused AM to have to leave the lodge to take his father to the hospital.

He may have not been at the hunting camp prior to the murders given that it was Monday and most likely a work day. I would guess he went straight over to his mom's, picked up his dad and took him to the hospital.
At some point after his father was admitted, went back to his mom's and then got home around 10.

Even more reason to think AM was not involved.

JMO

 

[StarryStarryNight]

He may have not been at the hunting camp prior to the murders given that it was Monday and most likely a work day. I would guess he went straight over to his mom's, picked up his dad and took him to the hospital.
At some point after his father was admitted, went back to his mom's and then got home around 10.

Even more reason to think AM was not involved.

JMO

I agree and if AM had been at the hunting lodge, he would have been killed too I think.

 

[MoeInVA]

I just want to throw this out there. It is very difficult when a terrible crime hits your family and you do not know if your family member is guilty or not. Even when you strongly suspect your relative, if you do not know for sure, you would not want to accuse them publicly obviously. Even if you are fully cooperating with authorities and sharing any concerns you have, most people would not share those with the media. Because what if they are wrong?

In my opinion, AM’s brothers were right to do the interview and they did a nice job bringing a family perspective to this terrible crime.

I don’t think they believe their brother did this but I don’t know. I wish we could see full unedited video. I also don’t think they believe the stranger threats were legit.

 

[clearskies1]

I’m thinking somebody in the Murdaugh family did not want the court date to happen on the Thursday after the murder where AM was required to list his assets. He had avoided listing his assets in the boating accident trial for 2 years and 3 days later, he was required to provide it to the court. I feel it’s an interesting coincidence that this happened and then the court date was postponed.

I think it was supposed to be a hearing on the matter on the Thursday after the killings. I don't believe the court had issued a ruling yet on whether the financial information needed to be turned over. So I don't think any financial info would have been turned over on that Thursday. If AM lost the motion he would have been given time to produce the information. JMO.

 

[Razz]

I just want to throw this out there. It is very difficult when a terrible crime hits your family and you do not know if your family member is guilty or not. Even when you strongly suspect your relative, if you do not know for sure, you would not want to accuse them publicly obviously. Even if you are fully cooperating with authorities and sharing any concerns you have, most people would not share those with the media. Because what if they are wrong?

In my opinion, AM’s brothers were right to do the interview and they did a nice job bringing a family perspective to this terrible crime.

I don’t think they believe their brother did this but I don’t know. I wish we could see full unedited video. I also don’t think they believe the stranger threats were legit.

I'd really like to hear that 911 call.

 

[skyedaze]

This seems like some old fashioned hillbilly justice.

Yeah. I mean why make it all complicated.

 

[zencompass]

Hope someone can clarify about the guns:

Do we know if the victims were armed?
Do we know if any guns were found at the scene?
If so, do we know if the guns found at the scene were the weapons used?
TIA!

While none of the above questions have been answered by SLED, there were two interesting facts they did disclose.

In their press release, SLED did confirm that:

• Paul and Maggie had both sustained multiple gunshot wounds

• Crime scene personnel worked throughout the morning of June 8 to collect evidence and submitted it to SLED’s forensic lab, which immediately began processing and testing the evidence.

This makes me think that the shootings could have taken place from a distance where perhaps the perpetrators were not seen by either Paul or Maggie.

That could account for the "multiple gunshot wounds" (they were shot from a distance and the perpetrators wanted to ensure they were killed).

Evidence was found and submitted to SLED's forensic lab for testing. This evidence could also include tire tracks, bullet casings, foot prints, etc. It will be interesting when they reveal the evidence in court.

SLED would investigate the trajectory of the bullets to determine not only the path but area from where the bullets were shot from. Perhaps this area was where some of the evidence was collected, if it was from a distance.



Excerpts from Press Release:

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division

"Colleton County Sheriff’s deputies immediately responded to the location where it appeared that Paul and Maggie had both sustained multiple gunshot wounds."

"SLED Lowcountry Regional agents were dispatched at that time and began arriving on scene at 11:47 PM. SLED agents began working with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office immediately to evaluate the crime scene and take the lead on this investigation. SLED Crime Scene agents began arriving on scene at 12:07 AM. Crime scene personnel worked throughout the morning of June 8 to collect evidence and submitted it to SLED’s forensic lab, which immediately began processing and testing the evidence."



Just my own opinions and thoughts.

 

[zencompass]

I am interested to know where security cams were placed around the area.

There are other houses in the area along the road towards the Murdaugh property. I am certain that SLED picked up any surveillance cam footage from around that area and have been analyzing them for any details.

Alex's vehicle will also show up on one of the cams at the time he drove home.

It's shocking to think how close in time Alex arrived after Paul and Maggie were shot.

Initially, the time of death was reported by L.E. as 9:30 p.m. Later, the Coroner determined the time of death between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

But still, how many minutes went by before Alex, having first discovered the bodies and being so shocked, placed the 911 call, which was made at 10:07 p.m.

That was so incredibly close in time!

 

[zencompass]

My apologies as I made an error in my post above.

The Coroner stated that the time of death was between 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm (not 10:00 p.m. as I posted in error)


Murdaugh homicide: Autopsy details, SLED timeline released
"On Tuesday, June 15, SLED and the Colleton County Coroner's Office stated that the Murdaugh autopsies are complete and confirmed that both victims died from multiple gunshot wounds sometime between 9 and 9:30 p.m. on Monday, June 7. Their bodies were found outside the residence, relatively close to each other, on the ground near a dog kennel."

 

[everybodhi]

I am interested to know where security cams were placed around the area.

There are other houses in the area along the road towards the Murdaugh property. I am certain that SLED picked up any surveillance cam footage from around that area and have been analyzing them for any details.

Alex's vehicle will also show up on one of the cams at the time he drove home.

It's shocking to think how close in time Alex arrived after Paul and Maggie were shot.

Initially, the time of death was reported by L.E. as 9:30 p.m. Later, the Coroner determined the time of death between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

But still, how many minutes went by before Alex, having first discovered the bodies and being so shocked, placed the 911 call, which was made at 10:07 p.m.

That was so incredibly close in time!

I wonder if they were on good terms with all their neighbors

 

[Sustained]

I wonder if they were on good terms with all their neighbors

If y0u mean close-by neighbors, who knows ? The towns of Varnville & Hampton combined with the unicorporated municipality of Islandton have a population of ~5000 and with small towns, most people know everyone else in the community. The M's were well known and AM worked a part-time prosecutor. But just as many knew Mallory and the boat accident story so one can infer that there was probably some bad feelings toward the family.