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

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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."
I agree it is still shockingly close timing from when Paul and his mom were killed and when AM returned home. I am curious what time exactly AM says he arrived. It might have been quite a few minutes before that 10:07pm 911 call.

It was dark outside. When AM reportedly returned home, could he see them in his headlights? or were outdoor flood lights on as he pulled in and he immediately saw them? Or were their bodies out of view behind the kennel structure?

If they were out of view, I would think that AM would have gone inside the home and looked for them, maybe even texted or called, before heading outside to look for them. He might have waited 10 minutes before looking outside. Depending on their outdoor lighting in the kennel area, it may have taken some time to find them.

Here are some images of the property:
https://www.islandpacket.com/latest...ernates/FREE_768/Moselle_GoogleEarth_2014.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQimoLTDrh_ShoMdpXnIWe0oarE5FOT-VMxrw&usqp=CAU
 
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/s...LUWWz8eNkdOU8MSWkYlzUXFBm4nQ8LhOFlPFXncyfd8Ac

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

Bringing back this link. Putting aside the boat crash theory, there could be motives arising from this GJ investigation.

Please correct me if I’m wrong about the process, but the GJ can subpoena testimony, call witnesses etc in their investigation, correct?

Are there other individuals who now found themselves under scrutiny…who fear they might face legal difficulties or lose a job, or potentially be sued if it should be decided by the GJ that they ‘assisted’ someone in obstructing justice?
 
Interesting. If this happened they may have come in on foot? Now I wonder where the likely entry and exit point would be for someone not taking the main entrance in. Is there more than one way to enter the property or maybe the suspects used ATV's? I need to look at the aerials closer.

Thanks, @bestill, for this excellent point!

I can't see perpetrators driving in through the entrance either because there likely were security cams.

There are so many acres of wooded areas that it must be possible to enter the area from various locations.

upload_2021-6-19_8-53-0.jpeg
 
Interesting. If this happened they may have come in on foot? Now I wonder where the likely entry and exit point would be for someone not taking the main entrance in. Is there more than one way to enter the property or maybe the suspects used ATV's? I need to look at the aerials closer.
I was actually thinking the same thing after looking closer at the aerial view. Seems like someone could have come in from the trees by the kennel instead of up the driveway to avoid detection. IMO Is the land on the other side of the trees their property as well?
 
The family owned such a huge acreage. I wonder if it was an accepted practice to let others hunt there or if they considered the whole area exclusively theirs as if it were a suburban backyard? PM might have gone out and confronted two hunters and they followed him back toward the house and took their shots.

I also would like to know when the family arrived back at this house. There are cars parked around the open grounds in some of the photos posted. Did they arrive back that day…after a stay at the beach and found some unknown truck/car parked and decided to confront the hunters when they came back?

Do we know for sure that they had security cameras? I’ve wondered about a caretaker…because if they had hunting dogs I can’t see them transporting them…back and forth from the beach house…like a family pet.
 
If they were out of view, I would think that AM would have gone inside the home and looked for them, maybe even texted or called, before heading outside to look for them. He might have waited 10 minutes before looking outside. Depending on their outdoor lighting in the kennel area, it may have taken some time to find them.

Here are some images of the property:
https://www.islandpacket.com/latest...ernates/FREE_768/Moselle_GoogleEarth_2014.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQimoLTDrh_ShoMdpXnIWe0oarE5FOT-VMxrw&usqp=CAU


The following news article contains good information about the area.

While, as the article states, "Although its name implies a town with beachfront views, it’s quite remote — and not boatable, although the Salkehatchie River is a few miles away.", it is possible that perpetrators did travel by boat, then walked into the wooded area in the back (or side) of the property.

Another excerpt from the article describes the property in some detail, which makes me wonder how far away the "dog kennel" is from the family home.

I'm thinking of @MoeInVA's post concerning the time it may have taken Alex to find the bodies - depending on where the dog kennel is on the property.


Excerpt:

"More than 1,770 acres of property are under Maggie Murdaugh’s name, according to Colleton County property records. The land spans both Colleton and Hampton counties, with about 870 acres in Hampton and just less than 900 acres in Colleton.

"A 174-acre parcel on the Colleton side has two buildings, one one-story single family home and one two-story single family home. Several smaller buildings, sheds and a dog kennel, also sit on the property."



https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/south-carolina/article252178188.html


Just my own opinions and thoughts
 
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Thanks, @bestill, for this excellent point!

I can't see perpetrators driving in through the entrance either because there likely were security cams.

There are so many acres of wooded areas that it must be possible to enter the area from various locations.

View attachment 301317

If you look at google maps or iMaps of the property you will see a dirt road in the NW corner of the cleared area that continues back into the woods for a ways and appears to stop at the Salkehatchie River.
 
On the afternoon of June 8 — a day after the killings — a property manager of the apartment complex found an open door in a unit in that property complex and notified the Columbia police department, according to city police.

Although Columbia police did not say specifically that the open door belonged to Paul Murdaugh, sources told The State that the unit was in fact Murdaugh’s.

“There were no visible signs of forced entry or anyone found inside the residence. Officers secured the door before leaving the scene,” Columbia police department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said.

Read more here: https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article252203618.html#storylink=cpy

Thank you for this news article, @Knox.

I hadn't known that Paul lived somewhere other than in the house on the Murdaugh property. Actually, I had no idea where he resided.

How did perpetrators know that Paul would be on the Murdaugh property that night (if Paul was the target)?

Perhaps social media on Paul's computer and phone could help in this way.


Just my own thoughts and questions.
 
If you look at google maps or iMaps of the property you will see a dirt road in the NW corner of the cleared area that continues back into the woods for a ways and appears to stop at the Salkehatchie River.

Certainly possible the killers used the dirt road and the river as a getaway route but navigating that river in the dark would be a challenge as it doesn't look that wide.
 
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."
.

Yes, the times seem startlingly close. Here are a couple of possibilities that could reasonably account for the 10:07 911 call:

1) Possibly AM went directly into the main house upon return. He could have used the restroom, gotten something to drink/eat....normal things upon arriving home before going to look for MM and PM. Initially, he might not have thought anything was amiss.

2) Possibly AM didn't have his cell phone on him when he discovered MM and PM. He might have had to rush back to the main house. Not everyone keeps their phone readily available. He could have set it down on a counter in the house.
 
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.
Looking at these times, did it take almost 2 hours for officers to be dispatched to the scene?! I can understand the Crime Scene being later but still.
 
Looking at these times, did it take almost 2 hours for officers to be dispatched to the scene?! I can understand the Crime Scene being later but still.

According to the report, Colleton County sheriff deputies responded also immediately. At some point, they realized they need the expertise of SLED agents who were called. Quite possible the SLED agents called did not live in close proximity to the Moselle property and that is why they started to arrive at 11:47.
 
According to the report, Colleton County sheriff deputies responded also immediately. At some point, they realized they need the expertise of SLED agents who were called. Quite possible the SLED agents called did not live in close proximity to the Moselle property and that is why they started to arrive at 11:47.
Ok that makes sense! Thank you!
 
.

Yes, the times seem startlingly close. Here are a couple of possibilities that could reasonably account for the 10:07 911 call:

1) Possibly AM went directly into the main house upon return. He could have used the restroom, gotten something to drink/eat....normal things upon arriving home before going to look for MM and PM. Initially, he might not have thought anything was amiss.

2) Possibly AM didn't have his cell phone on him when he discovered MM and PM. He might have had to rush back to the main house. Not everyone keeps their phone readily available. He could have set it down on a counter in the house.
We don't know when AM arrived home, correct? He could have arrived a minute or two before the 911 call. JMO.
 
Inside the toxic Murdaugh family of South Carolina

OMG…so much in this article…


‘The civil suit came shortly after Alex had settled another wrongful death claim. In February 2018, 57-year-old Gloria Satterfield died as a result of a “trip and fall,” according to documents obtained by Mandy Matney at FITSNews. Her family settled for $500,000.

Court documents don’t make clear where Satterfield died but local reporting indicates she was a housekeeper for the Murdaughs and that her obituary mentions the family.

Paul Murdaugh.
South Carolina Attorney General'
The Murdaughs have also been relentlessly targeted around town and on social media, without proof, in the haunting death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. Early on the morning of July 8, 2015, the young gay man from Hampton was found dead in the middle of a rural road outside town. His skull was partially crushed and bloodied. There was a gaping hole in his forehead, and his shoulder had been dislocated.

Stephen’s mother Sandy Smith, 55, who lives in a trailer at the end of a dirt road, told The Post she’s been fighting publiclyfor six years to find out what happened to her son. “I’ll never stop fighting to find out what happened to Stephen,” she said. “He was my rock star.”

The Post reviewed part of a thick police file on the case at her home.

Documents obtained by Matney from the South Carolina Highway Patrol reveal that police received at least one anonymous tip connecting a member of the Murdaugh family to the Stephen Smith case.

Sandy and Todd Proctor, a former South Carolina Highway Patrol detective who was part of a team that investigated Stephen’s death, believe the Murdaughs had some involvement, but the two have no evidence. No one in the family was charged or considered a formal suspect in the case.

Despite her tenacity, few think Sandy will ever find out the truth about what happened to her son.’
 
Inside the toxic Murdaugh family of South Carolina

OMG…so much in this article…


‘The civil suit came shortly after Alex had settled another wrongful death claim. In February 2018, 57-year-old Gloria Satterfield died as a result of a “trip and fall,” according to documents obtained by Mandy Matney at FITSNews. Her family settled for $500,000.

Court documents don’t make clear where Satterfield died but local reporting indicates she was a housekeeper for the Murdaughs and that her obituary mentions the family.

Paul Murdaugh.
South Carolina Attorney General'
The Murdaughs have also been relentlessly targeted around town and on social media, without proof, in the haunting death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. Early on the morning of July 8, 2015, the young gay man from Hampton was found dead in the middle of a rural road outside town. His skull was partially crushed and bloodied. There was a gaping hole in his forehead, and his shoulder had been dislocated.

Stephen’s mother Sandy Smith, 55, who lives in a trailer at the end of a dirt road, told The Post she’s been fighting publiclyfor six years to find out what happened to her son. “I’ll never stop fighting to find out what happened to Stephen,” she said. “He was my rock star.”

The Post reviewed part of a thick police file on the case at her home.

Documents obtained by Matney from the South Carolina Highway Patrol reveal that police received at least one anonymous tip connecting a member of the Murdaugh family to the Stephen Smith case.

Sandy and Todd Proctor, a former South Carolina Highway Patrol detective who was part of a team that investigated Stephen’s death, believe the Murdaughs had some involvement, but the two have no evidence. No one in the family was charged or considered a formal suspect in the case.

Despite her tenacity, few think Sandy will ever find out the truth about what happened to her son.’

The article states that Paul slapped Mallory the night of the boat accident but IIRC, the depositions by the boat occupants say he slapped his GF and then spit on her.
 
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