SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #18

[Tanager]

I think he had to have that gun in his hand to take one more shot at getting a legitimate explanation for GSR on him. IIRC, there is a shortish window to test positive, maybe 5 hours? The first chance to acquire GSR was driving around and shooting with Paul.

It could also be a "see-how-I-am-holding-a-gun-not-involved-in-the-crime" maneuver. I think the key to understanding A's behavior is to think about how a lawyer would focus on creating chaotic evidence rather than the obvious choice for defense purposes because it nurtures reasonable doubt in a very insidious way. I think the 2 phone destinations are part of this strategy, too. I do wonder if the blood on this gun is purposeful or a mistake.

Or, his circuits were fried from the trauma of murdering, and he could not remember all of the elements of the plan, so he started winging it.

 

[Boodles]

In my opinion, MM had the best of both worlds: a separate residence and a spouse that seemingly paid all her bills for her. MM died with her real estate assets heavily leveraged and $56 to her name. And AM was in worse shape! Divorce in an equitable division state would not likely be kind to MM. MOO

But was Maggie aware of the state of their finances? Or did she just spend and assume the money was there? I’d bet he hid all the troubles from her and, to the extent he needed her involvement (signatures, etc.), he had excuses and/or forged her name. She may not have had a clue, until just before her murder, how dire their financial situation was. But JMO.

Yeah, I was wondering too. I just went through the HBO series and pulled out everything his lawyers said. They're either dumb as dirt or they know exactly what kind of he is.

what’s the hbo series called? I’d like to catch it tonight. Tia.

 

[stmarysmead]

On the Law&Crime lawyer-talk, a couple of them said, ok, AM used some opioids, but it couldn't have been an out-of-control addiction because AM wouldn't have been able to function properly at work & people would have noticed. I agree totally. What I want to know is: What do we, the public, know so far about where in the heck all of those millions of dollars went????

I agree. There has been testimony that AM sometimes cleared over o\ne million dollars a year, including his bonus. They are living in the low country of SC not some opulent area. MM’s FB is filled with family get-togethers and basketball games. The only ‘country club‘ lifestyle seems to be when her niece was getting married and I believe it was her Sister’s Club.

I keep reading about private jet travel but if this happened, she only records one trip IIRC.

Her life on social media did not give any indication of a lavish lifestyle with AM that would blow through a million dollar plus salary year after year.

Where did all that money go?

 

[BeachSky]

IMO, it's not 'probably'...... IMO, no question in my mind whatsoever about the one on the left being complicit in every bit of it - Alex really thought he'd get away with it. Get real: Horrifying, horrific murder - entire brain and skull area blown up and off the son - Maggie, the 2 shots to the back of her head, plus 2 more shots, and they said the one shot to her chest happened as she was on her knees. Who in their right mind is going to get ANY lawyer over?? Alex had his fone ringing off the hook to get that lawyer there right away. Alex in the front seat of the police car is, 'Waaa waaa waaa -RINGA LING LING - do you mind if I take this call? - ok, bye - waaa waa waaa'.

What she said. IMO

 

[LetsSolvIt]

You can probably do a quick clean in 5 minutes, but if he would have cleaned a fired gun between the time of the murders and LE arrival it would probably be obvious to LE that the weapon had been recently cleaned.....you could certainly smell the cleaner on the firearm, and it would probably still have that "damp" appearance to it.

Thanks for this insight, @pumpfe. That all sounds right -- about the oil smell and looking wet. I just couldn't remember enough about my husband cleaning his guns -- it was years ago.

I was wondering if a quick wipe down with a water moistened terry towel would get the blood and tissue off but I guess no responsible gun owner would dare use water on the barrel and metal parts.

So ... maybe which shotgun is still up in the air -- or I guess they don't have either gun.

 

[Carolina Girl]

But was Maggie aware of the state of their finances? Or did she just spend and assume the money was there? I’d bet he hid all the troubles from her and, to the extent he needed her involvement (signatures, etc.), he had excuses and/or forged her name. She may not have had a clue, until just before her murder, how dire their financial situation was. But JMO.

what’s the hbo series called? I’d like to catch it tonight. Tia.

Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty

 

[Carolina Girl]

My impression of Alex is that's he's a pretty stereotypical domestic abuser who murders; IMO Alex blames the son and his wife for 'causing' him to murder them. So that morning when Alex was confronted with just the tip of the iceberg of the millions he'd stolen, Alex' reaction was rage at the son and his wife, and the murder was entirely premeditated. But gheesh, IMO what a dum@stick not to know that our fones know every thing we're doing, and listening to every word - lol somebody put it, 'My cell phone knows what color my underpants are', and that's not at all a joke. Maybe what Alex did wrong was owning state of the art fones - Alex should have made his whole family use Walmart StraightTalk and the very first model flip fone, and this would all be different from what it is now.

I have seriously been thinking about a good old flip phone this week. My husband still uses one. He needed me to transfer it to my carrier not long ago and I had to really think hard to get around in it.

 

[Not a Belle]

I’ve wondered the same thing about Maggie’s awareness of their finances. Did she know how little money she had? I check my bank account daily. I wonder if she checked, or spent what she needed/wanted with the expectation/assumption that AM would cover it, or some other situation entirely.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

There will always be residue left due to the nature of gunpowder the fresher the better for investigators. A quick barrel clean along with upper carrier group ect. won't help AM's situation. Other then taking the time to break the weapon down completely and going over the upper and lower receiver and parts would be a waste of time for AM and he didn't have that time. If he did then he has a squeaky clean weapon among the rest of his arsenal that is dirty, fishy in itself. Thinking those two weapons have turned into ghost or he had access to a forge lol where he could turn them into molting metal.

Thank you, @Edvis -- sounds like I am wrong about the shotgun he had when LE arrived June 7 as maybe being the murder weapon, but I do think the shotgun he used he had left down in the shop -- it was the gun he mentioned to SLED that night in the car and then added, "I guess I need to find out what happened to it."

 

[LetsSolvIt]

Circling back to something else -- any more thoughts on why the State brought the store receipt into evidence?

It was a paper receipt with a charge for over $1,000 at a Gucci store circled in red .

You may remember it was found in the trash down in the shop (I think by SLED's Agent Croft), along with two empty cardboard boxes that had contained ammunition (brands commonly used by Murdaughs).

Gift for a "special" friend?
Did it fall out of someone's car, purse, or wallet?
Does it have a meaningful timestamp, relevant to June 7 timeline?
What could it add to the investigation?

Up thread someone researched Gucci and posted that the only Gucci store in S.C. was in Charleston.

 

[YaYa_521]

Continue in Thread #19.

SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #19

Not much on this yet but I got it on yahoo and foxcarolina.com. This mother and son were found near a dog kennel on their property in Colleton County SC. Their family has a long history of connections to the legal system in the Lowcountry and the son, who was murdered, was currently facing...

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