SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #32

[Derph]

Body language experts, interrogators, and law enforcement personnel will be using AM's testimony for decades to teach people on how to spot when people are lying. I'm no expert but enjoy watching breakdowns by body language specialists and even I was picking up 100's of instances of deception during his time on the stand. His entire time on the stand was nothing but BS. It's so obvious.

 

[Pitsleuth]

With AM's self reported extreme opiod use, it is surprising that the link above has a creatinine level within normal limits, especially since he said he took upwards of a 1000mg/day over an extended period of time. Are there any medical people who also see this as odd?

I’m a physician. Opioids do not affect your kidney function, which is what creatinine levels reflect. So no it being normal doesn’t mean anything

 

[BUF]

I’ve wondered if Alex used the excuse about Cash’s tail to get Paul to the kennel that day. At one point he said Rogan told him about the problem with Cash’s tail. He didn’t specify if that was before or after the murders. He knew Maggie would go to the kennels to visit her dogs. He might have just said, “hey let’s go let the dogs out and see what’s wrong with Cash.”

Speaking of Cash’s tail, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. Did any of you?

 

[Boodles]

I wish CW would have insisted that AM answer "yes" or "no" and if he didn't, ask Judge CN to reprimand him. CW gave AM too much rope, which allowed him to gain sympathy with jurors. In South Carolina, is it not customary for a prosecutor to be too aggressive with a defendant charged with the murder of his own wife and son? Even one who is a known liar and thief who heartlessly stole money from people who trusted him and needed it the most.

It bothered me that CW couldn’t reel in the blabbermouth. But AM was hell bent on doing his studied and rehearsed monologues, “Mr. Waters.” I wonder if in SC the attorney can request a simple yes or no, but must let the witness then elaborate. Because did you notice that both sides used this tactic: “Just answer yes or no, then you can explain.”

It seemed like a power game Alex was playing, and he was quite pleased with his performance and ability to monopolize the time spent during the State’s questioning. Note that he didn’t do that, generally, with his own attorneys. He only did it with CW. Power game. It was so frustrating to watch. But that last Q by Waters was very effective IMO.

Anyone else agree that AM was quite happy with himself about his performance?

 

[Seattle1]

I think we can't compare how a prosecutor does questioning an average person and questioning a lying manipulative, lawyer. I think CW knew what he was doing and knew he wasn't going to get a huge gotcha moment. He had to allow Alex to get somewhat comfortable and feel he had the upper hand. He wasn't going to rattle Alex by "brining the heat" It's like trying to win at the game someone is an expert in. He was very effective to get Alex to deny using that badge.. then bam there is the photo. He knew Alex was going to use LE as a reason for his paranoia.. then how can that be if you basically act like you are LE and always get your way. He got him to go through the reasons he lied about being at the kennel.. then he basically proved that none of those reasons were even at play the first time he lied to LE. I think he let Alex talk and talk so he could catch him in a few lies. He was never going to get him to say I murdered them. It would have backfired on CW if he came out harsh claiming you murdered them over and over.. because now you have a crying Alex claiming he loved them so much and was just a poor ole drug addict so he lied about the kennel, but he didn't kill them. CW would have looked very bad in front of the jury and Alex would have looked like the victim (I suspect this is what Alex suspected would happen so he was just waiting for CW to go after him harshly so he could watch it unfold).

Instead, we have CW letting him talk and tell his stories and blah blah blah and then subtle things he said were brought back to bite him and he didn't even realize it.

I think the state also already knew they were going to have rebuttal witnesses so the more Alex talked and lied, the more they had to work with on rebuttal. No need to confront Alex about them all because he would never admit to the murders.. but the state can bring in witnesses to refute what the defense has presented.

I've heard much criticism about A/G Waters' examination of AM by other attorneys but I think it's because he did not do what attorneys are taught in law school and allowed AM to control his own story (testimony) instead of controlling AM and the prosecutor making himself the star.

IMO, I agree that AM is/was not the textbook defendant, and looking back, I think A/G Waters had two choices:

First, if Waters acted to control AM's response to his questions, he risked alienating the jurors that might like AM more than they like Waters.

Defendants like AM are very dangerous because they are masters at presenting themselves as both likable, and sympathetic. His financial crimes demonstrate this perfectly!

Second, Waters could give AM a long rope, and just let him ramble, and AM's own arrogance will soon tighten the grip. I think allowing AM to talk and talk resulted in AM no longer appearing so likable -- especially when you remember he's been charged with double homicide and he's using the folksy story and tone to manipulate you!

Ultimately, specific to AM's personality, I think Waters took the right approach here. MOO

 

[Walela]

Remember his getting passed some Chapstick before his testified? I noticed he put that in his pocket.

Was it actually the brand Chapstick? Could it have been CBD lip balm?

 

[Pitsleuth]

Not that I’m aware of.

We have no proof of the meds: no trail, the source, no Rx pads/scrips & bottles, the rehab facilities, ER, etc. If there are bags of drugs I’m inclined to think they didn’t originate from a prescription pad.

Only MM and PM saw his actual drugs and conveniently they aren’t here to confirm that. I have to revisit Busters testimony but I don’t think he laid his eyes on the drugs. There hasn’t been any mention from Buster about he, his Mom and brother jointly discussing detox or intervention.

AM has done such a great job with talking about the drugs that it has overclouded what’s missing. He knows 100% how that works in the legal system.

There hasn’t been a sponsor or one individual who has surfaced that can say ‘I’m clean too and I was once at the same facility as AM’, they are a great facility’ (something to that effect).

Zero info on a med trail and supporting documentation. That’s glaring.

A sponsor or another member at a treatment facility would NEVER be able to say they were in treatment with him. That is a HUGE no-no in the recovery community

 

[less0305]

Remember his getting passed some Chapstick before his testified? I noticed he put that in his pocket.

I was going to ask if anyone else saw the chapstick being passed to him. He put it on, and I think one of his attorneys or someone was going to take it from him, but he put it in his pocket, I believe.

 

[Gardenista]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1629639653664931841

 

[justtrish]

We know Alex was at Moselle the morning of the 6th until nearly 12 noon. He didn't answer his phone and had many missed calls that morning, but he did read a text just after 8am (about his dad).. then someone called him and he texted, he'd call them back couldn't answer right now. I think that was about 10am or so. I don't have the exact timeline in front of me. I would be curious how he received these pills when he got them. Did he meet Eddie somewhere? Did he have Eddie bring them to Moselle? Maybe he received them that morning before he left for work. We know Maggie was there for a little while then she left. What did he do for 3 or so hours that morning? We know his phone never left Moselle and I think the vehicle data shows he car didn't either. Exactly how/where did he usually get his pills? If he regularly had them brought to Moselle, that might be a reason he didn't have cameras on that property.

 

[Seattle1]

Super interesting video. The jury is over Alex and the state DOES have evidence that he is not a family man, but they have not used it yet. I'm not all the way thru it but it's well worth watching even though it's an hour long. I'm watching it at 1.75 speed.

I'll wait for your final review @Gardenista because I'm not so confident in the youtube source who for me has been wrong more than right! JMO

 

[Gardenista]

No need to click. The only thing new in this article

This news outlet has also heard reports that there are numerous other sealed indictments against Murdaugh stemming from testimony provided in this trial.

'Week In Review' From Walterboro: Alex Murdaugh Takes The Stand - FITSNews

A dramatic crescendo in South Carolina's 'Trial of the Century.'

www.fitsnews.com

 

[kaen]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1629639653664931841

Where was CES? Did he have a pen or chapstick? If this is true, it is an amazing turn about. Patch him up and reconvene!

 

[Walela]

It bothered me that CW couldn’t reel in the blabbermouth. But AM was hell bent on doing his studied and rehearsed monologues, “Mr. Waters.” I wonder if in SC the attorney can request a simple yes or no, but must let the witness then elaborate. Because did you notice that both sides used this tactic: “Just answer yes or no, then you can explain.”

It seemed like a power game Alex was playing, and he was quite pleased with his performance and ability to monopolize the time spent during the State’s questioning. Note that he didn’t do that, generally, with his own attorneys. He only did it with CW. Power game. It was so frustrating to watch. But that last Q by Waters was very effective IMO.

Anyone else agree that AM was quite happy with himself about his performance?

I'll agree that he was pleased. He's also delusional. He's so full of himself that he couldn't see he was allowed to run his mouth. His whole testimony was like The Emperor's New Clothes with Carly Simon's You're So Vain playing in the background. CW could have stopped him from his pontification but why when he was doing so much damage to himself.

 

[passionflower]

Super interesting video. The jury is over Alex and the state DOES have evidence that he is not a family man, but they have not used it yet. I'm not all the way thru it but it's well worth watching even though it's an hour long. I'm watching it at 1.75 speed.

Love the white middle age male, drugs, narcissistic, financial problems etc for murdering family

 

[Boodles]

Defendants like AM are very dangerous because they are masters at presenting themselves as both likable, and sympathetic. His financial crimes demonstrate this perfectly!

And AM was SO PREPARED. I don’t doubt that he’s never prepared this much for anything in his life. He was ready with, and by golly was going to insert, his “version” of events after studying every single detail of the evidence.

How do you score points with an egomaniacal, narcissistic liar who’s had access to every bit of your info? I think CW did as well as possible considering what he had to work with. And he got Alex to screw up a time or two, maybe more that I didn’t catch. But CW made his points, as painful as it was to extract.

 

[StarryStarryNight]

Does anybody think that AM would have admitted to lying about being at the kennels if the prosecution did not have the 8:44 video and lots of witnesses identifying AM’s voice on it?

 

[ilovewings]

Body language experts, interrogators, and law enforcement personnel will be using AM's testimony for decades to teach people on how to spot when people are lying. I'm no expert but enjoy watching breakdowns by body language specialists and even I was picking up 100's of instances of deception during his time on the stand. His entire time on the stand was nothing but BS. It's so obvious.

Since he lies so often and so much, it might be easier to detect his body language when he tells the truth LOL (does he ever tell the truth?)

 

[LetsSolvIt]

So has anyone come up with any theories on how these murders were pulled off? AM has admitted he was there and in the golf cart. So now it makes sense that he drove both victims to the crime scene. It was a 6 seater golf cart? Anyone think this golf cart came into play? Explains the trajectory of the bullets? Was he sitting in the golf cart with both guns? Shoots PM while he’s standing in the feed room? MM runs and he circles her while shooting? Which also explains the different trajectories and entry wounds? Thoughts?

Remember toward the end of Alec's testimony, when they were showing the photo of Maggie's car and the golf cart parked in front of the house? Alec mentioned that to recharge this particular 6-person model, one would lift the back seat to access the receptacle.

I was wondering if there would be storage under there? or at least enough space to stash wet, bloody clothes and shoes? Possibly even guns if they were breached or broken down? MOO.

 

[keek]

Does anybody think that AM would have admitted to lying about being at the kennels if the prosecution did not have the 8:44 video and lots of witnesses identifying AM’s voice on it?

NO.