Alex Murdaugh Was Found Guilty Of Murdering His Wife And Son
By now I think everybody's heard at least something about this story. Because it's fucking crazy.
As the fifth week of the double murder trial of accused family killer Richard "Alex" Murdaugh continued in Walterboro, South Carolina, last Wednesday Netflix released its three-part docuseries, "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal."
The three-parter centers on the scandals and criminal allegations surrounding the disbarred attorney and the fall of his disgraced family dynasty.
"For over a century, the Murdaughs were law and order here in the 14th Circuit," USA Today journalist Michael DeWitt Jr., who has covered the story for years, says in the trailer.
USA Today - While other true-crime documentaries have explored the Murdaugh saga, Netflix's series explores the fatal February 2019 boat crash involving Murdaugh's younger son, Paul; the unsolved 2015 homicide of Hampton County teen Stephen Smith that has been linked to the Murdaugh family by state police; and the June 2021 murders of Paul and his mother, Maggie, for which Alex Murdaugh was charged, along with more than 100 other crimes.
The Murdaughs were one of South Carolina’s most prominent families, but the death of teenager Mallory Beach in a drunken boating accident began the unraveling of their legacy. When Paul Murdaugh – the alleged driver of the boat – and his mother were found murdered two years after the crash, a century of corruption, power and cover-ups is brought to light.
The deaths of Richard Murdaugh's wife and their son are addressed in the docuseries' second episode, "Murders at Moselle." Murdaugh told investigators he woke up from a nap at home at 7:31 p.m. on June 7, 2021 and didn't see either of his family members. He then texted his wife and son that he was going to visit his ailing parents.
Murdaugh says he returned after 10 p.m. and discovered his wife, 52, and son, 22, had been shot near the dog kennels on their property. A sobbing Murdaugh called 911 to report their deaths. Some wondered if the killer might have been motivated by a desire to avenge Beach's death.
The third episode of the docuseries presents evidence that Alex Murdaugh was at home at the time of Paul and Maggie's deaths. The presence of high-velocity impact spatter on Murdaugh's clothes indicates that he was with one of the victims at the time of their death. And a video taken at 8:44 p.m. on Paul's phone captures Murdaugh's voice about 15 minutes before the murders are thought to have occurred. Though that doesn't prove Murdaugh is responsible, it does dispute his account of the evening.
I honestly had never really heard much about this story aside from vague descriptions of some Vineyard Vines family from the Carolina's who had the entire county in their back pocket got caught up in covering up some murders. I had no idea the extent it actually went to until I watched this documentary.
Let me tell you, holy shit man.
I was so mind blown I didn't even know where to begin.
Without giving away any spoilers- which I will conveniently save until the end of the blog, how the fuck does a family operate with this much power in modern-day America? They were like the fucking mob combined with crooked DA's. Operated totally above the law and got away with murder. LITERALLY.
Actually, apparently not as the hens came home to roost Thursday night.
WSJ - A jury found disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife and son, capping a double-murder trial that has engulfed this small, rural community and at times captivated the nation.
Mr. Murdaugh was accused of fatally shooting his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son Paul on a rainy night in June 2021 at the family hunting estate, known as Moselle.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin opened his closing argument by saying the state had left plenty of room for reasonable doubt. The defense team has said the state has failed to provide direct evidence Mr. Murdaugh murdered his wife and son.
Mr. Griffin said investigators with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, known as SLED, failed to seriously consider any suspect other than Mr. Murdaugh, even saying hours after the killings that there was no danger to the public. He also said they conducted a sloppy investigation, from failing to preserve data on Maggie’s phone to destroying the T-shirt Mr. Murdaugh was wearing the night of the homicides.
For anybody who's followed the case, the big news Wednesday was a juror being removed and replaced. Originally it was said it was because they were dozing off during the trial after repeated warnings. Which is crazy to me because this trial was TNT we know drama from start to finish. If you're falling asleep while this asshole was getting his stories mixed up and making shit up on the stand, while in tears, you may not have a pulse.
The saddest part, aside from this family having like 4 people on it's official body count, is this man was once a decorated attorney and comes from a long line of lawyers. The firm he was once partner of was founded by his great grandfather. He's a fourth-generation law man and he couldn't have handled himself more poorly during incrimination.
But he doesn't need to worry any longer because he's going away for a long long time now.
Mr. Waters said the state believes Mr. Murdaugh had the “motive, the means, the opportunity and ample evidence of guilty conduct and guilty conscience.”
“This defendant…has fooled everyone—everyone, everyone—who thought they were close to him. Everyone who thought they knew who he was. He’s fooled them all, and he fooled Maggie and Paul, too. And they paid for it with their lives,” Mr. Waters said. “Don’t let him fool you, too.”
Mr. Griffin said Thursday that his client lied about being at the kennels because he was paranoid due to drug addiction, something Mr. Murdaugh said during his testimony.
State prosecutors are seeking a life sentence without parole for Mr. Murdaugh.
Yes the documentary is still worth watching if you haven't even though its known he's been found guilty. It was never really even a debate. You know from the first 30 minutes of watching that he and his son were both scumbags.
------ SPOILERS BELOW ------
Ok so here's questions I was left with after watching the documentary that were never really answered and weren't in the trial either.
- the biggest question I think EVERYBODY wants to know is where the fuck did all of the money go? I don't care how addicted to opiates you are, its not humanly possible to consume the amount Murdaugh allegedly stole from his firm to fund his drug addiction.
- the fact the court ordered mediation failed on June 4th, 2021 for the wrongful death claim (soooo fucking shady) which would then make it set to go to trial and "the kid" that caused it was then found dead on June 7th was a dead giveaway for connection and murder there. No?
- were the police in on it? Did they purposely look the other way on some shit? Or were the small town cops just seriously that bad at their jobs?
A video captured on Paul’s phone minutes before prosecutors said the killings occurred—which witnesses said captured the voice of Mr. Murdaugh—“changed everything” in this case, Mr. Waters said. The prosecutor then highlighted Mr. Murdaugh’s repeated statements to law enforcement that he wasn’t at the scene of the alleged crimes moments before they occurred—a lie Mr. Murdaugh admitted to on the stand. The killings occurred near the family hunting estate’s dog kennels. Mr. Murdaugh later said he did see Maggie and Paul there before leaving and returning to find them dead.
How do you miss that? You either have to be stupid or in on it or both right?
- this isn't a question but the fact Buster got thrown out of school for plagiarism was just perfect.
- what the hell was his exact plan to hire and setup his hitman/dealer to kill him for the insurance money? Can somebody please get to the bottom of that because I am dumbfounded as to how a person even conjures up an idea like that in the first place.
- This wasn't in the doc, but on the stand Alex had an entirely different story about the night Maggie and his son died. He said he could remember everything EXCEPT if or what he said to them before leaving the kennels. Doesn't everybody always remember the last thing they said to somebody before they die and never see them again? Especially if it's your wife and son?
- how were there never any checks and balances on this guy? Multiple kids die and he tells the police how things were and it just got left at that?
- Buster 100% killed that Stephen Smith kid right?
- all of Murdaugh’s cases he tried have to be reviewed now considering how deep he got his claws into everybody in law enforcement and the justice system no? I can only imagine how many people this guy fucked over without killing.