The Murdaugh Murders

[T.G.I.Friday]

I thought the same exact thing about "the boat people". Like...."All them kids and their parents are good people and wouldn't do this." If anyone was going to kill Paul and/or any of his family members it would have been the parents of Ms. Beach or the parents of the other boy that Alex was planning on pinning the accident on as the driver....even thought the other four testified that its as Paul. Or someone closely associated to those other kids.

Watching the Netflix doc it was obviously how the Alex Murdaugh branch of that family operated....as if they were above the law. Paul flipped his truck when he was driving drunk...his grandfather took care of it. Any time he was in trouble....the family got him out of it. Both Alex and Maggie Murdaugh facilitated an environment where underage kids were allowed to flat out party. This was a big drinking family. I knew a family in my area very similar to this crowd...not as wealthy and not a long legacy, but a local official who was also a lawyer....and his two sons were always in trouble, and always got out of it. They had a bar in the house, another outside...constant parties, drunk driving...etc. Eventually the youngest son wrapped his truck around a tree...he did survive and has done several stints in rehab the last I'd heard. It's just looking for trouble...and that's just with respect to the boating tragedy.

As for whether they spent enough time on the dogs...I'm not sure they did either. Despite all of the endless talk of pig hunting and how tall the shooter was...etc, it was Alex's behavior that stood out most to me, and the phone/car data. The guy who cared for the dogs, the housekeeper and his mother's caregiver all gave damning testimony. And it was obvious to me that all three of them had thought highly of this family....they seemed crushed to have to testify to Alex's lies. As for the dogs...many people have them and understand how they behave. I have the three most domesticated dogs on the planet....and if they sensed there was someone they didn't know in my yard, they'd go ballistic.

Yes to all of your points!!!!

Seeing Mr. and Mrs. Beach on Netflix was heartbreaking. They are good people who had a senseless loss and have been mistreated the entire time. Those poor people deserved so much better than the investigation and Murdaugh treatment that they got. Starting at the initial scene of the accident.

Alex has the unique ability to make everyone he comes across feel special. You can see it. I watch him smile and acknowledge the sheriffs as he’s led out of court. Dude is on trial for murder and headed back to jail but still takes the time to be a gentleman. Always a big smile and a warm hello. Appearance of being super rich but still just a good local boy. I get how he was able to win clients and juries over. (But I also know his type and know that working for him would be horrible and he could totally turn and be a huge jerk on a dime).

The amount of drinking totally doesn’t jive for me with him being such a pill addict. No way could he survive drinking that much and taking that many pills a day.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Yes to all of your points!!!!

Seeing Mr. and Mrs. Beach on Netflix was heartbreaking. They are good people who had a senseless loss and have been mistreated the entire time. Those poor people deserved so much better than the investigation and Murdaugh treatment that they got. Starting at the initial scene of the accident.

Alex has the unique ability to make everyone he comes across feel special. You can see it. I watch him smile and acknowledge the sheriffs as he’s led out of court. Dude is on trial for murder and headed back to jail but still takes the time to be a gentleman. Always a big smile and a warm hello. Appearance of being super rich but still just a good local boy. I get how he was able to win clients and juries over. (But I also know his type and know that working for him would be horrible and he could totally turn and be a huge jerk on a dime).

The amount of drinking totally doesn’t jive for me with him being such a pill addict. No way could he survive drinking that much and taking that many pills a day.

As others have said...I think the pill addiction was real, but sounds exaggerated. Former nurse here . At one point he said he'd taken up to 1,000 mg of oxycodone a day. And he said it gave him "energy". By that part I think that what he meant is that it made him feel "normal"....that he could not function without taking pills. That makes sense as people who get addicted to opiates...including heroin, often take a prescribed drug called "Suboxone", which when taken in the prescribed dose (and not abused)....helps addicts function without getting "dope sick". It's an opioid that helps you detox...avoid the dope sickness, and slowly bring your tolerance level down. So....those pills didn't give him "energy"....he just couldn't function without them. But 1,000 mg per day....well, think of a regular Percocet...that has 5 mg of oxycodone in it. So...a 200 Percocet per day habit. He was taking straight oxycodone for sure though....because the level of Tylenol in Percocet at those numbers would have put him into liver failure.

I'm not sure Alex drank that much on the regular....but they clearly partied at times. Lots of photos with drinks in hands. The boys...at various times....were out of control, as evidenced by the accidents that Paul got into...sadly ending another person's life.

And yes, he totally has a presence about him....that he's important, but also a "good ole' boy". It's like he's from another tme....comes across slightly like a plantation owner. This is a grown man...with his son who is also a grown man....and his wife has to call the housekeeper to go over to the house to prepare a meal for these men. They were a pampered bunch of men for sure.

 

[mumto3girls]

I’ve been following this story since around the time of the roadside nonsense. I think he’s GUILTY. Hope he’s convicted, but not at all sure he will be. I’m a bit behind—listening to podcasts, but not at all caught up and haven’t seen any live trial coverage.

Has anyone figured out how he dumped Maggie’s phone? I initially thought he just threw it out the window on the way to his mother’s, but it seemed like the vehicle info and the phone info weren’t lining up.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

As others have said...I think the pill addiction was real, but sounds exaggerated. Former nurse here . At one point he said he'd taken up to 1,000 mg of oxycodone a day. And he said it gave him "energy". By that part I think that what he meant is that it made him feel "normal"....that he could not function without taking pills. That makes sense as people who get addicted to opiates...including heroin, often take a prescribed drug called "Suboxone", which when taken in the prescribed dose (and not abused)....helps addicts function without getting "dope sick". It's an opioid that helps you detox...avoid the dope sickness, and slowly bring your tolerance level down. So....those pills didn't give him "energy"....he just couldn't function without them. But 1,000 mg per day....well, think of a regular Percocet...that has 5 mg of oxycodone in it. So...a 200 Percocet per day habit. He was taking straight oxycodone for sure though....because the level of Tylenol in Percocet at those numbers would have put him into liver failure.

I'm not sure Alex drank that much on the regular....but they clearly partied at times. Lots of photos with drinks in hands. The boys...at various times....were out of control, as evidenced by the accidents that Paul got into...sadly ending another person's life.

And yes, he totally has a presence about him....that he's important, but also a "good ole' boy". It's like he's from another tme....comes across slightly like a plantation owner. This is a grown man...with his son who is also a grown man....and his wife has to call the housekeeper to go over to the house to prepare a meal for these men. They were a pampered bunch of men for sure.

Interesting about the pills. And no way nobody saw him if he was taking pills like candy.

What is your take on the green gel pills Maggie found?

Again, that seemed odd to me. You’d think that she would know his usual pills, so him changing it up so close to the murders seemed suspicious. Him taking something unfamiliar to her in the weeks before she was killed seems like another too big coincidence to ignore.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I’ve been following this story since around the time of the roadside nonsense. I think he’s GUILTY. Hope he’s convicted, but not at all sure he will be. I’m a bit behind—listening to podcasts, but not at all caught up and haven’t seen any live trial coverage.

Has anyone figured out how he dumped Maggie’s phone? I initially thought he just threw it out the window on the way to his mother’s, but it seemed like the vehicle info and the phone info weren’t lining up.

From what they suggested yesterday with the witnesses and today with the statements, I believe they said/implied that he left his phone in the suburban at 8:30 and was carrying her phone. And the phone expert yesterday (in probably the greatest testimony ever - you must watch!) said that her phone wouldn’t have had the backlight come on if it was picked up and tossed aggressively out the window. So it seemed to make the times and steps align better. Like her phone turned on 2 seconds before he called her at 9:02.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

That last phone tossing expert was so over the top. They should have dimoissed him as an expert and it was a stupid almost last witness - sure they will go off on that tomorrow.

 

[mumto3girls]

From what they suggested yesterday with the witnesses and today with the statements, I believe they said/implied that he left his phone in the suburban at 8:30 and was carrying her phone. And the phone expert yesterday (in probably the greatest testimony ever - you must watch!) said that her phone wouldn’t have had the backlight come on if it was picked up and tossed aggressively out the window. So it seemed to make the times and steps align better. Like her phone turned on 2 seconds before he called her at 9:02.

Thank you! I will look for it. I want to listen to the closing arguments. I have some long drives this weekend. Planning to listen to a lot of the coverage.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Interesting about the pills. And no way nobody saw him if he was taking pills like candy.

What is your take on the green gel pills Maggie found?

Again, that seemed odd to me. You’d think that she would know his usual pills, so him changing it up so close to the murders seemed suspicious. Him taking something unfamiliar to her in the weeks before she was killed seems like another too big coincidence to ignore.

I believe that green "gel pill"....was probably just a "NyQuil" type multi-symptom cold medicine...if it was truly a gel pill. If it was a green "capsule" that had powder in it that she may have misread the letters/numbers, it may have been a benzodiazepine like chlordizapoxide....which is used for anxiety but also withdrawal from alcohol abuse. I suspect poor Maggie was doing a lot of googling on sites like "pill identifier" and got those numbers right. It's a good resource if you find a pill that you're not sure what it is....but she was having to do this to find out what her husband was getting high on that day. You type in the shape, color and numbers/letters....and you'll find out what it is. I own a pet sitting business...and I use it mostly to identify dog pills...like metronidazole to check for dosage...etc....to help dogs with diarrhea....sorry, that's my business .

I'm betting it could have been either.....thinking Alex likely had lots of pills in his bags...some may have been just regular OTC drugs that many of us take for colds...etc. But I don't think he'd purchase chlordiapoxide on the street, unless someone told him that it would help him withdraw from opiates....or he thought if it helped with alcohol, it would help with pills too....and chemically it wouldn't help. Or maybe he was unable to get the pills he needed and hit the booze harder....and resorted to the next pill that would help? Who knows...he was kind of his own pharmacist for a long time.

One thing....about the amount of money he was spending. He clearly had a lot of bad business deals, but it is incredibly expensive for addicts to buy *legit* prescription-grade medication like 30 mg of regular oxycodone or extended release oxycontin. The days of "pain pill mills" have essentially ended. I'm not sure where his "dealer" got these pills, but it is likely purchasing them from patients who get them for legitimate reasons....and then sell them because they need the money. The price on the street has gone through the roof.....and Alex doesn't strike me as a guy who would ever resort to heroin....he saw himself as "above" those kinds of people. Whoever his dealer was...he trusted his supply was the real deal, because as we know....we all read stories regularly about "fake pills"....that are just imprinted to look exactly like prescription pills...but are completely fake or laced with fentanyl...etc. But just one 30 mg oxycodone pill would go for at least $30....so if may have had $1,000 habit per day...or more. Still not enough to account for what he was spending, but no small amount. Also noticed the checks to his dealer were always under 10K, as to not flag it for the IRS.

Also...not just a nurse, but have a family member who had an issue with Percocet when he was in college....thankfully, with rehab (took two times)....he turned his life around....has a wife, two beautiful kids...etc. Thankfully his mother, also a nurse, picked up on it early as his behavior changed. It could have easily slid into heroin...etc, and ended terribly. And this was over 12 years ago I'd say....before all of this other fentanyl laced stuff entered the scene. He got hooked in college...pills passed around at parties...etc, mostly stolen from parents homes.. Then he started to purchase the pills....never got to heroin for him, but he did steal a few items from family members to purchase pills. Thankfully, most parents have wised up to this...lock that stuff up, get rid of it at police stations on days when they collect prescriptions...etc.

Of course, this is going to be part of what we hear tomorrow.....that addicts are liars, and they are....they all lie when they are in that trap. And that being an addict and a thief doesn't make you a murderer. They'll say that there are zillions of addicts and thieves who lie and lie...but they don't kill their wife and kid. But I happen to think this one did. The phone/data evidence.....and the people who were their "service workers".....the people around the Murdaughs on the daily....who noticed lots and lots of details that they didn't even realize they noticed.....may in fact be the most compelling witnesses in this whole tragedy.

Tomorrow should be interesting for those of us following along.

 

[dvcgirl67]

That last phone tossing expert was so over the top. They should have dimoissed him as an expert and it was a stupid almost last witness - sure they will go off on that tomorrow.

Yes...he wasn't a good witness....bad move by the prosecution. But I also think many of us have smartphones and have a basic idea how they work....some of what he said made sense to me. But his presentation was pretty bad. That'll be part of the "sloppy investigation" for sure.

But...if I'm on that jury, the "kennel lie" and the fact that Alex left that kennel around 8:45 and 45 seconds....and Maggie and Paul's phones went dark at 8:48 (especially with Paul being super active on his phone up until that moment)...is going to be a super tough pill to swallow. There's *no* way Alex didn't at *least* hear those gun shots...no way. He was there...or close enough to hear it and know something very bad went down. I live in suburban NJ....and in an area where there is some hunting allowed...it's rare to hear gun shots, but when I do hear them....it's miles away.

 

[GAN]

That last phone tossing expert was so over the top. They should have dimoissed him as an expert and it was a stupid almost last witness - sure they will go off on that tomorrow.

I missed that but will go back to watch. The defense might jump on that but it’s not really a key piece at this point, all the talk of the before and after is smoke. That phone video by Paul to his friend puts Alex there, then immediately after the phones went black and a friend was hanging on waiting for a response that never, but should have, came. So, the defense will set their closing but the prosecution will get the final chance to address the jury and send them on the way with that key fact -and a boatload of lies…..

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I hope Jim has been able to get his allergies under control with the pollen for today. Possibly the biggest morning of his career and he is likely struggling with allergies! I honestly feel bad for him. Nothing more frustrating than feeling sick on an important day.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Oh I think he did it don't get me wrong.
Still all they have to do is convince one person that they are trying to somehow railroad him and they are done.
And also I worry they could use his allowance as a profesional to be cause for mistrial.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I missed that but will go back to watch. The defense might jump on that but it’s not really a key piece at this point, all the talk of the before and after is smoke. That phone video by Paul to his friend puts Alex there, then immediately after the phones went black and a friend was hanging on waiting for a response that never, but should have, came. So, the defense will set their closing but the prosecution will get the final chance to address the jury and send them on the way with that key fact -and a boatload of lies…..

And the house is 1,200 ft from the kennels "as the crow flies"....about .22 miles. And they are literally out there in the middle of nowhere, so there is *no* other sound like you'd have in a city or even a small town like mine with environmental noise from passing cars, humming A/C units....etc.

And Alex....he can't say he was in the shower, because he got caught in his lie....part of the reason he said that he didn't want to *stay* at the kennels....was because he *already* showered and didn't want to end up getting dirty because he said that's always what happened when you went down to the kennels. He implied that you got stuck doing work and ended up dirty....and he didn't want to shower again. Also, when central A/C is on at my house....and with all of the environmental noise in my neighborhood because there are so many of us living near each other....if someone was shooting a *shot gun* .22 miles away, I'd hear it.

Just a quick google search.....and depending on weather conditions...etc, and it appeared to be a very quiet night out there....a hand gun can be heard up to a mile away, a more powerful shotgun....up to 2 miles away.

So...he was caught on the video at 8:45 and 45 seconds. He says he left immediately after the end of that video (the one he didn't even know he was recorded on).....drove the two minutes from the kennels to the house, walked inside...directly to the couch by 8:48 or 8:49 (when phones go dark for his wife and son)....and was asleep within minutes? Then after his 12-14 minute "nap" he's up and pacing around like a maniac making phone calls? Then races over to his mother's house at 9:02...doing 80mph to get there on a dark country road? I mean....coooommmme on. That alone is game, set and match for me.

 

[dvcgirl67]

uh oh....juror dismissed. This is likely what the "e-mail" was about. A juror has been accused of discussing the case with people outside of the case. Those people were interviewed and "waffled" on whether she did talk to them....and the judge decided to dismiss her. Not good for the prosecution.

 

[dvcgirl67]

She wasn't allowed to go back into the jury room.....she'd brought her purse and a dozen eggs, that she supposedly was going to hand out to her jury friends. I mean...eggs are expensive....lol! So...a deputy went into the jury room to gather her eggs (which the juror now said she did not want her jury friends to have...lol).....and her purse. And so...she's been replaced. I can't imagine putting in all of time and effort of sitting there for 6 weeks only to be dismissed at this point. What a waste of time.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

She must have been leaning towards not guilty. Otherwise Dick wouldn’t have been so upset!

And I bet Juror 254 can’t believe they are coming in!

 

[dvcgirl67]

She must have been leaning towards not guilty. Otherwise Dick wouldn’t have been so upset!

And I bet Juror 254 can’t believe they are coming in!

Crazy! Well, she's on her way home.....hope she makes herself one hell of an omelette!!

 

[TeresaBelle]

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

Jim is using a lot of words, but not really saying anything. So far, this isn’t flowing.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

Oh my!! Jim used his closing arguments to make it about himself and his HBO interview! That was the most emotion he’s used all morning!!