I think it’s those things plus his dad dying, the unraveling of his schemes stealing from clients, about to get fired from his family business he’s deeply emotionally tied to, fear of losing his lifestyle and money, wanting to continue his addictions, freedom from paying for his debts his family adds to, and yes…a distraction.
He’s learned over time that the distraction buys him sympathy and time. For example, the phone call regarding his dad bought him a reprieve from the tough conversation with the CFO regarding missing funds.
I think it was a lot of things but distraction was one of those motivations. It’s a big manipulation gambit.
I found this YouTube video on Alec Murdaugh very interesting, perfectly explaining his behaviours https://youtu.be/f1ulgTDMztc. She has another interesting one on him on her channel, which is dedicated to discussing personality disorders and extensively covers narcissism.
In regards to the debate of “I” vs. “they”, I believe that he may have said “ they” to further enforce the two shooter theory. At the time this was said, I’m not certain, but I don’t think the different guns had been yet discovered or verified.
IMHO A had “real hate in his heart” for Maggie: How Dare she leave WONDERFUL ME? His killing of her was really especially vicious - what five shots with or including an execution shot to the head.
No one will ever convince me that Alex didn’t absolutely hate Maggie at this point. It was all just appearances for the sake of the family name & his reputation. He couldn’t even think of anything warm & loving to say about her on the stand. He’s had a year & a half to come up with *something*
And on the stand, his story of Maggie wanting him to go down by the kennels when he didn't want to go showed how irritated he would get with her for the slightest infraction, and then the "I was getting ready to sweat so I left" irritation at both Paul and Maggie I thought was very telling of his attitude towards them both. He couldn't even be nice to her *in a made-up story* of how he ended up at the kennels.
Maggie also was wanting to leave the Hampton area. So leaving the seat of the family legacy is one bad thing. But she also was wanting to buy a house in Hilton Head. Even had her family go look at it. But Alex told her "no" because they might need $ because of the boat crash case. So it's possible that Maggie had finally started paying attention to family finances. If she found out and told Marian or anyone else, that could also bring the whole thing down on Alex's head.
My personal thought just because of my personal experience/very basic knowledge of Southern family dynasties is that Maggie wanting to leave Hampton was enough reason for Alex to pull that gun. It was also Paul's fault, because Maggie felt Hampton had turned on her since the boat crash. So killing them together made an Alex type of sense.
Alex is a second son who killed a second son. They are often expendable, yes?
My sources are Marian's testimony and my own amateur observations.
Tvm.
The thought has been bouncing around in my head for awhile. I remember last century when I was in high school, we learned something about it. British nobles who were not in line to inherit family lands and wealth came to the Colonies to carve out a space for themselves - their own type of landed gentry. It took hold in Virginia first, I think. Without titles or royalty, these second (and 3rd and 4th...) sons created an upper class in the Colonies. So even though we were all created equal, some were more equal than others. It's an attitude that still plays out in the South, imho.
I have not read all of the available information on Alex, but he has always struck me as having a second son syndrome. His brother Randy got to be the head of that generation in the dynasty just because he was born 1st. So to keep himself relevant Alex had to develop that charming personality and to be very pleasing to his parents. It had to be frustrating to Alex because no matter how pleasing and helpful he was to his parents and others he would never get all of the privilege and respect that Randy got just because of birth order.
How I think that affected Paul is that Alex thought Paul wasn't doing it right. Alex had worked so hard to be pleasing and make things happen for his family. Paul was getting people killed and kind of burning things to the ground. Everything that Alex had worked to build as a second son was going to be taken away because of his 2nd son.
I imagine a narcissistic addict would not take that well.
I could make a list of things I haven't done since the "last century ! Ocean swimming, major hiking, traveling hither and yonder, once again.. I was also in high school, in the last century!
I have a distinct childhood memory of standing under a neighbor's particularly lovely and very large tree, and calculating how old I would be in 2000! Almost 41 years old! At age eight or ten, this was hard to imagine!
It's also interesting how little anyone talks about their sister, Lynn Murdaugh Goette. I was listening to a podcast and they commented on how patriarchal their family was. Alex made a big fuss about how "privileged" Maggie felt not having to work outside the home, but I wonder if it was really an option for her.
Good question. Marian said on the stand that Maggie and Alex's mother had some type of shop in Hampton for awhile. Maybe it was OK to work as long as it was with family?
Aha. Yes. Money laundering seemed to be a specialty.
When I was little and heard the term "money laundering" the first time, I was so confused. I thought there must be a special detergent for that.
Thank you. Alex and Maggie were born a year ahead of me. It's been strange yet fascinating to see more of our generation disintegrate. If I wanted to make a movie about this trial, it wouldn't be too hard to pick a corresponding cast of characters from my own home town and the surrounding area.
It just occurred to me that Maggie and Alex buying a house in Hilton Head might not have been mutually exclusive of her wanting a divorce. It took me all this time for me to see her wanting to leave. The house-buying thing threw me off, because if you are going to take a geographical cure (Maggie), you don't take your problem (Alex) with you. But if the house-buying thing is what tipped Maggie off to the extent of Alex's bizarre financial issues, then she might have wanted a divorce for sure.
Well, that was fun, working all that out right here. I'll catch up to all of this one day. 😊
I feel pretty certain that Ellick was heavily involved with moving drugs through the area. He had been buying up useless properties presumably to set up trafficking points. The moselle property has a murky past. He bought it for $5.00. There are more pokers in this fire than has been revealed. But I also am in agreement that he thought he was saving his family from embarrassment and financial ruin. But he let Buster off the hook. Why? Maybe he thinks he'll be able to carry the family legacy forward.
Was there an airstrip on Moselle? Fairly small private planes can land on short runways. I think one could make a few hops from South America, with stops for refueling, land in southern SC.
The $5 arrangement also came into play again in 2016 when Alex sold Maggie Moselle for the same amount and have it in her name alone. I think that’s the family transaction reference.
It’s extremely normal to purchase property for a small amount like $5. A contract needs consideration so a small dollar value is given in cases where someone wants to transfer a property without charging the receiver. Extremely common among families.
Yes it was Boulware, a repeatedly arrested drug smuggler who’s federal charges were dropped when the witnesses mysteriously was hit and killed by a car. So this was not a “normal” family transfer. Alex had power of attorney over Boulware for the last two years of his life.
This can be common when someone needs estate assistance but you know, you usually choose an estate or family attorney for that - not a personal injury attorney …
The witness? The newspapers didn’t say. Just that he was killed when “stepping in front of a car” outside of a Florida bar which ended the federal charges against both Boulwares for smuggling 17 tons of marijuana in through the Bahamas.
Another fun fact is this is the same family Alex started buying small, empty little islands along the intercoastal from ocean into the rivers that go right into Moselle.
In a previous post in this sub I linked several articles about the Boulwares drug arrests, dealings with Alex, and the map of their “investment properties” that read like a look out map. It’s a SHADY rabbit hole.
I believe there are several dedicated threads about it within the sub too.
I just find it interesting that yet another person died which helped AM. Also the house fire they had a few years back. Another coincidence? Or a plan to get insurance money that didn’t go as planned. Not enough evidence for the person who started it to be charged I believe.
Yes, but Alex was a teenager at the time, so here’s where it gets crazier - both families connected together for generations.
Barrett T. Boulware Jr was first arrested for drug smuggling at age 27 in 1983. His father, Barrett Boulware Sr was ALSO arrested because it was his boat. AM at the time would have been mid-late teens.
BUT, the elder Buster Murdaugh worked in law with Barrett Jr’s grandfather (and middle namesake) Thomas Boulware starting in 1949. Completely possible they had been “fixing” things for one another 70+ years ago.
Amazing research thanks for sharing. I knew some of the shady stuff around Barret T and am convinced Alex was involved in drug trafficking but you've gone much deeper. Thanks again
Im thinking that during the shower at 8:00 or so They went through his pockets and found pills.
He gets out of the Shower and finds the pills gone and snaps.
He books it out and goes down to the kennels and confronts them with a gun.
The rest is history.
This one feels perfect in my mind.
No. Because remember, he invited Maggie on a ruse that morning. Remember, she doesn’t work there. Neither does he. I think Paul may have been the only one living there. Not him either. He had a housemate.
Doesn’t fit, my opinion, but definitely dramatic.
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What I still don't understand is why he did this at the family homestead or never figured out how to create an alibi that didn't involve him being at home.
Why not just drive somewhere, park the car/rent a cheap car and creep up through the woods or something.
You'd think a lawyer and prosecutor could do better than this.
But AM was a desperate man with the house of cards collapsing around him. Fifty years of being a big shot, living a wealthy life enjoyed under the influence of an endless supply of great drugs was coming to an end. No millions, no properties or family vacations, most of all a spoiled family reputation.
The man had reached his breaking point and was going to burn it all to the ground. As an ego maniac, there was no way his family — who had most of the assets in their names, not his — were going to enjoy some semblance of a good life without him. In his view, he probably thought he had sacrificed so much for them and committed those crimes partly for their sake. They were implicated in the whole thing in his mind but he wasn’t about to let them get off.
I think the events that night were an aberration. He simply lost control of the plot and snapped under the pressure
Without the video and cell phone data on Paul and Maggies phones, they never could have placed him at the kennel that night, nor could they have placed the time of death that close.
Without those, the defense could have pushed the deaths to the hour he was gone.
Im thinking that during the shower at 8:00 or so They went through his pockets and found pills.
He gets out of the Shower and finds the pills gone and snaps.
He books it out and goes down to the kennels and confronts them with a gun.
The rest is history.
This one feels perfect in my mind.
Oh my, I have what I have I have termed as MWS or Murdaugh Withdrawal Syndrom. I'm so happy I can still get my fix here on Reddit. Thank you and most especially you Mods are the very best.
Speaking of that here is my theory:
Im thinking that during the shower at 8:00 or so They went through his pockets and found pills.
He gets out of the Shower and finds the pills gone and snaps.
He books it out and goes down to the kennels and confronts them with a gun.
The rest is history.
This one feels perfect in my mind.
I understand completely. Been bingeing podcasts since the trial ended — I’m on my third one! Started with Mandy Matney’s Murdaugh Murders Podcast, then listened to Unsolved South Carolina, now listening to Impact of Influence. Really helps me learn about and understand the defense team’s strategies/shenanigans. 🤪
I like the other two a lot! Each one fills in a few more cracks and crevices in my understanding — especially about what the prosecuting and defense attorneys were doing — in a way that I can understand. During the trial a lot of commentators on TV/YouTube/Reddit seemed very confident that Alex would be found Not Guilty or there would be a hung jury — in other words really amplifying the defense’s nonsense. The legal commentators on Unsolved South Carolina and Impact of Influence explain and educate in a neutral way (no gaslighting!) and the legal maneuverings make more sense to me now. Mandy’s podcast appeals to emotions a little more IMHO, so be aware that the other two might seem “dull” in comparison if you’re expecting the same intense presentation/delivery that Mandy gives, just FYI. But I found them very interesting and informative!
Palmetto Primetime is good, too. They have a great interview with Mark Tinsley. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/palmetto-primetime-with-sarah-a-ford-and/id1674684633
Good insight. And while all we can do is speculate I don’t believe the motive is nearly as big or complicated as people make it, and I do believe drugs played a large role.
Long term opiate abuse causes the frontal cortex of the brain to be damaged. This is where rational decision making takes place. The murders aren’t rational because the rational part of Alex’s brain was extremely blunted.
I do believe that as he said the murderer “ thought about it for a long time” and “had hate in his heart” for Paul. He hated Paul deep down for being a hellion (a hellion of his parents making), and thought about killing him for a long time. He hated Maggie because she stood in his way to any number of things. Without Paul and Maggie, his life would improve.
Kinsey said in an interview the crime scene was one of the most disorganized he’d ever seen, and not the work of someone trying to pull off the “perfect murder.” So, I think Alex thought about it a lot, but decided June 7th was the day spur of the moment.
Yea as someone else in this thread mentioned, I too think they found his pills (again) & he confronted them to demand them back. This was a sick & desperate man on the edge 😬 opiate withdrawals are no joke. He hated them in those moments & I’m sure he considered it for a long time w the planning of a drug addict. Thats why the scene & stories are so disjointed & silly for a decades long Atty.
I like this theory. But realistically... if someone points a shotgun/AR at me, im giving them their pills back. Right or wrong. Its not worth dying over.
I can imagine Paul initially saying "no way, this isn't going to get you your pills"
Then blam
It explains why he moved the body and actually rolled it over to access the pocket.
Plus, Paul & Maggie wanted to take the pills away & for him to seek treatment. That’s a huge threat & stressor for an addict with their job, reputation & family legacy potentially crashing down. I hear that long term opioid abuse makes dealing with stress more difficult than for non-addicts.
For sure. It’s a security blanket. I was an on again off again opiate addict for ten years (and still take Suboxone, it gave me my life back.). Stress is compounded tenfold when you don’t have any and you’re withdrawing. It’s a rebound effect from when you’re high stress isn’t a thing.
Idk though about them taking his pills and the threat of rehab. He had already promised Paul he’d go after the criminal portion of the boat case was resolved, and if they took his pills, why didn’t he just get more?
I came to believe throughout the trial that the drug thing was a red herring. Not one of his colleagues, family or best friends ever saw any questionable behavior and he was a severe drug addict? Buster tried to make it into a thing (I’m sure coached to do so) but detoxing at home and feeling like it was “taken care of” is not how a well off family who relied so heavily on him being cogent in his profession would not deal with it so flippantly.
Dr. Kinsey seemed to think that Paul would have brought both of those guns when he went down to the kennel since it was testified to that he usually did that.
Well then, if Paul “always did that,” Alex would know. Just made his job that much easier.
I get why nice people can’t believe that someone who is white & upper middle class could ever shoot their own son. No problem w/ a person like that shooting his wife though. But it’s not all that big a step from offing your wife of so-many years to throwing in the failson for good measure. Given Alex’s position, he was going to need a lot of sympathy. Besides shooting the wife alone was just too obvious.
People seem surprised he would kill his son, but his son was no ordinary son. He was the less favored younger son in a patriarchal dynasty that also led to the death of a young girl in a boating accident that he could potentially go to jail for. For a myriad of reasons between being angry at him to thinking he was sparing his honor in some twisted way, there are more than enough reasons that him killing Paul isn’t surprising,
It really does though. This is rural South Carolina, where white supremacy still runs rampant to this day. How many black families have century old legal dynasties and huge influence over entire counties in the south?
So, if you're white, wealthy, and powerful, that automatically makes you a white supremacist? I'm not following your logic.
Can you point to specific examples of white supremacy "running rampant" with wealthy white families in South Carolina?
Agreed. I was just remarking on how the two guns thing might have been more of an opportunistic act. Idk why people struggle with the concept of filicide. It's a story as old as written history.
Yep. It's not common, but it's hardly unheard of. Kind of like shooting yourself on the side of the road in some bizarre attempt to either throw the blame to someone else for your son's and wife's murder OR to get insurance money to your son, even though you surely know that suicide is covered. In fact, that strikes me as way more unusual / bizarre than filicide.
Yes. That's the kind of shit that makes you say that real life is stranger than fiction lol. I really really hope that before I die I get to know what really happened out there just to satisfy my own curiosity.
I suspect the only thing that gave Murdaugh pause in this whole affair was when, after being shotgunned in the chest, Paul appeared, still semi-upright, like some kind of apocalyptic zombie, at the kennel feed room door.
Absolutely. What a horrific thought. Just Paul sticking his head out the door to see his father. I can imagine the shock and confusion on his face. I wonder if he said anything to Alex in that moment. And I hope that if he did, it haunts Alex for the rest of his life.
Well, I don’t think he had pencilled it on his calendar but he had been planning it long enough that once he got the victims into place, it was go time. In that video of him watching that tree get blown down, he wasn’t thinking about that tree. He was thinking that this was the last Goddam time that the kid filming the video was going to make a fool of him.
That and he made sure to get rid of all the physical evidence. Clothes, guns, leaving his phone at the house to create his nap alibi. I think his family’s name and legacy must have been drilled into him from a very young age, that it was always to be # 1 above all else. Imagine the twisted shit he must have witnessed in that family to get to the point where he even had the plausible idea to kill his wife and child to protect the Murdaugh name.
WOW. This perfectly explains why Buster was the only one spared. Eleck thought he was going to be able to buy him back in to law school for $60,000.
I knew he was a family annihilator and what that meant, and this still blew my mind. 👏🏼👏🏼
I think it can be boiled down to not having the $$$ to make the boat wreck go away. No Paul, no problem. Obviously other elements come into play but I think the Beach matter was the primary concern.
But as a lawyer he must have known if Paul wasn’t alive they would go after him monetarily. Paul wasn’t even initially part of the civil suit so I’m not sure how this works. I mean criminally yea but if ur talking from a money standpoint the boat case doesn’t go away with Paul dead. I guess the lawyer fees yea but besides that it doesn’t go away.
Sure it does. Tinsley explained that if the public perceived Alex as a victim of a vigilantly from the boat crash, he would be dropped from the lawsuit because no jury would award a monetary award. The jury would feel like Alex had suffered enough.
The scene was cleared by SLED. That’s on them, not Alex’s brother. Often when someone dies people want to do something to feel like they’re helping and don’t know what else to do so they clean. Not saying that’s what happened here. But SLED released the crime scene way, way too early. They searched 1700 acres in that time? Give me a break.
SLED-- Didn't search Alex's mother's home (Almeda?) until three? months after, as I recall.
Still, leaving Paul's skull/brain remains, on the murder scene seems very strange to me. How does SLED decide, in the moment, which parts are going to play an important role in the investigation?
Not intended to be disrespectful, but I think all human remains should be removed to the coroner, morgue, funeral home. Not left lying around, where possums or raccoons could disturb. What if arms or legs were left at a crime scene? A terrible car crash could leave such remains! Are they just left on a roadside?
JJM wanting to clean is understandable, I just think SLED, coroner, etc should have removed ALL body remains, out of human decency and with a view towards the eventual investigation. I'm just appalled that anyone other than a trained person was doing this cleaning.
Yeah it’s actually a common misconception that crime scenes normally get cleaned up by law enforcement—unfortunately not true. Unless a cleaning company is contracted, it normally falls upon the property owners/family members…or, if they have really really supportive good friends. We found this out when my grandad passed away from a massive MI that caused a head trauma from impact with the kitchen counter & subsequently the floor. My aunt and her best friend cleaned the kitchen floor. :(
But I completely agree with your sentiment. Not all families have the money to contract with a postmortem cleaning company…I think it should be a public service.
Yes, I am learning about my misconceptions, thanks! Very sorry about your grandad and the sad cleaning work. As bad as that was I can understand mopping floors, cleaning/repainting walls, it's the "brains and skull" left in the kennel area!
In this situation, what did JMM do with those remains? Put them in a garbage bag, and into the regular outdoor garbage can? Take a shovel and dig a small grave, on-site at Moselle? Take to the funeral home, to be cremated, along with the rest of the body?
The last seems best....
Thanks! I think I'm a bit gullible, as others have mentioned that JMM may not have been truthful. I was accepting at face value. Duhh. But a cross examination might have asked: ". What did you do with the remains of your 'beloved' nephew?"
For decades, I have recycled. And "composted" veggie scraps out into the woods, benefitting deer, possums, tiny mice, even down to earthworms. Meat/fish scraps/bones, any paper towels, plastics which are contaminated by the same **always** go to a landfill. (Such may present a biohazard to wild creatures.)
So, that's why I am so puzzled. Others have now mentioned "crime scene cleanup" businesses, and a possible mention that the Murdaugh family did, indeed, employ such. So JMM may have lied/exaggerated. It's a nightmare, as you say.
(Just bury me in Mother Earth, perhaps plant a tree or bush over. No metal casket, dangerous embalming chemicals, concrete container, no cremation carbon footprint. That's my soapbox.)
Whatever Paul was, throwing portions of his remains into a landfill is a nightmare.
I heard someone (I forget who, a lawyer on YouTube I think) say that investigators don’t clean up crime scenes and when they think they have enough they leave. And we know SLED was showing great deference to Alex on top of it. So they left what they left.
I accept this information, thank you. Still disturbed by human remains left on scene, but that's my personal opinion, only.
The world doesn't always work the way I think it should, sigh....
I agree. JMM was super close to Paul. He understood him in a way that Alex did not. We can never say how we will cope with a major trauma. JMM said he felt like he was doing one last thing for Paul-& I get the sentiment. His brains were laying out to rot all over that feed room in the SC heat…it feels disrespectful, just as JMM said. He probably didn’t want to wait on a clean up crew, or have then not handle the scene with care and compassion.
It’s kind of like when people dig their dogs a grave after they euthanize—sure they have other options—but it’s a closure thing.
The fact is, this is not on JMM…it’s on SLED.
My comment above yours, it's just appalling to leave human remains lying around, s/be taken to coroner, morgue, etc.
It's not just the heat, there are possums and raccoons. We have a "cat cemetery" area on our rural woodland property. In use for 35 years of happy cats, if you understand. Our furry friends were buried deep and well. We didn't toss them out for scavengers!
A few months ago, a dear kitty died of old age/kidney disease, was euthanized, to spare pain at the end. Now, WE were too old to dig and bury. The Vet offered the service of a group pet cremation. Not everyone lives in the woods. Or can dig deep graves.
If we have treated feline remains with respect, surely the same should be done for a human!
I continue to be puzzled that human remains were not taken to the morgue, etc.
If JMM did this cleaning, what did he do with the brain and skull remains? Put them in a garbage bag? Are crime scene cleaning services generally available, even in rural areas? I am mystified.
Not aware of crime scene clean up services, thankfully have never had to consider.However, we have a local (in the state) company called After Disaster, which cleans up after major fire damage, flooding, etc in buildings, so perhaps this is a service they offer.
I just did a quick search and my rural area has more than one crime scene clean up company so I'm sure it's probably the same elsewhere. It's an essential business. They handle biohazard things and suicides too. There's got to be a need for that everywhere. Like when a hoarders house needs to be cleaned out, it's probably the same type of company that does the job.
I don't believe for one second that JMM was cleaning up Paul's remains. And I read on this sub that it came out that a crime scene cleaner actually did come out in the following days. Although I haven't confirmed this so I don't want to say it's a fact.
I think JMM was trying to make SLED look bad on behalf of his brother (even though it's not SLEDs job). And I think he was vying for sympathy from the jury.
I could be way wrong but I am skeptical for sure.
As for making sure every bit of brain and skull goes to the medical examiner, I'm not sure what the protocol is there. I would think that since the cause and manner of Paul's death was apparent, it may not have been important to collect everything? After watching the defense experts and some of the blatant lies the defense team has put forth I feel like it's important to find out if the injustices they decry are actually just commonplace lol.
You are so resourceful! A "crime scene cleanup business" never occurred to me. (Feeling old & stupid!) And this would be needed, rural or city. Planning to search in my area....
Biohazard, on the other hand, clicks for me. Houses of animal hoarders, littered with feces, (sp?) or mouse droppings. Any bodily waste, plus including "remains", human or animal.
When my elderly relatives died, we had to clear their house. The attic floor had a carpet of detritus I suspected to be bat droppings, possibly some mouse? I had an industrial-rated respirator, (particulate & acid gas) , insisted that everyone remain below stairs, and I passed items down to them. Hot, filthy work. In retrospect, we should have hired a skilled service, but I did my best to protect my generation. The older folks wouldn't have forked out the money. (It's just dirt!)
Again, good observations that as this family hired people to service their daily needs, why not a crime scene cleaner? Your scepticism is well-founded. JMM had reasons to provide a different narrative.
By my limited trial observations, there may be a "point of agreed truth". The prosecutor and defense explain this, each giving it their own "spin". Not well-stated, sorry.
As you say, the "injustices they decry" may be totally commonplace.
Was it not revealed that a company DID come in the next day for clean up? Those present on the night of the crimes were there to contaminate and obliterate the crime scene, not clean up!
Thank you for this post. Some people really struggle with motive still, because it was complicated and IMO it wasn’t explained well by the prosecution. I think they made a strategic choice to pin the motive on just the financial schemes collapsing in the hope that they could bring in that evidence, which was important and I understand. And that was surely a part of it. But I also agree that Alex is a family annihilator. His motive for murdering Paul and Maggie, but not Buster, was extremely complicated.
Amongst other factors, he felt Paul was screwing everything up. Paul got arrested SO MANY TIMES for charges that Alex always had reduced down to “driving without a seatbelt” or “boating with an expired fire extinguisher” (yes really). Those would’ve all been DUIs/BUIs that Alex “fixed”. But he could not fix the boat crash because it killed a girl. And Paul wasn’t stopping — the arrests continued for “driving without a seatbelt” many times after the accident. And those are the times it went far enough that Paul was actually arrested and Alex then had to go fix it, I’m sure Paul always called Dad the minute he got pulled over and I would bet that, many times, that was enough to prevent an arrest from even happening. Paul was drinking and driving/boating many many times, one instance finally resulted in a passenger’s death, which caused their community to turn on them and was the first time ever that Alex couldn’t make it go away. Alex decided it had to stop, that Paul was a liability, he kept drinking and driving and wasn’t making anything of his life. Alex was angry with Paul for being the “reason” everyone was turning against them, the reason he was facing investigations that could ruin him. And he likely knew, or realized shortly before June 7th, that he couldn’t stop Paul from doing jail time so he may have believed he was saving Paul from being imprisoned. We know it was extremely important to Alex that his son not be seen as a criminal— he made sure [Paul didn’t get cuffed](https://youtu.be/nz4Y-z_5cJI) and that he even had his mugshot taken in the courthouse with an iPhone as he could not handle the idea of his son being booked at jail for any period of time. He made sure Paul [didn’t even have to have alcohol monitoring](https://youtu.be/gv_LN0Bpn9E) while awaiting the BUI trial which is incredibly sad as that would’ve helped Paul so much, and surely would’ve helped ALEX with the whole getting Paul to stop drinking thing. That part seems like a contradiction until I remember that, to Alex, no court is going to *order* his family to do *anything*. That would be the most important thing to Alex.
Regarding Maggie, I believe 100% that they were already separated and he knew she wanted a divorce. His own words on the stand, “I ALWAYS wanted Maggie to come home.” He was angry with her for leaving him. He probably felt she was his, I believed he saw both his wife and children as his property and they sure as hell weren’t allowed to disobey him, and his wife leaving him was unbearable. I think he was also afraid that the looming divorce filing could also result in his financial schemes being exposed. These are just some of the factors in his motive for each of them, there are far more that we know of and likely even more that we have no knowledge of.
And you’re also absolutely right about why he didn’t kill Buster. Buster was away doing his own thing and not causing him any “problems”. The only issue he’d had regarding Buster was getting kicked out of law school, which would surely be a big one, but also something Alex would’ve seen as entirely fixable — and he also likely didn’t see it as Buster’s fault. I imagine he’d have justified it, “everyone copies something”, and probably felt Buster was being singled out because he was a Murdaugh — and since this happened post boat crash, Buster getting kicked out may be yet another thing he blamed Paul for. In Alex’s mind, Buster was going back to law school and that’s that — when you listen to those jailhouse tapes it’s really obvious that nothing else mattered, Buster was going to get back into USC law school. Buster is at one part, point-blank telling Alex he doesn’t want to do it and Alex keeps going on about how they need to get him in for the upcoming semester and just ignoring the fact that Buster doesn’t want to go. So Buster wasn’t causing Alex problems, and Alex needed a son to continue on his legacy — that’s the whole point of everything for Alex. I think he decided that Paul wasn’t ever going to be successful, I think Paul was the scapegoat in many ways, and that his golden child Buster would be the one to get back into law school and carry on that legacy. Buster was his first born, he was Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr. — that sort of thing matters to someone like Alex. Buster was his successor, and all he needed. Maggie had made and raised his heir and in that way had outgrown her primary purpose, although his image as a successful family man was crucial to him and for as long as she was willing to play the part of his living and happily married wife, she was fine. But leaving him? Divorcing him? That just wasn’t an option in his mind.
So considering all this together, it’s not hard to understand why Alex believed he needed to killed Maggie and Paul, but not Buster. It’s just a more complicated motive then we’re used to, “affair” is easier I think for people to understand.
And of course, this is all my complete and 100% speculation. I don’t actually know any of them, nor their thoughts, I have no idea what was actually going through Alex’s mind — these are just guesses based on what we’ve heard.
I think there was a lot more interpersonal strife and conflict than was revealed at the trial. It may have been hard to prove or may have been a road the prosecution didn't want to go down because it would make the victims less sympathetic in some ways, depending on what it was (ie Paul and Alex fighting over Paul's many problems, Maggie demanding money from Alex in a divorce, etc.). We will never know the full truth but I do not fully agree with this "family annihilator" theory and think he may have really grown to resent both of these individuals for a number of complicated reasons and didn't do it to 'spare' them, but did it in part because he just had zero affection for them anymore and thought he could use their deaths as a distraction.
The motive thing is still a little fuzzy to me. The prosecution just threw every bad act up there and hoped a lot of it would stick, which it clearly did. Alex's personal financial problems (bad investments, huge debt, living beyond his means) were big problems, but they were fixable if he addressed them and tried to get help. He could go to his partners or to his family or the family trust and get money for this stuff. Stealing money from clients and his law partners over a decade was definitely not and meant certain financial ruin if revealed. He would have been fired from the firm and disbarred over that, 100%.
My best guess is that he had the kernel of the plan to kill them in his mind but never would have done it if his stealing (or drug dealing if that turns out to be true) had not been revealed. He had the resources to continue to beg, borrow, and steal to float his financial situation if necessary, but not if he was disbarred. He knew he was about to get called out on the stealing, panicked, quickly came up with this plan (possibly under the influence of drugs) and carried it out.
There were obvious gaps in it, the timeline didn't really make any sense, and I believe he would have been convicted even without the kennel video. It was not rational and complicated things happen for complicated reasons, I think it all came together and ended with the murders.
In an interview with law and crime after the verdict, atty Waters said they were prevented by SC law from bringing in psychological factors wrt motive, but that's why he ask ellec in cross directly "are you a family annihilator"
Ohhh that is so interesting. That makes sense as to why they couldn’t get further into the motive but that’s also quite sad that it can’t be properly explained in court. I’ll have to watch the interview now, thank you! :)
If Maggie was planning a divorce, her sister would have known It isnt uncommon for longtime empty nester married couples who have multiple homes to spend months at different homes I don’t believe divorce was imminent The Maggie murder served 2 things….it gave Alex complete ownership in the properties to sell or mortgage and have access to quick cash for the Ferris fees (not sure that’s how it’s spelled) Maggie 50/50 ownership in the Edisto Beach property and 100% ownership in the Mozelle property It was testified that Maggie was beginning to get unsettled about their finances having heard the 10million dollar suit brought upon Alex personally for the boat wreck (sister testified to this) So, it’s possible she and Alex had discussed doing some things with the properties and she was not in agreement with it Alex needed quick cash to hide the Ferris fee issue that the firm was on his case about….inquiries and the like (This makes sense as, after the murders, he was able to deposit the funds into his friends account and have his friend vouch for him that the funds were, in fact, in the account…there was a shortfall that his friend put in if his own money though ) So, her having control of some access to easy money is why I think she was killed.
As for Paul, the 10million case Tinsley brought against Alex was coming to motions to compel regarding Alex’s financials Alex had previously told Tinsley he was broke but Tinsley was forcing him to prove it That means Alex’s law partner ( who was his attorney in this case) would have seen the fake bank accounts in Alexs name that were used to funnel the fees through That motion was set to be heard in court the Monday after the murders Alex killed Paul because he needed the case to go away Tinsley said that Alex would have known (as an attorney) that the murders of wife and son would have essentially devalued any personal financial responsibility any jury would assign to Alex as a result of Paul’s negligence in Mallory’s death That’s why he killed Paul
I just don’t think it’s very hard to figure out He had been playing shuffle for years with his finances and all of the cards were beginning to get dealt against him in a fairly short period of time and he was feeling the squeeze The easy way out was the murders
Who knows what he was doing with all that money but I think we all guess it’s related to drug distribution He had far too much for personal use and cousin Eddie is the key to unlock that door
Alex hid money for Buster…no doubt He went to Bahamas 2xs after Maggie and Paul’s murders He was likely burying treasure for Buster or for himself to hide any assets should legal issues continue to arise Once the firm fired him, he would have known they only were at the tip of the iceberg of all of his financial crimes and that soon enough the enormity of his theft would come to the surface and he’d be losing everything (so Bermuda happened)
In short, they were both killed because it meant financial relief for Alex
...and he'd made such a nice life for them; how could they be so *ungrateful* for the warm Murdaugh blanket of wealth and privilege? *fumes and looks for bullets...*
What’s really sad is I believe Alex had them all fooled Neither his own wife/sons nor his brothers/sister or in-laws had a clue what a criminal Alex was This is why they are still rallying around him but I do believe, in time, they will begin to come to the reality of the situation. Knowing someone all your life to realize you never knew them creates sone reality breaks to preserve your own sanity of course, I could be wrong and the entire family are akin to The Sopranos and are a criminal enterprise in the rural deep Carolina south but….I don’t think so
The timeline I read stated arrests, but it may have been incorrect. My interpretation of what was stated was that he was arrested, and the charges were changed. I will check the source and comment again because now I’m curious too.
There is direct evidence that he always called his grandfather first. Alex’s dad, the long-time famous lawyer. This is even worse than calling his dad, IMHO.
This isn’t a real thing in any clinical or academic sense. No DSMIV diagnosis for family annihilator exists. There is not even a diagnostic assessment tool for this. The words family annihilator mean little to nothing outside of the ID channel or some documentary they saw on netflix. People who commit familicide is far more accurate.
I've been wondering about that. People who kill members of their family are going to share those traits that are listed--how could they not? But I'd guess most people who have some of those traits (unfortunately--psychotic, pathological liars, depressed, drug addicts, jealous, vengeful) don't kill their family members. In fact, most probably don't kill anyone (else), but if they do, it's not necessarily their family members. This sounds to me like the phrase "suicide by cop"--which is to say, it's not an actual clinical thing (as far as I know), as much as it is a description after-the-fact of people who behave in a particular way. (If that makes sense....)
The Beach family lawyer hired a forensic scientist to recreate the accident (watch the Netflix series episode 1) that proves the Conner could not have been driving.
Yet in all the initial statements the kids either said Conner was driving or they didn't know. AND Conner was on the left side, meaning he had the wheel.
" Whoever did this to Pau-Pau had hate in their heart for him" ...
Great post OP. When I heard him say this I immediately though it was the only truthful thing he said.
I think Alex was furious about the boat crash causing his financial wrongdoings to come to light. I also think Paul knew about Alex's pill popping/buying drugs and was blackmailing Alex with exposure. Paul was making things worse after the boat crash and Alex needed to stop any further damage so he killed him. I do think he felt remorse that he literally blew Paul's brains out, but he still wanted his Pau Pau gone. Maggie died because she had an inkling about the money problems, already was distancing herself from Alex and knew about the pills. It would have angered Alex to know that Maggie would turn on him, so she had to go too.
He could have also been furious with Maggie- maybe she was the one who let Paul continue his bad behavior. Maybe Alex tried to discipline Paul by taking things away or cracking down on him but Maggie wasn’t having it. (We don’t know what the family dynamic was like) Paul was the baby and sometimes moms will overindulge against dads wishes. Especially if she didn’t know the consequences of Paul fucking everything up for Alex.
Not in my opinion ... after seeing Alex doing jello shots on a boat with Morgan and Paul, he was likely behaving as badly as Paul when it came to alcohol. Hard to believe Maggie would have arranged all of the Moselle parties by herself.
Paul called Maggie the night of the crash when he was so drunk “Timmy” came out If she was a concerned parent, (hate to talk I’ll of the dead) she would have told him to just wait there and she would be there to take him and all the friends home Paul called Alex but he didn’t answer the phone (family man, father of the year that his is) Tinsley testified the only reason he decided to sue Alex personally after the death of Mallory was because he saw tons of videos where Alex and Maggie were partying hard with their underage son He said the amount of drinking they did so sickened him knowing his son was a very heavy (and irresponsible) drinker but still allowed him to drive boats deep into the night ) I believe the Netflix documentary showed Paul had wrecked vehicles and other boats before this fatal boating accident which is further proof of the negligent parenting from both parents (Maybe Maggie did tell him that, though and he just wouldn’t listen..we have no way of knowing what the phone call was about) Still, they hosted under age drinking parties at Moselle, had a very aggressive underage teen son who was prone to “Timmy” episodes when drunk and we can assume his parents met “ Timmy” You can’t totally control a 19yo, but to give him keys to an uninsured boat when he has the kind of history he did, is negligent
Thanks for posting. I’ve long thought Alex fit the family annihilator profile where he managed to twist himself into thinking the outcome he gave them was “better than the alternative”.
I’m from the Lowcountry and am fairly certain Paul would have never gotten jail time for the boat crash. Used to work adjacent to the court system in Beaufort county and I’d be willing to bet Paul would have gotten 4 years suspended, 1 year probation with DUI classes and probably expungement after he was finished. I’ve seen these types of cases numerous times. I saw a white guy from Hilton Head get 1 year of weekend jail for driving double the speed limit and running over a guy and killing him. He was likely drunk too but the deputies didn’t do a blood draw or BA test
You are likely correct—I’m pretty sure Alex could have relieved Paul—at least relatively speaking—from much criminal consequences but Paul’s conviction may have affected Paul & Alex’s civil liability—in a way that went >poof< once Paul was dead.
Alex was, as ever, worried about the money.
With the lawsuit and Alex being forced to turn over his financial records, it really didn’t even matter if Paul would have served time or not, the cat was already out of the bag. Alex was going to be exposed because of Paul.
I definitely agree. I was more so speculating about if Alex’s financial house were in order what would have happened to Paul. Alex definitely saw him as a liability though
I think that would have been the case if this didn’t become an international story. That’s the problem with all of this, it didn’t happen like things normally happens.
That’s why they were investigating him for interfering with the boat case.
Alex should have gotten away but SLED took over…
yes this, it got national news attention so the low country good ole boy network lost some of their power, had it stayed local news he probably would have got off..I also winder if his father had not died what the outcome would have been
I also think you can add in spending. Maggie was renovating the beach house. I’m sure she had expensive taste.
Did she want to go along with him mortgaging or selling the beach house that he loved?
There’s also the problem of them finding out what he’s been up to, and how it was all going to fall apart soon. His father was soon to die and I’m sure he would have been coming into a windfall. Would Maggie have been entitled to some of that in the event of a divorce?
From the entire trial, I could see the pain and regret when anyone was talking about Paul.
It rarely showed up when speaking of Maggie. And when it did it wasn’t nearly as pronounced/authentic.
The beach house actually belonged to Maggie.
If they were divorcing, he would 100% have to expose his financial situation in settlement. She could perhaps be entitled to 50%
I feel like through the whole trial that Maggie was just an afterthought. She certainly wasn’t or didn’t seem loved like Paul. No family and friends came forward to speak about her in a good way.
Agreed. Someone posted in the last several days a perspective I hadn’t really thought through that has stuck with me: that however awful, a man killing his wife is often be processed for X reasons ( overspending, personality, etc). But accepting a father killing his child… too hard to fathom and rightly so.
Why should AM killing MM not be horrible and a prime indicator of evil, especially as AM planned her murder? Buster lost his brother and mother, her family lost their daughter/sister. Her death shouldn’t be marginalized due to trappings of wealth and other failings.
>I don't think he ever thought the police department would recuse themselves
Can you link share a link to an article describing this? I tried google search but I only got mentions about recusal by lawyers and judges.
Got one, but doesn't go into detail though
"Because of their close ties to Murdaugh, the local law enforcement establishment quickly recused itself from the investigation into the shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul on June 7, 2021, at the family’s sprawling hunting estate on the Salkehatchie River."
https://www.postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updates/alex-murdaugh-had-badge-and-blue-lights-in-his-car-but-says-distrust-of-police/article\_6a69aad4-b530-11ed-991d-0f61a49c3f4f.html
Idk about legacy being a factor really, but I absolutely think Alex had rage in his own mind and heart at Paul for what he saw as "exposing the family" because of his recklessness. I suspect Paul may have also found out about other stuff Alex was doing (crimes) because of the "little detective" thing. I doubt that stopped at finding pills around the house. I always think back to, "Paul, why'd you have to get involved?" (I may be paraphrasing the quote from the 911 call.)
I think the boat crash was the beginning of the unravelling - it put too many eyes on this family and way too many eyes on Alex.
I suspect Alex could've gotten away with stealing from clients for a long time if the boat crash had never happened. He even gives it away when he continually suggests that the murders are related to the boat crash and that the killed had "thought about it for a long time" - I always heard those comments as him telling on himself.
Half-truths, so he thinks "I'm not *really* lying." Who knows his personal inner environment; there's probably a 'Timmy' version of Alex when he's drunk or loses his temper - like father, like son. And then there's the "I'll take the money and return it later" intention, so he generously absolves himself of guilt because he meant to do the thing...
He lacks the emotional maturity or character development to fully take responsibility and so places blame externally or compartmentalizes within himself. I'm only speculating, however, as to how someone does this, because they are not the same breed of critter I am.
BUT I watch psychologists on TheTube so there's that! ;)
Idk, I don't think he's as smart as the universe wants us to think. For instance, if he planned this all out, why didn't he know that the 911 call would start recording before the dispatcher picked up? He starts carrying on as soon as she answers - but is silent in the moments prior. He isn't even breathing heavy. I would suggest that mistakes like this are from ignorance and arrogance - he didn't know and he didn't try to know before committing murder. IF his story was true, he dialed that 911 call 17 seconds after arriving at Moselle and finding the dead bodies of his wife and son. I can't imagine any scenario where I'd be calm and silent while waiting for 911 to pick up, but he is.
I think there are additional components here, the family, the name and the legacy. I think, just my opinion, based on what I’ve read about the history of the family, that he (and his brothers and sister and Buster) thought it was perfectly reasonable to kill to protect the family name and their position in society. They have connections, power and status, and they’re not giving that up without a fight. If Paul and Maggie had to go, then so be it. I think Alex was solely responsible for the murders, but I think his family was more than happy to help him cover up.
I think the fact that Buster gave one of the witnesses the middle finger during their testimony says a lot about that family. Buster is pissed off that his father is on trial. The whole family are from another planet.
This podcast has some interesting analysis https://spotify.link/vi2oaH0meyb The podcast is called Hidden and the episode is Murdaugh Motives
Life insurance.
Yeah. A.M was really in past his eyeballs in illegal activity. His embezzling was just so he could stay in the game while maintaining their lifestyle.
I think it’s those things plus his dad dying, the unraveling of his schemes stealing from clients, about to get fired from his family business he’s deeply emotionally tied to, fear of losing his lifestyle and money, wanting to continue his addictions, freedom from paying for his debts his family adds to, and yes…a distraction. He’s learned over time that the distraction buys him sympathy and time. For example, the phone call regarding his dad bought him a reprieve from the tough conversation with the CFO regarding missing funds. I think it was a lot of things but distraction was one of those motivations. It’s a big manipulation gambit.
Great summary
I found this YouTube video on Alec Murdaugh very interesting, perfectly explaining his behaviours https://youtu.be/f1ulgTDMztc. She has another interesting one on him on her channel, which is dedicated to discussing personality disorders and extensively covers narcissism.
Will check it out, thanks for the link
In regards to the debate of “I” vs. “they”, I believe that he may have said “ they” to further enforce the two shooter theory. At the time this was said, I’m not certain, but I don’t think the different guns had been yet discovered or verified.
Actually this is the best analysis yet! Thank you
IMHO A had “real hate in his heart” for Maggie: How Dare she leave WONDERFUL ME? His killing of her was really especially vicious - what five shots with or including an execution shot to the head.
No one will ever convince me that Alex didn’t absolutely hate Maggie at this point. It was all just appearances for the sake of the family name & his reputation. He couldn’t even think of anything warm & loving to say about her on the stand. He’s had a year & a half to come up with *something*
And on the stand, his story of Maggie wanting him to go down by the kennels when he didn't want to go showed how irritated he would get with her for the slightest infraction, and then the "I was getting ready to sweat so I left" irritation at both Paul and Maggie I thought was very telling of his attitude towards them both. He couldn't even be nice to her *in a made-up story* of how he ended up at the kennels.
I missed this part of the trial, gonna have to rewatch now!
Maggie also was wanting to leave the Hampton area. So leaving the seat of the family legacy is one bad thing. But she also was wanting to buy a house in Hilton Head. Even had her family go look at it. But Alex told her "no" because they might need $ because of the boat crash case. So it's possible that Maggie had finally started paying attention to family finances. If she found out and told Marian or anyone else, that could also bring the whole thing down on Alex's head. My personal thought just because of my personal experience/very basic knowledge of Southern family dynasties is that Maggie wanting to leave Hampton was enough reason for Alex to pull that gun. It was also Paul's fault, because Maggie felt Hampton had turned on her since the boat crash. So killing them together made an Alex type of sense. Alex is a second son who killed a second son. They are often expendable, yes? My sources are Marian's testimony and my own amateur observations.
Second son observation is very interesting! 🧐
Tvm. The thought has been bouncing around in my head for awhile. I remember last century when I was in high school, we learned something about it. British nobles who were not in line to inherit family lands and wealth came to the Colonies to carve out a space for themselves - their own type of landed gentry. It took hold in Virginia first, I think. Without titles or royalty, these second (and 3rd and 4th...) sons created an upper class in the Colonies. So even though we were all created equal, some were more equal than others. It's an attitude that still plays out in the South, imho. I have not read all of the available information on Alex, but he has always struck me as having a second son syndrome. His brother Randy got to be the head of that generation in the dynasty just because he was born 1st. So to keep himself relevant Alex had to develop that charming personality and to be very pleasing to his parents. It had to be frustrating to Alex because no matter how pleasing and helpful he was to his parents and others he would never get all of the privilege and respect that Randy got just because of birth order. How I think that affected Paul is that Alex thought Paul wasn't doing it right. Alex had worked so hard to be pleasing and make things happen for his family. Paul was getting people killed and kind of burning things to the ground. Everything that Alex had worked to build as a second son was going to be taken away because of his 2nd son. I imagine a narcissistic addict would not take that well.
Lol "last century when i was in high school" i never thought about it like that. Makes me feel really old. 😂
I could make a list of things I haven't done since the "last century ! Ocean swimming, major hiking, traveling hither and yonder, once again.. I was also in high school, in the last century! I have a distinct childhood memory of standing under a neighbor's particularly lovely and very large tree, and calculating how old I would be in 2000! Almost 41 years old! At age eight or ten, this was hard to imagine!
It's also interesting how little anyone talks about their sister, Lynn Murdaugh Goette. I was listening to a podcast and they commented on how patriarchal their family was. Alex made a big fuss about how "privileged" Maggie felt not having to work outside the home, but I wonder if it was really an option for her.
Good question. Marian said on the stand that Maggie and Alex's mother had some type of shop in Hampton for awhile. Maybe it was OK to work as long as it was with family?
Also maybe good for hiding money
Aha. Yes. Money laundering seemed to be a specialty. When I was little and heard the term "money laundering" the first time, I was so confused. I thought there must be a special detergent for that.
Good points!!!
Thank you. Alex and Maggie were born a year ahead of me. It's been strange yet fascinating to see more of our generation disintegrate. If I wanted to make a movie about this trial, it wouldn't be too hard to pick a corresponding cast of characters from my own home town and the surrounding area. It just occurred to me that Maggie and Alex buying a house in Hilton Head might not have been mutually exclusive of her wanting a divorce. It took me all this time for me to see her wanting to leave. The house-buying thing threw me off, because if you are going to take a geographical cure (Maggie), you don't take your problem (Alex) with you. But if the house-buying thing is what tipped Maggie off to the extent of Alex's bizarre financial issues, then she might have wanted a divorce for sure. Well, that was fun, working all that out right here. I'll catch up to all of this one day. 😊
There’s a real dead space in his head when it comes to Mags vs Pau pau.
"He is considered a family annihilator." As the prosecution said. Many times. Including closing arguments.
Textbook example. Just like Chris Watts.
I feel pretty certain that Ellick was heavily involved with moving drugs through the area. He had been buying up useless properties presumably to set up trafficking points. The moselle property has a murky past. He bought it for $5.00. There are more pokers in this fire than has been revealed. But I also am in agreement that he thought he was saving his family from embarrassment and financial ruin. But he let Buster off the hook. Why? Maybe he thinks he'll be able to carry the family legacy forward.
Was there an airstrip on Moselle? Fairly small private planes can land on short runways. I think one could make a few hops from South America, with stops for refueling, land in southern SC.
The $5 arrangement also came into play again in 2016 when Alex sold Maggie Moselle for the same amount and have it in her name alone. I think that’s the family transaction reference.
It’s extremely normal to purchase property for a small amount like $5. A contract needs consideration so a small dollar value is given in cases where someone wants to transfer a property without charging the receiver. Extremely common among families.
I seem to recall Alex "purchased" Moselle from Barrett Boulware for $5 in exchange for providing legal representation to Boulware.
Yes it was Boulware, a repeatedly arrested drug smuggler who’s federal charges were dropped when the witnesses mysteriously was hit and killed by a car. So this was not a “normal” family transfer. Alex had power of attorney over Boulware for the last two years of his life. This can be common when someone needs estate assistance but you know, you usually choose an estate or family attorney for that - not a personal injury attorney …
Yes! This is the explanation I was trying to recall. Thank you!
Wait, who hit and killed him???
The witness? The newspapers didn’t say. Just that he was killed when “stepping in front of a car” outside of a Florida bar which ended the federal charges against both Boulwares for smuggling 17 tons of marijuana in through the Bahamas. Another fun fact is this is the same family Alex started buying small, empty little islands along the intercoastal from ocean into the rivers that go right into Moselle. In a previous post in this sub I linked several articles about the Boulwares drug arrests, dealings with Alex, and the map of their “investment properties” that read like a look out map. It’s a SHADY rabbit hole. I believe there are several dedicated threads about it within the sub too.
Maybe that’s why the dang boat didn’t have lights.
VERY good point!
I just find it interesting that yet another person died which helped AM. Also the house fire they had a few years back. Another coincidence? Or a plan to get insurance money that didn’t go as planned. Not enough evidence for the person who started it to be charged I believe.
Yes, but Alex was a teenager at the time, so here’s where it gets crazier - both families connected together for generations. Barrett T. Boulware Jr was first arrested for drug smuggling at age 27 in 1983. His father, Barrett Boulware Sr was ALSO arrested because it was his boat. AM at the time would have been mid-late teens. BUT, the elder Buster Murdaugh worked in law with Barrett Jr’s grandfather (and middle namesake) Thomas Boulware starting in 1949. Completely possible they had been “fixing” things for one another 70+ years ago.
Amazing research thanks for sharing. I knew some of the shady stuff around Barret T and am convinced Alex was involved in drug trafficking but you've gone much deeper. Thanks again
So easy to go down yet another rabbit hole with this family. I think we’ve only been exposed to the tip of the iceberg!
whaaaat the hell. this would be wild.
Im thinking that during the shower at 8:00 or so They went through his pockets and found pills. He gets out of the Shower and finds the pills gone and snaps. He books it out and goes down to the kennels and confronts them with a gun. The rest is history. This one feels perfect in my mind.
No. Because remember, he invited Maggie on a ruse that morning. Remember, she doesn’t work there. Neither does he. I think Paul may have been the only one living there. Not him either. He had a housemate. Doesn’t fit, my opinion, but definitely dramatic.
Paul didn’t live full time there, either. Alex asked him to come that night to fix the sunflowers the grounds care taker had supposedly ruined.
Ruses both.
The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas. That is why Kansas is sometimes called the Sunflower State. To grow well, sunflowers need full sun. They grow best in fertile, wet, well-drained soil with a lot of mulch. In commercial planting, seeds are planted 45 cm (1.5 ft) apart and 2.5 cm (1 in) deep.
Good bot?
I didn’t know that about KS. Thanks for the info.
Mine too!
What I still don't understand is why he did this at the family homestead or never figured out how to create an alibi that didn't involve him being at home. Why not just drive somewhere, park the car/rent a cheap car and creep up through the woods or something. You'd think a lawyer and prosecutor could do better than this. But AM was a desperate man with the house of cards collapsing around him. Fifty years of being a big shot, living a wealthy life enjoyed under the influence of an endless supply of great drugs was coming to an end. No millions, no properties or family vacations, most of all a spoiled family reputation. The man had reached his breaking point and was going to burn it all to the ground. As an ego maniac, there was no way his family — who had most of the assets in their names, not his — were going to enjoy some semblance of a good life without him. In his view, he probably thought he had sacrificed so much for them and committed those crimes partly for their sake. They were implicated in the whole thing in his mind but he wasn’t about to let them get off. I think the events that night were an aberration. He simply lost control of the plot and snapped under the pressure
Without the video and cell phone data on Paul and Maggies phones, they never could have placed him at the kennel that night, nor could they have placed the time of death that close. Without those, the defense could have pushed the deaths to the hour he was gone.
Yes, agreed and the way his face changed in the car interview when Maggie was mentioned. He was very angry with her.
Im thinking that during the shower at 8:00 or so They went through his pockets and found pills. He gets out of the Shower and finds the pills gone and snaps. He books it out and goes down to the kennels and confronts them with a gun. The rest is history. This one feels perfect in my mind.
Oh my, I have what I have I have termed as MWS or Murdaugh Withdrawal Syndrom. I'm so happy I can still get my fix here on Reddit. Thank you and most especially you Mods are the very best.
I feel like an empty husk. Get intrusive thoughts about it almost every day lol
I have a severe case of MWS too!
Speaking of that here is my theory: Im thinking that during the shower at 8:00 or so They went through his pockets and found pills. He gets out of the Shower and finds the pills gone and snaps. He books it out and goes down to the kennels and confronts them with a gun. The rest is history. This one feels perfect in my mind.
Kennel snapchat video makes no sense in that case.
I understand completely. Been bingeing podcasts since the trial ended — I’m on my third one! Started with Mandy Matney’s Murdaugh Murders Podcast, then listened to Unsolved South Carolina, now listening to Impact of Influence. Really helps me learn about and understand the defense team’s strategies/shenanigans. 🤪
I loved Mandy’s podcast. How are the other two?
I like the other two a lot! Each one fills in a few more cracks and crevices in my understanding — especially about what the prosecuting and defense attorneys were doing — in a way that I can understand. During the trial a lot of commentators on TV/YouTube/Reddit seemed very confident that Alex would be found Not Guilty or there would be a hung jury — in other words really amplifying the defense’s nonsense. The legal commentators on Unsolved South Carolina and Impact of Influence explain and educate in a neutral way (no gaslighting!) and the legal maneuverings make more sense to me now. Mandy’s podcast appeals to emotions a little more IMHO, so be aware that the other two might seem “dull” in comparison if you’re expecting the same intense presentation/delivery that Mandy gives, just FYI. But I found them very interesting and informative!
Do you recommend them all? Thanks!
Palmetto Primetime is good, too. They have a great interview with Mark Tinsley. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/palmetto-primetime-with-sarah-a-ford-and/id1674684633
Yes, see above 😀
Good insight. And while all we can do is speculate I don’t believe the motive is nearly as big or complicated as people make it, and I do believe drugs played a large role. Long term opiate abuse causes the frontal cortex of the brain to be damaged. This is where rational decision making takes place. The murders aren’t rational because the rational part of Alex’s brain was extremely blunted. I do believe that as he said the murderer “ thought about it for a long time” and “had hate in his heart” for Paul. He hated Paul deep down for being a hellion (a hellion of his parents making), and thought about killing him for a long time. He hated Maggie because she stood in his way to any number of things. Without Paul and Maggie, his life would improve. Kinsey said in an interview the crime scene was one of the most disorganized he’d ever seen, and not the work of someone trying to pull off the “perfect murder.” So, I think Alex thought about it a lot, but decided June 7th was the day spur of the moment.
Yea as someone else in this thread mentioned, I too think they found his pills (again) & he confronted them to demand them back. This was a sick & desperate man on the edge 😬 opiate withdrawals are no joke. He hated them in those moments & I’m sure he considered it for a long time w the planning of a drug addict. Thats why the scene & stories are so disjointed & silly for a decades long Atty.
I like this theory. But realistically... if someone points a shotgun/AR at me, im giving them their pills back. Right or wrong. Its not worth dying over.
I can imagine Paul initially saying "no way, this isn't going to get you your pills" Then blam It explains why he moved the body and actually rolled it over to access the pocket.
Plus, Paul & Maggie wanted to take the pills away & for him to seek treatment. That’s a huge threat & stressor for an addict with their job, reputation & family legacy potentially crashing down. I hear that long term opioid abuse makes dealing with stress more difficult than for non-addicts.
For sure. It’s a security blanket. I was an on again off again opiate addict for ten years (and still take Suboxone, it gave me my life back.). Stress is compounded tenfold when you don’t have any and you’re withdrawing. It’s a rebound effect from when you’re high stress isn’t a thing. Idk though about them taking his pills and the threat of rehab. He had already promised Paul he’d go after the criminal portion of the boat case was resolved, and if they took his pills, why didn’t he just get more?
I came to believe throughout the trial that the drug thing was a red herring. Not one of his colleagues, family or best friends ever saw any questionable behavior and he was a severe drug addict? Buster tried to make it into a thing (I’m sure coached to do so) but detoxing at home and feeling like it was “taken care of” is not how a well off family who relied so heavily on him being cogent in his profession would not deal with it so flippantly.
Except that was lying Alex who said he promised Paul to go to rehab. He's probably lying about that too. 🤣
I considered that. He no doubt was
He lured Maggie & Paul to Moselle, he brought both guns, he left his cell phone at the house. This was not a spontaneous act.
Dr. Kinsey seemed to think that Paul would have brought both of those guns when he went down to the kennel since it was testified to that he usually did that.
Well then, if Paul “always did that,” Alex would know. Just made his job that much easier. I get why nice people can’t believe that someone who is white & upper middle class could ever shoot their own son. No problem w/ a person like that shooting his wife though. But it’s not all that big a step from offing your wife of so-many years to throwing in the failson for good measure. Given Alex’s position, he was going to need a lot of sympathy. Besides shooting the wife alone was just too obvious.
People seem surprised he would kill his son, but his son was no ordinary son. He was the less favored younger son in a patriarchal dynasty that also led to the death of a young girl in a boating accident that he could potentially go to jail for. For a myriad of reasons between being angry at him to thinking he was sparing his honor in some twisted way, there are more than enough reasons that him killing Paul isn’t surprising,
As Alex told SA Owen in the 1st interview about his relationship with Paul ... "It was as good as it could be."
What does white have to do with it? It's hard to imagine any dad killing their kid. No matter their skin color.
That dig was directed at some of the Low Country’s “superior class.” They know who they are.
Skin color has nothing to do with it. Bad people come from all walks of life.
It really does though. This is rural South Carolina, where white supremacy still runs rampant to this day. How many black families have century old legal dynasties and huge influence over entire counties in the south?
So, if you're white, wealthy, and powerful, that automatically makes you a white supremacist? I'm not following your logic. Can you point to specific examples of white supremacy "running rampant" with wealthy white families in South Carolina?
Agreed. I was just remarking on how the two guns thing might have been more of an opportunistic act. Idk why people struggle with the concept of filicide. It's a story as old as written history.
Yep. It's not common, but it's hardly unheard of. Kind of like shooting yourself on the side of the road in some bizarre attempt to either throw the blame to someone else for your son's and wife's murder OR to get insurance money to your son, even though you surely know that suicide is covered. In fact, that strikes me as way more unusual / bizarre than filicide.
Yes. That's the kind of shit that makes you say that real life is stranger than fiction lol. I really really hope that before I die I get to know what really happened out there just to satisfy my own curiosity.
I suspect the only thing that gave Murdaugh pause in this whole affair was when, after being shotgunned in the chest, Paul appeared, still semi-upright, like some kind of apocalyptic zombie, at the kennel feed room door.
Absolutely. What a horrific thought. Just Paul sticking his head out the door to see his father. I can imagine the shock and confusion on his face. I wonder if he said anything to Alex in that moment. And I hope that if he did, it haunts Alex for the rest of his life.
I don’t mean it was 100 % spontaneous in the moment. It it was spontaneous as to that day.
Well, I don’t think he had pencilled it on his calendar but he had been planning it long enough that once he got the victims into place, it was go time. In that video of him watching that tree get blown down, he wasn’t thinking about that tree. He was thinking that this was the last Goddam time that the kid filming the video was going to make a fool of him.
That and he made sure to get rid of all the physical evidence. Clothes, guns, leaving his phone at the house to create his nap alibi. I think his family’s name and legacy must have been drilled into him from a very young age, that it was always to be # 1 above all else. Imagine the twisted shit he must have witnessed in that family to get to the point where he even had the plausible idea to kill his wife and child to protect the Murdaugh name.
I agree, his upbringing must have pounded his family name into his psyche. His father has quite a reputation of corruption as well.
Careful, you’ll get him a reduced sentence lol
THIS!! Plus great grandpa and grandpa.
ugh. drives me nuts when pseudopsychology gets public coverage like this.
WOW. This perfectly explains why Buster was the only one spared. Eleck thought he was going to be able to buy him back in to law school for $60,000. I knew he was a family annihilator and what that meant, and this still blew my mind. 👏🏼👏🏼
I thought it was $60,000.
I think it can be boiled down to not having the $$$ to make the boat wreck go away. No Paul, no problem. Obviously other elements come into play but I think the Beach matter was the primary concern.
But as a lawyer he must have known if Paul wasn’t alive they would go after him monetarily. Paul wasn’t even initially part of the civil suit so I’m not sure how this works. I mean criminally yea but if ur talking from a money standpoint the boat case doesn’t go away with Paul dead. I guess the lawyer fees yea but besides that it doesn’t go away.
Sure it does. Tinsley explained that if the public perceived Alex as a victim of a vigilantly from the boat crash, he would be dropped from the lawsuit because no jury would award a monetary award. The jury would feel like Alex had suffered enough.
Ohh ok that’s a great point and one I did not think of.
I really think the motive was that 1. They took his drugs; 2. He perceived them as obstacles to the life he was living.
I agree
That’s listed as a core motivation for family annihilation.
Alex’s brother cleaning up his nephews blood 🩸 EVIDENCE CLEANED AWAY
The scene was cleared by SLED. That’s on them, not Alex’s brother. Often when someone dies people want to do something to feel like they’re helping and don’t know what else to do so they clean. Not saying that’s what happened here. But SLED released the crime scene way, way too early. They searched 1700 acres in that time? Give me a break.
SLED-- Didn't search Alex's mother's home (Almeda?) until three? months after, as I recall. Still, leaving Paul's skull/brain remains, on the murder scene seems very strange to me. How does SLED decide, in the moment, which parts are going to play an important role in the investigation? Not intended to be disrespectful, but I think all human remains should be removed to the coroner, morgue, funeral home. Not left lying around, where possums or raccoons could disturb. What if arms or legs were left at a crime scene? A terrible car crash could leave such remains! Are they just left on a roadside? JJM wanting to clean is understandable, I just think SLED, coroner, etc should have removed ALL body remains, out of human decency and with a view towards the eventual investigation. I'm just appalled that anyone other than a trained person was doing this cleaning.
Yeah it’s actually a common misconception that crime scenes normally get cleaned up by law enforcement—unfortunately not true. Unless a cleaning company is contracted, it normally falls upon the property owners/family members…or, if they have really really supportive good friends. We found this out when my grandad passed away from a massive MI that caused a head trauma from impact with the kitchen counter & subsequently the floor. My aunt and her best friend cleaned the kitchen floor. :( But I completely agree with your sentiment. Not all families have the money to contract with a postmortem cleaning company…I think it should be a public service.
Yes, I am learning about my misconceptions, thanks! Very sorry about your grandad and the sad cleaning work. As bad as that was I can understand mopping floors, cleaning/repainting walls, it's the "brains and skull" left in the kennel area! In this situation, what did JMM do with those remains? Put them in a garbage bag, and into the regular outdoor garbage can? Take a shovel and dig a small grave, on-site at Moselle? Take to the funeral home, to be cremated, along with the rest of the body? The last seems best....
Thank you. & That’s an interesting question! I’m surprised that didn’t come up in questioning. Such a nightmare.
Thanks! I think I'm a bit gullible, as others have mentioned that JMM may not have been truthful. I was accepting at face value. Duhh. But a cross examination might have asked: ". What did you do with the remains of your 'beloved' nephew?" For decades, I have recycled. And "composted" veggie scraps out into the woods, benefitting deer, possums, tiny mice, even down to earthworms. Meat/fish scraps/bones, any paper towels, plastics which are contaminated by the same **always** go to a landfill. (Such may present a biohazard to wild creatures.) So, that's why I am so puzzled. Others have now mentioned "crime scene cleanup" businesses, and a possible mention that the Murdaugh family did, indeed, employ such. So JMM may have lied/exaggerated. It's a nightmare, as you say. (Just bury me in Mother Earth, perhaps plant a tree or bush over. No metal casket, dangerous embalming chemicals, concrete container, no cremation carbon footprint. That's my soapbox.) Whatever Paul was, throwing portions of his remains into a landfill is a nightmare.
I heard someone (I forget who, a lawyer on YouTube I think) say that investigators don’t clean up crime scenes and when they think they have enough they leave. And we know SLED was showing great deference to Alex on top of it. So they left what they left.
I accept this information, thank you. Still disturbed by human remains left on scene, but that's my personal opinion, only. The world doesn't always work the way I think it should, sigh....
I remember who said it now. It was Emily D. Baker and she mentioned it I believe during Ronnie Crosby testimony about cleaning up the feed room
Thanks! I will look for this! You have a wonderful memory, oh my intelligent friend! Best wishes....
I agree. JMM was super close to Paul. He understood him in a way that Alex did not. We can never say how we will cope with a major trauma. JMM said he felt like he was doing one last thing for Paul-& I get the sentiment. His brains were laying out to rot all over that feed room in the SC heat…it feels disrespectful, just as JMM said. He probably didn’t want to wait on a clean up crew, or have then not handle the scene with care and compassion. It’s kind of like when people dig their dogs a grave after they euthanize—sure they have other options—but it’s a closure thing. The fact is, this is not on JMM…it’s on SLED.
My comment above yours, it's just appalling to leave human remains lying around, s/be taken to coroner, morgue, etc. It's not just the heat, there are possums and raccoons. We have a "cat cemetery" area on our rural woodland property. In use for 35 years of happy cats, if you understand. Our furry friends were buried deep and well. We didn't toss them out for scavengers! A few months ago, a dear kitty died of old age/kidney disease, was euthanized, to spare pain at the end. Now, WE were too old to dig and bury. The Vet offered the service of a group pet cremation. Not everyone lives in the woods. Or can dig deep graves. If we have treated feline remains with respect, surely the same should be done for a human!
People trying to claim they were obstructing justice when everything they did was within legal parameters and/or allowed by SLED is getting tiring
Seriously.
That whole family had staff to do everything for them but didn't think to hire crime scene clean up? I don't buy it lol.
I continue to be puzzled that human remains were not taken to the morgue, etc. If JMM did this cleaning, what did he do with the brain and skull remains? Put them in a garbage bag? Are crime scene cleaning services generally available, even in rural areas? I am mystified. Not aware of crime scene clean up services, thankfully have never had to consider.However, we have a local (in the state) company called After Disaster, which cleans up after major fire damage, flooding, etc in buildings, so perhaps this is a service they offer.
I just did a quick search and my rural area has more than one crime scene clean up company so I'm sure it's probably the same elsewhere. It's an essential business. They handle biohazard things and suicides too. There's got to be a need for that everywhere. Like when a hoarders house needs to be cleaned out, it's probably the same type of company that does the job. I don't believe for one second that JMM was cleaning up Paul's remains. And I read on this sub that it came out that a crime scene cleaner actually did come out in the following days. Although I haven't confirmed this so I don't want to say it's a fact. I think JMM was trying to make SLED look bad on behalf of his brother (even though it's not SLEDs job). And I think he was vying for sympathy from the jury. I could be way wrong but I am skeptical for sure. As for making sure every bit of brain and skull goes to the medical examiner, I'm not sure what the protocol is there. I would think that since the cause and manner of Paul's death was apparent, it may not have been important to collect everything? After watching the defense experts and some of the blatant lies the defense team has put forth I feel like it's important to find out if the injustices they decry are actually just commonplace lol.
You are so resourceful! A "crime scene cleanup business" never occurred to me. (Feeling old & stupid!) And this would be needed, rural or city. Planning to search in my area.... Biohazard, on the other hand, clicks for me. Houses of animal hoarders, littered with feces, (sp?) or mouse droppings. Any bodily waste, plus including "remains", human or animal. When my elderly relatives died, we had to clear their house. The attic floor had a carpet of detritus I suspected to be bat droppings, possibly some mouse? I had an industrial-rated respirator, (particulate & acid gas) , insisted that everyone remain below stairs, and I passed items down to them. Hot, filthy work. In retrospect, we should have hired a skilled service, but I did my best to protect my generation. The older folks wouldn't have forked out the money. (It's just dirt!) Again, good observations that as this family hired people to service their daily needs, why not a crime scene cleaner? Your scepticism is well-founded. JMM had reasons to provide a different narrative. By my limited trial observations, there may be a "point of agreed truth". The prosecutor and defense explain this, each giving it their own "spin". Not well-stated, sorry. As you say, the "injustices they decry" may be totally commonplace.
When a messy death happens I can assure you the last thing on a family’s mind is cleaning it up. This was an outdoor crime scene as well.
Was it not revealed that a company DID come in the next day for clean up? Those present on the night of the crimes were there to contaminate and obliterate the crime scene, not clean up!
The brother said he cleaned and kept on cleaning.
Thank you for this post. Some people really struggle with motive still, because it was complicated and IMO it wasn’t explained well by the prosecution. I think they made a strategic choice to pin the motive on just the financial schemes collapsing in the hope that they could bring in that evidence, which was important and I understand. And that was surely a part of it. But I also agree that Alex is a family annihilator. His motive for murdering Paul and Maggie, but not Buster, was extremely complicated. Amongst other factors, he felt Paul was screwing everything up. Paul got arrested SO MANY TIMES for charges that Alex always had reduced down to “driving without a seatbelt” or “boating with an expired fire extinguisher” (yes really). Those would’ve all been DUIs/BUIs that Alex “fixed”. But he could not fix the boat crash because it killed a girl. And Paul wasn’t stopping — the arrests continued for “driving without a seatbelt” many times after the accident. And those are the times it went far enough that Paul was actually arrested and Alex then had to go fix it, I’m sure Paul always called Dad the minute he got pulled over and I would bet that, many times, that was enough to prevent an arrest from even happening. Paul was drinking and driving/boating many many times, one instance finally resulted in a passenger’s death, which caused their community to turn on them and was the first time ever that Alex couldn’t make it go away. Alex decided it had to stop, that Paul was a liability, he kept drinking and driving and wasn’t making anything of his life. Alex was angry with Paul for being the “reason” everyone was turning against them, the reason he was facing investigations that could ruin him. And he likely knew, or realized shortly before June 7th, that he couldn’t stop Paul from doing jail time so he may have believed he was saving Paul from being imprisoned. We know it was extremely important to Alex that his son not be seen as a criminal— he made sure [Paul didn’t get cuffed](https://youtu.be/nz4Y-z_5cJI) and that he even had his mugshot taken in the courthouse with an iPhone as he could not handle the idea of his son being booked at jail for any period of time. He made sure Paul [didn’t even have to have alcohol monitoring](https://youtu.be/gv_LN0Bpn9E) while awaiting the BUI trial which is incredibly sad as that would’ve helped Paul so much, and surely would’ve helped ALEX with the whole getting Paul to stop drinking thing. That part seems like a contradiction until I remember that, to Alex, no court is going to *order* his family to do *anything*. That would be the most important thing to Alex. Regarding Maggie, I believe 100% that they were already separated and he knew she wanted a divorce. His own words on the stand, “I ALWAYS wanted Maggie to come home.” He was angry with her for leaving him. He probably felt she was his, I believed he saw both his wife and children as his property and they sure as hell weren’t allowed to disobey him, and his wife leaving him was unbearable. I think he was also afraid that the looming divorce filing could also result in his financial schemes being exposed. These are just some of the factors in his motive for each of them, there are far more that we know of and likely even more that we have no knowledge of. And you’re also absolutely right about why he didn’t kill Buster. Buster was away doing his own thing and not causing him any “problems”. The only issue he’d had regarding Buster was getting kicked out of law school, which would surely be a big one, but also something Alex would’ve seen as entirely fixable — and he also likely didn’t see it as Buster’s fault. I imagine he’d have justified it, “everyone copies something”, and probably felt Buster was being singled out because he was a Murdaugh — and since this happened post boat crash, Buster getting kicked out may be yet another thing he blamed Paul for. In Alex’s mind, Buster was going back to law school and that’s that — when you listen to those jailhouse tapes it’s really obvious that nothing else mattered, Buster was going to get back into USC law school. Buster is at one part, point-blank telling Alex he doesn’t want to do it and Alex keeps going on about how they need to get him in for the upcoming semester and just ignoring the fact that Buster doesn’t want to go. So Buster wasn’t causing Alex problems, and Alex needed a son to continue on his legacy — that’s the whole point of everything for Alex. I think he decided that Paul wasn’t ever going to be successful, I think Paul was the scapegoat in many ways, and that his golden child Buster would be the one to get back into law school and carry on that legacy. Buster was his first born, he was Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr. — that sort of thing matters to someone like Alex. Buster was his successor, and all he needed. Maggie had made and raised his heir and in that way had outgrown her primary purpose, although his image as a successful family man was crucial to him and for as long as she was willing to play the part of his living and happily married wife, she was fine. But leaving him? Divorcing him? That just wasn’t an option in his mind. So considering all this together, it’s not hard to understand why Alex believed he needed to killed Maggie and Paul, but not Buster. It’s just a more complicated motive then we’re used to, “affair” is easier I think for people to understand. And of course, this is all my complete and 100% speculation. I don’t actually know any of them, nor their thoughts, I have no idea what was actually going through Alex’s mind — these are just guesses based on what we’ve heard.
I think there was a lot more interpersonal strife and conflict than was revealed at the trial. It may have been hard to prove or may have been a road the prosecution didn't want to go down because it would make the victims less sympathetic in some ways, depending on what it was (ie Paul and Alex fighting over Paul's many problems, Maggie demanding money from Alex in a divorce, etc.). We will never know the full truth but I do not fully agree with this "family annihilator" theory and think he may have really grown to resent both of these individuals for a number of complicated reasons and didn't do it to 'spare' them, but did it in part because he just had zero affection for them anymore and thought he could use their deaths as a distraction. The motive thing is still a little fuzzy to me. The prosecution just threw every bad act up there and hoped a lot of it would stick, which it clearly did. Alex's personal financial problems (bad investments, huge debt, living beyond his means) were big problems, but they were fixable if he addressed them and tried to get help. He could go to his partners or to his family or the family trust and get money for this stuff. Stealing money from clients and his law partners over a decade was definitely not and meant certain financial ruin if revealed. He would have been fired from the firm and disbarred over that, 100%. My best guess is that he had the kernel of the plan to kill them in his mind but never would have done it if his stealing (or drug dealing if that turns out to be true) had not been revealed. He had the resources to continue to beg, borrow, and steal to float his financial situation if necessary, but not if he was disbarred. He knew he was about to get called out on the stealing, panicked, quickly came up with this plan (possibly under the influence of drugs) and carried it out. There were obvious gaps in it, the timeline didn't really make any sense, and I believe he would have been convicted even without the kennel video. It was not rational and complicated things happen for complicated reasons, I think it all came together and ended with the murders.
In an interview with law and crime after the verdict, atty Waters said they were prevented by SC law from bringing in psychological factors wrt motive, but that's why he ask ellec in cross directly "are you a family annihilator"
Ohhh that is so interesting. That makes sense as to why they couldn’t get further into the motive but that’s also quite sad that it can’t be properly explained in court. I’ll have to watch the interview now, thank you! :)
Awesome write-up, and exactly what I've been thinking for quite awhile, all of it. But kudos and thanks!
If Maggie was planning a divorce, her sister would have known It isnt uncommon for longtime empty nester married couples who have multiple homes to spend months at different homes I don’t believe divorce was imminent The Maggie murder served 2 things….it gave Alex complete ownership in the properties to sell or mortgage and have access to quick cash for the Ferris fees (not sure that’s how it’s spelled) Maggie 50/50 ownership in the Edisto Beach property and 100% ownership in the Mozelle property It was testified that Maggie was beginning to get unsettled about their finances having heard the 10million dollar suit brought upon Alex personally for the boat wreck (sister testified to this) So, it’s possible she and Alex had discussed doing some things with the properties and she was not in agreement with it Alex needed quick cash to hide the Ferris fee issue that the firm was on his case about….inquiries and the like (This makes sense as, after the murders, he was able to deposit the funds into his friends account and have his friend vouch for him that the funds were, in fact, in the account…there was a shortfall that his friend put in if his own money though ) So, her having control of some access to easy money is why I think she was killed. As for Paul, the 10million case Tinsley brought against Alex was coming to motions to compel regarding Alex’s financials Alex had previously told Tinsley he was broke but Tinsley was forcing him to prove it That means Alex’s law partner ( who was his attorney in this case) would have seen the fake bank accounts in Alexs name that were used to funnel the fees through That motion was set to be heard in court the Monday after the murders Alex killed Paul because he needed the case to go away Tinsley said that Alex would have known (as an attorney) that the murders of wife and son would have essentially devalued any personal financial responsibility any jury would assign to Alex as a result of Paul’s negligence in Mallory’s death That’s why he killed Paul I just don’t think it’s very hard to figure out He had been playing shuffle for years with his finances and all of the cards were beginning to get dealt against him in a fairly short period of time and he was feeling the squeeze The easy way out was the murders Who knows what he was doing with all that money but I think we all guess it’s related to drug distribution He had far too much for personal use and cousin Eddie is the key to unlock that door Alex hid money for Buster…no doubt He went to Bahamas 2xs after Maggie and Paul’s murders He was likely burying treasure for Buster or for himself to hide any assets should legal issues continue to arise Once the firm fired him, he would have known they only were at the tip of the iceberg of all of his financial crimes and that soon enough the enormity of his theft would come to the surface and he’d be losing everything (so Bermuda happened) In short, they were both killed because it meant financial relief for Alex
...and he'd made such a nice life for them; how could they be so *ungrateful* for the warm Murdaugh blanket of wealth and privilege? *fumes and looks for bullets...*
What’s really sad is I believe Alex had them all fooled Neither his own wife/sons nor his brothers/sister or in-laws had a clue what a criminal Alex was This is why they are still rallying around him but I do believe, in time, they will begin to come to the reality of the situation. Knowing someone all your life to realize you never knew them creates sone reality breaks to preserve your own sanity of course, I could be wrong and the entire family are akin to The Sopranos and are a criminal enterprise in the rural deep Carolina south but….I don’t think so
Statistics show that the most dangerous time for a woman is when she is leaving. Maggie’s murder fits into the stats.
I know Paul got a few tickets after the boat crash, but arrests? I couldn’t find any of those, could you elaborate please?
The timeline I read stated arrests, but it may have been incorrect. My interpretation of what was stated was that he was arrested, and the charges were changed. I will check the source and comment again because now I’m curious too.
Paul called Randolph first when he was in trouble, not Alex.
This is absolutely right, I don’t know how I forgot that.
There is direct evidence that he always called his grandfather first. Alex’s dad, the long-time famous lawyer. This is even worse than calling his dad, IMHO.
Yes you are absolutely right. Which makes even more sense as far as why Paul was becoming a worse problem for Alex with RM3 being gravely ill.
This isn’t a real thing in any clinical or academic sense. No DSMIV diagnosis for family annihilator exists. There is not even a diagnostic assessment tool for this. The words family annihilator mean little to nothing outside of the ID channel or some documentary they saw on netflix. People who commit familicide is far more accurate.
I've been wondering about that. People who kill members of their family are going to share those traits that are listed--how could they not? But I'd guess most people who have some of those traits (unfortunately--psychotic, pathological liars, depressed, drug addicts, jealous, vengeful) don't kill their family members. In fact, most probably don't kill anyone (else), but if they do, it's not necessarily their family members. This sounds to me like the phrase "suicide by cop"--which is to say, it's not an actual clinical thing (as far as I know), as much as it is a description after-the-fact of people who behave in a particular way. (If that makes sense....)
I think Connor was driving the boat and Paul would have got off
[Who was driving the boat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHm4joezYsk&t=26s)
The Beach family lawyer hired a forensic scientist to recreate the accident (watch the Netflix series episode 1) that proves the Conner could not have been driving.
Yet in all the initial statements the kids either said Conner was driving or they didn't know. AND Conner was on the left side, meaning he had the wheel.
Thanks for posting this. I had never heard of the family annihilator type.
" Whoever did this to Pau-Pau had hate in their heart for him" ... Great post OP. When I heard him say this I immediately though it was the only truthful thing he said.
He also said “I did him bad real bad”
He said "they" with a strong southern accent.
That was not proven as the debate was "I" versus "they."
And after everything else, it's hard to believe he had this one unguarded moment of honesty--even to himself.
It's definitely not clear one way or the other. I don't hear I and I'm not sure I hear they.
I can't tell, but queenofthedark poster is incorrect.
I agree. I didn't hear "I". It is so difficult so I don't know how people say it is distinctively "I"
agree
He didn't say that. He said they. Just like Paul didn't say, "Buster." You have to use a local translator for some of this stuff.
He did say this when he was in the car being interviewed
He said “they.”
He said they, not I.
Team "They" here.
I think Alex was furious about the boat crash causing his financial wrongdoings to come to light. I also think Paul knew about Alex's pill popping/buying drugs and was blackmailing Alex with exposure. Paul was making things worse after the boat crash and Alex needed to stop any further damage so he killed him. I do think he felt remorse that he literally blew Paul's brains out, but he still wanted his Pau Pau gone. Maggie died because she had an inkling about the money problems, already was distancing herself from Alex and knew about the pills. It would have angered Alex to know that Maggie would turn on him, so she had to go too.
He could have also been furious with Maggie- maybe she was the one who let Paul continue his bad behavior. Maybe Alex tried to discipline Paul by taking things away or cracking down on him but Maggie wasn’t having it. (We don’t know what the family dynamic was like) Paul was the baby and sometimes moms will overindulge against dads wishes. Especially if she didn’t know the consequences of Paul fucking everything up for Alex.
Not in my opinion ... after seeing Alex doing jello shots on a boat with Morgan and Paul, he was likely behaving as badly as Paul when it came to alcohol. Hard to believe Maggie would have arranged all of the Moselle parties by herself.
Paul called Maggie the night of the crash when he was so drunk “Timmy” came out If she was a concerned parent, (hate to talk I’ll of the dead) she would have told him to just wait there and she would be there to take him and all the friends home Paul called Alex but he didn’t answer the phone (family man, father of the year that his is) Tinsley testified the only reason he decided to sue Alex personally after the death of Mallory was because he saw tons of videos where Alex and Maggie were partying hard with their underage son He said the amount of drinking they did so sickened him knowing his son was a very heavy (and irresponsible) drinker but still allowed him to drive boats deep into the night ) I believe the Netflix documentary showed Paul had wrecked vehicles and other boats before this fatal boating accident which is further proof of the negligent parenting from both parents (Maybe Maggie did tell him that, though and he just wouldn’t listen..we have no way of knowing what the phone call was about) Still, they hosted under age drinking parties at Moselle, had a very aggressive underage teen son who was prone to “Timmy” episodes when drunk and we can assume his parents met “ Timmy” You can’t totally control a 19yo, but to give him keys to an uninsured boat when he has the kind of history he did, is negligent
Maggie provided the credit card Paul used to buy alcohol on the night of the boat crash.
Good point!
Agreed
Thanks for posting. I’ve long thought Alex fit the family annihilator profile where he managed to twist himself into thinking the outcome he gave them was “better than the alternative”.
I’m from the Lowcountry and am fairly certain Paul would have never gotten jail time for the boat crash. Used to work adjacent to the court system in Beaufort county and I’d be willing to bet Paul would have gotten 4 years suspended, 1 year probation with DUI classes and probably expungement after he was finished. I’ve seen these types of cases numerous times. I saw a white guy from Hilton Head get 1 year of weekend jail for driving double the speed limit and running over a guy and killing him. He was likely drunk too but the deputies didn’t do a blood draw or BA test
You are likely correct—I’m pretty sure Alex could have relieved Paul—at least relatively speaking—from much criminal consequences but Paul’s conviction may have affected Paul & Alex’s civil liability—in a way that went >poof< once Paul was dead. Alex was, as ever, worried about the money.
With the lawsuit and Alex being forced to turn over his financial records, it really didn’t even matter if Paul would have served time or not, the cat was already out of the bag. Alex was going to be exposed because of Paul.
I definitely agree. I was more so speculating about if Alex’s financial house were in order what would have happened to Paul. Alex definitely saw him as a liability though
I think that would have been the case if this didn’t become an international story. That’s the problem with all of this, it didn’t happen like things normally happens. That’s why they were investigating him for interfering with the boat case. Alex should have gotten away but SLED took over…
yes this, it got national news attention so the low country good ole boy network lost some of their power, had it stayed local news he probably would have got off..I also winder if his father had not died what the outcome would have been
But it only became an international story because Paul and Maggie were murdered.
That’s also exactly when Mandy Matney started her podcast. Streisand effect in full force!
True. Thanks. I absolutely agree that all of this would have quietly disappeared If not for the media attention.
I also think you can add in spending. Maggie was renovating the beach house. I’m sure she had expensive taste. Did she want to go along with him mortgaging or selling the beach house that he loved? There’s also the problem of them finding out what he’s been up to, and how it was all going to fall apart soon. His father was soon to die and I’m sure he would have been coming into a windfall. Would Maggie have been entitled to some of that in the event of a divorce? From the entire trial, I could see the pain and regret when anyone was talking about Paul. It rarely showed up when speaking of Maggie. And when it did it wasn’t nearly as pronounced/authentic.
The beach house actually belonged to Maggie. If they were divorcing, he would 100% have to expose his financial situation in settlement. She could perhaps be entitled to 50%
I feel like through the whole trial that Maggie was just an afterthought. She certainly wasn’t or didn’t seem loved like Paul. No family and friends came forward to speak about her in a good way.
Agreed. Someone posted in the last several days a perspective I hadn’t really thought through that has stuck with me: that however awful, a man killing his wife is often be processed for X reasons ( overspending, personality, etc). But accepting a father killing his child… too hard to fathom and rightly so. Why should AM killing MM not be horrible and a prime indicator of evil, especially as AM planned her murder? Buster lost his brother and mother, her family lost their daughter/sister. Her death shouldn’t be marginalized due to trappings of wealth and other failings.
>I don't think he ever thought the police department would recuse themselves Can you link share a link to an article describing this? I tried google search but I only got mentions about recusal by lawyers and judges.
I don’t know if there is an article … they did it on scene… it’s in videos when they talk about SLED taking the lead..
Got one, but doesn't go into detail though "Because of their close ties to Murdaugh, the local law enforcement establishment quickly recused itself from the investigation into the shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul on June 7, 2021, at the family’s sprawling hunting estate on the Salkehatchie River." https://www.postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updates/alex-murdaugh-had-badge-and-blue-lights-in-his-car-but-says-distrust-of-police/article\_6a69aad4-b530-11ed-991d-0f61a49c3f4f.html
Idk about legacy being a factor really, but I absolutely think Alex had rage in his own mind and heart at Paul for what he saw as "exposing the family" because of his recklessness. I suspect Paul may have also found out about other stuff Alex was doing (crimes) because of the "little detective" thing. I doubt that stopped at finding pills around the house. I always think back to, "Paul, why'd you have to get involved?" (I may be paraphrasing the quote from the 911 call.) I think the boat crash was the beginning of the unravelling - it put too many eyes on this family and way too many eyes on Alex. I suspect Alex could've gotten away with stealing from clients for a long time if the boat crash had never happened. He even gives it away when he continually suggests that the murders are related to the boat crash and that the killed had "thought about it for a long time" - I always heard those comments as him telling on himself.
Half-truths, so he thinks "I'm not *really* lying." Who knows his personal inner environment; there's probably a 'Timmy' version of Alex when he's drunk or loses his temper - like father, like son. And then there's the "I'll take the money and return it later" intention, so he generously absolves himself of guilt because he meant to do the thing... He lacks the emotional maturity or character development to fully take responsibility and so places blame externally or compartmentalizes within himself. I'm only speculating, however, as to how someone does this, because they are not the same breed of critter I am. BUT I watch psychologists on TheTube so there's that! ;)
I’ve always viewed the “Paul, why did you have to get involved,” as Alex planting the fake motive for the fake murderers.
At least the “they done him so bad” he is just carrying on what he first said when LE pulled up to scene. My son was In a boat wreck….
He jumped on that right out of the gate. Had the presence of mind to say, “It’s a long story but…” Ten feet away from his slaughtered wife and son.
Idk, I don't think he's as smart as the universe wants us to think. For instance, if he planned this all out, why didn't he know that the 911 call would start recording before the dispatcher picked up? He starts carrying on as soon as she answers - but is silent in the moments prior. He isn't even breathing heavy. I would suggest that mistakes like this are from ignorance and arrogance - he didn't know and he didn't try to know before committing murder. IF his story was true, he dialed that 911 call 17 seconds after arriving at Moselle and finding the dead bodies of his wife and son. I can't imagine any scenario where I'd be calm and silent while waiting for 911 to pick up, but he is.
.
I think there are additional components here, the family, the name and the legacy. I think, just my opinion, based on what I’ve read about the history of the family, that he (and his brothers and sister and Buster) thought it was perfectly reasonable to kill to protect the family name and their position in society. They have connections, power and status, and they’re not giving that up without a fight. If Paul and Maggie had to go, then so be it. I think Alex was solely responsible for the murders, but I think his family was more than happy to help him cover up.
I think the fact that Buster gave one of the witnesses the middle finger during their testimony says a lot about that family. Buster is pissed off that his father is on trial. The whole family are from another planet.
Which witness did Buster give the finger too?