Anyone from South Carolina? Murder question

[happyhoix]

This family tragedy has been unraveling for a while now - in 2019 the teenage son of a very wealthy, powerful SC family was drunk driving a boat that ended up wrecking and killing a teenage girl who was in the boat. This young man was supposed to go on trial soon, but he and his mother were shot to death at the family’s 1700 acre hunting estate 3 months ago. 

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/prominent-south-carolina-lawyer-shot-months-after-family-murder-reveals-he-s-going-to-rehab/ar-AAOa8ty

Then just recently, the father was shot a glancing shot in the head while he stopped on a country road to change a tire. He’s ok but checked himself into rehab. 

Supposedly they’re part of a family that’s been in the local law community for generations, and are ‘loved but also feared.’   And now, an unsolved murder from 2015 where a young man ran out of gas and was found 3 miles away, dead in the middle of the road, has now been reopened because of these family murders. 

I got turned onto murder mysteries as a young Perry Mason fan - would love to hear from any SC board members who have heard how all these different tragic events are linked (if anyone knows yet). 

[Tennesseer]

[happyhoix]

So on Friday the dad was confronted by his law firm members for embezzling about a million buck. They also contacted the bar and the police. So the dad resigned, but hen got shot the next day.

This is like a Shakespeare tragedy.

[Tiny]

Vigilante Justice?

[Tennesseer]

I'm starting to think the dad had something to do with the deaths of his wife and son.

I don't like this guy.

[Tiny]

Sept 7, 2021 11:56:00 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I'm starting to think the dad had something to do with the deaths of his wife and son.

I don't like this guy.

Yes,  I read a poorly edited article about it a couple of days ago (it wasn't clear that his son was involved in the boating death (or that it was a young woman that died) due to the grammer/editing/typos in the article.)    


My first thought was Alex Murdaugh killed his family members (the article I read wasn't clear that his wife and son had died).   

But, my second thought was - the shooter could be some one who felt unfairly treated by the lawyer (or their law firm) OR some one who felt the only 'justice' to be had  for the boating death was to serve up justice themselves.       There are a surprising number of lawyers/judges  who are the targeted (and sometimes killed) by people who feel they were unfairly treated or who feel they deserve "justice" but aren't getting it  under the law.       Hence my vigilante justice comment.     

The charge of embezzlement makes me want to look harder at Alex Murdaugh.     This might just be a case of him mentally unraveling - especially if there is a history of his kid (and or wife) getting special treatment by law enforcement/the courts for bad behavior.   The old  "pressure to keep up appearances" was too much once the son was involved with (and likely the cause of) a death.    

[Tiny]

Is this a "small town" thing? Say an area with a population less than 50K people?

[Tennesseer]

Sept 7, 2021 12:15:53 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Is this a "small town" thing? Say an area with a population less than 50K people?

The wife and son were murdered in Colleton County, South Carolina at one of their vacation homes(?). Population 39,000. I don't know where their main home is located.

The husband was allegedly shot in some county while he was driving to Charleston, South Carolina. Not sure of the name of the county he was driving through played any roll other than that was where he was shot by 'someone'.

[Tiny]

Sept 7, 2021 12:41:56 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sept 7, 2021 12:15:53 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Is this a "small town" thing? Say an area with a population less than 50K people?

The wife and son were murdered in Colleton County, South Carolina at one of their vacation homes(?). Population 39,000. I don't know where their main home is located.

The husband was allegedly shot in some county while he was driving to Charleston, South Carolina. Not sure of the name of the county he was driving through played any roll other than that was where he was shot by 'someone'

Thanks. Where I was going with the "small town" thing was that it might be harder to keep your personal business personal when "everyone knows your business".   It might be more general knowledge of what someone's "routines" are  (and where their vacation homes) are located.    


I wonder if maybe he was attempting suicide and failed.

[happyhoix]

Sept 7, 2021 11:56:00 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I'm starting to think the dad had something to do with the deaths of his wife and son.

I don't like this guy.

I had the same thought. His wife found out about the embezzlement/ drug habit and they had a fight, ending with him shooting her, then having to shoot the kid for witnessing it.

On the other hand, it could be a vigilante angry that his kid might get off. They were apparently going to try to claim the kid wasn’t the one driving the boat when the girl was killed.

Reminds me of the show Ozark - scary people doing horrible things.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 7, 2021 12:49:52 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Sept 7, 2021 12:41:56 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

The wife and son were murdered in Colleton County, South Carolina at one of their vacation homes(?). Population 39,000. I don't know where their main home is located.

The husband was allegedly shot in some county while he was driving to Charleston, South Carolina. Not sure of the name of the county he was driving through played any roll other than that was where he was shot by 'someone'

Thanks. Where I was going with the "small town" thing was that it might be harder to keep your personal business personal when "everyone knows your business".   It might be more general knowledge of what someone's "routines" are  (and where their vacation homes) are located.    


I wonder if maybe he was attempting suicide and failed.

I have watched too many Law & Order and Law & Order SVU shows.

The guy could have purposely pointed a gun at his head, aimed it so a bullet would only graze it and then pulled the trigger. He then threw the gun away, probably in a lake far away from where anyone would look for it and then drove somewhere else and called the police claiming someone shot at him.

[Opti]

Sept 7, 2021 13:07:53 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sept 7, 2021 12:49:52 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Thanks. Where I was going with the "small town" thing was that it might be harder to keep your personal business personal when "everyone knows your business".   It might be more general knowledge of what someone's "routines" are  (and where their vacation homes) are located.    


I wonder if maybe he was attempting suicide and failed.

I have watched too many Law & Order and Law & Order SVU shows.

The guy could have purposely pointed a gun at his head, aimed it so a bullet would only graze it and then pulled the trigger. He then threw the gun away, probably in a lake far away from where anyone would look for it and then drove somewhere else and called the police claiming someone shot at him.

Makes sense. I thought he said he was shot while fixing his car on the side of the road. If so, why not more shots? Why if true, did he not get killed?

[happyhoix]

Sept 7, 2021 13:07:53 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sept 7, 2021 12:49:52 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Thanks. Where I was going with the "small town" thing was that it might be harder to keep your personal business personal when "everyone knows your business".   It might be more general knowledge of what someone's "routines" are  (and where their vacation homes) are located.    


I wonder if maybe he was attempting suicide and failed.

I have watched too many Law & Order and Law & Order SVU shows.

The guy could have purposely pointed a gun at his head, aimed it so a bullet would only graze it and then pulled the trigger. He then threw the gun away, probably in a lake far away from where anyone would look for it and then drove somewhere else and called the police claiming someone shot at him.

We had a deputy do that in our town. He ha wrecked two cop cars in reckless chases and was about to be fired, so he went to a deserted road and shot himself in the arm hoping to get some sympathy from his boss.

He did not. He got canned.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 7, 2021 13:28:26 GMT -5 Opti said:

Sept 7, 2021 13:07:53 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I have watched too many Law & Order and Law & Order SVU shows.

The guy could have purposely pointed a gun at his head, aimed it so a bullet would only graze it and then pulled the trigger. He then threw the gun away, probably in a lake far away from where anyone would look for it and then drove somewhere else and called the police claiming someone shot at him.

Makes sense. I thought he said he was shot while fixing his car on the side of the road. If so, why not more shots? Why if true, did he not get killed?

On my cell phone so cannot copy, paste and link. But one article stated the father claimed a "mysterious trucker" shot him. So multiple shots could have been fired from a moving vehicle but only one hit him.

[Tiny]

how many rich guys change their own tire on their car? how old is this guy? mid40s from an upper crusty family? has he ever changed a tire in his life?

I'm guessing he was driving a high end luxury vehicle. I would think such a vehicle MIGHT require some special tire changing tools or a special jack. But wouldn't he be calling his car insurance for the free roadside service?

OK, I'm splitting hairs - maybe the article should have said he was on the shoulder with a flat tire waiting for a tow. Rather than he was going to change a flat tire.

[NoNamePerson]

Sept 7, 2021 15:57:02 GMT -5 Tiny said:

how many rich guys change their own tire on their car? how old is this guy? mid40s from an upper crusty family? has he ever changed a tire in his life?

I'm guessing he was driving a high end luxury vehicle. I would think such a vehicle MIGHT require some special tire changing tools or a special jack. But wouldn't he be calling his car insurance for the free roadside service?

OK, I'm splitting hairs - maybe the article should have said he was on the shoulder with a flat tire waiting for a tow. Rather than he was going to change a flat tire.

The article was on MSN. That says a lot about content and substance.    Oh, and I could. Never use the excuse of changing tire. Anyone who knows me knows I have AAA. Maybe they can do a AAA search on him. 

[Tennesseer]

Nancy Grace on Fox talking about the most recent events of the Murdaugh case.


Nancy Grace

[kadee79]

AAA isn't any good in my area.  None of the places will answer any of their calls cause they take too long to pay.  Same goes for most other insurance plans like that too.  So we just call someone and then turn it into our insurance to get reimbursed.  
However, both DH & I know how to change a tire.  I've had to do it several times & once in a nice suit & high heels.   I can even change a tire with a tube...that tells ya how old I am.  My Daddy didn't want any stupid girls!

Soooo, my point is depending on the area, there may not be any road side service available & ya better know how to do some things for yourself!

[Artemis Windsong]

For the amateur detectives:



I just watched Nancy Grace comments on Fox.

Some points brought up. What was he doing on a circuitous way to get to where he was going? 2 lane road with trees around. Why didn't he run for the trees? There were no tools out at the scene indicating a tire change. Some of the law office lawyers were at the scene (but I don't know the timing.) The gun shot might be self-inflicted.

The truck allegedly drove by then turned around to come back and shoot him. Trajectory and gun shot residue.

Were there any ring door bell videos or video from the church down the street?

No extreme concern for his continued safety or the safety of his remaining family after he got shot.

How solid is his alibi that he was at the hospital with his dying father? That was when his wife and son were killed.

Did he argue with his wife about drug use that he killed her and his son had to be killed because he witnessed.

---------------
I agree with his not being able to change the tire on that SUV.

Embezzeling $1 million from the law firm and it is just now caught? Any decent office manager can see irregularities pretty quickly.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 7, 2021 19:23:26 GMT -5 Artemis Windsong said:

For the amateur detectives:



I just watched Nancy Grace comments on Fox.

Some points brought up. What was he doing on a circuitous way to get to where he was going? 2 lane road with trees around. Why didn't he run for the trees? There were no tools out at the scene indicating a tire change. Some of the law office lawyers were at the scene (but I don't know the timing.) The gun shot might be self-inflicted.

The truck allegedly drove by then turned around to come back and shoot him. Trajectory and gun shot residue.

Were there any ring door bell videos or video from the church down the street?

No extreme concern for his continued safety or the safety of his remaining family after he got shot.

How solid is his alibi that he was at the hospital with his dying father? That was when his wife and son were killed.

Did he argue with his wife about drug use that he killed her and his son had to be killed because he witnessed.

---------------
I agree with his not being able to change the tire on that SUV.

Embezzeling $1 million from the law firm and it is just now caught? Any decent office manager can see irregularities pretty quickly.

My employer had a sales director in NYC who never checked what costs were being charged to his immediate organization's account. The director left it up to his admin assistant to go over the charges.

Seeing her boss was not interested in charges to his department, his admin assistant started renting limos on weekends for herself and friends to party around Manhattan. She started buying top-rated TVs for family, extended family and friends. Bought top of the line computers for the same folks. Dined out at only the best restaurants in the NYC area. Cost the company about $250,000.

Her boss had zero clue what was being charged against his budget. By the time our finance department saw what was going on, his admin assistant had taken off to return to her home country on one of the Caribbean islands.

The director was terminated but claimed it was not his fault his admin assistant abused all that money. Poor excuse-he remained terminated. And it was not worth it to the company to try and extradite the admin assistant back to the States and charge her for whatever crimes she committed.

[NoNamePerson]

Sept 7, 2021 17:36:26 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

AAA isn't any good in my area.  None of the places will answer any of their calls cause they take too long to pay.  Same goes for most other insurance plans like that too.  So we just call someone and then turn it into our insurance to get reimbursed.  
However, both DH & I know how to change a tire.  I've had to do it several times & once in a nice suit & high heels.   I can even change a tire with a tube...that tells ya how old I am.  My Daddy didn't want any stupid girls!

Soooo, my point is depending on the area, there may not be any road side service available & ya better know how to do some things for yourself!

I hear that about AAA sometimes. Guess I’m fortunate to live in area where AAA is really good. Haven’t had to use them that often but when I have wait time never over 30 minutes. Funny thing is I have never had a flat tire and I’ll just plead old age in not wanting to learn   Now watch me head out in the morning and have a flat   it will be your fault. 

[Artemis Windsong]

The people handling the money need to be bonded. It's way different when it's a partner in the law firm. Maybe he did all the books.

One incident was the stamp costs were way out of line from petty cash. Oddly, one of the directors said to her are you embezzeling to finance you new Buick. Yeah, he was right.

[happyhoix]

Sept 7, 2021 19:49:22 GMT -5 Artemis Windsong said:

The people handling the money need to be bonded. It's way different when it's a partner in the law firm. Maybe he did all the books.

One incident was the stamp costs were way out of line from petty cash. Oddly, one of the directors said to her are you embezzeling to finance you new Buick. Yeah, he was right.

We had a guy stealing from the petty cash so he would have money to go to the strip club. His wife kept tight control of his paycheck and just gave him 20 bucks a week for ‘fun.’

Can’t get many lap dances for 20 bucks. He got terminated.

[moon/Laura]

Sept 7, 2021 13:07:53 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I have watched too many Law & Order and Law & Order SVU shows.

The guy could have purposely pointed a gun at his head, aimed it so a bullet would only graze it and then pulled the trigger. He then threw the gun away, probably in a lake far away from where anyone would look for it and then drove somewhere else and called the police claiming someone shot at him.

But then how would he explain the fact that the blood from the wound was more coagulated than it should have been for an injury that supposedly just occurred?

I think someone else mentioned gunshot residue, but if his explanation seemed possible, they probably wouldn't have tested for it at the time.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 8, 2021 11:19:40 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Sept 7, 2021 19:49:22 GMT -5 Artemis Windsong said:

The people handling the money need to be bonded. It's way different when it's a partner in the law firm. Maybe he did all the books.

One incident was the stamp costs were way out of line from petty cash. Oddly, one of the directors said to her are you embezzeling to finance you new Buick. Yeah, he was right.

We had a guy stealing from the petty cash so he would have money to go to the strip club. His wife kept tight control of his paycheck and just gave him 20 bucks a week for ‘fun.’

Can’t get many lap dances for 20 bucks. He got terminated.

We had an employee who would use his company credit card and buy a couple drinks and charge it on his cc. He would then ask for the establishment to give him back in cash the remaining credit on the cc. He would then spend the cash on gambling (horse racing and other sporting events).

He got behind in his payments to payoff the cc debt and the cc company contacted his employer. Employee was terminated and responsible for paying off his company cc debt.

[Tiny]

Embezzeling $1 million from the law firm and it is just now caught? Any decent office manager can see irregularities pretty quickly.

I wonder how much per year the guy got in "compensation" - I'm guessing well 1 million would be on the low side. I wonder how much the guy had in his partner draw account...and if he ran thru all that money.

I'm guessing the million embezzled probably isn't a "large" amount for the law firm. And depending on the culture and how the AP/accounting departments were set up (check s and balances) I'm guessing he had easy access - as in not too much oversight on requests for money that "looked and felt" like normal requests.

[happyhoix]

Sept 9, 2021 0:00:28 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Embezzeling $1 million from the law firm and it is just now caught? Any decent office manager can see irregularities pretty quickly.

I wonder how much per year the guy got in "compensation" - I'm guessing well 1 million would be on the low side. I wonder how much the guy had in his partner draw account...and if he ran thru all that money.

I'm guessing the million embezzled probably isn't a "large" amount for the law firm. And depending on the culture and how the AP/accounting departments were set up (check s and balances) I'm guessing he had easy access - as in not too much oversight on requests for money that "looked and felt" like normal requests.

I think I saw somewhere that he was the third generation of lawyers and this was the ‘family’ law firm so most likely he got away with doing whatever the hell he wanted to do for quit a while.

Supposedly this family was one of the old and powerful firms, and that brings a lot of special privileges, at least here in the south.

[NoNamePerson]

Sept 9, 2021 6:23:51 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Sept 9, 2021 0:00:28 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I wonder how much per year the guy got in "compensation" - I'm guessing well 1 million would be on the low side. I wonder how much the guy had in his partner draw account...and if he ran thru all that money.

I'm guessing the million embezzled probably isn't a "large" amount for the law firm. And depending on the culture and how the AP/accounting departments were set up (check s and balances) I'm guessing he had easy access - as in not too much oversight on requests for money that "looked and felt" like normal requests.

I think I saw somewhere that he was the third generation of lawyers and this was the ‘family’ law firm so most likely he got away with doing whatever the hell he wanted to do for quit a while.

Supposedly this family was one of the old and powerful firms, and that brings a lot of special privileges, at least here in the south.

In the North too! Think Kennedy’s.  

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Sept 7, 2021 19:44:18 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sept 7, 2021 19:23:26 GMT -5 Artemis Windsong said:

For the amateur detectives:



I just watched Nancy Grace comments on Fox.

Some points brought up. What was he doing on a circuitous way to get to where he was going? 2 lane road with trees around. Why didn't he run for the trees? There were no tools out at the scene indicating a tire change. Some of the law office lawyers were at the scene (but I don't know the timing.) The gun shot might be self-inflicted.

The truck allegedly drove by then turned around to come back and shoot him. Trajectory and gun shot residue.

Were there any ring door bell videos or video from the church down the street?

No extreme concern for his continued safety or the safety of his remaining family after he got shot.

How solid is his alibi that he was at the hospital with his dying father? That was when his wife and son were killed.

Did he argue with his wife about drug use that he killed her and his son had to be killed because he witnessed.

---------------
I agree with his not being able to change the tire on that SUV.

Embezzeling $1 million from the law firm and it is just now caught? Any decent office manager can see irregularities pretty quickly.

My employer had a sales director in NYC who never checked what costs were being charged to his immediate organization's account. The director left it up to his admin assistant to go over the charges.

Seeing her boss was not interested in charges to his department, his admin assistant started renting limos on weekends for herself and friends to party around Manhattan. She started buying top-rated TVs for family, extended family and friends. Bought top of the line computers for the same folks. Dined out at only the best restaurants in the NYC area. Cost the company about $250,000.

Her boss had zero clue what was being charged against his budget. By the time our finance department saw what was going on, his admin assistant had taken off to return to her home country on one of the Caribbean islands.

The director was terminated but claimed it was not his fault his admin assistant abused all that money. Poor excuse-he remained terminated. And it was not worth it to the company to try and extradite the admin assistant back to the States and charge her for whatever crimes she committed.

I feel like I shouldn't respect her but damn.  Props you don't hear about criminals that smart very often.

[Artemis Windsong]

Alex Murdaugh owned knife used to slice tires.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/alex-murdaugh-owns-the-knife-that-was-used-to-slash-his-tires-before-he-was-shot-sources-claim/ar-AAOgSDf?li=BBnbfcL