Coffee Convos with Kail Lowry and Lindsie Chrisley - 185: True Crime Talk: The Murdaugh Family

Episode Date: October 18, 2021

On this month's true crime bonus episode Kail and Lindsie are talking about the Murdaugh family. They go through all the twists and turns of the confusing timeline of crime surrounding the family. From their long held position as powerful lawmakers, to the speculation of heinous crimes. Lindsie and Kail talk about what we know, what is speculated, and just how deep the crimes go. This episode was sponsored by: Upstart, Olive and June, goHenry, & id Tech Camps Music by Nathaniel Wyvern. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. 

Alright, everyone, welcome to the bonus episode of coffee combos podcast, where we talk about true crime and I love it. I don't even know where to start with this case that we're working on today because there's just so many twists and turns. I was literally trying to do research and take notes and I was like, okay, I think I have the timeline right and then something else would come up that I would have to like figure out. Correct.

That was actually the same thing that happened to me. And before we talk about the case that we did our research on and this is something that I have heard about for a while, but it would be like a little bits and pieces here and nothing ever really made sense to me and it seemed like really hard to follow. So I never really gained enough interest to follow it, but now that I did do a bunch of research, I'm like, wow, I wish I knew about all of this sooner. But I do feel like all of the details are super important to be able to understand this case and for it to make sense.

I actually am the opposite. I didn't really hear anything about it. Like I had seen the name in like the headlines and stuff, but I actually never clicked on any of it at all. Like I had never read anything. I just saw like when it, the story hit first, first, first hit the headlines. That was the only thing I've ever seen. So I just didn't, I just kept scrolling or whatever I was doing and I never really thought twice

about it. And our listeners actually were, this was a heavily suggested case by our listeners. So that's when I started to, to look into it and I am blown away. So I think what originally struck my interest is because I'm originally from South Carolina, that that's why I was a bit interested in this. Okay. Definitely. And just the fact that this family is a very prominent family and it is very true that South

Carolina is a state where family names do carry weight still. And I don't think that's very common in a lot of areas. So this to me is definitely just, it speaks to wealthy and powerful being able to get their way. Where do you want to start? You want me to start? You go ahead. Okay.

All right. So you guys, we are covering the Murdoff family and the Murdoff murders. We're going to start with the family. The Murdoff family has been practicing law since 1910 in South Carolina. They're very well known. And as Lindsay said, they are a prominent family in the area because three generations have been practicing law in South Carolina and they served as district attorney for the last like three, three generations have served as just solicitors.

Thank you. So yeah, which is, which is a district attorney, right? So the three different generations served as the solicitors of the 14th judicial circuit from 1920 to 2006. And in South Carolina, a solicitor is a elected official similar to the district attorney. And they're considered by many to be the most powerful position in the South Carolina judicial system system. Thank you for clarifying that.

I don't know what my tongue twisters were about, but I, what, that's, that's crazy. And I guess it actually starts back with Randolph Murdoff senior, which I can explain who that is in a second, was actually the like first of the Murdoffs to graduate from University of South Carolina. He graduated from the law school and he founded a one man law firm in Hampton, South Carolina. He became solicitor in the 14th, like as Lindsay said, the 14th judicial circuit and held the position until 1940. So that's a long time.

He ended up getting killed in a car crash between a car and a train. I did not look into details of that specifically, but he also ran daily newspaper, the Hampton County Herald. So Murdoff senior was succeeded by his son, Randolph Buster Murdoff Jr., who served from 1940, which is only 10, the same exact year that Randolph Murdoff senior, what was his word? I'm looking retired. Yeah.

Or stepped whatever until 1986, which is 46 years. He was only ran opposed, ran opposed only twice. And he was known for his love of chewing tobacco, his courtroom prowess and his flair for acting out murders before spellbound juries. So that's two people now that have been a part of this. He was indicted, not indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly warning a bootlegger to move a still into a neighboring county to avoid the police. But he was acquitted.

He retired in 1986 and died in 1998. Buster was succeeded by, as solicitor by his son, Randolph Murdoff, wow. Randolph Murdoff III, who took office in 1986 and he ran unopposed in almost every election and held office until retiring in 2006. He was married to Elizabeth Alexander. They had three sons, Randolph IV, called Randy, Richard Alexander called Alex, both of whom entered the family firm and John Marvin. So that's where we meet Alex.

Alex graduated from USC in 1990 and from the USC School of Law in 1994. He joined the Murdoff family firm, volunteering part-time in the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office and he married Margaret Kennedy Brandstetter. She's also known as Maggie and they had two sons, Richard Alexander Jr., called Buster and Paul Terry. So that's where we get into all of it. So Maggie, the wife of Alex and Paul Murdoff were found shot to death in one of their residences in South Carolina.

They called it MoZell and that there wasn't, they're just, what was so interesting to me is they're just like, wasn't a ton of information on it enough, but not a ton of information that you hear about other double homicides. I just feel like it was just kind of like, okay, these are the facts of what it was. Alex had a solid alibi and done, right? Yep, pretty much. The crazy part is that prior to, I mean, okay, so these murders take place around 9 or 930, but Alex makes the call to police around 10 p.m.

And then there was not a whole lot of information released from that. It was just that Maggie Murdoff had multiple gunshot wounds and then Paul Murdoff had two shotgun wounds and that was really all the information that was given about their deaths. So what I found was that Paul, there was two weapons that were used, which is highly unusual in a double homicide case. Normally, that just doesn't happen. And Paul was shot in the chest and then the other through the arm and head and then Maggie, like you said, was multiple gunshot wounds by a semi-automatic rifle.

They were found near the dog kennel on the property and there was some conflicting information that people thought the dogs were killed, but they were actually not killed. And like you said, they died between 9 and 930 p.m. and Alex called 9-1-1 around 10.01 p.m. When I was looking up the different events that have occurred in this entire family, I saw that they knew somebody named Stephen Smith. I didn't exactly figure out who he is, but he was out. Oh, I did.

That was like the biggest part of what I researched on this case. Okay. So if we backtrack a little bit, prior to Maggie and Paul's murders, there was a series of unfortunate events that occurred and took place with this family prior to their deaths. July 8th, 2015, Stephen Smith, who was 19 at the time, was found dead on Sandy Run Road in Hampton County and no arrests were made in this case. So keep that in mind as you hear the rest of the story. So so far, we have the three generations serving as the solicitors in this family for the 14th

Circuit. July 8th, 2015, we have Stephen Smith's death. The no arrests has been made February 26th, 2018, Gloria Satterfield was 57 years old when she died on the property. And this was at the Murdoch family home and she was the housekeeper and nanny. It says in here that according to court documents, Alex Murdoch tells the Satterfield's sons that he was responsible and planned to sue himself in order for the family to be taken care of.

I didn't understand that. I didn't know you could sue yourself, but I guess he was a lawyer, so he knew better than I did. Me either. I've never heard of that. Me either. That's interesting. And actually, I didn't read that.

So wow. February 24th, 2019, Mallory Beach, age 19, goes missing after a boat crash near Paris Island, and a 911 call is placed from the scene of the crash at Archer's Creek. March 3rd, 2019, that's a week later Mallory Beach's body is discovered in a marsh near the boat landing in Beaufort County. March 2019, am I getting ahead of myself? No. Okay.

So, the Beach Family files a wrongful death lawsuit against the Beaufort County Bar because Alex Murdoch's son is in a, I don't want to call it a scandal, he is arrested for driving a boat while intoxicated and Mallory Beach was on that boat. So Alex Murdoch is also in trouble because they're claiming that he should have known that his son had a drinking problem and was known to drive vehicles, including the family boat while under the influence. So in 2019, Alex Murdoch was arrested and being sued by the survivor of the boat crash. And then this is where all the twists and turns as if there aren't enough already start

taking place. We find out that Alex Murdoch is actually involved in several scandals, including drug abuse and botched life insurance things and mishandling money from his law firm. So I did want to just mention that Paul was charged with boating under the influence and pled not guilty and the charges were still pending the night of his death. Okay. So I did just want to not take that. He pleaded not guilty.

That's so interesting. I think, I'm not going to insert my opinion yet. I was about to. The court ordered in July, sorry, June 4th, 2021, court ordered mediation in the wrongful death lawsuits fails, which appears to make the case bound for trial. June 7th, 2021, Alex Murdoch discovers the body of his son, Paul and wife, Maggie on their 1700 acre hunting lodge. And that's where they do place the call about the bodies.

We know that this is a double homicide, Alex's brothers come forward basically pleading for anyone with information to, you know, surrender that information, help with the case in any way possible. And at one point they even offer up 100, a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest in the double homicide. What was interesting to me about that though was that there was an expiration date on that reward. Okay.

I did not see that. I did not know that. Yeah. And so I felt that was very weird. Why would, if you're offering that up for information, there's two ways you could look at that. You could look at it as we're going to give you X amount of time to come forward to be able to get this reward for the information because we want to know by X date.

Or it's just a scam. I mean, that to me is just very odd. If you're looking for answers, why you would put a date on a reward? I did not see that anywhere. I do think that's a little weird. I could see, you know, wanting to encourage people to come forward because time is of the essence because, you know, we all know that the more time that goes by, it seems like it, you know, it could be, there's a less chance of solving the case.

Right? So that is a little weird. And up until this point, we hadn't really heard from Alex's brothers. But all of this is going on at the same time as the boating lawsuit and the pending charges and all of that, they're all going on at the same time. So we now have a murder investigation and we're still, there's still a lawsuit against Paul who Alex then tries to take over for Mallory Beach and Connor Cook. Connor Cook, from my understanding is another passenger that was on the boat.

There was, I want to say a total of six or seven people on the boat with Paul driving while under the influence. And was Connor Cook the gentleman that said that he was asked to lie about, that he didn't know who was driving the boat? Yes. Okay. All right, you guys, we're going to take a quick break to talk about one of the most of our partners, Upstart.

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Don't forget to use our URL to let them know that we sent you loan amounts will be determined based on your credit income and certain other information provided in your loan application. Upstart.com slash convos July 7, 2021, attorneys representing a survivor of the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach filed a petition alleging law enforcement tried to shift the blame from Paul Murdoch to their client, Connor Cook. July 14, 2020, only a week later, during a court hearing, the judge Bentley Price said that he would review the redactions made by SLED, S-L-E-D, in publicly released documents pertaining to the case if he felt that they weren't legal and order more information be

released. So July 22, 2021, SLED releases the 911 call placed by Alex Murdoch. The night Paul and Maggie Murdoch were killed. People magazine spotlights the double homicide of Maggie Murdoch and Paul just about two ish weeks later on August 6, 2021. So this is very, very recent. We're only in October and this case is gaining major headway, you know, by shortly after everything is the two murders have been committed.

So the South Carolina attorney general's office drops all charges against Paul Murdoch and the death of Mallory Beach due to his own death. How do you feel about that, Lindsay? Um, a couple of things, because I feel like if his dad was assisting him in a cover up and there was an investigation or potential investigation that could be going on about that, he also would be guilty of assisting that. So was he killed? Also I want to just say that they have extensive background in law and they would know how

to get out of things or what would need to happen for something like, let's say these charges be dropped against Paul or this lawsuit be dropped against Paul because he's now dead. Right? Right. So wouldn't there be some type of incentive for him to show up dead for it to go away? Well, the case gets a little bit crazier. Case 11, 2021, 14 circuit solicitor, Juffie Stone, sends a letter to South Carolina attorney general, um, who was Allen Wilson, stating he intends to recuse himself from the investigations

into the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdoch, um, August 17th, 2021, following a freedom of information act request, um, WJCL receives photos and videos from the South Carolina attorney general's office collected as evidence following the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach. Um, this is following this, there's, um, a law firm that begins an investigation into Alex Murdoch where, um, they found a suspicious, a suspicious, I can't even say that word, a suspicious check on their desk. Um, they say their, their investigation reveals Murdoch had been taking funds from his own

firm, um, and clients for personal use. So Murdoch is confronted about the accusations of taking money and he's asked to resign. So, um, he actually does resign in September of 2021. Um, Alex Murdoch on September 24th, so we're talking about a month ago is shot in the head while changing attire in Hampton County, according to a family spokesperson. I'm like, wait, what, like all of this and then he's just changing attire and gets shot in the head. Right.

Yeah. No. So, I mean, let's just recap. I mean, we're only 20 minutes into this episode and let's just like recap the series of events here because this is, this is a, uh, a loaded case. Um, we have the three generations serving as solicitor. We have, um, the grandfather or the father of Alex, who is in that he's in some type of scandal, scandal before he retires and then passes away.

We have Alex who is, you know, allegedly involved in drug scandals, um, money scandals, yes, and is supposedly covering for his own son who accidentally, um, I would call it, I would think that would be manslaughter, right? Like if you're under the influence, but is it an accident? That's where I really have an issue with the driving under the influence thing. Um, and I just want to talk about that for a second because you knowingly go to a store and get booze, you're knowingly at a bar drinking. You knowingly get behind a vehicle boat, you know, whatever.

You know that you've been drinking and you know that you're responsible for all of these other people. Right. To me, that's not an accident. I mean, I, I have to agree with that. Um, I don't think that he got on it intending that, you know, like that was going to happen, but also I feel like as an adult, when you're making decisions and you put yourself in the situation, um, to be responsible for other human beings, or if you're just singularly

driving on the road under the influence and you kill someone, that to me is not an accident. The beach family, I believe did file a wrongful death lawsuit, not only, um, were they going after the Murdos, but they were also going after the bar that served the teenagers. Yes, I saw that. Obviously they're, they're underage. So, um, at this point now, Alex is shot in the head, um, and shortly thereafter, he, it says September 4th, 2021, Alex Murdoch shot in the head while changing attire. September 26th, Alex Murdoch, which is two days later, releases a statement that says

that he basically is resigning from his law firm and entering rehab. So he survives the gunshot wound to the head, um, or the gunshot to the head. Um, he didn't die, which I, when I first started looking into this case, I thought it was, oh, he's dead. Yeah. I thought it was like the mother and son dies, um, they're murdered and then Alex is murdered. Um, at this point, the South Carolina Supreme Court suspends Alex Murdoch's law license

and it's effective immediately. So, um, that's less than a week after the gun, after he is shot in the head, um, I, there's just so this, I just don't even, on September 10th, 2021, a spokesperson, a spokesperson representing Alex Murdoch releases a statement saying that Murdoch's shooting was not self-inflicted. He sustained a skull fracture and the gunman was driving a blue pickup truck. That is, so keep in mind that is September 10th, 2021. Um, I have so much to say about this.

Three days later, September 13th, 2021, um, Sled announces it has opened investigation into the claims of Alex Murdoch, um, and him misappropriating funds from his former law firm. So, there's just so much to be said, um, September 14th, 2021, Curtis Edward Smith is 61 years old and he's arrested in connection to the assisted suicide shooting of Alex Murdoch. Authorities say Murdoch admits that it was a scheme to set up his, so that basically this was a, a scheme so that his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.

Which to me speaks volumes because you are going to be, that tells me that nothing is off limits to this man, like I just, there's just so much money in the family already. I don't understand the greed, um, the misappropriating funds, the mishandling of funds, the invincible attitude that, you know, you can do whatever you want and, and basically have no accountability or, um, like consequences. So on the New York times regarding this gunshot wound to the head scam, it says that Curtis Edward Smith, a handyman and former logger has done his share of odd jobs over the years for Alex.

Mr Smith said he was reluctant to do the last job that Mr Murdoch asked when the two men met at the side of a rural road on a Saturday in September. I want you to shoot me in the back of the head. Mr Smith recalled Alex telling him, um, he had a loaded gun in his head, in his hand. It said that, um, 10 days later, state law enforcement agents arrested Mr Smith, accusing him of collaborating with Alex and a botched scheme to kill him. Um, like you said, a $10 million life insurance payment at the time. Like what?

I, and through all of this, I don't hear a whole lot more of the surviving son. Like it's just, there's not a whole lot. Like is he just completely like estranged? Like what is going on? I do also want to say that I believe life insurance policies don't protect if you take your own life. So mine does, um, maybe this one didn't, but, um, it, it, there's like a gap of time. Like I couldn't sign my life insurance policy with my kids, my beneficiary, and then, um,

and then do something like that three months later. It would not, it would not be paid out to my children, but I think like 10, 15, 20 years go by. I do believe it covers, but, um, don't quote me on that. How crazy is this? Like you just meet on the side of the road and tell someone to shoot you in the head. And then to actually follow through and like, I, I'm not, I'm not fully understanding that. Um, if he, if Alex Murdoch were to go to prison, um, would he not just, he wouldn't

have like all the money that he's made up until this point. And I'm sure there was like several inheritances based on the family's name. Um, so that money obviously is still in the family. So what is the need for the $10 million life insurance? And sure, all right, you guys, we're going to take a quick break to talk about one of our partners, Olive in June. I am super excited about this partnership. This is actually a company that I found during quarantine.

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But obviously this man, nothing seems to be off limits for him and also money seems to be a big, it keeps circling back to like that being the root of everything, yes. Because also with the housekeeper as well, Murdoff's attorney had appeared on GMA to kind of like quote, set the record straight and discussed how he was arrested for stealing $3 million from the son of the housekeepers, Gloria Satterfield, and that the children were awarded a financial settlement after the wrongful death lawsuit and somehow Alex stole the money from them and claimed on GMA that this was something that he regrets. How do you steal $3 million from a family grieving the loss of their mom?

That's why I'm saying like I don't think this man has any type of conscience. And then this attorney claims that he wants to right every financial wrong and knows that he's going to prison. And then also in the same breath while doing this claims that Alex had no involvement or knowledge in his wife and son's murders in June. So I'm like, okay, you're basically trying to make him look like a good guy, but he's a bad guy because you're going to say, you're saying he's like trying to right his wrongs for stealing from these boys who have lost their mother.

And then you're going to also try to clear his name and say that, you know, he has no involvement or knowledge in his wife's son, wife and son's murder. And that he did stupid illegal things because he's a drug addict, but he's just not a killer. He literally hired someone to kill him. So you can't convince me that, but what's weird to me is that there was no arrest made for the double homicide and is Alex never looked at because nothing I said that Alex was not looked at. I did want to just cover that a little bit.

So he was named a person of interest early on in the investigation. However, if you guys listen to us regularly and don't just listen to the true crime stuff, Brian Laundrie also is considered a person of interest, but to me it's very evident that he killed her. That was interesting to me. And allegedly Alex had provided police with an ironclad alibi, however, which is also a red flag, the ironclad alibi doesn't sound very ironclad to me. And GMA reported that he was talking or taking his father to the hospital on the day of the

killings and then checked on, checked in on his mother prior to returning to Mozel, which was the family's property. With just as much power and scandal that seems to surround this family, I don't think him taking his father to the hospital or stopping by and checking on his mother prior to returning to the home, being an ironclad alibi to me. No. I mean, unless you're being seen on camera and surveillance doing things that you say that you're doing, your one, your family is known for kind of being, um, is con artist

the right word? Uh, shady, miss, misuse of power, misuse of power. Yeah. All of the above. Yeah. Um, yeah. I would, I would, I would agree with you. I don't think that that's, um, but also I'm, this isn't their only property, right?

Like this is their, this is their hunting property. So, um, how would anyone know that they're there? And based on the cases, um, the lawsuits, the, I mean, they do have a lot of enemies, but I think their biggest enemies are themselves. Um, I do want to touch on the fact that it is said at this point that, which Alex Murdoch has hired his own counsel and they did issue a statement at this point in the case. Um, we're, we're in the middle of September stating that Alex Murdoch has battled an opioid addiction for 20 years.

And the person that he hired, um, Smith, um, Curtis Edward Smith was one of his drug dealers. That's how he met, um, and was able to hire him to kill him. I'm also sitting here thinking like, okay. He was a handyman for Alex, you know, and did like odd and in things for him, obviously based off of what you just said now also provided him drugs. Um, he was a, he was actually charged in, um, in September of the same year, 2021, um, for distribution of methamphetamine. So he was able to post for the $5,000 bond because it was his first, it was his first

offense actually, and then his next appearance is supposed to be next month on November 8th. But I'm just sitting here thinking, okay, you've done these jobs for him, provided drugs are him, and that you, you know, just find it to be, to be a weird request or, you know, an odd request that he asked you to shoe him, but you actually do it. Like what? Well, I just want to say too, um, between that and the Satterfield death, I would be curious to know if that was also a murder and not an accidental death. I also want to know that, um, but that is still, I guess, an ongoing thing.

Um, and the only reason that I think that it could have actually been a murder is that anyone who has ever had a housekeeper or a nanny, um, that person is involved heavily in your daily life and whether you share it with them or not, they do hear things. I mean, not by, not always by choice or by ear hustling, but I mean, they're involved. They know, they hear, they see, you know what I mean? Yeah. And I mean, I did have housekeepers growing up and I do know they probably know so much because I mean, they're there from the time that you wake up and for us until almost time

for bed. So I'm just thinking, um, based off of that, that this housekeeper would have extensive knowledge of things or could have overheard something or there could have been information that she had that he didn't want to get out. So then all of a sudden, you know, she trips and falls. So they did just announce that they're opening a criminal investigation into this death. The death did occur in 2018. Murdoch's attorney says his client will surrender to authorities the following day in connection

to the, okay, just edit that part out. Okay. September 16th, 2021, Alex Murdoch turns himself into authorities at Hampton County Detention Center. He's given a $20,000 bond for insurance fraud charges stemming from his attempted assisted suicide plot. And he is ordered to appear back in court next week, October 25th. All right, you guys, I've talked about Go Henry before and I'm going to talk about it

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This happened on February the 20, 26th, 2018. The wrongful death suit was settled in December of 2018. This is just a few months before the fatal boat crash that kills Mallory Beach. However, this is just speculation. What if she knew something about the death of Stephen Smith from 2015? I still don't know who Stephen Smith is, but according to reports and what is done already for the investigation, Mallory Beach was ejected from the boat crash. The boat crashed into a bridge.

So I don't, you couldn't really plan that. I don't feel like, no, um, I'm thinking that she just, she, this death happened prior to the boat crash. So I'm like, okay, well, what happened before the boat crash, the Stephen Smith death happened before that in 2015, um, who knows what else was going on. Did she maybe have knowledge of his drug use or maybe like found out something, maybe something was going on in the marriage? Um, who really, Stephen Smith, he's the 19 year old boy that was found dead on the road

in Hampton. Um, supposedly the crime scene photos were absolutely horrific. Um, he was an openly gay man. Um, and an openly gay man in a small rural town in South Carolina. Um, so I did read that Buster had been rumored to be intimately connected to him, which I found to be interesting. Um, he was found out around four AM, um, and via his death certificate, it said that he was dead around like three AM was his time of death.

Um, sled has reopened an investigation of his death based off of information from the investigation of Paul and Maggie's death, um, from things that I listened to, like audio recordings, an officer stated that where he was found was a two lane road level sight distance, not to be an issue, um, as far as visibility on that road, um, the visibility would be from headlights, you know, at that time. Um, and that the only, um, evidence, uh, like there was only evidence of the body. Like there was no parts of a car or a truck. Um, there was no bodily trauma other than to his head.

Um, and that he didn't appear to be struck by a vehicle. However, the pathologist via autopsy, um, states that the cause of death was blunt force head trauma and that she basically ruled it as he was struck by a vehicle because she had to rule out everything else. Right. So like there was no gunshot wound. There was no evidence of anything else other than the fact that he was just like found in the road with head trauma, um, and he did have a dislocated shoulder, I believe.

What was interesting was that he was wearing loosely tied shoes and they were still on his feet. So he was placed there. So I also read that when a person gets hit by a moving vehicle, that the shoes would come off due to the force and friction, um, and I believe that would be true. So it seems to me like he was possibly placed there. So I understand for our listeners that this case is extremely hard to follow, um, because there's so, there's so much going on and even the names are hard, um, to keep track

of Buster Murdoch is Alex Murdoch's one of his sons. So what you're saying is that it was rumored that Alex Murdoch's son Buster was involved with Steven. Romantically. Yeah. Intimately is the word that was used. Okay. Okay.

So I, that's, that's heavy three miles from where three miles from where Steven was found was his vehicle and his gas cap was off. So it is rumored that he possibly could have began walking home and that he got struck by a car. Okay. I can't, that's the rumor, but I can't help but think that also you've got to consider this side of the road incident that happened with Alex, with him being shot in the head and how that was all set up.

I can't help but think, okay, if he was intimately involved with Buster, maybe they just made it look like that and they got into some type of altercation and then they put him in the road. Like, I don't know, but please do not believe sled does not believe that he was struck by a vehicle. I don't either. Wouldn't he have like other injuries that would be consistent with and if he did get hit by a car and was like in the road, sorry, I'm like thinking as I'm speaking and he was,

he was in the road, wouldn't there be debris of like something from the vehicle, right? Like something, right? Even if it was like a piece of glass or like something like that from the mirror that struck him, there was nothing. There was nothing in the road, no evidence of anything other than his body and the trauma to his head, which was significant. I personally, I know for some of our true crime listeners, you guys don't like when we insert a lot of our opinion, I am going to insert mine here.

I think that the murdaws, I don't know which ones, I don't know how many were involved with this. I truly do think that because of the level of power with this family, that it almost, and the place that they lived was like so small, that the level of power in like a small place like that versus having family power, if you were like in a city or something. I feel like the weight of that power in such a small place weighs so much heavier than if you were like in, let's say like a city of Atlanta or something, you know, like, I agree.

Yeah. Like the small town, especially because it wasn't just this family, it was like three generations of this same family, September 23 of this year, which is again less than a month ago, Sled releases a statement saying agents have uncovered other potential crimes as part of their investigation into the double homicide of Paul and Maggie Murdoch. The FBI and US Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina have been contacted. I do want to mention that six weeks prior to the murders, the double homicide, Maggie Murdoch is said to have visited a divorce attorney and was, yes, was looking into what

that would look like for her. It's said that she didn't actually know where a lot of their financial assets, where their finances were coming from, how they were coming, like she didn't pay too much about, pay too much attention to exact numbers or where things were coming and going from. That was something that she just didn't look at. And so she was looking at where their financial assets were at the time and exploring her options in a divorce. So I do want that to be noted, which is interesting to me because again, I just get the feeling

that maybe Maggie herself found out too much, learned too much, some things which would cause Alex, I mean, Alex life is out of control at this point. I do want to talk about math really quick. Lincoln's pretty good at math, but Isaac is really, really good at math. And sometimes we still just need extra help. And so I wish I had this when I was a kid. Many kids aren't really thrilled about math. So until we connect it to things that they already care about and enjoy, they're not

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They now offer a variety of math homework help options, which is so, so, so nice because I literally have the worst time helping Isaac with his homework, math homework specifically. So even your kids can stress less and celebrate more when they ace these assignments. You know, math is changing. It's ever changing. I don't even know how to keep up with it all. So with one-on-one tutoring and weekly small group semesters, there's something for every child, every interest and every skill level.

Scheduling is fast and flexible with options guaranteed to fit your family's busy schedule. If you're like us, we have football four days a week, Isaac has piano, like there's just so much happening. Go to idtech.com slash combos right now and use code combos to save $150 on weekly small group semesters and for a limited time, you can get started with a one-on-one tutoring lesson for just $49 that's code combos at idtech.com slash combos to save $150 and your child can start learning online from a live instructor right now idtech.com slash combos. Think about though, just like try to put yourself in the shoes of a Maggie, right?

You are married into a family with significant power and money and resources. She probably was just like South Carolina, very access to a lot of money, didn't really have any knowledge of the finances and the comings and goings of where things went. Bills were probably just paid and she had no dealings with it. And I think over time, maybe she just gained knowledge of things and then didn't want to be a part of it, which to me, if she did visit a divorce attorney, that speaks volumes as to why he would want her dead. I just cannot imagine.

There's so much, there's so much in this, I mean, when you're married to somebody though, Kayle, like, you know so much about them that maybe what she knew would have been so detrimental that he just didn't, it would be easier and maybe he didn't want to be with her either. I'm just speculating like it would just be easier for them to remain married because they know so much than to divorce and the risk be there that she could tell something. Right. Right. And just completely bust the case wide open.

Yes. Well, September 27, 2021, there was paperwork filed for Gloria Satterfield. The sons want Alex Murdoch arrested until he pays them the money they're owed from the settlement from their mother's death. So again, just a couple of weeks ago, but how did he get the money? I just want to know, like, how did he get it? How do you steal? Yeah, like, how do you steal $3 million in a loss because how, how would he have access

to those funds before they, I'm just so, I'm not sure about that. It would be very curious to know the details on that. September 28, 2021, in an interview, Sandy Smith, who is the mother of Stephen Smith says that they're doing fundraising efforts to get Stephen a headstone. So he, his death was in 2015 and they are in 2021 just now raising money for a headstone. So I can't imagine how difficult that would be to be doing, you know, six years later. Also, I can't remember where I read this, but supposedly when people were questioned in his death, some older man had come forward and said that he had been dating or whatever

you want to call it, Stephen and his, his interview didn't really hold any weight because there was some speculation of like why maybe he was lying because the story wasn't consistent. He also claimed that he had like memory problems or something, but in that interview, he claimed that Stephen had shared with him that he was being bullied at a store prior to this death. So I just, I said Brian Laundrie before and there's been a lot of death surrounding his case and people speculating that, you know, he's killed all these people, but in this particular case with this place being so small from where they are from and all the intertwined connectedness, I can't help but think that they have their hand in absolutely every one

of these deaths. Like, yeah, it's hard not to see it that way. I mean, what if Buster, there was nothing that I read that stated that he was openly gay or that talked about his sexual preference, like his sexual preferences. There was nothing that I read about that other than that he had been rumored to be intimately connected to Stephen. Also I wanted to state that Stephen's family had said that it just was odd because he, he was a nursing student, he was a very smart that he wouldn't be the type of person that

would be like accidentally hit by a car. Like he wouldn't put himself in, not to say that other people who've been hit by cars are putting themselves in the situation to do that, but like he was a very cautious person. And so that just seems odd to me too. That makes sense. It makes sense that what I'm trying to say is it makes sense that it would not, it would be hard to not connect them based on what we, what we do know. And I do feel that this family misused their power.

Probably just the more things become uncovered, the more, the more investigating that happens, more things will be uncovered about this family. And not because they're looking, but because as they investigate, they're probably just going to run across things and find it. I think that this family literally runs this place. I agree. I think that they are very, very much in charge, have their hands and everything like you said. And there's so much more to the case.

There's way more to the case than what we've already discussed. I, do we continue? Do we not continue? It said that their power loomed large over law enforcement as a whole and also in the courtroom. So I'm just like, I don't, I guess I also just have a problem with a family being able to rule for generations. Right.

It's kind of like, there should be some type of like stipulations or like people who run in between. It can't be consecutive, something where things like this don't happen because I do, I agree with you. I think it leaves a lot of room for error, greed, power, corruption. I think all of those things are at play. And I think because of that, it gave them a great sense of security that no matter what was done, they would be able to get out of it.

Even in that boating incident, there was some type of audio that I heard that a boy was talking and he was like, it was Alex Murdoff's son. Like nothing's going to happen to him. That's what, that's what I was kind of saying from the beginning is like, when you have this much power and freedom and money and all these things, you think that nothing's going to happen to you no matter what you do because, oh, my dad's an attorney, my uncle's an attorney, my grandfather's blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, and so on and so forth.

You think that you're invincible. You think you can get away with anything and that there are no consequences for what you do. Before we end this episode, because I do think that there's going to be a lot more that we have to follow up on to close it out. As Lindsay said, they did revoke the $100,000 reward for any information that leads to the solve, you know, to solve the murder, the double homicide, September 30th, which was just three short weeks ago, response to claims made in a People Magazine article that the

problems in the marriage between Alex and Maggie Murdoff were actually very inconsistent with what friends and family told people. It's quote, the most recent allegations by People Magazine regarding the state of Maggie and Alex Murdoff's marriage are totally inconsistent with what we've been told by friends and family members. Also, we have reviewed many years of text messages on Alex's phone and the conversations between Alex and Maggie portray a very loving relationship. It is our hope that the media will continue to focus on covering the investigation of

the person or people responsible for the murder of Maggie and Paul and not reporting salacious stories with no credible sources connected to the Murdoff family. So I don't know if that means that she didn't meet with an attorney or whether she did or not. I'm actually not sure. Goes back to what we've said all along. And I guess we're kind of guilty of it too, because then we cover these cases. About the media having a play on cases that people just grow more and more interest.

I don't know. To me, that just, I believe that that probably was the case if I had to guess. That she did go see an attorney? Yeah. I mean, your friends and family could think that they have a very loving relationship and you can still go see an attorney, you know, so I think it could go either way. No one thought that Christopher Watts was just like, you know, living this double life and was, you know, the family didn't think that he was going to kill his wife and his

children or same thing with Lacey Peterson. Like you don't know until you know type thing. Right. On October 4th, they reached a settlement in the Gloria Satterfield case. She passed away in 2018, but there was a settlement reached in the case. I don't know what that looks like. I don't know if that is money. But why was there ever a settlement that had to be reached?

Like he literally stole $3 million from, like you said, two grieving sons. I just don't get it. I don't know. Well, it says October 6th, October 6th, 2021, the PM, PED law firm files suit against Alex Murdoch for damages after claims he took money from them and clients for his own personal use. Okay. There's not much said in the Gloria Satterfield case and I'd be curious to see if that specifically

is public record or not, because we could probably look a little bit more into that. But those are pretty much October 8th, the South Carolina Supreme Court suspends the loss license of Beauford County attorney Corey Fleming accused of helping Murdoch funnel money from Satterfield. Okay. That's where it is. That's the situation is that the attorney for the Satterfields were helping Murdoch funnel money from the wrongful death settlement.

How crazy is that? But that also goes back to speak of the power. In court documents Murdoch is accused of plotting with friends and attorney and banker to pocket money from Gloria Satterfield's $4.3 million wrongful death settlement. October 14th, which was three days ago, Alex Murdoch is taken into custody upon his release from a drug rehabilitation facility in Orlando charged with two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses in connection with Gloria Satterfield's wrongful death suit and he awaits extradition back to South Carolina.

Because of Friday, medical records stemming from Alex Murdoch's assisted suicide attempt in September detail the extent of his injuries and that is the final update that they have regarding this case. Could you imagine? No. There's just so much to this case like it unless you literally physically write it down or see it on a website yourself, the actual sequence of events. You cannot keep up with this in any way, shape or form.

You have to literally map it out. They're so it's so complex. There's so many Lex's case, so many deaths, so many legal dealings. It's scary to think about how many other situations there are like this where things get covered up. Things get, you know, swept under the rug when there are prominent families like it just gives like a, in my mind, it's like our all wealthy families like this. Like I don't know like how much criminal activity goes on.

Do you know what I'm saying? Do you get what I mean? I know specifically or have direct knowledge of certain things of a wealthy person that has never gotten in trouble for anything that just does so much and never gotten in trouble for anything. And it truly money is sadly money is power. Your connectedness that money, because it, it's also connections, right? But the money allows the connections, right, right, right, right.

Yes. And it fosters them. Yes. So once you become, you know, society elite, because you have access to this money and now you're, you know, dining with the who's who of wherever that gives you a level of power and you're untouchable because you can, you can get out of everything because it's who you know, you know, somebody, yep, if you know somebody and what you can pay for exactly, exactly that.

So thank you guys all for following this case with us. Um, I know it was a little bit hard to organize, um, but we will try to keep you guys updated on this case. Also, um, this week, Kristen is going to post on our page of true crime, like true false in our story that I think will just be really fun. If you guys are interested in true crime, just head over to coffee combos podcast and make sure you follow us on Instagram there. And if you guys have not subscribed to us, you can subscribe on the purple podcast app

or you can subscribe on Spotify and I believe we're available pretty much everywhere else also. Um, if you guys regularly listened to our episodes and occasionally we do release true crime and a lot of times it's kind of like unannounced prior. So make sure you do subscribe to us. So you'll get the notifications for everything. I hope you guys have a great week and we'll talk to you soon. Again, see ya.