Criminology - The Murdaugh Murders

Episode Date: September 19, 2021

The case of the Murdaugh family has captivated the nation and has dominated the headlines. The Murdaugh family has been influential in the town of Hampton, South Carolina for over a century. But a series of scandals over recent years has swirled around the Murdaugh name. In 2019, 19-year-old Paul Murdaugh crashed a boat that ended the life of 19-year-old Mallory Beach. In June 2021, Paul and his mother Maggie were found dead. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss this fascinating case out of South Carolina. There are a lot of twists and turns involved. Alex Murdaugh, the father of Paul and husband of Maggie, has been accused of embezzlement and insurance fraud. He recently turned himself into place on the latter. But, because of the Murdaugh name and their clout, many people believe they've gotten away with more than other families would have. Rumors are still flying as to who may have killed Paul and Maggie and the reason for the murders. Are they connected with some of the other allegations that have been levied against their family members? You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases, and a touch of mom-style humor, moms and mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for. Hey guys, I'm Mandy. And I'm Melissa. Join us every Tuesday for moms and mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well-researched true crime stories. Each week, we deep dive into a variety of mind-boggling cases as we shed light on everything from heist to whodunit. We're your go-to podcast for Mysteries with a Motherly Touch.

Subscribe now to moms and mysteries wherever you get your podcast. Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 175 of the Criminology Podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Morf, what's going on with you, brother? Not too much.

My family's battling the COVID. Finally found it's where in our house and my wife and son and daughter have all been sick. and thankfully they are over it, it seems. And myself, somehow, it didn't like me and it skipped past me. So I consider myself lucky. But it was a wake-up call to finally have this coming to our home and pretty frightening. Yeah, it's a strange one, no doubt, and that it affects different people so differently. But I'm glad everybody's doing okay.

Glad to hear that. Obviously, it's something serious. and I hope that eventually we can all move on and put this behind us in the rear mirror. Yeah, I think everybody's looking for that, no doubt. We had some great Patreon support. Let's go ahead and give some shoutouts. We had Dominique, Stephanie Hanson Fisher, Casey Cadman, Sherry Scipio, and Amanda Van Wick. So that's a lot of great new support.

We really appreciate it. Yeah, we can't thank people enough for that awesome support. It means a lot. It goes a long way to. helping us put the show out. And if anyone would like to support the show, they can go to Patreon.com slash criminology. All right, Morp, all that out of the way. Let's jump right into this episode. And we have a case this week that is dominating the news headlines and the true crime world. It's a case with so many twists and turns, new developments. It plays like something

out of a crime fiction novel. But sadly, this is very real. We're talking about the Murdoch murders out of South Carolina. The town of Hampton, South Carolina, is a rural community about 80 miles west of Charleston. It's got a population of less than 3,000 people. The justice system in South Carolina is set up a bit differently than the majority of the other states. In most places, our top prosecutors called the district attorney, and the people under that person are called the assistant or deputy district attorneys. 101 years ago, Randolph Murdoch Sr. was elected as the top prosecutor, known in South Carolina as the solicitor in the area. For 87 consecutive years, someone in the Murdoch family, over three generations, served in that solicitor position,

and prosecuted cases in five counties. The last person in the family to serve as solicitor was Randolph Murdoch III, who stepped down from the position at the end of 2005. The Murdoch family name has been a staple in the Hampton community for the better part of a century. When people in Hampton brought up the Murdoch name in conversation, it was usually connected to something good in the town. But in recent years, that all changed. In 2019, 19-year-old Paul Murdoch, Randolph the 3rd's grandson made headlines for all the wrong reasons. He and his friends were in a boat crash that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach. It made headlines because to many, the crash was so reminiscent of Ethan Couch, the 16-year-old.

who killed four people in 2013 while driving under the influence. Couch's lawyer argued that he had affluenza or the inability to understand real world consequences due to one's wealth and privilege. On February 23rd, 2019, Paul Murdoch, his girlfriend Morgan Doughty, Miley Altman, Anthony Cook, his girlfriend, Mallory Beach, and his cousin, Connercook. All teenagers attended an oyster roast on Pawkey Island, South Carolina. Miley Altman had brought a six-pack of mango white claws and a 12-pack of Budweiser that she purchased with Conner's card using a fake ID. Anthony Cook took most of a 12-pack of Mickelope Ultra.

Mallory brought a six or 12-pack of Corona Premium. There was also a bottle of Crown Royal on the boat. The only reason that they were on the boat instead of driving was that they had gotten word of a DUI checkpoint in town. So they thought this would be an alternative to help them steer clear of the authorities. Altman's parents were both at the roast, as were Randy Murdoch and some of Anthony and Conner's extended family members. But still, the group were all openly drinking at the event. Multiple adults tried to stop the teens from leaving the oyster roast intoxication. According to what Altman would later say, some of the adults warned the group not to drive the boat while drinking because it was so dark, cold, and foggy.

But the advice didn't resonate with the young group, and they left with Paul Murdoch, who was at the helm of the boat. More of I think it was clear, right, that these young people should not have been on the water. Witnesses saw their boat almost crash into the downtown Beaufort Bridge, but Connor Cook avoided the crash by grabbing the steering wheel from Paul. The near accident didn't sway the group. Instead, they redocked and Connor and Paul got off the boat to go to Luther's, a bar to get shot. Around 1 a.m., Paul and Connor came back to the dock. The group had been waiting for them, and they wanted to get home. The boat headed away from the dock at 11.m. The group was using a handheld GPS and a flashlight to navigate with Paul Murdoch once again at the helm. All of the passengers on the boat were intoxicated. But Paul's drunk driving in the dangerous waters, mixed with his aggressive behavior, was scaring them. They weren't having a good time any longer. Paul's friends felt that he was not himself when he was drunk.

They even had an entire alter ego for him when he was intoxicated. They called him Timmy. He'd do something with his hands and his eyes were bigger. He was meaner when he was Timmy. Miley and Paul's girlfriend Morgan tried to tell Connor that he should take over the wheel. They all began arguing, trying to convince Paul to let Connor drive the boat. But he got offended. He began to mess with the passengers, slowing down and speeding up, just generally driving like

kind of a jerk while telling them that he knew the river better than anyone and that it was his boat. The passengers wanted to get off the boat. They wanted to get in an Uber and just head home. Paul, who was still arguing with Morgan, stripped down to his boxers, despite the fact that it was about 40 degrees out. And he walked to the back of the boat and then allegedly hit, pushed, and spit on his girlfriend before going back to the wheel. And according to court documents, stripping while drunk and being aggressive with Morgan were both things he had done in the past. Mallory yelled that his driving was scaring her.

The boat entered Archer's Creek at 2.15 a.m. It's common knowledge for boaters to know to slow to idle speeds when passing under bridges as not to damage any pilings with their wake. Still, just before the boat crashed, Paul Murdoch pushed down the throttle and accelerated a 29 miles per hour. The rapid acceleration caused the front of the boat to rise, obstructing any chance of the view of the bridge lights in the otherwise dark and foggy night. Even on a clear day with a sober driver, navigating under Archer's Creek Bridge is tricky.

There's one narrow channel in the middle and multiple pilings on either side, impeding anything large from going anywhere, but straight through the middle. Without warning, Paul, Anthony, and Mallory were all ejected from the boat, which then kept going until it crashed on the bank on the other side of the creek. The crash was sudden and violent. In a split second, everything had changed. Anthony saw Paul. in the water and could hear Morgan and Miley in the boat crying.

Connor was calling 911. Anthony later recounted that he remembered being in the boat. Then suddenly waking up in ice cold water, he called for Mallory, but she didn't answer. Paul and Anthony grabbed on two bridge pilings in order to stay above the very cold water. Miley later told a nurse that she was able to see, that they were going to crash. And she braced herself, and the quick action may have saved her. Unfortunately, the 911 operator wasn't clearly understanding Connor, who had a broken jaw. First thinking, he said, Archer's Street, not Archer's Creek, and then mistaking the described bridge near Paris Island as the Bell Bridge, a larger and popular bridge.

Looking on Google Maps, it looks like this refers to Ribot Road, which crosses the water between Port Royal and Buford. These bridges are separated by over a mile of land, and there are many narrow channels of water that wind around the area. It took 40 minutes for first responders to find the location of the boat. This is 40 minutes that no one was able to properly search for Mallory. On the bank while waiting for help, Anthony was upset at Paul for causing the accident and Morgan was still sitting in the boat screaming, her hand was injured. Paul tried to help Morgan, but she told him to leave her alone. Anthony and Morgan, they didn't want anything to do with Paul. Anthony felt that Paul didn't seem to care that Mallory was missing.

According to Miley, Paul was smiling about the whole situation which only angered Anthony Moore. Officers had to hold him back. And it seems as though they got there just in time to prevent a physical altercation. In the dash cam audio released to the public by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, You can hear Anthony say, get that motherfucker right there away from me. And an officer responds, are you talking about that one with no shirt on? I don't want you getting into trouble. You hear me? You can hear Anthony's breathing speed up, and the officer tries to calm him down.

Anthony says, I told that motherfucker to let me drive. And the officer assures him that no one is in trouble. Anthony says, he ain't going to get in no fucking trouble. Before yelling at Paul, you're smiling like it's fucking funny. My fucking girlfriend's gone, bro. Do you think it's fucking funny? I hope you're rot in fucking hell. It took the officer over a minute to calm Anthony down.

So, no doubt, Morph, it was clearly chaos. Paul called his grandfather, Randolph Murdoch, the third, from the scene of the crash. And Connor overheard him tell Randolph that Connor was the one driving when the boat crashed. There was no field sobriety test administered to Paul, while the passengers on the boat did receive sobriety tests after the crash, even though at the time, police had not confirmed who had been driving the boat. Ambulances arrived on scene to take the group to the hospital. Morgan was the first to arrive at the emergency room, and she was immediately treated for a hand injury. Paul arrived next, and it was reported that he was angry and belligerent to the medical

staff. Paul's dad, Alex Murdoch, and Alex's brother, Randy, arrived 10 minutes after Paul, and Alex immediately asked where Morgan was. Alex reportedly tried to interfere with the investigation into the crash, telling Connor that he didn't need to tell anyone who's driving and to not say anything to police. Alex also tried to go into each of the four teams rooms, going in and out of the lobby in emergency room multiple times. Medical staff got the impression that Alex was trying to get everyone on the same page as far as what to say. Hospital staff warned Alex to go back to Paul's room where we'd have to leave the hospital. Morgan refused any visitors.

She especially didn't want to talk to Alex Murdoch. Now, it seems as if there are two camps on the issue of Alex speaking to the teens after the crash. One points to Alex Murdoch clearly trying to interfere with an investigation and keep the teens from speaking with police because he was protecting his son. son Paul. On the other hand, though, he's an attorney. And all of the teens were intoxicated, they were underage. It would make sense to tell the teens not to talk until they had their parents with them or they were sober. So, you know, I think a lot of people look at it morph and say,

well, you can't fault him for that. There was later a statewide grand jury investigation regarding obstruction of justice in the investigation at the boat crash. It was revealed that hospital staff requested blood alcohol tests for the teen patients before the officers arrived at the hospital, meaning the blood draws happen without warrants. Paul's blood alcohol level was 0.286, over three times of the legal limit. By the time he was tested at 4 a.m. Paul Murdoch was eventually named as the driver of the boat. Connor Cook felt that investigators intended to pin the accident on him, framing him as the driver of the boat due to connections with the Murdoch family. While the hospital staff was busy trying to treat the injured teens, rescuers at the scene of the crash searched desperately for

Mallory. Their search was in vain. By daylight, they knew they were looking for a body. Mallory Beach was finally found near Broad River Boat Landing. Six days later, she had blunt forced trauma to her head. Police theorized that she struck her head after being ejected from the boat and subsequently drowned in the strong current. In March 2019, Mallory Beach's family sued Alex Murdoch, Buster Murdoch, Luther's, and Parker's gas station for wrongful death. Alex Murdoch is accused of knowingly and willfully, continuing to allow Paul to drink alcohol while underage by using his money, and Buster Murdoch is accused of knowingly and willfully allowing a minor to purchase alcohol underage by giving him his own ID. Alex and his

wife Maggie, Paul's mother, had long given Paul's special treatment. Maggie also once called a grocery store to request that underage Paul be allowed to buy alcohol. Parker's gas station is named in the wrongful death suit for serving underage minors alcohol. Luther's was initially listed for serving alcohol to minors as well. Philadelphia indemnity insurance, the company Alex Murdoch used to insure his properties and assets filed a federal lawsuit arguing that they were not responsible for any payout to the family of Mallory Beach. The company has said the family is not covered for boat accidents besides the fact that only Alex Murdoch, not his son, Paul, would be covered by the policy that was in place.

Despite apparent attempts to brush blame away from Paul for the boat accident or possibly to cover it up. On April 18, 2019, Paul Murdoch was indicted on one charge of boating under the influence, causing death, and two counts of boating under the influence, causing great bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty to all charges on May 6, 2019. The case dragged slowly through the court system. On June 4, 2021, there was a court-ordered mediation in the wrongful death case, and the parties couldn't agree. So the case was destined for trial. So the case was destined for trial. But something else tragic would happen before those proceedings could take place. The Murdoch family has a home on a 1,770 acre property in Colleton County,

located at 4147 Moselle Road in Islandon, South Carolina. They also operate a hunting lodge and hunting dog kennel on the property called Mosell Hunting Lodge. On June 7, 2021, 22-year-old Paul, and 52-year-old Maggie Murdoch were found dead at their sprawling Moselle Hunting Lodge by Alex after he returned home. At 10.07 p.m. Alex Murdoch called 911

after he found Maggie and Paul. Sled South Carolina's state law enforcement division was contacted at 1028 p.m. After the scene was secured by the sheriff's office, Sled, low country, regional agents arrived on scene. at 1147 p.m. Crime scene agents from SLED arrived at 12.07 a.m. The call was released by police,

and we're going to play it now. It's about five minutes long, but I think it's important. It demonstrates the state of mind and the response on the part of Alex Murdoch. I mean, now in an old winter emergency. This is Alex Murdoch. I think the police just passed us immediately. My wife. And Tom, stop badly. Okay, you said 41, 47, Mobley Road in Allison. You said 41 47 Mozel Road in Arlington? Yes, sir.

41 47 Rose Rose. Stay on the line with me, okay? Yes, sir. Stay on the line with me, okay? Con the County communication. Collison, I have an Alex Murdoch on the line call her from 41, 47 Mosel Road. He's advising that his wife and child was shot. Okay, and sir, give me the address again?

It's 41, 47. Moselle Road, I've been up to it now. It's bad. Okay. Okay, and are they breathing? No, ma'am. Okay, and you said it's your wife and your son? My wife and my son.

Are they in a vehicle? No, ma'am, they're on the ground out at my kennel. Okay. Did you see anyone? Okay. Is he breathing at all? No. No.

Is she? Okay. Do you see anyone in the area? No, ma'am. No, ma'am. What color is your house on the outside? What color is your house on the outside? It's white.

You can't see it from the road. Okay. Is it a house or a mobile home? It's a house. Okay. And what is your name? My name is Alex, Murdoch. Okay.

Did you hear anything or did you come home and find them? No, man. I've been gone. I just came back. Okay. And was anyone else supposed to be at your house? No, ma'am. Please hurry.

We're getting somebody out there to you. Okay. What is her name? Maggie. Maggie. Paul. Maggie is her name? Yes, ma'am.

Okay. And please, hurry. We're getting somebody out there to you, me asking you these questions, don't slow them down, okay? And you're sure they're not breathing? Is he moving at all, your son? I know you said that she was shot, but what about your son? Nobody.

They're not. You're not even one of them moving. What is your telephone number? And does anything look out of place? Ma'am, I'm not particularly, really, no, ma'am. Okay. Oh, they close, ma'am? Yeah, they've been around with you ever since you've got on the phone with me.

I have multiple people coming out there to you. Okay. I don't want you to touch them at all, okay? I don't know if you've already touched them, but I don't want you to touch them just in case they can get any kind of evidence, okay? I've already touched them trying to get a, um, to see if they, they were breathing. Okay.

Well, I just don't want you to move anything just in case they can get any kind of evidence, okay? I'm going to call, I need to call some of my family. Okay. Well, do me a favor for me whenever you see the officer or the medics, because they're all coming to you. Absolutely. Okay. But we have them come in. Turn on the flashes on your vehicle so they can see you, okay?

You got the flashes on for me? I do. Okay. All right. Whenever you see them. Okay. How old is your son? 22.

Okay. All right. We're getting them out there to you, okay? And I'll wait a few people. All right. Police found that Paul and Maggie Murdoch had been shot with two different guns at the dog kennels near the entrance of the property. The kennels are. a pretty good distance from the main house, but anyone driving to the home from the main entrance

would have driven past the kennels. There have been some reports that Maggie and Paul were bound and shot execution style, but these are unconfirmed rumors at this point. Paul was shot with a shotgun in close range, in the head and upper body. Maggie was shot multiple times by a rifle. The corner replaced the times of death for the two as between 9 and 9.30 p.m. shortly before Alex's 9-1-1 call. Casings were reportedly recovered from the scene. Some people believe that Paul was the actual intended target of this attack, while many others feel just as strongly that it was Maggie. At the time of the attack, Maggie had been staying at the family's Adisto Island Beach House, so she was only there by chance. Paul had been staying with his uncle John Murdoch, and he also

had an apartment near the University of South Carolina where he was attending college. It's unclear why he or Maggie went to the Moselle hunting lodge that night. The two bodies were about 100 yards from each other. With Paul's body being closer to the house and Maggie's closer to the kennels, the dogs were reportedly unharmed. Word of the murders got out to the community. And police quickly made a statement that this was not a murder suicide. They also announced that the public was not in any danger.

Maggie's iPhone was located down the road from the property using the Find My iPhone app. As it turns out, the next day, the door of Paul's apartment at USC was found open by the apartment manager. It's unclear though whether it was broken into or just left open accidentally. On June 10, 2021, Randolph Murdoch, the 3rd, the last Mardock to serve his solicitor died of cancer. Randolph's wife was Alex Mardock's alibi for the time of Paul and Maggie's murders, but she's been incapacitated with Alzheimer's, so it's believed that her round-the-clock caregivers were his actual alibi.

That same day, June 10th, Alex Mardock was scheduled to hear the judgments on whether he had to produce financial documents, and also whether the civil case would be moved to Buford County, where Mallory Beach died. Mallory's family's attorney requested a list of checking, savings, and 401k accounts, a list of all investments, net worth statements, and tax returns. But Alex had been resisting providing these documents. Hi, everyone. This is Sheila Wysaki, private investigator, victim's advocate,

and the host of Without Warning Podcast. Without Warning Podcast was born out of necessity to help my clients find answers in the deaths of their loved ones. The first season was the Lauren Aege's case. The podcast was so successful with the tips that came in, we now know what happened to Lauren the night she died. The second season was the Christian Andriaccio case. In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered.

I wonder what's emergency. We just walked in the door and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsublished. unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do but had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, Blood and Water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Case that receive national attention and still does. The current season is the Jonathan Cruz case.

I will take you into a deep dive into my cases from the 911 call to where the cases are now. Yes, I am a working professional investigator traveling to solve cold cases. Please join me on Without Warning podcast wherever you listen to your podcast. If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases, and a touch of mom-style humor, Moms and Mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for. Hey guys, I'm Mandy. And I'm Melissa. Join us every Tuesday for moms and mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well-researched true crime stories. Each week, we deep dive into a variety of mind-boggling cases, as we shed light on everything from heist to whodontets. We're your go-to podcast for Mysteries with a Motherly Touch.

Subscribe now to Moms and Mysteries wherever you get your podcast. After Paul's murder, the charges against him for the boating accident were dropped. He never went to trial, but his defense did have an argument ready. The plan strategy was to create doubt about who was driving the boat at the time of the crash by using conflicting witness statements and raising other issues with evidence collected. The results of the blood alcohol test administered to Paul that night would have also been disputed by his attorneys. And they would also have argued for a change of venue in order to get an impartial jury,

which would be unable to be found in that county. Because the boating accident may have been a motive for Paul's murder, the passengers on the boat that Paul crashed all gave. their DNA voluntarily in an effort to help clear themselves of any wrongdoing. On June 17, 2021, Randy Murdoch, the 4th and John Marvin Murdoch, Paul's uncles, mentioned in news interviews that Paul had been receiving death threats. On June 25th, the Murdoch family announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the murder of Paul and Maggie.

There was a stipulation that if there was no information received by September 30th, 2021, the reward would expire. As far as is known publicly, the reward fund has not resulted in any tip that could lead police to make an arrest. And as if this case didn't have enough twists already, an investigation into the 2015 death of a man named Stephen Smith was reopened after some sort of evidence was found during the early stages of the investigation into Maggie and Paul's murder that seemed to link back to that case. Police have not yet confirmed whether the death of Stephen Smith is now a murder investigation or not. For her part, Stephen Smith's mom, Sandy, seems to believe that there was more to her son's death than meets the eye.

She told fits news.com, I've been waiting on this day for 2,174 days. On July 8, 2015, just before 4 in the morning, 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of Sandy Run Road, just 10 miles from the Murlock home in Hampton County. Stephen had a gash on his forehead, his right shoulder was dislocated, and he had cuts and bruises on his hands. Stephen was from Hampton, and he was living his life as an openly gay man. The coroner ruled Stephen's death an accident due to a fatal hit and run, but many felt all along that there was a cover-up of the real state. circumstances surrounding Stephen's death. Some authorities believe that Stephen was not hit by a car, but that he was beaten to death and the crime scene was staged to look like a vehicle versus pedestrian accident.

Law enforcement officials had found no evidence that Stephen was indeed hit by any car as the medical examiner concluded. There was no broken glass shards. There was no debris from any impact of a car. No paint chips, no car parts, for example, not even tire marks from someone attempting to break. And none of the injuries on Steven seemed consistent with being hit by a vehicle. His shoes were loose, but still on his feet. But his body was not twisted, as you might expect it to be after being hit by a car. It kind of looked as though he had simply laid down in the road. That's the way his body looked. Stephen's wallet wasn't found with him.

In fact, it was discovered three miles away in his car, but his phone and keys were still in his pockets. And oddly enough, the gas cap had been removed from his car and was dangling from the side of the car. Most importantly, Stephen had also reported being harassed the same night he was found dead. Investigators eventually theorized that Stephen had been hit by a larger vehicle,

and perhaps by its side mirror, which is why his face was injured. But his family says he would never just not see a car in the road at night. It makes no sense to them. It's been rumored that Buster Murdoch drove a suburban and a Ford F-150 or 250, a large truck, something that may match the kind of truck that struck Stephen. Toxicology report showed that Stephen was sober when he died. A rape kit was performed on him, which seems pretty odd for a hit and run.

But the results of it were not made public, and his cause of death has been ruled inconclusive. Stephen's clothes were left unattended at the funeral home while they were preparing his body for burial, which broke the chain of custody. And I think this is unfortunate, Morph, because a few very tiny specks of metallic blue paint were later found on some of Stephen's clothes. This paint couldn't be matched to any make or model of car and could have come maybe from a signpost, a dumpster, or even, even some type of industrial tool. Since the chain of custody of Stephen's clothes was broken, we don't know whether the pain on his clothes would ever be admissible as evidence in a future trial. On August 4, 2015, Sandy Smith met with South Carolina Highway Patrol to unlock Stephen's phone.

His fingerprint lock had his fingerprint stored, and Sandy's as well. But for some reason, her fingerprint wouldn't unlock the phone. Further examination revealed that there was an unworked. unknown fingerprints still saved in the settings. It was a random, odd clue. It's not known if police identified who this print belongs to. Randy Murdoch called Stephen's mother after his death, offering to represent her legally.

Within a month of Stephen's death, investigators began receiving tips that Paul and Buster Murdoch knew something about Stephen's death and should be looked into. There were rumors that Stephen was in a relationship with Buster Murdoch, who was Paul's older brother and Alex Murdoch's oldest son. son. The rumors circulated that the Murdoch boys were involved in his death, which occurred when Stephen and Buster were on their way home from a baseball game. And there were even more rumors that evidence from Stephen's death was buried on the Murdoch property and recovered in August

2021. But police haven't commented on this. In July 2021, a large drug bus called Operation Pentagon led to at least 18 arrests in Hampton County. Authorities have denied that there was any connection between the double homicide of Paul and Maggie Murdoch and the drug operation. The district attorney's solicitor Duffystone had once recused himself after Paul's boat crash and he officially recused himself from Maggie and Paul's murder investigation on August 11, 2021. This was apparently based on unknown information discovered by authorities. And it happened just one day after a podcast covering the case announced that cars had been found buried on the Murdoch property. Now, the story about buried cars was later retracted by the podcast and one of its hosts was fired

from their position with the South Carolina's state law enforcement division. On September 3rd, 2021, Alex Murdoch was asked to leave his law firm. Peters, Murdoch, Parker, Eltroth, and Dietrich, or PMPED. due to suspicion of embezzlement. He resigned after his partners with the firm had discovered he was allegedly misusing funds and told him they were aware of the missing money. PMPED was founded by Alex Murdoch's great-grandfather over 100 years ago. The practice hired a forensic accounting firm to look into the misappropriation of funds

and contacted both the police and the South Carolina bar. The amount of misappropriated funds hasn't been publicly confirmed, but a member of the firm who was assured anonymity has stated that it was in the millions. An online commenter seemed to be running with the number being $30 million. And then morphed just when it seemed as though there couldn't possibly be another strange twist in this case, there was one. On September 4th, 2021, Alex Murdoch was involved in a highway shooting incident while on his way to Charleston, South Carolina.

He called 911 at 134. He told police that he was less than 10 miles away from his home in Islandon when he pulled over to change a tire. In Vernville, Hampton County, someone driving a blue truck, drove by once and then came back around, pulled up next to him, and asked Alex if he was having car trouble, and then shot him in the back of the head. Deputies arrived at the scene, but Alex Murdoch was gone. Alex had been picked up by a Good Samaritan who drove him away from the scene to get help. Alex Murdoch was airlifted to a hospital in Savannah, while his attorney gave out conflicting information, announcing that Alex was flown to MUSC in Charleston. Alex had what has been deemed that superficial gunshot wound of the head, and his injury wasn't life-threatening,

and he was released from the hospital on Monday, September 6th. Investigators at the scene of the shooting found no weapons, but they did find that, that there was a slash in Alex's tire. Police didn't issue an APB for any vehicle or suspects. According to multiple news outlets, police found at least seven cases at the scene, but investigators haven't confirmed this piece of information. The route to and from Charleston from the Murdoch's home

does not pass through the area where Alex was shot. It's unknown why he would have been driving this route or what business he had in Charleston that day. One thing that has been pointed out by people discussing this case online, is that Alex's car was a Mercedes. So he must have had run flat tires, which has caused his story of pulling over to change his tire to come under fire. However, some models of Mercedes do not come with run flat tires.

If you look at the crime scene videos, the emblem on the back of Alex's car says GLS 450. So unless he decided to change the badge on his car for some reason, he was driving a Mercedes GLS 450. While it's an SUV, it's really more like a little minivan with six and seven passenger options. This model of car does appear to have room for a spare tire in it. But does not come standard with run flat tires like other Mercedes models do. The options for the GLS 450 online are all weather tires of various sizes.

So it's a small clue, but one thing that, that's been heavily scrutinized. Regardless of the tire situation, Alex was not even fully pulled off the road. And investigators found that there was no jack or spare out, and the process of changing a tire had not been started. It could be simply a matter of semantics. Maybe he was going to assess his tire in either call for roadside assistance.

Maybe he was going to change the tire himself or call a ride. and was shot. Or all of this could be a total fabrication. You would think that if someone had run flat tires and roadside assistants, that they would know better than to make up a story that relied on flat tires. But then again, maybe those are the kinds of little details that get overlooked when people are plotting things that are nefarious. On September 6th, 2021. The same day he was released from the hospital, Alex Murdoch entered rehab. There have been rumors that he's being treated for an addiction to opioids. One of Alex's brothers, Randy, released a statement that same day, stating that he was shocked to learn of his brother Alex's drug

addiction and stealing of money from his practice. Alex's brother Randy is still a managing partner at PMPED. Some have speculated that Alex's embezzlement may have been done to feed his addiction. Two days after Alex Murdoch entered rehab, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel requested that the Supreme Court of South Carolina suspend Alex Murdoch's law license, and Alex himself consented to the suspension. On September 10th, Alex's spokesperson released a statement claiming that he had sustained skull fractures, multiple instances of bleeding from the brain, and an entry and exit wound in the shooting. They were trying to, arrest, any rumors that the shooting was self-inflicted. Adding to Minnie's belief that there was no

shooting at all or that there was some type of cover-up. The responding officer marked no visible injury in his report, which was later changed to other major injury. Alex's attorney Jim Griffin explained this away saying that since Alex left the scene of the shooting before police got there, the officer was not able to assess him before his first report, leading to the no visible injury being written. The first report also said that Alex was not on any drugs or alcohol, but that report was later changed to unknown as to drug use. In a case with layer upon layer of mystery, yet another death related to the Murdox has popped up in the news recently. In 2018, the Murdoch's housekeeper, Gloria, fell and was gravely injured. She died just weeks later.

Her death resulted, according to rumor, of a $500,000 partial insurance settlement being paid out to her family. However, Gloria's family denies that they ever received any settlement money. Like with every incident in this case, of course there are more rumors, specifically that Paul Murdoch pushed Gloria down the stairs. It has also been said that one of the Murdox dogs tripped Gloria, causing the eventually fatal fall. Gloria was conscious for weeks after a fall, but it's not clear if she ever said anything about the incident. Many have asked the question. If Alex was behind the death of his wife and son, what was the motive? Some have theorized that he wanted Maggie dead because she was going to leave him and take some of his money and assets, and also because she would find out what he had been spending money on or that they didn't have all that much money.

As far as their assets and property, the Moselle property was owned by Maggie technically and Alex and Maggie jointly owned their Adisto Beach property. There have been rumors that Maggie and Alex were getting a divorce. But it's been speculated that this was solely to protect their assets from pending lawsuits due to the boating. accident. There's also been a theory floated that the same person or people were behind Paul and Maggie's murders, as well as the attempt on Alex's life, because this would ensure that Buster Murdoch, who had a reputation for being less litigious and less aggressive than the other family members, would inherit their fortune and possibly easily settle the civil suit against Paul. But unfortunately, we have more questions and rumors than we do answers. Some of the questions

include, who shot Alex? Did he shoot himself, either as an attempted suicide, or as a way to deflect suspicion from himself? Are the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdoch related to the boat accident that killed Mallory Beach? What was the true extent of Alex's embezzlement? Did he steal small amounts for a long time? Or did he make one or just a few large transactions? And where did the money go? If the same person who killed Paul and Maggie is the one who shot at Alex, why did they leave the property instead of waiting for Alex to arrive home on the night of the murders. Just a week before we sat down to record this episode, Alex Murdoch recommended his good friend, Corey Fleming,

to the Satterfield family to facilitate their lawsuit against him for their daughter's death. This seems like some sort of conflict of interest. Corey Fleming and Alex Murdoch had been roommates in college. From 1994 to 1996, Fleming was assistant solicitor, in the 14th Circuit, Alex worked at Moss Coon Fleming when he was younger. So I think it's safe to say the ties here are deep. A woman named Kimberly Smith also worked at Moss Coon Fleming. And later,

even though she had been fired, worked as a prosecutor for Duffy Stone until she was disbarred in 2020. She was disbarred for violating conduct roles on competence, diligence, communication, truthfulness and statements to others, among other things. She told multiple clients who had their cases dismissed that they were still heading for trial. For three years, one woman was waiting to hear for a settlement amount to be resolved, when in fact it had been closed three years earlier. Some people wonder if there's something at work between these associates and friends in order to somehow gain the legal system.

In very recent developments, it's been reported by the outlet Fitz News, that authorities did find the knife that punctured Alex's tire and that it was linked back to Alex. It belonged to him. However, the source doesn't say where or when the knife was recovered or how the knife has been proven to be Alex Murdox. It's also been spread online that one of the guns used in the double homicide actually belonged to the Murdox. Alex Murdoch is officially a person of interest in the double homicides of his son Paul and his wife, Maggie. This case has so much in the way of new details emerging that less than 48 hours before we recorded this episode, another bombshell dropped. On Tuesday, September 14, 2021, South Carolina law enforcement division released a statement announcing the rest of a 61-year-old Colleton County man named Curtis Edward Smith in connection with the attempt on Alex

Murdoch's life. He's been charged with assisted suicide, aggravated assault, aggravated assault and battery, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, methamphetamine distribution, and possession of marijuana. According to police affidavits, Alex Murdoch gave Curtis Smith the gun, used to shoot him, and told Curtis to shoot him in the head, so that Buster Murdoch would be able to receive an insurance payment of around $10 million. On September 4th, it's alleged that Curtis followed Alex and shot him. He then drove away and disposed of the gun. On the 13th, Alex Murdoch provided sled with a statement admitting his guilt and explaining the scheme.

And then on the 14th, Curtis Smith admitted his role as well. On Wednesday, September 14th, 2021, Curtis Eddie Smith posted a $5,000 cash surety bond in Colleton County. He posted bond in connection to the drug charges, not to the murders, or assisted suicide. And he's still behind bars, awaiting extradition. Some news outlets are calling Curtis Alex's personal drug dealer. And it's interesting that Alex represented Curtis in a 2010 person. personal injury lawsuit. So there's so many things in this case, right, that we'll need to talk about. But this one in particular really jumped out of me. And so these guys admitted that they tried to

stage a murder so that someone could get a big life insurance payout. But this Curtis Smith has all these charges against him. He's admitted to a number of different things. And then, he posts a $5,000 bond on his drug charges. But he's not going to get out because he has all these bigger charges. It just didn't make any sense. Why would you post a bond to these smaller drug charges knowing that that alone is not going to get you out? Yeah, I've never heard of that. I know frequently people will post a bond because it gets them out of jail,

gets them free for the time being. but, you know, to just post that money and still stay in jail is kind of strange. And I know there's undoubtedly someone listening out there that probably knows the answer and, you know, works in the legal circles or whatever that could probably fill us in on that. But there has to be a reason why he would do that. But we just don't know what it is. Or there are going to be people in the legal system that say, that was just dumb. There was no reason to do that.

Well, we don't know. But there's a lot of things we don't know in this case. right? Yeah, there's a lot of questions that still need to be answered. It's unknown whether Curtis or Alex were involved with Maggie and Paul's murders, but it's undoubtedly going to be looked into. If you think you have information that can help shed light on this case, you can call Sleds 24-hour dedicated tip line, created to collect tips in the double homicide of Maggie and Paul Murdoch. That number is 803, 896-2605. So, Morph, as we wrap up this case, I mean, I don't even know where to go with things.

There is so much going on in this case and there are still things left to be determined because, you know, unlike a lot of cases that we do, not everything is known yet. There will be more that comes out in the future, obviously, no doubt. But you have a family who I think most people would say essentially ran the area for a hundred plus years. They were involved in almost every facet. And then really just within, you know, a matter of a couple of years, all of this stuff starts coming out. I mean, you know, it started kind of with the boat accident. A young woman lost her life. We can't forget about that. Then you have the double homicide. You have the embezzlement case. There's a lot

going on, it's hard for me to not think that there is some type of connection with the double murder, either in relation to the boating accident or to the embezzlement or drug activity of Alex Murdoch. I mean, it's hard for me to think that somebody just randomly came on the property and killed Maggie and Paul. Yeah, the police, I think, definitely have their work cut up from trying to sort all of these twist and turns in the case. I think when there's an instance of just a random singular homicide, it's already a tough battle for police to find answers.

But when you have a case like this that has so many moving parts and tentacles and possible red herrings or things that aren't actually red herrings, but maybe part of the case, and that's that much more for them to sort through and trying to do that. identify what's important, what's connected, and what's not. But it seems like so far, you know, there's so much to this case that they've got to, they've got to be really pulling their hair out trying to figure out what's going on here. Well, one thing that jumped out at me is, in a lot of the cases that you and I do, we're often talking about, you know, police trying to find a motive, trying to find a link. In this thing, there's almost like there's so many possible

links. It's not even funny, right? There are a lot of people who would have been upset by things that were done by individuals inside the Murdoch family, right? You have people upset by what Paul did in the boating accident. You would have had a lot of people upset by certain things that Alex did for sure. So, I mean, when you think about police looking into suspects, persons of interest, I would think they're casting a pretty wide net. The flip side of the coin to what you just mentioned outside of the family is that there's also people within the family that may be suspects with all the stuff that's been alleged and you have embezzlement, frog addiction, all kinds of things like that. You know, police really,

have to look all over the place outside the family, inside the family, and it's going to take that much more time to go through everything and figure out who's involved in what role they played. The one thing I will say is that this case has garnered attention like very few cases. I think that have come along recently. People are fascinated by this case, partly because there are so many twists and turns and so many revelations have come out It's almost like every day there's something new coming out related to this case.

It's definitely a case that's been very heavily reported on. It's just one that has captured, I think, the nation's attention. Yeah, we've tried our best to include everything that we could find in here and keep the episode as updated as possible. But with the way news is breaking in this case, it may be possible that by the time you listen to this, there's other things. things that come out. So we'll just have to stay tuned and see what happens next. And morph, just to prove how much stuff is happening in this case, after you and I recorded this episode, some additional information came to light. I had to record this and then stick it back in the episode. But on Thursday, September 16th, Alex Murdoch turned himself in on

charges related to the insurance fraud scheme. So I think it just backs up. everything we're saying. Thanks goes out to Sunny Landon for writing and research assistance in this episode. As always, if you love the show, but haven't done so yet, take a minute, go out, give us a five-star rating. Keep telling your friends, a word a mouth about the podcast really goes a long way. If you want to find us on social media, we're on Twitter with the handle at Criminology Pod. You can also find us on Facebook by searching for Criminology Podcast or by joining our Facebook discussion group, Criminology podcast discussion and fans.

So, Morph, that is it for our episode on the Murdoch murders. Like you said, this is a case that people are going to have to continue to follow because there's no doubt. There is going to be additional information that comes out over the next weeks, months, and years. But we'll be back with everyone next Saturday night with a brand new episode of criminology. So for Mike. and morph.

We'll talk to you next week. Take care, everyone.