Murdaugh Murders Podcast - Above The Law? (S01E34)

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

On Monday, Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin filed a federal lawsuit in an attempt to block Richland County from releasing more jailhouse calls through the Freedom of Information Act. In today’s episode, we tell you exactly why this case isn’t a typical true crime story and why Alex isn’t your typical (alleged) criminal. In this case, we’re dealing with a former public official and a whole lot of alleged public corruption.   As we peel back the layers of history in the Murdaugh family, We see that Alex and Paul Murdaugh’s misdeeds didn’t happen in a vacuum.  For decades, it appears like people have been looking the other way as the Murdaugh family’s unchecked power spun out of control.  See more videos on the Murdaugh Murders here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPC7aLBzSFHqIz_jDachzQA And a special thank you to our sponsors: Cerebral, Hunt-A-Killer, Bannon Law Group, Nature's Highway CBD, Embark Vet, VOURI, Hello Fresh and others. The Murdaugh Murders Podcast is created by Mandy Matney and produced by Luna Shark Productions. Our Executive Editor is Liz Farrell. Advertising is curated by the talented team at AdLarge Media. Find us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/MurdaughPod/ https://www.instagram.com/murdaughmurderspod/ For current and accurate updates:  Twitter.com/mandymatney Support Our Podcast at: https://murdaughmurderspodcast.com/support-the-show Please consider sharing your support by leaving a review on Apple at the following link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/murdaugh-murders-podcast/id1573560247 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I don't know how many people contributed to the corrupt system that held up the Murdoch family and apparently allowed them to live above the law for so long. But as we peel back the layers of the family's history, we see that Alec and Paul Murdoch's misdeeds did not happen in a vacuum. For decades, it appears like people have been looking the other way as the Murdoch's unchecked power spun wildly out of control. My name is Mandy Matney. I've been investigating the Murdoch family for three years now.

This is the Murdoch Murders podcast with David Moses and Liz Farrell. So from the very first day that Liz and I started working on this story, which was February 24th, 2019, we have always treated it as a story about corruption instead of a true crime story. Alec Murdoch is not your typical alleged criminal, and this is not your typical true crime story. What's relevant and newsworthy in this case, like the jailhouse phone calls, is likely not relevant and newsworthy in a lot of other cases. That's mostly because we're dealing with a former public official of a whole lot of

alleged public corruption. On Monday, just days after we published the last episode, Alec Murdoch's attorneys Dick R. Putlian and Jim Griffin filed a lawsuit in federal court in an attempt to block Richland County from releasing more jailhouse calls through the Freedom of Information Act. Here is David reading a few parts from that lawsuit. Relief requested. The disclosure of plaintiff's intercepted communications in response to the FOIA request and the subsequent use by the outlet of the recordings for commercial purposes violates

Title III, C-18 USC 2520. Plaintiff seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief as provided in 18 USC 2020 B, preventing defendant and anyone acting on his behalf or in concert with defendant from disclosing to anyone the intercepted telephone communications between plaintiff and others in response to a record request for any other purpose except as expressly permitted. Plaintiff further requests expedited discovery to determine the extent of the defendant's prior disclosures of plaintiff's recorded telephone conversations. Plaintiff seeks an award of attorneys' fees and costs of this action for such other and

further relief as the court deems just and proper. So the lawsuit claims that Title III of the federal wiretapping statute prohibits the disclosure of recorded telephone communications of inmates to the public in response to a records request. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in 2003 that Title III does not prohibit the disclosure of such calls and therefore the calls are not exempt from FOIA. Harpoolian and Griffin argued in the lawsuit, which was first reported by the Post and Courier newspaper that due to understaffing the Richland County Jail does not have any correctional

officers who review and or monitor inmate calls in the ordinary course of their duties. Because of this, the attorneys argue that the calls do not qualify for an exception to the wiretapping law. But Murdoch's call log clearly shows that nearly every single non-attorney call was listened to by someone while it's not clear whether or not this person works for the Jail or another law enforcement agency. It is clear that a government employee reviewed these tapes before we got them. So on Monday evening, longtime South Carolina media attorney Jay Bender told Fitznews that

non-attorney jailhouse calls should be available to the public through FOIA. I don't think there's any controlling law that would override a citizen's right to get access to a South Carolina public record. And a recording is a public record and the only exemption that might apply in the State Freedom of Information Act would be a reasonable invasion of personal privacy. But if you know your telephone conversation is going to be recorded, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy. So I think that when the jail released the recordings, it was following South Carolina

law and there's no federal authority that would have precluded the release of those recordings. If you know your calls are being recorded, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy. My guess is that as long as the recordings are being made and you make a request for access to them, the jail will be required to give you access to those recordings because those are public records under the law. Further, a 2011 South Carolina Attorney General's opinion says that consistent with the mandate of liberal construction under the Freedom of Information Act, it could be concluded that

inmates' personal telephone calls should be construed as being subject to disclosure. We spoke to several other attorneys this week about Dick and Jim's lawsuit, who told us that the law is clear. Non-attorney recorded inmate calls are public records, as long as they don't compromise an ongoing investigation. And two super expensive defense attorneys and their client, who by the way is a former lawyer, should have absolutely known that these calls could have been obtained through FOIA requests.

So we want to be clear about a few things here. The phone calls that we published served a greater purpose than commercial value, which is what they're claiming in this lawsuit. These phone calls exposed apparent lies made by the defense, including the fact that Dick and Jim indicated that they were working pro bono and that their client had no money. Now, we have to ask, what is on the other phone calls that Dick and Jim don't want us to hear? And while there was a lot more to share, we were strategic about which elements of the

calls that we published. We refrained from using segments that described younger family members, sensitive medical information, and other moments that didn't serve any journalistic purpose. For instance, even the stuff about the bee sticks showed that Alec was breaking the rules from behind bars. Public scrutiny in this case is paramount to holding agencies accountable. If we've learned anything throughout this case, it's that transparency is the only way to fight corruption.

The more that this case is in the sunlight, the harder it is for them to sweep it under the rug. And that's a fact. There are too many victims who have been let down by this system, and we will use every tool at our disposal to expose the truth wherever it leads, including jailhouse phone calls that prove to serve journalistic purpose. Key details in these phone calls provided links to powerful people who would have probably preferred to remain out of the headlines.

But nonetheless, they appear to be involved in some way, and if they have anything to hide, rest assured, we will get to the bottom of it. As a reminder, Alec was a public official who apparently abused his position of authority that was given to him by solicitor Duffy Stone. We have a right to know what someone who held so much power for so many years is doing behind bars, especially when millions of dollars are missing and victims are owed lots of money. How many times do we have to say it in this case? Alec Murdoch is not above the law.

It's about time that his attorneys recognize that too. The law cannot work one way for everyone else in another for Alec Murdoch. That's how we got into this mess in the first place. Make no mistake. We at the Murdoch Murders podcast and at Fitznews will continue to fight for every available public record in this case because we believe the transparency is essential to exposing and ending public corruption. And speaking of transparency, we noticed a pattern while digging into Alec Murdoch and

Paul Murdoch's criminal histories that we need to talk about as we ask ourselves how this family got away with what they did for so long. The thing is, typically, you don't start with stealing millions of dollars as your first crime. Criminals typically start small and see what they can get away with, and Alec Murdoch is no different there. We have been asked several questions about Alec's criminal history. Were there any signs that helped make sense of all of this?

We want to tell you two stories that have stuck out in our years of reporting. For the first story, we spoke to a man who we will call Matt. Matt went to school with Alec at the University of South Carolina in the 1980s. But yeah, Alec, he was a big dude, especially in the 80s and 90s, there were a lot of big guys, but not as many as there are now, so he was not scared too much of anybody. He had a posse and he was going to play football at South Carolina, but he blew his knee out like in spring practice and never played. He was a K.A., which was the most, and I hate to say it like this, but it was the most

elite. I don't know how familiar you are with K.A., but they're formal at the end of the years called Old South. Alec was well known on campus. The 6'4 redhead was hard to miss, and everyone knew who he was. Everybody on campus knew him, I mean, because he was Alec. He just was cocky and loud, and I shouldn't say everybody, but everybody who was involved in any social, there was 20,000 people there, and there was probably a 5,000 person crowd

of people who kind of were, I hate to say it like this, but kind of like the end, crap, you know what I mean? So everybody knew who Alec was, yeah, he just never got in trouble and knew that he could get away with it. I mean, he would blatantly say, we can do whatever we want to because we won't get in trouble. Now there was one incident that always stuck out to Matt as he's watched Alec's reputation unravel in the last few months. In the late 1980s, Alec apparently drove a jeep through campus and up a set of stairs

while evading police. Here's Matt with more on that. Well, on the western side, which is where Bates House and all that, and I don't even know if those dorms are still there, but you could go up the stairs there and there was no barriers. So they drove the jeep up the stairs and across, and this is a, you know, probably a couple of hundred yard ramp, is what they called it. They drove it across, but on the quad side, there were big concrete barriers where you

couldn't get out, right? Somebody either reported it, the cops saw it, they chased them down there, but they were behind them. And when they got to the other end, everybody just jumped out and ran. And they could see them, but they couldn't, they didn't catch them, like everybody just dispersed. And this is where I get confused because like I said, this was like 1988 or 87, maybe even. And I can't remember whether, this is where I get confused.

I can't remember whether the jeep was somebody else's and, you know, they obviously came to them or whether it was Alex, but I do know that Alex got in trouble for it very briefly, but then immediately it went away and wasn't talked about anymore. And had it been me outing on the jail, you know, I guess they couldn't have gotten you for DUI because it was the next day and you sobered up, but they, it was a bit, I mean, they had cops looking for everybody and they finally got him and nothing happened. And that was it. For most people, an event like this could be a major setback.

The charges could have really added up DUI, failure to stop for blue lights, trespassing on campus, and evading police just for starters. A regular person would have had to spend good money on bail, good money on an attorney, and really good money to not spend any time behind bars. And good luck getting into law school and becoming a lawyer after all of that. But for Alec Murdoch, all it took was a phone call to his father, and it apparently went away. There's a reason why Paul called his grandfather on the night of the bow crash. Paul learned it from his father that his grandfather makes things go away.

Matt said he has not been in the least bit surprised to see how much trouble Alec Murdoch has gotten himself into recently. You know, he's the solicitor, and my granddaddy was too, and he was very much so from the get-go. And I met him at freshman orientation, which is before you start school, you know, in 1986. So I knew him the whole time I was there. He was like in my little group. I could tell then.

You know, like, who is this guy? I think anybody who you talk to that is, you know, our age would say the same thing. It's the word that was in school with us. He just had that reputation of being arrogant. He would, you know, know, just have compassion or whatever. Like, he just didn't, he didn't care. He didn't feel bad about it. And he was just very, you know, he just, he was Alec Murdoch.

He'd do what he wants it. We'll be right back. Now I'm going to tell you about a brawl. After Fitznews published a story about this fight, several people who knew Alec back in the day said this was a regular occurrence for him in his twenties and that they knew of other similar incidents that happened with him at strip clubs in Atlanta and in Columbia. These fights took place 30 years ago. And again, tales of a man's post-grad shenanigans aren't usually all that significant when

they're in their fifties. But it's important to understand what shaped Alec's sense of entitlement and his expectation of no consequence. As far as Murdoch fights go, this one has it all. In the very early morning hours of February 28, 1993, when Alec was almost 25 years old and a second year law student at University of South Carolina, he was at a strip club on Hilton Head called Cadillacs Club. Cadillacs is no longer around.

But to set the stage, in the early 1990s, Hilton Head was known as Snow Island because cocaine was the drug of choice here. So that kind of gives you a picture of the vibe. Lots of bros, lots of people coming here to party, and the party was just getting started around midnight. On this particular night, Alec was with a big group of friends, and a few of them tried to order drinks at the bar, but the bartender cut them off. They appeared intoxicated, so I refused to serve them.

The 23-year-old bartender wrote in his statement to deputies, they were somewhat belligerent. So immediately after this, Alec decided he needed another drink. And this is one of those moments when you read a police report and you think, ah yes, they're talking about our guy here. Here is what the bartender wrote in the report. Another gentleman approached the bar, a tall, heavy redhead. He asked for another beer, and I refused him service as well, because he appeared intoxicated. The redheaded gentleman became abusive, and I asked him to leave.

Like I said, this is our guy. Alec allegedly wouldn't leave, so the bartender called over two bouncers to escort him out of the club. The bouncers, both in their early 20s, attempted to remove Alec from the establishment, but once he reached the doors, he, quote, instantly became more aggressive and was asking in certain words to fight. Another employee of the club noted Alec started to get all of his friends all riled up. This is when the bouncers were bum-rushed by Alec Murdoch and 10 to 15 of his friends.

Everything descended into utter chaos. One of the bouncers wrote in his report, they began to push and shove and became extremely violent. Three to four men pushing, shoving, and swinging at me. This bouncer was then clocked on the back of the head by one of Alec's friends. The bouncer turned around and punched the friend in the face. The bartender, who had refused to serve Alec and his friends, saw what was happening. He secured his cash box and went to help the bouncers, one of whom called 911.

Another employee wrote that he heard verbal threats being made, and saw one of the bouncers get thrown against the window. This employee said he grabbed the man responsible for assaulting the bouncer and pushed him against the wall. A sergeant with a marine stationed on Paris Island was a Cadillacs that night and witnessed the brawl. He wrote in his statement to deputies that there was a big mix-up of fighting men in the lobby of the club.

Quote, the bouncer was telling the problem guys to leave that they were rowdy and didn't want to. So they had to force them out, and one of them hit the window and started trouble as the smaller bouncer was swung at. And the bouncer avoided the swing and retaliated with a nice punch, and the drunk got what he deserved. The bouncers were in the right, and the customers were in the wrong in this case. See what I mean?

Utter chaos. So deputies arrived shortly after being called. Emergency medical personnel were called to the scene to tend to Alec's friend, who was bleeding from being punched in the face by one of the bouncers. That friend, a 27-year-old man from Mount Pleasant, refused medical aid at the scene, but said he wanted his friends to take him to the hospital. So a deputy was sent to Hilton Head Hospital to wait for the man's arrival. But according to the reports, the man never arrived.

The man, who is identified as the one that assaulted a bouncer, was ticketed and charged with public disorderly conduct, and so was Alec. But neither he nor Alec were arrested. Another man, a 27-year-old from Columbia, was charged with public disorderly conduct as well, but he was taken to jail. The report doesn't detail what this man allegedly did, nor does it know whether he was part of Alec's group. So I'm going to pause here to reiterate.

Alec, who allegedly started the fight, and allegedly took part in the fight, and his friend, who hit a bouncer on the head, were not arrested, but the southern guy was, and the report has no other details about him other than his name, address, and age, and that he was arrested. After deputies broke up the fight and Alec was issued his ticket, a deputy drove him home, according to the report. Drove him home. Alec lived in Vaarnville at the time.

That's a 67-mile, one hour and 20-minute drive from Hilton Head Islands. I've since talked to a number of people in law enforcement in Beaver County, and they've separately said the same thing. He had to have gotten a nice, crisp $100 bill from Randolph for that one. Alec and the two other men charged that night were scheduled for a hearing on March 29, 1993. But the report does not include copies of the tickets that were issued, nor does it note the outcomes of the cases.

We did a background check on Alec through Nexus, and it noted that the charge was dismissed on March 25, 1993. Now keep in mind, Randolph Murdoch was the solicitor at the time. Alec graduated from law school just over a year later and was admitted into the South Carolina Bar Association in November 1994. We'll be right back. As Matt told us, along with so many others, the Murdochs raised their kids much differently than how the rest of us were brought up.

It's the opposite of how you use me. I have four boys, and they are all good kids. I'm not just saying that because they're mine, but they are. But they were also taught very well. The opposite traditions of what their Murdoch family has, it was mine is you work hard for what you do and you help people out when you can, and you treat people the way you want to be treated, and you respect adults, and you yada, yada, yada, and they just were like the antithesis of that.

It was just like, you're a Murdoch, do what you want to. In fact, a source close to the family told us that Alec often bragged about his days of mischief in college and how much he used to get away with. Which brings us to Paul Murdoch. I have to be the first to admit that I misunderstood Paul Murdoch to some extent. Before his murder, Paul Murdoch was seen as a very bad seed and a powerful family. And now, after interviewing dozens of people who are close to his family, I'm starting to see Paul Murdoch in a different light.

From the way he was raised, he really didn't have a chance of being normal. Which is absolutely no excuse for his behavior or his alleged role in Mallory Beach's death. Looking at his past does help me understand him more. If a young person is troubled and shows signs of dangerous recklessness in their youth, there are supposed to be systems of accountability to keep that young person in check. His parents and teachers are two of the first layers put in place to hold a young person accountable. And when those systems fail, law enforcement is supposed to step in.

But Paul's life was so much different. Not only did Paul's parents apparently not do anything to correct his behavior, sources have told me that Maggie and Alec interfered with both teachers and law enforcement who attempted to step in the way of Paul's destructive path. And for those of you who think this is irrelevant because Paul is dead, remember that Paul's alcohol abuse and his out of control behavior that his parents apparently approved of is a key claim in the Mallory Beach lawsuit as well as other lawsuits that have been recently filed by surviving passengers.

We believe this history is important because it shows that both law enforcement and Paul's parents were given multiple warning signs that Paul's behavior was out of control and potentially deadly and they did nothing to stop it. And like his father, Paul had several run-ins with the law during his youth. Run-ins that his parents got him out of time and time again in the years leading up to Mallory Beach's death. Run-ins that appear to show how this family lived above the law. The first incident I want to tell you about was two years before the boat crash that killed

Mallory Beach. This is a story that was told to me by a source close to the family. In 2017, 17-year-old Paul Murdoch drove his father's boat to the Buford Sandbar where he became belligerent and drunk. Paul Murdoch was reportedly throwing beer cans off the boat and flipping off other boaters when he was spotted by SEDNR agents who were patrolling the water that day. The young SEDNR agents reportedly had Paul Murdoch sit on their boat and threaten to charge him with either a BUI or an MIP.

According to my source, Paul then called his father from SEDNR's boat who called a high-ranking buddy at SEDNR who showed up on scene and swooped up Paul Murdoch who was then escorted back to his family river home. A personal police escort after breaking the law. That sounds familiar. No charges were filed against Paul Murdoch that day. That same SEDNR agent that saved Paul Murdoch was involved in the 2019 boat crash investigation that went absolutely awry.

And that incident wasn't the only time that should have been a warning sign. Around the same time in May 2017, Paul was charged with purchase or possession of beer or wine by a minor by SEDNR officers in Buford County. According to my sources, Paul was driving the boat that day but was not charged with the BUI for whatever reason. Paul's father and his BFF, Corey Fleming, both represented Paul Murdoch for his minor and possession charge. Yes, two attorneys represented Paul to get his drinking ticket expunged.

In May 2018, Paul was sentenced to attend an alcohol diversion program. It is not known if he actually attended. His charge was ultimately dismissed and expunged. On May 31, 2017, the same day the court filed the alcohol possession charge against Paul, Paul Murdoch paid $510 and fines for a littering charge. For an incident in April 2017 in Buford County, I've been a reporter in the Low Country for six years and I've never seen a $500 littering ticket. I've always wondered if that ticket was for something more than littering and the good

old boys got a knock down. And not only that, Paul was known to drink and drive on the land too. According to my sources, and I was even surprised to hear this, Paul Murdoch drunkenly crashed his truck a few times a year. His father apparently paid a few locals to tow his truck in the middle of the night before police arrived on scene and he'd get the damages fixed by paying with cash. Looking back now, it really makes sense why boat crash survivor Connor Cook said, I mean anything that they get into, they get out of, about the Murdoch family back in 2020.

Because then, even, it sure did seem true. As I have reported before, Paul Murdoch was given the gentleman's treatment, as Liz called it, and court when he was arrested for three felony BUIs related to the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach. Paul never had to spend a second behind bars. He wasn't processed in jail like most people. His mugshot was taken by an iPhone 7 in the Courthouse Hallway. He was never handcuffed, he was never given an alcohol monitor, which is highly unusual

considering his charges, and he was never given a GPS monitor while out on bail, which I now have to wonder if the judge regrets doing that. If we've learned anything from these stories, it's that the system has repeatedly failed to protect the citizens of South Carolina, whether it's alcohol-fueled crashes, rampant theft, and breach of trust of vulnerable people or cold-blooded murder. We have a duty to expose the truth and hold law enforcement agencies accountable to do their jobs. If not over the last 40 years, now that the sun shines, it is time for law enforcement

to bring co-conspirators to face the music. Ellick isn't just one fall guy that made mistakes. He had help. Of the seven criminal investigations surrounding the Murdoch family, we haven't forgotten about any of them. New information has come to light about Judge Carmen Mullen and her alleged role concealing elements of the Satterfield heist. Sources also hint at new charges aimed at Ellick's co-conspirators, but where are

they? In the absence of law enforcement acting quickly enough, it's the job of journalists to highlight these failures and put pressure on people to act. We aren't trying to make people look bad at their jobs. We intend to use the truth in order to save lives. How many victims would be alive today if someone learned a lesson along the way and changed the course of history? The time to stand up and say something is right now, and we intend on doing just that

until justice is served. Stay tuned.