Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP Remastered #84: The Latest on Stephen Smith, SLED’s Investigation into the Murders and Russell Lafitte’s Future

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Starting point is 00:00:25 Now streaming on Paramount Plus. It's the epic return of Mayor of Kingstown. Warden? You know who I am. Starring Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner. I have a sway in these walls. Emmy Award winner Edie Falco. You're an ex-con who ran this place for years. And now, now you can't do that.

Starting point is 00:00:44 And BAFTA Award winner Lenny James. You're about to have a plague of outsiders descend on your town. Let me tell you this. It's got to be consequences. Mayor of Kingstown, new season now streaming on Paramount Plus. Before episode six of Hulu's Murdoch Death in the Family releases this week, we wanted to revisit this episode, MMP 84, which first published March 16th, 2023. Our Luna Shark team was still recovering from the chaos of Alec Murdoch's murder trial.

Starting point is 00:01:18 That adrenaline had faded, but the exhaustion for Mandy and the entire team was very real. Mandy told me she remembered feeling like she was learning. how to breathe again. And yet the work was not over. The verdict gave us a sense of validation, but it wasn't closure. There were so many people like Stephen Smith and his mother Sandy who were waiting for justice. At that point, there were early whispers about our Hulu project moving forward, but nothing concrete, and we were still almost two years away from that green light. We focused more on regrouping, protecting our mental health, and refocusing on the truth behind the stories that had yet to be told. This episode marked another turning point. We talked about Sled's

Starting point is 00:02:07 investigation, accountability, and the responsibility of the press, but what really stood out was the hope that came from Sandy Smith's GoFundMe. The world rallied behind her to fund an independent autopsy for Stephen and funds for an independent investigation. The campaign not only helped reveal additional truths about Stephen's death, but it also ceded a scholarship fund in his name, something that ensures his light continues to reach others. Details on that scholarship are at stevensmithscholarship.com, and Sandy allocated $50,000 from that fundraiser toward a reward for information.

Starting point is 00:02:50 leading to an arrest in Stephen's case. But most of all, it will hopefully lead to answers. Watching that kind of community response, our community, the Luna Shark community, the Murdoch Murders podcast community, the True Sunlight Community, the Cup of Justice community, and the community that Sandy has around her, reminds me that true justice doesn't happen in courtrooms. It happens when people refuse to look away,

Starting point is 00:03:19 when listeners, advocates, and ordinary citizens stand and say, enough is enough. That was the spirit of episode 84. The balance between heartbreak and hope, exhaustion, and resolve. It was a moment of collective reset, a reminder that accountability journalism doesn't end with a verdict. It begins there. And to go a step further, Mandy has coined the term active journalism to describe this. Thank you for tuning in to this keynote installment of the Murdoch murders podcast, remastered edition. Number 84, the latest on Stephen Smith, Sleds investigation into the murders, and Russell Lafitte's future.

Starting point is 00:04:05 I don't know why there seems to still be the system of people supporting Elyke Murdoch and giving him the benefit of the doubt. after all of the lies have been exposed and evidence against him has come to light. But I do know that our team is still fighting for justice for so many who have been hurt by this system and we will continue to expose those who protect it. My name is Mandy Matney. I have been covering the Murdoch family for more than four years now.

Starting point is 00:04:36 This is the Murdoch Murder's podcast. MMP is produced by my husband, David Moses, and has written with journalist Liz Ferri. Hello. Hello again and thank you for your patience as this episode is publishing later than usual. As I said on social media, our team is now in adjustment mode. After the adrenaline and the chaos of the trial slowed down, we're all still trying to re-center or focus. I've learned a, whole lot in this four-year journey. And one of those things that I want to tell you is to prioritize your mental health, above everything else, because the hard work just can't get done if you're not in the right headspace. I simply couldn't have done this work with a 9 to 5 job. I work weird

Starting point is 00:05:32 hours and require a lot of time off. Working for myself, I have the ability to say, this is just too much for me today, or I'm not ready to do that yet, which is something I wish I learned earlier in life. This story has changed me in so many ways. I'm just not the same person who I was when I found out about the boat crash. I had no idea that this level of evil existed in the world, and I had no idea there would be so many people who are either willing to protect it or ignore it. It makes me depressed and angry, seeing it play out on social media. You always hear people say that changing a system is difficult.

Starting point is 00:06:11 I learned that firsthand. but it is possible and you, our listeners, are making it possible. Please stay pesky. We need you. I say this because there is a lot to be done, and that's the feeling that I'm wrestling with right now. While the verdict was validating, it wasn't conclusive in the way that I wanted it to feel. It was a huge momentum, but not at all the finale.

Starting point is 00:06:38 We still need justice for Stephen Smith. We still need conclusions to Alex's co-conspirators. We still need justice for the Beach family. We still need answers about public officials with close ties to the Murdox, including police chief Greg Alexander, Judge Carmen Mullen, and Solicitor Duffy Stone. As you all know, the first two and a half months of 2023 have been one wild ride here in the low country.

Starting point is 00:07:08 The world finally got to meet the Murdoch family, and hear for themselves how someone like Elyke Murdoch could get away with so much evil for so long. And that has been vindicating for so many people here, including us. This week, we wanted to slow down this ride a little to update y'all on a few things in the world of Ehrlich Murdoch. And let's start with a big story that ran over the weekend. First, I want to remind you about an important fact here. Ehrlich Murdoch murdered his wife Maggie and his son Paul. He was judged by a jury of his peers in a county that answered to the Murdochs for generations.

Starting point is 00:07:48 And still, he was found guilty, something none of us expected to see despite believing the evidence was clear. Why did he kill Maggie and Paul? We will never fully understand the answer to that question. But we don't have to understand it. How could he do it? Well, how could he have done all of the things that he's admitted to doing? Yes, murder and stealing are two different things, but they can also go hand in hand, especially when the latter crime was so prolific,

Starting point is 00:08:20 inexpensive, and at the time of the murders, just one subpoena away from being discovered. The way we see it is this. A man who can override his moral compass to operate the way Elyke Murdoch has been operating for most of his adult life, is capable of doing that very thing when faced with a scenario where it was either him or them. Elic was in a full existential crisis on June 7, 2021, and he chose himself.

Starting point is 00:08:52 He eliminated the two biggest financial dependence and was posed to re-enter society as a burden-free widower and grieving father would buster by his side. The thing is that the Murdoch is innocent, crowd seems to forget that Elyke Murdoch was Elyke Murdoch. He viewed himself as untouchable because at the time of the murders, he was untouchable. As was his father, as was his grandfather, as was his great-grandfather. But Elyke's financial crimes, crimes he committed against the law firm, the very foundation of his family name, when a step too far. Had his lawyer and partner Danny Henderson obtained his bank records, Elyke's long game would have likely ended right then and there,

Starting point is 00:09:41 and even his allies at the firm would have been hard-pressed to protect him to that bold and dangerous degree. There were too many victims, and the problem would have been too large to contain. To protect Ehrlich would have put every partner there in jeopardy of losing his license. So that wasn't going to happen. His financial crimes represented the only aspect of his life that wouldn't have been untouchable if he were found out, especially now that his father was dying. And then there's this.

Starting point is 00:10:14 Elyke Murdoch wasn't just the son, grandson, and great-grandson of the 14th Circuit's most powerful men. He himself was a badge-carrying prosecutor, and that badge gave him the position of deputy solicitor, the number two guy in that. office. He carried that badge everywhere. Let me repeat that, a plaintiff's attorney who prosecuted exactly one case of his own in more than 15 years and who assisted a handful of other cases handled by his father was allowed to have a badge in blue lights as if he were a sworn police officer, which he was not. And speaking of sworn, he never actually swore an oath of office for the privilege of carrying that badge. No, he was just allowed to have it. And the thing is, the person who gave him all of that unchecked power, who is Solicitor Duffy Stone, is still a public official.

Starting point is 00:11:14 Will anyone with authority investigate him? Or are we all just going to pretend that that big problem wasn't exposed for the world to see? So all of that said, it's been really hard to understand what exactly it is that people don't get about what that badge meant and how that badge alone would have been able to influence the outcome of just about every entanglement Ehrlich found himself in. Elick's lineage? That badge and his position of PMPED made for the trifecta of Teflon. And everyone around him was trained well. They knew what they were up against. Just look at how many times a single question from the people around him. even just the single one-word question of why would have stopped his crimes in their tracks.

Starting point is 00:12:05 But no one asked any questions. No one challenged him on his answers until June 7, 2021. So we want you to keep all of that in mind as we tell you about this Post and Courier story. On Saturday, the Post and Courier published a piece calling out Sleds and into the murders of Maggie and Paul. I'll have David read a key paragraph from the story written by reporters Thadmore, Avery Wilkes, and Jocelyn Greshick. The agency lost crucial GPS data from Murdoch's wife's phone, which could have conclusively tied the disgraced attorney to the crime. Agents let Murdoch's friends and family clean up his home before they searched it for evidence, and they let the group stay inside while they conducted their search. They didn't check Murdoch's

Starting point is 00:12:59 parents' house, a cornerstone of his alibi, for evidence for three months, and defense attorneys accused Sledd's lead investigator of twice giving incorrect information to the grand jury that indicted Murdoch on murder charges. Sled Chief Mark Keel commented to the paper that this criticism was being lodged without much-needed context. Now, as you all know, we are all about context here at the Murdoch Murdoch's podcast. It is at the core of what we believe. leave good journalism should be. This story lacked key information and instead presented itself as if Dick and Jim had ordered it off of the Post and Courier lunch menu. It was cooked perfectly to their liking. So the context. Well, this story is exactly what we have been talking

Starting point is 00:13:47 about for years. It is why the podcast was created, because this story was too complicated and too much to consume in basically any other medium. It is what we worried about from day one in the boat crash case. It is why we believe that Stephen Smith's case remains unsolved. It is why no one knows exactly what happened to Gloria Satterfield. It is the absolute why of everything. Law enforcement treated the Murdox differently from the rest of us. This cannot be denied. It is the thing that needs to change. I'll have David read this part of the Post and Courier story, where they say it themselves. Here's David. The scion of a family that ran the local solicitor's office for more than eight decades,

Starting point is 00:14:35 Murdoch had a cozy relationship with local law enforcement. And yet, it's like we are in Crazy Town. And we're nothing we know to be true about Ellick Murdoch, along with everything that came out in the trial, including his colossal lies, gets completely reset to zero in favor of criticizing those who have worked hard to bring those lies to light despite the odds. Now, before we get further here, we think it was absolutely fair game to write a story examining the SLED investigation. The journalist who reported this story are all respectable reporters. All three reported on every step of the trial.

Starting point is 00:15:15 But gosh, it is frustrating that a legitimate story like this gets presented as if Sled's missteps were the result of incompetence without accounting for the Murdoch's influence over the investigation. And quite frankly, it is dangerous for the media to push this pro-defense narrative in a time when the tides are changing in South Carolina. And it's clear that the press favoring the good old boys played a huge role in emboldening the Murdoch's unchecked power. I need to say that we think that SLED worked hard on this case, and that by and large their agents gave a great showing on the witness stand. The Post and Courier's position seems to be that Ehrlich Murdoch was found guilty in spite of SLED. But let's look at the paper's main criticisms of SLED, starting with the GPS

Starting point is 00:16:04 data that got overwritten on Maggie's phone. Remember the reason 14th Circuit solicitor Duffy Stone said his investigators were on the scene on the night of the murders in the days following them? His office had an investigator who specialized in the extraction of data from cell phones. They were there to help, Duffy said, despite it being highly unorthodox for the prosecutor's investigators team to be there on the scene of the murder. These were Elyx co-workers, and this wasn't remotely their job. Duffy refused to recuse himself for two whole months, during which critical information was lost from Maggie's phone. The Post and Courier story does not mention this, but that doesn't surprise us. After Duffy was initially criticized for his involvement

Starting point is 00:16:56 in the case in refusal to recuse himself, the Post and Courier ran a story that publicly exonerated or attempted to Duffy Stone of his bizarre and dubious decision. A decision that Duffy himself, as the National Director of the Association of District Attorneys, had recently warned prosecutors against making. In fact, I have to point this out, in a 2021 story breaking the news of Duffy's recusal, the Post and Courier defended his position by quoting, Checks notes, University of South Carolina Law Dean, Robert Wilcox, who we still have questions about, considering the whole Buster readmission scandal and everything that we learned on the jailhouse phone calls. He was quoted in the piece.

Starting point is 00:17:45 I want David to read this part now because it's so crazy given what the Posting Courier is saying now about the evidence in the murder case. Without arrests and a clear suspect, the prosecutor's role in the case was limited at that point. Former University of South Carolina law dean Robert Wilcox told the newspaper at the time. The solicitor's office should primarily be working in an advisory role, he said, making sure that law enforcement handles the case constitutionally

Starting point is 00:18:17 and avoids missteps that could taint evidence or testimony. So anything involving Maggie's phone and questions about the data extraction needs to mention who put himself in charge of that aspect of the investigation. Duffy, who recused himself on the same day, Ehrlich had his third and final interview with Sled when it was clear that he was a suspect. I have to wonder if someone called Duffy's office after that interview. The story also criticized SLED for allowing Murdoch's friends and family to hang out on the scene

Starting point is 00:18:54 and clean up the family's house before agents got to search it. But not mentioned in the story is how the scenario blatantly contradicts the defense's assertion that SLED targeted ELEC from the beginning. Do we think SLED should have kicked every Murdoch and every PMPED attorney off of the property that night? Of course we do. But again, this is a lot of the property. what this entire podcast has been about, the deference that gets paid to Ehrlich Murdoch and his family by law enforcement. A sled agent even offered to take her badge off to make Elex family and friends

Starting point is 00:19:32 more comfortable as she searched the house. Which, what is that? Does she do that for everyone? We hope every law enforcement officer in the state is looking at this and reminding themselves to treat everyone that they encounter at crime scenes with the same amount of respect. Another criticism of the story is that Sled didn't immediately search Almeida, where Ehrlich said that he had gone that night. Do we think they should have searched Almeida? Again, of course we do. Elic murdered his family and likely stored the weapons and closed there temporarily.

Starting point is 00:20:07 And that is the place where he told, please, he was when the murders happened, that would have been super helpful to the case if they did that at the time. But again, Elek was not a suspect that night. SLED did not treat him as a suspect, and they did not have probable cause at that point to believe they needed to search Almeda. And does anyone really think that Randolph Murdoch, the long-emired chief prosecutor of the 14th Circuit

Starting point is 00:20:35 who was lying in a hospital bed with pneumonia and lung cancer, was going to allow sled to search the house? Who would have signed that search warrant? Let's say a sled agent actually had the nerve that night to push the issue and ask for that permission or who somehow was able to articulate why Ehrlich was a suspect beyond he found them and why Almeida needed to be searched immediately

Starting point is 00:21:01 and who somehow was able to find a judge in Murdoch country willing to sign that search warrant. Does anyone think that guy's chain of command would have supported that? Does anyone think that agent would still have their job today? Does anyone think that Sled Chief Mark Keel wouldn't have had an onslaught of good old boy screaming into his phone and threatening his job? This is how this stuff happens. It is the reality of life in the low country that so many reporting on this story still do not understand. And it is the context that helps us understand why SLED didn't search the house that night.

Starting point is 00:21:45 Again, this is what we've been talking about. We'll be right back. When I look back at my younger self, I remember the feeling of being bullied and disrespected. I remember hating that feeling. And I remember the day that I resolved that it would never happen again. When I founded Blan Richter with my partner, Ronnie Richter, we committed to build a firm that demanded respect that would fight for the powerful on behalf of the clients who felt powerless. Since forming Blan Richter, we've stood tall against the largest law firms in the state, in the country, and in the world. And we've remained true to the commitment not to be pushed around to give tenacious representation with proven results.

Starting point is 00:22:35 tenacious representation proven results bland richter learn more about what we do and who we are by visiting bland richter dot com that's b l a and d rickr i chter dot com you're about to hear a preview of the jordan harbinger show with a skilled art forger who made millions selling his fakes i was a storehouse of knowledge of how to create an illusion, present it to a experienced expert, and bring him to the inevitable conclusion that the painting is genuine. We flooded the market with my paintings, and eventually the FBI will lead to my door. They uncovered a mountain of evidence against me. But they never actually got you. Why did it go away? Why did you never get indicted? And how are we having this conversation? I guess that's the greatest story of all. To hear details of how Ken Perenni

Starting point is 00:23:45 evaded the scrutiny of everyone from the mafia to the FBI and lived to tell the tale, check out episode 282 of the Jordan Harbinger Show. Now, there are two other aspects of the story that we want to cover quickly because we've talked about them before at length, both here and on Cup of Justice. One is the grand jury testimony of Agent David Owen. The defense and their online supporters, whether real or robotic, claimed for a while that SLED had lied to the grand jury. And that's not quite what happened. There were two issues here. The first is that SLED incorrectly told the state grand jury that the Murdoch family's guns were all loaded with the same two types of ammo that were in the shotgun that was used to kill Paul. That's a pretty big deal and certainly

Starting point is 00:24:35 a very significant clue. And God, how we wish SLED had gotten this right so that we wouldn't have to have this conversation now. But the explanation for this was that Owen had simply misstated the situation. The family's guns were loaded with two different brands of the same ammo. Now, that might not be a great explanation, but this is a case with more than 700 pieces of evidence that got entered onto the court record. And from what we understand, Owen wasn't alone in believing that the family loaded their guns in that very specific way. The second issue is the high velocity impacts batter on the shirt. The state elected not to introduce that evidence as an exhibit in this trial. Why? Because it was too complicated to explain and it opened way too many doors for

Starting point is 00:25:21 the defense to easily mislead the jury. Here's the Cliff's Notes version from our reporting. There were two test for blood done on the shirt. The first test for presumptive blood came back positive. Photos from that staining were sent to Thomas Bevel, a bloodstained expert in Oklahoma. Those photos, though, were not at high enough resolution for Beville to see the misting that Sled believes came from when Elex stood atop Maggie and shot her in the head. Bevel asked for the raw files of the photos, and once he had those, he could see the pattern at the top of the shirt, which could have, quote, only come from one thing. Unfortunately for the state, Bevel's draft report accurately reflected what he saw in that first set of photos, which was nothing.

Starting point is 00:26:04 His final report included his findings after looking at the higher resolution photos. This is very explainable, but could lead to confusion. And there's another problem. The second test, a test called hematrice, that test for human blood, was also done for some unknown reason. I say unknown reason because investigators we've spoken to have told us that this test, test was not necessary in this instance. After that first test, the stains were tested for DNA and they came back belonging to Maggie. And that should have been the end of the testing there because the DNA test alone showed that those were blood stains. But the hematrice was applied to the shirt

Starting point is 00:26:46 nonetheless. Now, because those stains were such a fine miss, Slead had doused this shirt in the chemicals from that first blood test for presumptive blood. That dowsing seemed to cause a false negative in the hematrice test, meaning now the shirt tested negative for human blood on the record. That was problematic because even though it's explainable, it's confusing. Beyond that, Owen, Beville, and the Attorney General's office didn't know about this hematrice test, and it's not clear why. The defense maintains that Owen had lied to the grand jury about the presence of blood on the shirt, but he wasn't lying. He was stating the facts as he knew them to be at the time of the testimony, which we think is important to note.

Starting point is 00:27:29 Also important to note is that the shirt had Maggie's DNA on it in the areas where that misting was. The results of this mysterious hematrace test, by the way, were found by the defense. No one seemed to know about it until Dick Harputtlyan brought it to Sledge's attention. And that discovery ended the high-velocity impact spatter evidence. In episode 20 of Cup of Justice,

Starting point is 00:27:54 Eric Blan told us that he wouldn't be surprised if state legislators use the Murdoch trial as a reason to open an investigation into SLED. That seemed over the top to us, even knowing what we know about how the state works, but then this story came out and it seemed like a bit of a precursor. A step one to the potential of a bigger plan, if you will. Like we said, we totally support the paper's decision to take a look at how the state's law enforcement division handled one of, if not the most expensive cases in its history. But we believe the scaffolding here should have been the lie Elyke told about his alibi

Starting point is 00:28:33 and the influence of his family name and how that played out at the crime scene. That is the underlying problem with this case. Ehrlich did not cooperate with the investigation. He met with Sled three times because he wanted to look innocent and he wanted to spy on the enemy. He wanted to know what they had on him so he could adjust and head it off at the pass. By all accounts, Ellick did not make a meaningful effort to find the, quote, real killers, and instead lied about almost every aspect of that night,

Starting point is 00:29:06 right up until he needed to reverse course and take the stand. Ehrlich was found guilty. For all the obstacles sled had with this case, they came through. The kennel video was obviously the most important evidence in this case, and Ehrlich's decision to testify definitely helped. sway jurors toward their guilty votes. But we cannot ignore the fact that Ehrlich took that stand because Sledd's investigation had painted him into that corner. Just about every assertion made by the defense in the lead up to and during the trial has proven to be false. At what point does that

Starting point is 00:29:44 matter? We just have one last thing to say about that story. And again, we are not criticizing these reporters, but rather pointing out that we can't lose sight of the bigger issue for law enforcement to do their jobs, the people at the very top of South Carolina's various power structures, whether it's legislators, agency leaders, or good old boys in far-flung counties need to respect the rule of law, and when they don't, they need to be held accountable for that. When it comes to the good old boys, no law enforcement officer should feel like they're going to lose their job as a result of doing their job. Speaking of people doing their jobs, Ellick's attorney Jim Griffin appears to still be working overtime defending his client with the intensity of a scorned woman who punches the mistress

Starting point is 00:30:28 instead of the terrible husband. But we'll get to that. First, last Thursday, Dick Harputin filed notice of Ehrlich's intent to appeal his conviction. This is the first step in what will likely be a year's long process, possibly up to eight years, according to some sources. Dick and Jim have already indicated their intention to take this to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a press conference after ELEC's sentencing, after making a point to tell the media that they weren't going to make a statement, Dick and Jim said they believed the strongest grounds for Elex appeal was the judge's decision to have allowed in testimony about Elex's financial crimes because they think that testimony did more harm to Elex character than it did to provide explanation of the motive, which they said was ludicrous

Starting point is 00:31:13 and illogical. Here's Dick on whether they would have done anything differently. No. No. I mean, look, once the judge... First of all, we believe if the judge was going to let that stuff in, it should have been limited to the Ferris case, which is what they were asking him about on Monday on the fee. Number two, Tinsley, the person had made the motion that compelled to be heard on Thursday, Dawes Cook, Alex's lawyer, both agreed there wasn't going to be any storm or Armageddon or anything that was going to happen that Thursday. The judge might have issued an order, which months down the line might have posed a problem. So once they got that character information is he's a thief, he's a liar, then it dictated, this jury had to think he was a despicable human being and not to be believed. So it was about character. It wasn't about motives.

Starting point is 00:32:07 So as a result, our options were limited. Should he take the stand? Well, you know, we debated that. He always wanted to take the stand. But once that information was in, I mean, he had to take the stand to explain the kennel video, the lie, if you will. But he had no credibility. His credibility had been stripped away by the financial misdees. Here's Jim on the family's continued support of Ehrlich and why Buster didn't speak on his father's behalf during sentencing. We could have had Mother Teresa up there speaking on behalf of Alec at sentencing.

Starting point is 00:32:49 I mean, he was getting a double-life sentence. That was expected. I mean, this is Judge Newman. He's a very stringent punisher when it comes to crimes and sentences. I mean, that was never in dispute. And so for Buster to get up and speak on his dad's behalf, would not have made a difference. And why do you want to put that kid through more trauma than anybody that we, you know, can imagine has ever been through? What's that?

Starting point is 00:33:23 How did his feelings about his dad changed his problem? You know, I can't speak to Buster's feelings. I can tell you this. There was a lot of effort by the state to convince the family that Alec is the murderer. The family came to trial every day for six weeks, expecting to hear. expecting to hear proof positive that he killed Maggie and Paul, something that they had not heard before. After six weeks of trial, they came away more convinced

Starting point is 00:33:52 that he did not do this. And they are steadfastly in his camp and support him. And that's where they stand. Alec was not optimistic that with all of the scrutiny and press and all of this bad acts being out in the public in the world, you know, a media domain that he could get, you know, a jury to put out all the noise and, and just focus on the murder. And so coming in, he was somewhat pessimistic. He became optimistic as we got through the process. But I got to tell you, and all you reporters, you know, you know the whole story, I'm sure. And if you're sitting on that jury, they heard everything that would be in a, an HBO documentary, a Netflix documentary about the Murdoch family dynasty downfall,

Starting point is 00:34:45 except the Stephen Smith matter. I mean, so we were hoping to get a jury to put all, you know, that could ignore the noise, focus on the murder, and went up trying a case that they could have watched on Netflix. I guess Jim didn't get the memo on Randy Murdoch's interview with The New York Times, where he all but said he believed his brother was guilty. Even though it should not have been surprising in any way that Ehrlich's defense team would still be defending him now that the trial is over, it still kind of is. Especially given Jim Griffin's loosey-goosey closing arguments when it seemed like he was finally done in, conquered by all of his client's lies, and having to explain how every piece of evidence against ELEC was either a coincidence or a misunderstanding. So many people online and in messages to us have expressed concern for Jim because of how personally he seemed to take this case and that outcome.

Starting point is 00:35:44 Everyone sort of hoped he'd take some time off and reset his jets, but that's not what he's done. Instead, Jim is somehow still standing and punching at the air in defense of Ellick on social media. On Monday, Jim, whose Twitter bio now says, even my haters got haters, commented on a court TV reporter's retort. tweet of a clip of an interview with Stephen Smith's mother, Sandy, who you will hear from later in this episode. In it, Sandy doesn't mention Buster's name a single time. Most of the clip is about wanting to find answers and how the damage to Stephen's body did not align with the medical examiner's claim that Stephen had been hit by a car. At the end of the one-minute clip, Sandy tells the reporter how and when she and her family heard that, quote, the Murdoch boys might

Starting point is 00:36:34 have been involved with her son's murder. She said she told Steven's twin sister not to believe everything she heard because people are going to talk. Sandy even told the reporter that she herself didn't believe it. A woman who clearly didn't watch the clip commented on that post and said, why are you continuing to give this legs?

Starting point is 00:36:54 Rumor, it's all rumor. Don't you ghouls think Buster Murdoch lost enough? Shame on you. A quick look at this woman's account shows that she's not likely connected to the Murdox, but rather basing her opinions on reading unsourced stories online and watching documentaries. Another person who clearly didn't watch the clip is Jim Griffin, who commented on this woman's post to say, I couldn't agree more. At Chanley Court TV and at Court TV

Starting point is 00:37:22 should know better than to exploit Mrs. Smith and denigrate Buster. Disgusted. Now, no one is faulting Jim for defending Buster, and it's nice that he seemed to care about Sandy, at least for his purposes here. But the issue is this. Jim Griffin plus the Elic Murdoch case plus Twitter equals what is this man doing? At the time of the roadside shooting incident, Jim made a spectacle of himself tweeting at Mandy and betting her bottles of rum that his client had to been shot in the head. It was bizarre behavior from a lawyer, especially one of Jim's caliber. During the trial, Jim also got called out on national television by Judge Clifton Newman for tweeting out a link to a Kathleen Parker column in the Washington Post with his own comment.

Starting point is 00:38:10 Ehrlich Murdoch trial reveals a sloppy investigation. On the Saturday after the trial was over, Jim posted a photo of himself, sticking his face in the hole of a painting that made it look like he was a little cowboy riding a giant chicken. At the cowboy's head, someone had taped a piece of paper that said, I was at the Murdoch trial. With that photo, Jim posted the message, Walterborough. You were a gracious host, Happy Trails. The comments on that post were really varied, but many people pointed out that the post itself was tacky

Starting point is 00:38:42 because Paul's nickname was rooster and obviously because of the chicken aspect of the kennel video. About a week after the trial, Jim posted a story about Robert Blake's death and made it a point to give a shout out to one of the talking heads on TV who had devoted almost two months of her life, to praising Dick and Jim and helping spread their talking points.

Starting point is 00:39:04 Over this past weekend, he unsurprisingly posted this Post and Courier story about SLED and then got shredded in hundreds of comments, many of which said a variation of your client is still guilty, and if Sled misstepped, it was because of your client. Jim also got told to move on, which maybe he should. This can't be healthy for him. We'll be right back. Get no frills delivered. Shop the same in-store prices online and enjoy unlimited delivery with PC Express Pass.

Starting point is 00:39:40 Get your first year for $2.50 a month. Learn more at pceexpress.ca. Okay, there's one more thing we want to talk about today, Russell Lafitte. So the second Elex trial was over, it seems Russell Lafitte re-entered the scene, and it has been nonstop since then. First, on the Monday after the trial was over, federal judge Richard Gergel issued a 42-page order, denying Russell's motion for a new trial. Not only did Judge Gergel deny that motion, he made an effort to let Russell know that he's being really extra right now and not in a good way. The problem with Russell, who still has two ankle monitors, by the way, is that he hired a second defense team purportedly to help him prepare for his appellate case. That in and of itself isn't the problem.

Starting point is 00:40:30 Obviously, he can hire as many lawyers as he wants to. Here's the thing. The second defense team is being led by an attorney named Mark Moore from Nexon-Pruit. You might remember Mark's name because he is also one of Greg Parker's attorneys in the Beach family's civil conspiracy case, in which Parker and his attorneys stand accused of releasing confidential court documents related to the boat crash case, which included photos of Mallory Beach's body. Those photos got published in a promo for a documentary about the Murdox in December 2021.

Starting point is 00:41:01 Mark, who is a former federal prosecutor, is known for being bullish in his approach. As such, he filed a supplemental motion to Bart Daniels and Matt Austin's motion for a new trial. In the motion, Mark made the same arguments that Bart and Matt had already made, but then threw both Bart and Matt under the bus and preemptively claimed ineffective counsel as a basis for a mistrial. Ineffective counsel is usually something that comes up after the sentencing because otherwise it can create a conflict of interest before the attorney's job is done. Judge Gergel obviously was not a fan of this approach. Here's what he wrote in a footnote in his order. Representing a criminal defendant is not like tag team wrestling where a new

Starting point is 00:41:49 member of the team comes into the ring after the first member of the team suffers reverses and needs relief. There is only one client, the defendant, and he is bound by the actions of his counsel acting on his behalf at that time. Defendant does not get a do-over by replacing his first trial team with a new set of lawyers when he was not able to obtain the results he desired. Russell's defeat really, really needed to be told this because from the beginning of his trial, it seemed clear to us that, much like Dick and Jim's client, Russell and his family thought they knew better than his attorneys. Even during his bond reconsideration hearing, when he testified on his own behalf, Russell had the air of a man who was accustomed to being able to talk his way out of

Starting point is 00:42:36 things, much like Ehrlich. It didn't work in that hearing, though. It didn't work when his cousin, in what has to be one of the most bizarre moves in all of the Murdoch-related cases, released Russell TV on YouTube during the trial. And it didn't work when the jury came back with their guilty verdicts. A few days after Judge Gergel issued his order, Bart Daniel and Matt Austin filed a motion to withdraw as Russell's counsel due to the, quote, client's substantial failure to fulfill his financial obligations to counsel for representation at trial and for post-trial relief. The judge granted their motion the very next day. That's right. Russell Lafitte has not been paying his bills, apparently. Raise your ankle monitor if you were shocked by that. Let me summarize this real

Starting point is 00:43:25 quick. Russell lost his trial, despite all his best efforts, to all shucks the jury and the public into thinking he was wrongfully accused. And when he lost, he hired an aggressive appellate team that instead of focusing on the appeal, interfered in the post-trial conviction relief phase of the trial and stepped all over Russell's trial team to the point of irritating the judge. the one who will be sentencing Russell. And then Russell was unceremoniously dumped by his trial team before his sentencing because he, quote, substantially failed to pay his bills. And he's apparently still wearing those two ankle monitors. This guy is so messy, to the point that I'm almost able to believe he was just a useful idiot to Ehrlich, almost able to believe. The jury is still out on that front.

Starting point is 00:44:17 Speaking of that, on the same day that Russell's counsel threw him to the curb, Russell's appellate team, the ones Judge Gurgle seemed to take particular delight in referring to as defense team number two, filed a second motion for a new trial on the basis of, quote, newly discovered evidence of Mr. Lafitte's innocence. What is this newly discovered evidence? Alec Murdoch's testimony. The motion reads,

Starting point is 00:44:44 Mr. Murdoch took full responsibility for his own action, and testified that Mr. Lafitte did nothing wrong and did not have any knowledge of Mr. Murdoch's criminal activity. Okay, and who was that? That was Russell Lafitte. At Paloamatta State Bank? Yes, sir. And after that,

Starting point is 00:45:03 did you get Russell Lafitte to start loaning you money from the Plala Girls account that he was conservator for? He loaned me money from the Plowler account. I don't know if I got him to do that. Oh, you didn't talk to him about it? Y'all didn't talk about that at all? No, we did talk about it.

Starting point is 00:45:25 I mean, there's emails to that effect. Are you disputing that to this jury? Mr. Waters, I'm not disputing. I'm just telling you that Russell Lafitt gave me a loan from the Plyler's. Your question was, did I get him to do that? And I don't necessarily believe that to be accurate. Well, who came up with the idea? I don't know that it was come up with an idea.

Starting point is 00:45:47 idea there was I think that Russell felt like that it was a sound investment for those girls to charge me a higher interest rate when they weren't getting but so much interest somewhere else okay which part of what I just asked you about the pliers do you take issue with you take issue that y'all didn't conspired to do that you and Russell yes you take issue with that and take issue with that okay I can tell you that Russell Lafitte never conspired with me to do anything. Whatever it was done was done by me. No, I don't dispute that.

Starting point is 00:46:26 What I dispute is if you're insinuating in any way, this was stuff that I did. Okay. I mean, just stuff that I did these things wrong. Russell Lafitte didn't do anything. I'm not here to talk about that. I'm just talking about what went on. And I know, but you keep talking. about what I did with Russell Lafitte, and what I want to let you know is that I did this.

Starting point is 00:46:51 And I'm the one that took people's money that I shouldn't have taken, and that Russell Lafitte was not involved in helping me do that, knowingly, if he did it, he did it without knowing it. This is like the hamburger, testifying that Ronald McDonald didn't know he was stealing hamburgers. Why would anyone ever believe what the hamburger has to say? about the clown who claims he didn't know his hamburgers were being burgled by someone named the hamburger and yet defense team number two is like in light of mr mardock's undisputed sworn testimony that mr lafitte did not participate in a conspiracy and was not knowingly involved in any criminal activity mr lafee respectfully requested a new trial jokes aside this will be interesting the challenge that the government had in getting a conviction on all six of russell's charges was that a key element of the of those charges was Russell knowing about the scheme. He had to know he was participating in a conspiracy to steal that money.

Starting point is 00:47:54 Russell has always maintained that he did everything he is accused of doing and that even though those things weren't proper, they weren't criminal to him because he didn't know there was a crime taking place. Russell's legal strategy to force the government into a shortened timeline to trial backfired when ELEC's legal strategy to force the state into a shortened timeline to trial ended up with ELEC on the stand months before Russell's sentencing date finally saying the thing Russell needed him to say in November. It's kind of funny to think about this. Elick refused to testify in Russell's trial because he didn't want to incriminate himself in the financial crimes,

Starting point is 00:48:36 which makes sense. But then when it came to saving his own bacon, Elyke readily engaged in a prolonged self-incrimination in the financial crimes. Imagine Russell gently applying talc powder to his ankle calluses in preparation for a day spent hoeing his land when he got that call. Ehrlich just said you're innocent. We don't expect Russell's sentencing to be until at least May, possibly June, but we'll be keeping a close eye on that case as it heats up again. so there is a lot going on as we speak the mnp research team is focused on getting answers to the long list of questions surrounding these cases

Starting point is 00:49:20 but our main priority right now is to help sandy smith get justice for her son's murder and we do have some news on that front the smith family has launched a go fund me to support their new goal as a step to obtain justice for step by funding and end independent exhumation and autopsy. While SLED's investigation is still ongoing and active, and we still hope to have a full update for y'all in that front soon, the family has decided that this is the best course of action, because if SLED funded an autopsy, it would likely go to MUSC, where Dr. Aaron Presnell,

Starting point is 00:49:59 Dr. Presneau, if you remember, is the pathologist who mysteriously ruled that Stephen's death was a hit and run, run, even though there was no physical evidence to match that conclusion. Highway patrolman Thomas Moore, who oddly enough ended up being a financial victim of Elic Murdox, had a heated conversation with Presnell about this conclusion. His report said that she concluded that it was a hit and run because Stephen's body was found in the roadway and because he didn't have a bullet hole. In Moore's report, he said something that was one of the strangest things I've ever read.

Starting point is 00:50:36 read in a public document. Quote, I then asked her why she was ruling it as a motor vehicle accident and what she thought caused the injury. She told me that it was not her job to figure that out. It was mine." We will unpack all of this in later episodes. But I'm saying this to tell you that Sandy is completely justified in not trusting the Medical University of South Carolina to complete Stephen's autopsy because of what happened in 20. I spoke with Sandy about this on Tuesday afternoon. If Sled does it, his body will have to go back to M-USC.

Starting point is 00:51:15 So I didn't want that chance again. And something else I would like to clear up. Sandy Smith just wants answers about who killed Stephen and who helped cover it up. Anyone. Pushing this absurd narrative that Sandy only wants to believe that certain people did this should be ashamed of themselves. I have known Sandy for four years now. She had the right to not trust her former lawyer

Starting point is 00:51:44 and to fire him when he spoke to the media about her case before speaking to her. I asked Sandy about this. I could care less what the person's name is if they come from money or if they're poor like my family. But I want to know because I think Stephen deserves justice. And it doesn't matter to me if your name is Tom, Dick, or Harry, I could care less.

Starting point is 00:52:08 It is that simple. She just wants justice. The link to the GoFundMe is in the description, and I have shared it on all of my social media pages. By the time we talked to Sandy on Wednesday afternoon, the fundraiser had already hit $11,000. I'm truly amazed. When I got that text at work that it was $10,000,

Starting point is 00:52:32 I just had tears in my own. eyes and I told my coworker I said I just want to cry right now. Sandy told me that she does trust that SLED is working on Steven's case, but this is something the family can do independently from SLED's investigation to help find out who killed Stephen. I asked Sandy if she feels momentum in the investigation from this. But it's slow progress. I know they're doing their job but you know there's some answers that a mother needs, you know, that SLED can't help with. We did. didn't get answers to first go round, so if we try to do it a second time, we might

Starting point is 00:53:09 can actually see a different ruling in his case, not a vehicle versus pedestrian, not hit by a car. Both Sled and Alan Wilson's office have vowed to leave no stones unturned related to the Murdoch case. We are begging them to dedicate as many resources to Stephen's case as they did to the double homicide. To remind South Carolina that justice isn't just for the privileged and the powerful. As someone who donated to the GoFundMe wrote on the page earlier today, everybody counts or nobody counts. That is what this is about. There are so many threads to poll in the Stephen Smith case and we will continue to do that. We want more than anything for

Starting point is 00:53:56 2023 to be the year where the Smith family can finally get answers. As a part of our of our mission to help keep Stephen's story in the spotlight, we will be chatting with Sandy Smith soon for a happy hour YouTube with MMP premium subscribers. Stay tuned for an announcement on that. Stay pesky and stay in the sunlight. once the Murdoch murder trial was over. It's now 2025, and we're still waiting. No arrests, no accountability, no justice. But Sandy Smith hasn't stopped. She's turned her grief into advocacy, speaking to victim groups across the country, including the one she and Mandy joined for together in Wichita, Kansas, which was one of my favorites. Her message is simple

Starting point is 00:54:59 but powerful. Don't give up, even when the system fails you. That persistence is what gives me hope. Hulu's Murdoch death in the family has reignited national attention, and Sandy's appearance on the official companion podcast keeps Stephen's story alive for millions of listeners. Maybe, and just maybe, this renewed light will shake something loose, because when truth is seen, it usually can't be buried again. And Sandy deserves so much to see justice done in her son Stephen's name. The Murdoch Murder's podcast is created and hosted by me, Mandy Matney, produced by my husband, David Moses, and Liz Farrell is our executive editor.

Starting point is 00:55:54 From Luna Shark Productions. This is Alec Murdox. I need police and an ambulance immediately. Murdoch Death in the Family Official Podcast is here. I'm joining Patricia Arquette, Jason Clark, and the cast to uncover all things Murdoch. Family first. To unravel the story piece by piece was really surprising because you don't want to believe it. Murdoch, Death in the Family Official Podcast, Wednesdays.

Starting point is 00:56:24 And stream Murdoch, Death in the Family on Hulu. And Hulu on Disney Plus. For bundle subscribers, term supply.

Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP Remastered #84: The Latest on Stephen Smith, SLED’s Investigation into the Murders and Russell Lafitte’s Future

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