Murdaugh Murders Podcast - "Overkill" : Incoming Call From Alex Murdaugh - Part Four (S01E51)

Episode Date: June 29, 2022

Mandy, Liz, and the team dive deeper into the jailhouse phone calls with shocking revelations. After listening – and relistening – to hours upon hours of of tapes, we have a better understanding of how Alex’s family sees this tangled web playing out in the media.  You'll hear what Alex says, and doesn't say about Maggie and Paul in heart wrenching, but very telling conversations with Buster, John Marvin and Liz Murdaugh. Plus an update on Eddie Smith’s arrest, and the money laundering, drug and other charges he faces with alleged co-conspirator Alex Murdaugh. The Murdaugh Murders Podcast is created by Mandy Matney and Luna Shark Productions. Our Executive Editor is Liz Farrell. Advertising is curated by the talented team at AdLarge Media. To learn more about Life After Loss: Adjusting To A New Reality, By Luge Hardman visit: https://amzn.to/3n8X8SD 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

Hello, this is an Amtel operator calling from Albin S Grand Detention Center, with a prepaid collect call from... Alex. To accept this prepaid collect call, press 1. All phone calls are subject to monitoring and recording. Thank you for using Amtel. I don't know if we will ever have answers to all of the unsolved deaths allegedly tied to the Murdoch family.

But after listening and re-listening to hours upon hours of jailhouse phone call tapes, I think we have a better understanding of how Elik's family sees this tangled web playing out in the media, and a clearer picture of how Elik has manipulated those close to him for years. My name is Mandy Matney. I have been investigating the Murdoch family for more than three years now. This is the Murdoch Murders podcast with David Moses and Liz Farrell. Wow, so the last few weeks have been a whirlwind.

I feel like I've been in a fever dream since we got the phone calls a few weeks ago. So I'm starting off today by saying that the MMB team is finally taking a real vacation, and we will not have a podcast next week. I've said this before and I'll say it again, it's really important to take breaks and vacations and step away from this stuff that can be so heavy and overbearing and downright depressing at times. And I promise we will be back the second week of July, re-energized and ready to take on the good ol' boys again.

I know Liz, David and I have all hit walls in the last few weeks and I hope you all understand that we need the break. But in the meantime, please check out our new YouTube channel. Our team has been working hard going through old episodes, adding visualizations, photos and graphics to each episode, and it's really a whole different way of experiencing the show. Also, be sure to follow Murdoch Martyrs' podcast on Facebook and Instagram. We will continue to post while we're gone.

We've been reporting on Alex's alleged connections to drug trafficking for the better part of the past year at its news and here on the podcast, but it was still surprising to see it in black and white. This definitely furthers our suspicion into Alex's claim that he has had an addiction to oxycodone for more than 20 years. It's hard to imagine that someone accused of dealing this highly destructive drug from 2013 through September 2021 would be able to come out on the other end of it without anyone in his life having noticed his addiction.

Also on Tuesday, we found out why Curtis Eddie Smith was arrested Friday evening. The circumstances of his arrest were a mystery until 40 minutes before his volunteering at noon Tuesday. The indictment implicating both him and Elec wasn't sealed until then. We were really concerned about this because of how differently Eddie's case was being handled from Corey Fleming's and Russell Lafitte's. Eddie was arrested at his home, meaning the cops went and got him. The Corey and Russell were both able to turn themselves in seemingly when it was convenient

for them. They both knew what was in their indictments in advance of their bond hearings. Meanwhile, as of Monday evening, Eddie's attorney still hadn't been given the unsealed indictment. It's hard to compare the cases because they're so different, but there are noticeable differences in how the person with the least amount of power and resources in all of this, who isn't accused of stealing millions from people, is being treated compared to those with significant power and resources.

So the indictment is interesting and offers a few new details about the checks Eddie was allegedly cashing for Elec. First, there were at least 437 checks cached over an eight year period, 437. The checks were almost always for less than $10,000, but starting in 2021, the amounts and frequencies of the checks increased by a lot. So far, Eddie is accused of laundering more than $2.4 million for Elec. He's also accused of engaging in a criminal conspiracy with him and charged with forging his daughters and girlfriend's names on these checks.

Eddie also faces new drug charges in this indictment. At the hearing Tuesday, he seemed really restless, and he told the judge that he didn't have any money, that all that cash, quote, went to Elec Murdoch. His lawyer advocated for a personal reconnaissance bond, but Judge Newman decided to set his bond at $250,000. If Eddie posts bond, he'll be required to wear an ankle monitor and get drug tested. Sources are telling us that this latest charge is one that's going to send shock waves throughout the state because a lot of, quote, big names and politics and in the legal community could

be implicated in Elec's alleged drug dealing. We'll be looking into this more after a much needed break. And speaking of needing a break, I want to be honest about something. We missed a few things in the jailhouse phone calls, and I will take responsibility for that. I say all of this because I'm sure we will play some of these calls on this episode, which is the third episode on this round of phone calls, and y'all will probably think why wasn't this the first thing you reported on while listening to the phone calls?

Well, as we've said, there was over 100 phone calls to listen to in over 13 hours of content in the CD-ROMs we've received. In the first episode, we played various clips from those calls to give you all an idea of what we were working with, but a majority of those calls were very boring and very painful to listen to and without news value. I completely underestimated how mentally draining just the act of listening to these phone calls would be. It's impossible to not feel for Elec's family members, who are clearly being manipulated

by him. Inviting nuggets and news between the exhausting talk of exercise, life in jail, and canteens, it's tedious and draining and really takes a lot of time. But while dividing up the calls, one apparently slipped through the cracks, which makes sense considering we have a small team and we are working tirelessly trying to crank out stories and podcasts about the bits of newsworthy information in the phone calls. Before I play this particular call we missed, I want you to hear this clip from January 11th.

Now remember, on January 10th, Elec had a bond hearing where prosecutor Creighton Waters made it a point to say they listened to Elec's jailhouse phone calls, and it was clear that he had access to his assets. Buster clearly took notice of this. But moving forward, I think that these conversations on this phone should be nothing more than surface level. And if you have something of, you know... You talking about that stuff they were saying at the hearing yesterday?

Yeah. I mean, I'll be honest with you, every single phone call I get on, I know they're listening to it. Well, I just kind of thought it was more something that was said and wouldn't exactly be utilized, but I can see that I was wrong. So if there's something of substance you want to talk to me about, just write me a letter and I'll write it back. Well, I mean, all of that stuff is really just taking snippets and making it, you know,

that's just advocating lawyers, which... I understand that. But not very much of my life is private, and the more I can keep private, the more I would like to. I understand that totally for sure. Like we've said before, this story requires constant conversation about how to cover it because we know that everything we report on has very specific and personal impacts. Buster Murdoch is one of those people greatly affected, obviously.

And every time we write about him or talk about him, we consider the news value in doing so. Hearing that lost call was really difficult for a couple of reasons. One is obviously knowing the role we are playing in broadcasting his father's jailhouse calls. And real quick, I just wanted to throw a little timeline note in here. This conversation occurred before we foy it for the calls about a week later. This means Buster was observant enough and wise enough to know that there are consequences

to what they had been discussing. The second reason is that we understand that Elec's alleged crimes are not Buster's alleged crimes. But he is inextricably linked to how Elec has been behaving behind bars, which is where our interest lies, especially as we work to nudge this state and the 14th Circuit toward a much needed reckoning. Buster appears to have been playing a role in hiding the family's assets. He also sought to benefit from a special backroom deal that would have allowed him to return

to law school, the law school he got kicked out of allegedly because of plagiarism, and not just return to law school, but return on his terms. This is in part why we continue to stand by the decision to publish and write about these calls. They give us a look at how someone like Elec Murdoch regards the system, how he thinks and how he acts. Buster is at a fork in the road. If he bears left, he will continue on Murdoch Boulevard.

If he bears right, he has the opportunity to create a new legacy for the family, one that doesn't wholly depend on the system they corrupted for their own benefit. We thought this clip was important because it seems like Elec made a lot less phone calls from this point forward, but this also could be because the jail had more COVID lockdowns during this period, which Elec does discuss. For this particular phone call on January 17th, so less than a week after the don't talk about things of substance chat, Elec and Buster were very much aware that their phone calls were being listened to by the AG's office.

After chatting about Buster's weekend, Elec mentions that he's caught a glimpse of the 2020 episode, The Fall of the House of Murdoch, which aired on January 14th, 2022. What was on TV Friday, Buster? I saw Jim Marvin on it for just a second. Yeah, it was something ABC 2020, I didn't watch it. Did it was a new interview or was it from that old interview? All of a sudden, if it had hit on TV, it had to be the old one. He has not gone on TV since.

He hasn't? Careful, careful. All right, I mean, did they, was it the same old stuff with a bunch of indie window and false stuff or were they being semi-truthful? Yeah, I'd love to be able to give you some insight, but I didn't watch it and I didn't seek out anything, any transcripts from it. I don't know. I know it ain't no big deal.

I would have seen it's the same old thing. Brooklyn told me some stuff that was on it and it was stuff that's wrong, so I mean, it's just that same old Stephen Smith and Gloria and all that bullshit. I think it probably had to touch on that. I think this one hit maybe a little bit more on the boat wreck. I just know that there was some stuff that Brooklyn said that was said in the little show and it's just stuff that's not important, but it just shows that if they will understate that, in fact, that they just don't know what they're saying because it's just stuff that's

not true. Okay, so this is the only conversation we have listened to that brings up Gloria's and Stephen's deaths. Again, this is after Ellick became imminently aware that not only were the calls being reviewed by the Attorney General's office, the content of the calls could be used against him. It's hard to know why Ellick wanted to discuss this with Buster not even a week after Buster was like, surface stuff only please. But part of me suspects that he's decided he could use this phone power to help his

case. So maybe in the moment he thought it would be a good idea for law enforcement to hear this conversation and that maybe they'd be like, hey guys, guys, Ellick is saying there's nothing to the Gloria and Stephen Smith cases. Crazy that we thought things weren't adding up there. At any rate, it is surreal hearing him say their names, especially with such disdain. Also, with Gloria, who was the woman who raised Ellick's sons, by the way, he is absolutely minimizing the harm that was done to her and her family.

And logically, there is a lot of mystery surrounding her death. Think about it. No one saw her trip over the dogs. Ellick is the only one who allegedly heard her say that she tripped over the dogs, even though she was in and out of consciousness at the time. There are several inconsistencies in the details surrounding her death, enough inconsistencies to prompt a new investigation from Sled into her death and the exhumation of her body. And don't forget, Ellick admittedly stole millions of dollars from her death settlement.

So yes, that's a mystery and anyone who ever cared about Gloria would want those questions to be answered for the sake of her family. But it's clear that Buster isn't paying attention to details here. And again, I can't imagine how hard this must be on him, especially on top of grieving the loss of his mother and brother. But Ellick doesn't accept that Buster is trying to stay out of this. He keeps pressing. If you'll remember, Andy Savage was Sandy Smith's attorney until Sandy fired him last

he told a reporter that the Murdochs weren't connected to the Steven Smith case before talking to Sandy. There still haven't been any arrests and we still don't know what happened to Steven. But here it sounds like Ellick was astonished that what Andy Savage told the press didn't work. That it didn't solve the issue of people logically making the jump that the Murdochs, whose names are all over the case file, might have had something to do with Steven's case. I'm not sure if you caught this part, but Buster said back to him, yeah, I don't think

anybody took to heart what Andy Savage was saying. Andy Savage is a really well known, expensive, high profile, highly connected defense attorney in Charleston. We still have a lot of questions about who's interest ended up being served best during his time representing Sandy. Apparently when a key component of his agreement with her seemed to be that she not publicly comment on the case at a time when she should have been encouraged to put Steven's name in the headlines every day.

Okay, so that all was said. And then for the only time in all of these phone calls, Buster brings up the double homicide investigation. So here, Buster is referring to our reporting on this podcast and on Fitznews that published back in January about physical evidence linking Alec to the double homicide according to our sources. I was always curious if Alec's family would have all changed their behavior toward him after hearing about this evidence.

And it seems like from the calls, they didn't change at all, which shows that they're willing to accept Alec's narrative. Whether this is because they actually believe it or they want to believe it or they need to believe him for their own sanity, I don't know. Based on listening to hours of these phone calls, we think Alec is definitely painting himself as a guy who made some mistakes and that Sled and the AG's office are setting him up and making an example out of him because they feel pressured to do so by the media. We'll talk about those comments a little bit later.

But I also want to point out one more thing. Buster commenting about Sled saying, I would not count on Sled to help in any way. It's telling because their reputation up until this past year is that they could rely on law enforcement to help them in several ways. This is an entirely new reality for them. But more telling is Alec's reaction to that statement. He doesn't ask any follow-up questions like what evidence or I don't understand how they haven't arrested anyone in your brother and mother's murders.

Instead, he quickly changes the subject. I was just curious. All right, my man, you get some rest and now what time do you get on the road tomorrow? About 8am. I'll give you a call sometime when I can. Buster, what's going on with COVID out there? It must be going crazy. It's this new variant.

It's Omnicon or whatever. Omnicon. Omnicon. That's it. Omnicon. Omnicon. Whatever. Yeah.

And we'll be right back. Ever since Richland County released the latest batch of Jailhouse phone calls, a lot of you have sent me messages asking the same thing. Was he ever mentioned the investigation into the murders of his wife and son? Aside from the phone call that we just played, were Buster mentions my reporting on the physical evidence linking Ellic to the double homicide, which they both completely brushed off. There was no mention of the actual status of the investigation. Nor did Ellic ever mention a concern for Buster's safety or the safety of his family

members. However, and we have to consider this, we were not given about half of the phone calls that Ellic placed during this time period. From October through December, more than a third of the phone calls we requested were held back by Richland County. We're not sure yet what was held back from this latest batch, but should know soon. Some of these calls Ellic had with his attorney, but others were with family members. According to the county, the family calls were held back because they contained personal

information and the county had no way to redact those parts. So they held back the whole call, which is not the way the FOIA law is intended to work, so we will be looking into that more. One thing we learned from this latest batch of calls is that Ellic clearly loves a three way call and thinks nothing of ordering one up whenever he feels like it, which again is against the jail's rules. We've definitely detected in several phone calls references to conversations we haven't heard, and we get the sense that Ellic might be using his Jim Griffin calls and meetings

as a shield for his more controversial conversations. There were some roundabout mentions of Maggie and Paul in the murders at Moselle. In this call on October 30th, Ellic suggests that Buster go hunting at Moselle, the property where his mother and brother were murdered just a few months before this phone call. And here, Buster is like no dad. And his dad is saying okay but, and he keeps pressing him. Jim who? Jim Griffin.

Oh, I let him hunt deer out there? What are you talking about? No, I'm talking about, I didn't know if you wanted to hunt doves out there. If you do, then I want you to do it. If not, then I'm going to let him do it. He knows how to facilitate a dove hunt? What? I said he knows how to facilitate a dove hunt?

Well, I mean, you know, I don't think it would be, I hadn't really, I don't know. You just do you want a dove hunt out there? No, not at all. But what was even weirder was what Ellic suggested to Buster around Christmas time. In this December 9th, 2021 phone call, Buster told his father that he was almost done with his Christmas shopping. And Ellic made a strange suggestion. Yeah, having a good day, I've been spending so much money and it hurts me. You know what?

People's Christmas presents? Well, I mean, I got a bad present for everybody. Well, it's a lot of people. I'll tell you this, Buster. What? You know, something that was mom of Paul's. I think people really like that. Well, I mean, I wasn't going to do that.

Maybe if I get out of here, which, like I say, I'm not optimistic, but we'll see. They seem to be optimistic, but they were optimistic the first time, too. Right. Anyway. Well, I mean, I've already bought everybody something. Well, we'll talk about finances when I get out of here, but I'm going to make sure you're okay. Well, I mean, I make money. I know.

And if I don't, if I don't go back in the spring, then I'll continue to make more effectively. I know. We'll talk about, anyway, we'll get all that square. Talk to you when we're not on this phone being recorded. Okay. All right, everything else is good? So there have been a few times while listening to these phone calls where Alex's behavior has left us speechless. This was one of them.

This call, which was around the same time when they talked about Maggie's belongings and the mysterious Blanca, who comes up a lot, came up again. Did you talk to Blanca? Um, no, I haven't talked to Blanca. All right. What am I supposed to tell her again? Just tell her that I want to give her a call and explain to her what she has to do, and that's okay with her. What is, oh, yeah, with the account? Yeah.

And will you do that today? I'd like to call her over the holidays. Yeah, I'll do that today, man. Me and Blanca have been rubbing on the same cylinder. What? I said, me and Blanca, I've got some serious problems with the way Blanca's done some things. Like what? You know, man, I went out in the nose the other day.

She doesn't tell anybody. I mean, she's packed up everything in the nose, though. I don't know where anything is, so I can't find anything that I want. You know, and she doesn't, you know, she calls Grandma and looks for permission to go out there and take Mom's clothes with her and stuff like that. And I was like, you know what, Grandma? You need to tell her. She needs to call me. Yeah, she's just trying to help, though.

Remember that. But just tell her. I mean, tell Blanca the call he is. She's just trying to help. Here again is the mysterious Blanca, who we believe is the assistant for Russell Lafitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank. We do not at all blame Buster for having a problem here, because at some point in the weeks after this call, Blanca put several items of Maggie's clothing on sale on Poshmark. And these were not Maggie's back-of-the-closet clothes in Blanca's closet, either.

These were items of clothing that the people in her life remember well and closely associate with her, such as a $260 quilted jacket Maggie wore often that Blanca sold for $60 and a pair of $500 Golden Goose sneakers that she sold for $200. Blanca says Blanca just wanted to help and maybe that is the case, but it's an incredibly strange thing to go online and sell items of clothing that belong to one of the victims in one of the nation's most talked about and still unsolved murder cases. Like with everything else in Ellic Murdoch's realm, there are so many questions here. Was Blanca authorized by the Murdoch family to do this? If so, did she keep the money for herself? Does this have anything to do with a mysterious account Blanca was setting up that is referenced in Call with Buster?

Did Ellic tell her to sell the clothes as a way of circumventing the receivership? I have to say, in a case that features several horrifying and inhumane details, this sale of Maggie's clothing ranks pretty high. Blanca is selling the clothes of a murdered mom, potentially as a way to help the only publicly named person of interest in her death. Why not sell Ellic's clothing? We highly doubt he's going to need them again. Now, another bizarre thing we learned in these latest calls is how obsessed Ellic seems with getting Buster to connect him with Maggie's parents, Terry and Kennedy Brandstetter, whom Ellic refers to repeatedly as Grandma and Papa T. Not only does he pester Buster about whether Buster thinks they would be okay with talking to Ellic,

he continues to nag him about getting an inmate calling card set up for them, without ever being told to our knowledge that yes, in fact, they would like to speak with him. There are a few times in the calls when Ellic gets emotional about Maggie and Paul, which he should be, and they do seem like genuine moments of grief to the point he is unable to talk. But there's also a very performative nature to the grief, and this isn't a characterization. More than a dozen times during these calls, Ellic asked Liz Murdock and Lynn Murdock, or asked Buster to ask Liz Murdock to place flowers at the still unmarked grave sites of Maggie and Paul, which is really nice. Super appropriate, very thoughtful, and emotional, especially around some of the holiday calls.

Except every time Ellic asked for that to be done, he also wanted something else from it. We'll share a few of those phone calls with you. Here's one from December 19th. For what? For what? I think, Buster, for Mother and Paul. Okay, I mean, this is the first time I'm hearing of this. I know, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'll tell her.

Will you tell her right now? Yeah, it will. What do you want me to tell her? To get flowers sent over there? Yeah. All right, I just told her. Thank you so much. She said she'd do it.

Yeah. Good. Is Brooklyn with you, too? And then Liz said she'd put them out? Yes. All right. And will you ask her to let Grandma and Marion know she put them out? Yes.

You do that right now before you forget? Yeah, I'm going to do it as soon as we get all the time. Almost every request for flowers ends with a request to make sure Maggie's mom and dad and sister Marion know that he made this happen. Here's a call from November 24th with Liz Murdock. Will you do me a favor? Will you make sure that Grandma and Marion know you put not flowers so they won't worry about it?

Mm-hmm. From December 22nd. And all that stuff was taken care of with the flowers and the grid sites. So just a heads up on that. Right there. Hello. I'm here. So all that's been done, I think Lynn did it.

All right. So do they tell Grandma? Yes. I believe that, I believe Liz did. I asked her to do it. I think she did. And December 23rd. Sorry to bug you back real quick.

Hey, Buss. Buss. It's very important for me for you to let Grandma and Papa T, Marion and Bart, all the doctors know that it worries me to death how much I know this has made it hard on them like I've told on you, too. Make sure they know that I worry about them. Okay. Will you do that?

Yes. It makes your Marion knows we put flowers out. She already knows. There are a couple of things sources have told us about Alec's relationship with Maggie's family. They weren't especially tight, though Maggie was fully immersed in the world of Murdoch. Alec was only a sometimes participant in his in-laws' lives. We've been told that Alec seemed jealous of Maggie's brother-in-law, who is very successful

and wealthy. After the murders, it struck several people who knew Maggie and Alec as peculiar that Alec would spend so much time with his in-laws. Maybe he did it for Buster. Maybe it was to get away from home. Some have suggested that it was a way for Alec to monitor what Maggie's family knew about the situation and to monitor what they might tell law enforcement. Though we have no doubt that his grief is real, Alec's seeming obsession with the

brand stedders knowing about his act of kindness seems like another one of his manipulations, like he was priming Maggie's parents to be on his side. Oh, and another thing we noticed. Around the time of Alec's first bond reduction hearing, when his lawyers were trying to argue that he deserved a lower bond, Alec started asking about reaching out to Paul's friends a lot. 10-4. I was getting ready to ask you something.

Buster. Yeah. I know I put a lot on you and I don't want to keep adding stuff to you, but I want to get somebody to reach out to a couple of Paul's friends. Okay. Who would you like to reach out to? Do you want to do that or do you want to get somebody else to? I mean, I can do it.

You just tell me who. I thought the will weapon the other day. What's he up to? Not the man. He just called and said he was checking in. We'll call it for a minute. That was good. I'll let you know.

What? Who are the people you want me to call to? I'll get you a list. I'll let you know. Why don't you just write me another letter and put the people in that? Unless writing letters are too difficult to get sent out. Well, I'll let you know. I'll either do that or I'll let you know when you have time and have a pen to write it down.

But I don't want to bother you with it if you won't have time to do it. I'm not fussing at you, but it was important to me to let Lynn and Randy know. They told me you didn't call them or text them. I know you don't have time. You just got to let me know when you don't have time to do something I asked you to do. I mean, it's not a matter of time. I just, you know, just forgive sometimes. Well, and I understand that too.

I definitely do. So, I mean, don't let it worry you. You know, you know how much you've done. When we watched Alec's December Bond hearing, Mandy and I both felt pretty strongly that Alec was using his statement to send messages to people on the outside that he still had their backs. Alec mentioned Corey Fleming and Chris Wilson in an effort to vouch for their innocence in his alleged schemes. Corey, as you know, has since been indicted for his alleged role in stealing money from Alec's clients. And Chris Wilson has been working hard in the media to separate himself from Alec.

Interesting to note, by the way, that Alec did not mention Russell Lefitte's name to the judge during his statement. Remember when we reported in episode 37 that prior to his October arrest on the Satterfield charges, Alec had texted Corey from rehab to really guilt trippy texts, neither of which offered an apology. Three days after his first round of indictments in November, which included more serious Satterfield charges, Alec wrote to Corey from jail, apologizing and lamenting all the harm he had caused Corey and his family. He also told Corey to let him know whether he could help him in any way at all. Why did he do this?

Maybe he's just that kind of nice guy. Or maybe he knew he was going to have to fight harder than ever to get on a bond and needed all the support he could get from the outside. We think there's a reason for everything Alec does or doesn't do. As it relates to this last phone call, we remember thinking it was really strange that during that same courtroom statement, Alec made it a point to mention Paul's friends and tell the judge how he was afraid his detention was, quote, alienating them. We know that the Murdochs were generally close to their son's friends. Many of their friends called Alec Big Red. But the word alienating is a peculiar one to use in this scenario.

Why would his detention be alienating to the friends of his deceased son? Are they depending on him for something he can no longer provide because of his detention? Or do they know certain things about the Murdoch family? And now that Alec is behind bars, he can't quite manage keeping the door shut on that dark library of knowledge. We obviously don't know the answers, but these are questions worth asking. Why is it so important for Alec to maintain a relationship with his son's friends? Maybe this has to do with his grief. Maybe it's his loneliness in jail.

Maybe he wants more pen pals or people to ask favors of. Or maybe it's about good old-fashioned control. Another thing about that statement Alec gave in his December bond hearing. It seems like he really wanted the public to hear it. Buster, what kind of, what old media was out there about this last bond hearing? Dad, I hate to tell you, but I've blocked all the outlets that produce articles about this stuff because I just got tired of seeing it, so I don't see it a whole lot anymore. I don't blame you. I was just curious if, you know, they asked me to say something, Judge Lee.

I was curious if they printed any of that or they just didn't, you don't know? Yeah, I mean they had very, very little excerpts about it, but I mean it was like two, three sentences. It's just mentioned that you spoke about me and I think that you mentioned that you and what else? I think the exact quote that circulated was the part where you're talking about, you know, that you apologize and want to be able to, you know, get released and to, you know, start to mend things and, you know, kind of that little portion of it. It was very, very brief. Talking about, like, the love and support that you get and then people went off on tangents talking about, you know, none of his family's ever at the bond hearings, but he's clearly got no love and support, don't know what he's talking about. Simple stuff like that. People would talk shit, but, you know, I'm way past worrying about what people that don't matter say, you know, there's so many people in there that they don't have a freaking clue.

It's easier for you, you don't run into these people in public. Which people? Any people that have a negative outlook on this thing. Do you know who they are? We have noticed a recurring theme after listening to hours and hours of Elix conversations, and that's on top of years of reporting on this family. The word narcissist comes up a lot when people describe what is going on with Elix Murdoch. The Mayo Clinic describes narcissistic personality disorder as a mental condition of persons who, quote, have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others. According to the Mayo Clinic, people with narcissistic personality disorder have, quote, an exaggerated sense of self importance.

They believe they are, quote, superior and can only associate with equally special people. They expect, quote, special favors and unquestioning compliance with their expectations, and they take advantage of others to, quote, get what they want. Multiple studies have found that a common defense among narcissists is victim mentality or blame shifting. It is apparent in these phone calls that Elix has a victim mentality and uses it as a primary manipulation tactic to maintain control over his family members. Like in this November 23rd phone call, days after he was indicted on 27 charges for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from several clients, including the Satterfield family and an injured law enforcement officer, Elix is very clear with Buster about how he should be feeling about this. Jim and them told me the grand jury indicted a bunch more things on the last Friday, but you know that's just overkill, right? Yeah, I mean they're just trying to pile it on me now, you know that, right?

Yeah, I'm aware, but I can take it. So don't let it worry you. He wants his son to feel bad for him and he wants his son to believe that the system is making an example of him. He does this with John Marvin too. He's, um, you know, he's making a discussion at all. He's making as many charges as he can, just saying he ain't taking it easy on me. That's right, but that's what it is. It's important to note that Elix family members do not push back when he attempts to elicit sympathy. They just comply and follow his script. After his December bond hearing, there were multiple calls in which Elix joked with family members about paying his $7 million bond. Another kick he was on, he suddenly became an expert on how unfairly he was being treated in the grand scheme of the nation's worst white collar criminals. Well, yeah, I just don't know how they, I don't know, I don't know what goes under that.

Bernie Madoff had a $10 million bond. He took $10 billion. That dude from Sungold, it's over $380 million. $2,400 investors, $100,000. Yeah. That lawyer that stole money from clients where he told them if he didn't, they didn't turn over their retirement system, their retirement monies to him. They were going to lose it and took it, $100,000 bond, $6.5 million dollars. Anyway, it is what it is. Are you okay? In fact, he compared himself to Bernie Madoff several times. What's that? You got my bond posted yet? Yeah, I'm writing him a check as we speak.

You didn't have some shit. That's crazy, bud. Like Bernie Madoff got a $10 million bond. Yeah, man, I'm just crazy. The Homegold, did you brush your teeth? No. The Homegold guy that stole $340 million. $2,800 clients.

Man, I hadn't heard. $100,000. The lawyer in Lexington stole $6.5 million from people from their retirement accounts. Not money he made in cases. I'm not saying there's any big difference, but there's a little bit of difference. $100,000. I have a boy. That's crazy, yeah? Anyway, let me know what I'm talking about.

I asked Buster to text Kim, and he said you did. So this is another moment during the phone calls that really struck me as especially significant because it gives such insight into how Ellick thinks about what he allegedly did to his clients. He's literally putting himself in a different category, a better category from these other bad guys because the thing he is accused of is not taking money that his clients already had, but rather money that he had acquired for them. We definitely theorized for a while that this was how he was able to justify his actions to himself and maybe others. Because of his family name, the work his forefathers and their law partners did

to secure the loyalty of Hampton County judges and juries, and because of the family's connections and power and the litany of favors they collected over the years, Ellick was able to win his clients these settlements that were far larger than they would have gotten somewhere else, like lottery winnings. To his mind, it seems, some of that money going back to the house, meaning to him, maybe wasn't stealing so much as it was secretly taking back some of what he felt was owed to him for loaning his family name to a case. Think of it this way, the Murdoch family, over generations, created an industry,

and at the heart of that industry there was a very effective judicial machine that they built and continued to pass onto their sons. Bernie Madoff is just a guy who outright stole from people. Totally different from Big Red. We'll be right back. Bernie Madoff, a textbook narcissist who Ellick loves comparing himself to. But one more thing you need to know about narcissists. They often get angry when things don't go their way.

And all of us agree, after listening to hours and hours of these phone calls, anger isn't really a feeling we sense from Ellick throughout a majority of these conversations. But in this December 22nd conversation with Liz Murdoch, I hear some anger and resentment in his voice when he's talking about media coverage of the case. You know, handpicking what they print, only printing negative stuff without putting it in context with other stuff, you know, taking a snippet that when you look at it in its totality, there's nothing to it. But if you take a little blurb, you know, it sounds bad in the media.

I mean, it get out all the time. But anyway, the only thing that worries me about it is, you know, I know it's hard for y'all, you know, and I know it's hard for grandma and papa T and me and Bart, and it worries me a little bit for Buster. I'm not sure he quite knows how to deal with it yet. Well, I don't really ask him, but I feel like he doesn't read it that much. He told me a lot about most of the stuff, but, you know, he still does nothing. I worry to death about grandma and papa T, because I'm, you know.

Well, yeah, I do think Mary Ann's told me that they read it, but I think they only read the pop books in Courier. They're stuff that they don't read. You know, the more tabloid you kind of want. Throughout this entire case, the Murdoch camp has tried time and time again to frame Elik as a victim. After the suicide for a higher incident in September, Elik and his attorneys wanted us to believe that he was the targeted victim

of a roadside shooting. When that narrative quickly began to crumble, they switched gears and framed him as a drug addict. We haven't seen any evidence that Elik was actually addicted to opioids, but we find it very interesting that this was the drug that the Murdoch team seems to have chosen for him. It is the one drug whose addicts America has collectively decided to look upon sympathetically.

His lawyers wanted us to believe that he stole millions of dollars from his clients simply because he had a drug addiction that was out of control. His lawyers wanted us to believe that he was impecunious and his financial state was ruinous. When in reality, these jailhouse phone calls reveal the exact opposite. All along, Elik has wanted our sympathy. Sympathy for losing his wife and son, sympathy for his drug addiction, and sympathy for his poor financial state.

When he didn't get that sympathy he wanted from the public and a lot of the media, he made sure he got it from his family. In the 14 hours of tapes we've listened to, we never heard the voice of a man who was truly sorry for letting down those who loved him. We didn't hear the voice of a man who recognized the damage that he's caused so many. We heard the voice of a narcissist clinging to the little control

he still has left over his own family members. Being an investigative journalist is sometimes exciting, but following a trail until you reach the full story of something, meaning the truth, the 360 degrees of truth that is, is not for the faint of heart because along these trails you meet people who are hurting. You encounter complex issues that are frustrating to untangle, and you deal with the unsavory characters

who will suck the joy out of you if you let them. While you're on these trails, you have onlookers lining both sides, most of whom are cheering you on. Some are shouting out insults at you, and others are throwing obstacles in the way. When it came to these jail tapes, we did not have the support of our fellow South Carolina journalists, some of whom seem to be cool with regarding the calls as private

and therefore inaccessible. And I'm not bringing this up to schooled those journalists, but rather to explain why their position on this was dangerous. Alec Murdoch is Alec Murdoch. Because he could be, right? The ecosystem in this state was made for him. We all know that now. We only knew what it looked like from the outside.

These tapes have given us amazing insight into the man Alec is. Not the man he wants us to believe he is. The guy who is hyper aware he's being recorded, but also in an environment that makes him vulnerable by its very definition. By listening to his phone calls and sharing them with our readers at Fitznews and our listeners on this podcast, we are arming you with insight of how the powerful operate and how they will try to cling to whatever modicum of control they can

as their house of cards starts to fall. With your support, we were able to catch the system off guard. The system did not expect us to ask for a listen. And here we are. We hope these calls, particularly the latest ones that we've shared, not only give you better insight into how things work for certain families in South Carolina, but also empower you in your own lives. We were dealing with narcissists or sociopaths,

whether in friendships, at home, work, or even in your community. Remember, it's about control. Alec has his narrative. And based on how our fellow journalists reacted to the jailhouse phone calls and based on their histories of constantly accepting these pre-packaged narratives from the Murdoch team over and over again, we feel it's more important now than ever not just to shine a light on all angles of this,

but to hold up a mirror. This is the man at the center of the story. He is telling us who he is. And we are choosing to believe him on that. The Murdoch Murders podcast is created by me, Mandy Matney, and my fiance, David Moses. Our executive editor is Liz Farrell. Produced by Luna Shark Productions.