Murdaugh Murders Podcast - What’s Behind The Big Leaks About Police Chief Greg Alexander and Murdaugh Murder Weapons? (167pt1)

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Starting point is 00:02:26 the murdock murders but after a post and courier reported that sled is investigating yemisee police Chief, Greg Alexander, for his alleged involvement, it is past time that we talk about what the facts really say about what happened that night and why we still have so many questions. My name is Mandy Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption, previously known as the Murdocharters podcast. True Sunlight is a Lunar Shark production written with journalist Liz Farrell. So, Yemisee Chief, of police, Greg Alexander, a name that you should be very familiar with if you've been listening to us for a while. Well, he is suddenly in the hot seat and we are here for it. Finally, I don't know

Starting point is 00:03:23 what's going on in South Carolina, but after so many years of screaming how crazy it is that Ehrlich Murdoch's best friend Greg Alexander is still a police chief and how Judge Carmen Mullen is still on the bench, it's like a switch. Flipped, and suddenly, these people are no longer untouchable. But this is South Carolina. We aren't going to get our hopes up too high. We know to be cautious of big news like this, throwing good old boyfriends under the bus

Starting point is 00:03:54 right as an election season is popping off. But still, there appears to be big movement happening in expanding the Murdoch murder's investigation to where it should have been all along, looking at not just who killed Maggie and Paul Murdoch on June 7th, 2021, but who helped the killer and who hid the weapons. On Sunday, September 27, 26th, Post and Courier journalist Jason Ryan reported major news in the Murdoch murder's investigation

Starting point is 00:04:27 that Greg Alexander and another police officer were being investigated by sled for allegations of tampering with and transporting the weapons used to kill Maggie and Paul Murdoch. Those weapons have never been found, and we have been raising big questions on where they went, and if Greg Alexander had anything to do with their disappearance. The Post and Courier also reported that Alexander and another unnamed Yemisee cop could be the subject of an upcoming grand jury hearing. And guess who is representing Brake Alexander in case he does appear for that hearing? None other but Joe McCullough

Starting point is 00:05:10 Y'all, I thought we were done with Dick's Maltese-looking bestie, but of course we aren't. This is South Carolina with several thousand attorneys, but somehow, less than a dozen of them appear over and over and over in the Murdoch saga. McCola represented Connor Cook in the boat crash case after Connor believed that Ellick was trying to pin the boat crash on him, and Connor realized that it was a bad idea to be represented by Ehrlich Murdoch's best friend, Corey Fleming.

Starting point is 00:05:41 McCola attended every day of the Murdoch's trial with a mysterious press badge, even though he was, and still is, an attorney. He claimed he was writing a Hollywood screenplay about the Murdoch case, and yes, I really hope he was jealous of the one that actually came to life with Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark. McCullough is the busiest of busy bees, and of course he was right there willing and able to represent Myra Crosby, aka Monkey Farm juror, aka Egg Lady, after she was kicked off the jury by Judge Newman for allegedly talking about the case when she was instructed not to. McCullough also represented juror Z, aka Mandy Pierce, aka the only voting juror who claimed that Becky Hill influenced her vote and pretty much the judge. the whole reason, besides Becky and her book, which was reportedly influenced by Joe McCullough, that Ehrlich got a new trial.

Starting point is 00:06:41 Interesting, how he represented both of them, yeah? Oh, and also Joe McCullough represented Blanca somehow when she was writing her book, the one that Dick has said he plans on picking apart because she's a witness in the case. And now he's representing Greg Alexander. Another key player in the never-ending Murdoch Circus. Let's start with what the posting courier reported over the weekend. David, will you start with some excerpts from Jason Ryan's story? Allegations about the police officers were heard during interviews

Starting point is 00:07:20 this reporter conducted for his non-fiction book, Swamp Kings, the Murdoch family of South Carolina and a century of Backwood's power. Oh, not Jason Ryan's self-promotion. Try the next excerpt. Nothing was heard from SLED until last month when a different agent approached this reporter who had since been hired by the post-end courier. That's just more things about Jason.

Starting point is 00:07:57 Months after the first trial ended in conviction, in 2023, this reporter met with David Owen, the lead sled investigative agent on the Murdoch case. Nope, that is still about Jason. This August, a sled agent spoke with this post and courier reporter about his knowledge of the alleged incident. Okay, that's still, good Lord. I have never seen this many self-references in one news. story. Surely we're done by now. Keep going, David. The official claimed to sled agents, and in an interview with this reporter at the time that... Oh, wow. Okay. Um, I think we get it.

Starting point is 00:08:48 Jason Ryan, the reporter, did some reporting. Is there anything about Greg Alexander in the story about Greg Alexander? Was Jason able to fit some news in there about him? Yemisee Police Chief Greg Alexander and another town policeman are accused of having transported weapons and bloody clothing into the town's police department. There it is. Y'all, like Mandy said, this is big, but also, why has this taken so long? From the moment, Chief Alexander stepped onto Moselle the night of the murders, There has been a lot of talk about his involvement in the case for many reasons, and we're going to

Starting point is 00:09:35 talk about those reasons today. Starting with the biggest reason why we have been highly suspicious of Greg Alexander since at least 2022. Weeks after the murders, when Ehrlich Murdoch was very much broke and in debt, Eleg Murdoch Murdoch paid Greg Alexander a $5,000 check. Greg said that that money was for his parents and, that he was just the middleman. But what kind of a best friend asked for a loan for their parents right after your best friend's wife and son were murdered? And how did Ellick even have $5,000 to loan him?

Starting point is 00:10:15 And why would a police chief accept $5,000 from the number one suspect in the biggest double homicide investigation in state history just weeks after it happened? Nothing about that $5,000 ever made sense. Also, remember at Alex's trial when Paul's friend, Nolan, Tutin, described his job as a runner for PMPED from 2019 to 2022, he said he would frequently cash checks for ELEC and bring the cash back to ELEC's office, where sometimes he would encounter none other but Corey Fleming, who was in prison somewhere now, and Greg Alexander. How quickly Jim Griffin made sure to shut down any notion that Greg was accepting money from Ehrlich? Remember how he made sure to correct Nolan that he had no knowledge of Greg ever paying

Starting point is 00:11:11 Ehrlich? Team Murdoch sure made sure throughout the trial that every single time Greg Alexander's name was mentioned, no wrongdoing would be attached to it. It was like they got a memo that said only good things about Greg, and they all complied. But here at True Sunlight slash the Murdoch Murdoch's podcast, we have not heard all good things about Greg for years. Since 2021, actually, when a source of mine specifically told me to look into Elex's police chief friend, Greg Alexander. We have been asking questions about Greg for years. So why is Slet slash the AG's office? Finally, investigating someone that seemed obviously worth investigating years ago? Also, I know that it's dumb to ask why is this taken so long?

Starting point is 00:12:03 Because the answer could be a number of reasons, right? Some of them might even be legitimate. The more important question is why now? Is this in response to Dick and Jim's stellar performance at the last pretrial hearing? When Jim Griffin told the court that the weapon used in an Allendale, murder earlier this year was the weapon used to kill Maggie Murdoch. Remember how he tried to shock the court with that one? And it was shocking until you realized that the source he was citing was a recent obscure podcast

Starting point is 00:12:40 episode from Fitz News reporters Will Folks and Jen Wood, who's unethical and unprofessional in our opinions, actions during and after the first murder trial helped bolster the defense's argument that ELEC deserved a new trial. For those who missed it, now former Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill, let Will folks into the courthouse after hours where he took photos of evidence that had been sealed by a court order. Then, after the trial, Jen Wood sent some of those photos, specifically one showing Paul Murdoch with his brains blown out, to a fan of the Murdoch case, she befriended online.

Starting point is 00:13:18 Interesting how Jim Griffin trusted them on that, right? But I'm glad he did. It gave all of us an opportunity to see yet another judge scold him in front of the universe. The main issue that Judge Deborah McCasland had with Jim's antics that day was that Jim was springing this on the prosecution and should have sought to get answers about the weapon rumor from the state before the hearing. But was getting answers even the point? I mean, I've been at this long enough to know that that is a good question to ask here, and I ask it because I know how important smoke and mirrors are to the defense's strategy.

Starting point is 00:13:53 But back to our original question of, why now? Is news getting leaked now about Chief Alexander's alleged role in hiding the murder weapons and the bloody clothing, according to Jason Ryan, the this reporter of the Post and Courier story, as a counterpunch to team Murdoch's attempt to create a narrative that SLED and the Attorney General are hiding information about the Murdoch murder rifle, the 300 blackout, being used in another local murder this spring, which it wasn't. But is this a message to Team Murdoch? You want information about the murder weapon?

Starting point is 00:14:28 Well, here's some for the public to chew on for a while. We're going to talk about Greg Alexander in a second, but right now is a good time for us to talk about Team Murdoch's aggressive, and I'm not saying that disparagingly. Stance right now, when it comes to discovery, they say the state is withholding from them. Over the past two weeks, Team Murdoch has filed two whopping motions to compel,

Starting point is 00:14:52 accusing the state of withholding evidence to include DNA data for Maggie's fingernails, phone extraction data, ballistics reports, and data from a 3D scan of kennels the night of the murders. And given what we know about T. Murdoch, it's hard to judge whether these are real discovery issues or whether it's just them using all available opportunities in another attempt to grab some headlines and persuade some potential jurors and prejudice the judge against the state, because the headlines have been, well, predictable, as always. But what else could we expect from Alex's team of media strategists? Sorry, I meant his team of attorneys, attorneys slash media strategists.

Starting point is 00:15:36 And you know, kudos to Dick and Jim, because they've really mastered the apparently very easy job of manipulating the press to carry their messaging that the state is withholding evidence, which seems shady. In the lead-up to the first murder trial, remember how they were generating headlines like nobody's business? They were like, who wants some bullshit soup? And reporters were like, me, I brought my own bowl. Let me tell you. Dick Harputlian knows his customer. He's been cooking this recipe since he lived in the cave next door to Fred Flintstone. Every bowl of his

Starting point is 00:16:12 bullshit soup gets an automatic five-star review on Yelp from the media, metaphorically speaking. It's like Dick Harbooleon said there would be beef in the soup, but there wasn't any. Well, that's okay, though. Still delicious. Thanks, Harpo. Can't wait for the next bowl. There was a smugness to the whole thing during the lead-up to the first trial, too, because why wouldn't there be? Just picture Dick and Jim under a tailgate tent, wearing sunglasses that don't fit, and haphazardly ladling out their soup with, we-gut-them smiles on their faces. They didn't even need to look at the bowls to see if the soup was making it in there.

Starting point is 00:16:47 They just ladled that mess into the air with full confidence that a reporter would be there to catch it before it hit the ground. No one in the media was using napkins either. You could see the bullshit soup congealed in the corners of their mouth and staining their button-ups. It was disgusting to watch, but that's how it had always worked for Dick. And now here we are again, except it's worse. Same soup. Don't get me wrong there. That recipe has not changed. But the way Dick and Jim were serving it has. Before, it was like slop in a trough, ironclad alibi,

Starting point is 00:17:23 Maggie and Paul were butchered, Elyke was napping. He was shot in the head while changing a tire, entry wound, exit wound, convivial family fun, two short killers, grieving widower. The state never looked at any other suspect, drugs, kennels, cousin Eddie. I mean, just plop, plop, plop, constant soup being slopped into the trough with not a worry that every last drop wouldn't get eaten. Right down to the way Moselle was staged for the jurors

Starting point is 00:17:52 with little prompts here and there, like a stuffed chicken dog toy at the kennels, a man's shirt hanging in the window, pottery painted by a child with Buster's name on it, Maggie's bike, you know, the one that she might have taken down to the kennels that night, but she didn't. Anyway, this time around,

Starting point is 00:18:11 well, like I said, the soup seems to be getting served a little differently. Dick and Jim are wearing aprons and chef's hats, and the soup has been pre-ladled neatly into tall plastic shot glasses. Every person who picks up a serving of it acts like they're indulging in something complex and significant. First, they sniff it to be like, hmm, I'm detecting notes of, I'm not helping Dick and Jim. I'm just asking questions. Then they let the soup hit the palate. I'm tasting Ehrlich was wronged by the state again.

Starting point is 00:18:44 and a little bit of this should concern all of us. And finally, they swallow. It has an aftertaste of all of this raises questions. After they're done, either Dick or Jim will lean over the metaphorical table to dab at the soup eater's mouth and remove their bib, and off they go to write the headlines. The soup eater walks away feeling like a fully educated expert on soup, giving zero consideration to the not-so-hidden ingredient.

Starting point is 00:19:14 They never seem to ask, why does this soup remind me of rodeo air? Or am I smelling or tasting baked grassy earth in the soup? Or is that bullshit I just ate? Nope, never. But I guess that's why we're here. We don't eat at the dick and gym table. So let's talk about their last batch of soup after a quick commercial break. I stared at screens and court documents for years through the same beat-up pair of glasses.

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Starting point is 00:20:49 I dig until I find the truth. And it turns out, That same instinct that drives my investigative journalism? It makes for a different but pretty amazing new kind of travel show. Wherever it leads is Luna Sharks' brand new podcast. And it's nothing like the travel content that you've heard before. We go deeper, we talk to locals, reporters, and people who actually live where you want to visit, not just the ones who want your tourist dollars.

Starting point is 00:21:16 We cover the food and landmarks, sure, but we also ask the harder questions. What is the real history here? The often sad and traumatic history. What new challenge is this place facing? And how can you show up as a visitor who actually makes things better? My co-host David Moses and I, along with a team of journalists, are hitting destinations around the world to expose the truth, give voice to victims throughout history, and get the story straight.

Starting point is 00:21:44 With new destinations and episodes every other week. Wherever It Leads from Lunashark. Find it wherever you listen to your book. podcast or visit wherever it leads pod.com. On September 18th, 2026, Team Murdoch filed a 27-page motion to compel discovery from the state with more than 60 pages of exhibits attached. And on September 28th, they filed a second motion to compel along with a memorandum in support of their first motion.

Starting point is 00:22:20 In the meantime, there have been no filings from the state. And when I tell you, we cannot wait to read those, believe me, we are on the verge of of driving to the AG's office ourselves at this point. Okay, so immediately, before we even read the motions, we were like, yep, this makes sense. Of course, Dick and Jim are going to find a way to get dizzying motions to compel evidence on the table and make it look like the state is hiding something

Starting point is 00:22:47 and that the evidence is weak. I'm not knocking them for doing it. I'm just noting that this is expected and should be expected, especially with a motion to dismiss under consideration. It's all part of the plan, no. The second that Elex's conviction for murdering Maggie and Paul Murdoch was overturned in May, Dick and Jim kicked into gear. They were on talk shows like boom, boom, boom,

Starting point is 00:23:12 saying, we have so much proof that he didn't do it this time. We're going to need so many more experts for the retrial because of everything that we found. There's so much that y'all don't know about and we're not telling you what. Listen to them at this press conference they held in May, outside of Dick's Columbia office. Do you guys have any new evidence to present your case like full? Well, we have, where'd you go for? I'm right here. Okay.

Starting point is 00:23:44 We have received a number of pieces of information post-trial. Some of them came just to us. Some of that came just to us. Some of that went to sweat, too. And we don't know what they did with it. You know, once the trial was over, we don't. don't have the power to subpoena. We don't have the power to really investigate it all. All we did was after the trial was look into the jury misconduct. And we went around,

Starting point is 00:24:05 rode around Colleton County for a couple months through the swamp on the dirt roads to find these jurors and ask them questions. Man, he hated going to Colleton County, didn't he? Guess who fixes dirt roads, Dick? Legislators, weren't you one of them? Anyway, the rub of it seemed to be them returning to their tried and true defense of some other dude did it, something Liz learned directly from 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffy Stone. That's called a Sadi, S-O-D-I defense. During the trial, though, it was more like a SOSD defense, as in some other short dudes did it, which was after almost two years of Dick telling the media that T. Murdoch had his

Starting point is 00:24:52 own parallel investigation happening with rewards for information and that they had narrowed down some people of interest. And here we are during the second lead-up to the trial with Dick saying basically the same thing. In a previous episode of True Sunlight, we talked about how encouraging that was to us because it meant that they had nothing, despite this new promise of new experts and needing to sue Becky Hill for $600,000 to pay for them. That federal lawsuit, by the way, as being appealed after Judge Richard Gargol was like Dick, no, and ordered for that to be dismissed. Again, did they actually think that they had a chance of getting that money, or was that some smoke and mirrors for the headlines in the little Netflix mini-doc? You know, to remind

Starting point is 00:25:41 everyone that Ehrlich was a victim of Becky and her answering the sirens call of fame. Obviously, we think it's the latter. But now, with these new motions to compel, We can see us separate but sort of related strategy taking shape. During the hearing in which Judge McHasselin all but called Jim Griffin a naughty kitten over the Allendale murder weapon stunt, and especially during the first status hearing in the case earlier this summer, she made it very clear that she was going to let the defense get their discovery, that the defense was entitled to their discovery. Obviously, she is very much right.

Starting point is 00:26:21 But obviously, defense attorneys like Dick and Jim are going to immediately put that into their toolbox. You know, Jim? Yes, Dick. Judge McCaslin has been really good and fair about getting us the discovery we want. So let's show her how the state has been withholding discovery here and let's really jazz it up. Let's put some headline grabbers in there. In other words, one order of bullshit soup coming right up. I'm not saying that there's no merit to Team Murdoch's assertion that there's information the state has that they don't.

Starting point is 00:26:57 But I'm definitely saying I can't trust whether those requests are made in earnest or because, taken together, they help their narrative that the state is dishonest and that some other dude did it. We're not going to spend too much time talking about what the defense is asking for except for how it relates to the why now question of the Greg Alexander story. But let's do a quick look. First, the state gave the defense three pieces of evidence for the defense's private DNA lab, Othrum, to determine whether there was enough material available to further test. All of the evidence is related to fingernail clippings taken from Maggie and a swab of her iPhone,

Starting point is 00:27:41 which was found on the side of the road outside of Moselle the next day. Othrum says, well, exactly what the state told the judge they would. would, that further testing on this material would consume everything. Now again, does the defense truly believe that further testing is going to find something? Or is this about furthering the headlines and content creator chatter to help push that narrative of reasonable doubt? Maggie's fingernails is definitely a fan favorite among the Eleg Murdoch supporting trolls, but the male DNA found under her fingernails is minimal and not enough to create a full profile. According to the to a September 17th letter included in the filing, the state is fighting further testing of the

Starting point is 00:28:25 material in part because the male DNA is extremely low, and Othrum said the material is pretty much a sole sample from Maggie, and further testing is high risk. Team Murdoch, though, they say that the fingernail clippings on Maggie's right hand had more male DNA in it than the left-hand fingernails, And yet, during the first go-around, SLED reported that there was none. They claim that SLED diluted the sample of Maggie's right-hand fingernails 40 times more than they needed to, which masked the male DNA that was present. They also point out that SLED didn't do a YSTR testing on it to see if a further profile could be determined, nor did they submit the profile to KOTES, which they didn't do because, obviously, they were only

Starting point is 00:29:15 able to develop a partial profile from the evidence, meaning they could tell it was not Maggie's DNA, that it was a man, and that that man did not belong to the Murdoch paternal line. Now, that last part was known to the defense the first time around, so why now? But also, according to their own filing in which they share Othrom's findings in terms of how much material is available to test, even on that right hand, we are talking about trace level. of DNA. It's not likely that further testing will produce anything other than maybe another partial profile that also won't be able to be uploaded to CODIS. But it sure does create mystery, right? And it sure does give the defense room to ask the questions of Sled's lab on the stand. And it suits

Starting point is 00:30:07 their purposes in creating what seems so far to be a dishonest narrative that the state is withholding evidence from them. The second thing they want is the raw extracts from Elyke's phone, Maggie's phone, Paul's phones, as it turns out, there are at least two according to their most recent filing, and from the phones of Ehrlich's sister-in-law, who is Randy's wife, Christy Murdoch, who, from what we know, does not have a particularly close relationship with Ehrlich, nor did she have one with Maggie. Oh, and the defense wants the raw data from the phone of a guy named Timothy Gillespie. which who? Who is Timothy Gillespie? Let me check the stories that mainstream media wrote about this filing. Hang on a second. They just say Timothy Gillespie. No explanation

Starting point is 00:30:57 of how he fits into this, not even a say what? Who? Not even a mention that this guy wasn't on the witness list for the first trial, nor does he appear to be connected to Alec Murdoch or PMPED, at least through a public record search that we did. I mean, we've often, we've oftened. around and our sources don't seem to know who he is. Is this another red herring? Then there's what's called the Farrow 3D scan. Like I said, the defense wants the raw data from that if it still exists because the kennels have been torn down since the first trial. They want their experts to take a look at all of this. But also, their main goal seems to be to show the court that they're trying to coordinate with the state and the state isn't playing nice. But really, it looks

Starting point is 00:31:44 like the defense contacts the state and is like, give us this by this date. And then immediately, after the state doesn't respond according to that time window, they're like, judge, judge. But that's their job, I guess. I still can't help notice how it resembles the rules of engagement for a grade school-aged sibling fight. Okay, let's talk about the last item the defense is asking for, because this brings us right back to Greg Alexander and the guns. Remember the guns that were never recovered in this case? And this is the other thing that the pro-ellic trolls love to chomp about. Without mentioning that Paul's friend testified that they had shot Paul's 300 blackout

Starting point is 00:32:28 outside the house a few months before his killing and that sled recovered those spent casings. Compared them with the spent casings in Maggie Murdoch's murder and found them likely to be from the same weapon. They also did not mention that Ehrlich told police there was only one 300 blackout in that Paul's had been stolen, not telling investigators that they had replaced Paul's stolen rifle

Starting point is 00:32:55 with another one just like it, and that a relative of Elex, who works for DNR actually sold that rifle to them, denied that until after Sled found the canceled check for it from Maggie. Anyway, like with the DNA, this is another narrative that Team Murdoch wants to beef up and carry through. If they find the gun, they can create some reasonable doubt, right? The gun's just out there circulating, being used in other area murders. Interesting.

Starting point is 00:33:26 Wouldn't that mean that the other murderers could have maybe shot Maggie with it? Sure. Were they at the kennels that night, though? And what is going on here? This seems fishy. So let's talk about what Team Murdox says is a flip-flop from Sled in the state. In their motion, Dick and Jim point out that in 2023, Sled agent Jeff Croft testified that blackouts weren't that common and that he had never worked a murder in which one was used to kill someone.

Starting point is 00:33:57 But now the state's argument is that it's common for 300 blackouts to be used in crimes. The state says that since January 2021, they've received 720 blackout casings, which were entered into the national database. They say that they got blackout casings weekly, if not daily. Now, there's a little bit of an apples and oranges thing happening there that they could have easily gotten mixed, because in 2023 was Agent Croft, who was referencing a 2021 Murdoch case speaking only about the commonality of this weapon in relation to murders in his experience, at the time? Or was he saying that forever and always these are uncommon firearms, and that

Starting point is 00:34:43 is why Elek is guilty? Let's check the transcript, shall we? Here is Agent Jeff Croft, under redirect by Creighton Waters on January 31st, 2023, meaning Creighton is asking Agent Croft questions to clarify the answers he gave Team Murdoch on cross-examination. of various rounds blackout through others and you mentioned 308 223 and 556 can you tell the jury a little bit about those rounds and why they tend to be a bit more common as you testified to please I'm sorry can you you mind repeating yeah sure you testified jacks beyond the scope I didn't ask anything about 223s and whatever he said he asked about the commonality of blackout and he answered about those witnesses asked you to repeat the

Starting point is 00:35:32 question I would like to hear it as well yes sir you were asked earlier about the commonality of blackout and you mentioned it was not as common as 308 223 and 556. I was asking you to explain a little bit about those calibers and why they are more common. Okay. 223 is a very common round. It's utilized in law enforcement. 556 is utilized within law enforcement and also within the military. It's prior to COVID, it was easily found fairly cheap.

Starting point is 00:36:08 cheap ammunition to go out and shoot as far as rifle ammunition goes. 308 is a hunting rifle, which can be used for larger games such as White Tail and stuff like that. 308 is also a common round that's used within a law enforcement and the military side. It's a very common round. 300 on the other hand, it's just at that particular time, 300 rounds were just, or weapons were just not that common. How many criminal investigations have you worked where 300 blackout was the murder round? I have none. Oh, look at that.

Starting point is 00:36:46 So at that particular time, right after COVID, is what Agent Croft actually said. Because why? According to a little easy online research, we found that before COVID, 223 rounds, were about 30 to 40 cents each. And during and after COVID, that price, in June 2021 anyway, was about 74 cents a round. As for the 300 blackouts, we don't have data specifically from June 2021, but from 2020 to 2021, the peak was at about $1.60 per round. So yeah, I could see why it was uncommon at the time Agent Jeff Croft investigated the Murdoch murders to see 300 blackout casings being used in crimes. But since then, I mean, I don't know. Is it possible that there are more

Starting point is 00:37:36 300 blackouts being used in crimes in the past six years, maybe. Regardless, Team Murdoch's claim that the state is making opposite flip-flopping arguments right now is, at best, intellectually dishonest. But that's not the fishy part. Not yet. More on the fishy parts. After a quick break, we will be right back. Thank you for supporting our mission to expose the truth wherever it leads by following

Starting point is 00:38:02 Lunashark podcast, True Sunlight, Coerce, and Cup of Justice. I get asked all the time how folks can help us with our mission, and we invite them to Lunasharp Premium on Patreon, our ad-free listening platform and membership community for all Lunashark content. Soak up the Sun members on Patreon get ad-free extended episodes, bonus drops, exclusive case files, live streams to chat with us during court hearings, access to our exclusive members-only shows like Liz and Mandy's Girl Talk, Beth Raiden Soundbites and Premium Dives from Kate Thomas and the team. Join our mission and become a member today at patreon.com slash lunashark or get ad-free listening on Apple Podcast app or at lunashark.com.

Starting point is 00:38:48 Click the link in the description to learn the best way you can stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight with Luna Shark Premium on Patreon and Supercast. On April 27, 24, 30-year-old Micah Miller, a Myrtle Beach woman in the process of divorcing her pastor husband, called 911. It would be the last time that the world would ever hear her voice. Promiseon County 911. I'm about to kill myself, and I just want my family to know where to find me. When Micah died, she purposely left behind a paper trail of evidence and clues for someone somewhere to find and expose the people and systems that led to her death.

Starting point is 00:39:33 I got a call late last night. My wife has passed away. It was self-induced, and it was up in North Carolina. Y'all pray for me and my kids and everybody. My name is Mandy Matney, together with journalist Liz Farrell. This new drop feed titled Coerce, the Devotion and Death of Micah Francis Miller, is a Luna Shark production based on True Sunlight Reporting. Yeah, he said my blood is going to be on your hand.

Starting point is 00:39:56 But prior to that, he was threatening to come in here, and he said, her call the cops I don't care I'm armed and ready her story is about everything that led up to her death the alleged coercive control that she faced in her relationship with her pastor husband and all of the systems that failed her when she tried so hard to report that alleged abuse and escape from him and she said you know he's such a liar and she actually said the FBI is looking into it but now i mean what's come out they they have been be sure to follow coerced the devotion and death of Micah Francis Miller. Okay, so Team Murdoch says that there have been two cases in Allendale in which a 300 blackout was used.

Starting point is 00:40:42 The first was in April 24 and involved the shooting of Allendale Police Sergeant James Hall, Jr. The second was on April 25th of this year when Frank Alexander Brown, the third, was killed. Mr. Brown was from Islandin, which is where Moselle is, which means what? I'm not sure, but the defense seems to want it to mean that it would be weird for there to be two murders in the low country of residents of Islandin involving a 300 blackout rifle, I guess. The state, as you all know, says that they tested the spent shells in the Brown case, which was the only one mentioned up until this filing, as far as we can tell. And they do not forensically match that of the rifle used to kill Maggie. You would think that would end the conversation. But no. Team Murdoch was like, yeah, okay, but you only entered them into the national database on August 13th, four months after the murder.

Starting point is 00:41:40 Again, which means what? That the state was reluctant to compare the two? This is SLED, which is notoriously backlogged with forensic testing. That said, SLED is also one of the nation's most consistent agencies when it comes to submitting casings from violent crimes to the national database. So it would seem that submitting cartridges to the database is just part of the process. Team Murdoch's argument seems to be that because SLED hadn't uploaded them until the week of the pretrial hearing, that it means they were going to hide the evidence, which, of course, fuels speculation and bolsters the defense narrative that the state is trying to make the evidence in ELEC's case, fit ELEC and ELEC only, which makes this Greg Alexander leak even more interesting. Bottom line. In service of of the plot line, which is what this seems to be to us right now, a plot line.

Starting point is 00:42:33 The defense wants the court to order the state to give them a list of every 300 blackout crime in the low country since January 2021. They want that information from SLED, the sheriff's offices in eight counties, along with the second and 14th judicial circuits, and all municipal departments. David, what else do they want with that? They would like the date and location of each number. Incident, the investigating agency and case number, the number of cartridge cases and projectiles recovered, any firearm that was recovered, and where it is now, the name of the victim

Starting point is 00:43:12 or intended victim, and the name of the perpetrator, if known. Now, that is quite a request. That one could take months. Wait, is this a delay tactic? Is this how they get Judge McCaslin, who said she rarely, if ever, changes a trial date once it's on the calendar to budge on April 27? You never know with those two. They also want what seems like extensive database records for each of the 720,300 blackout casings that were entered into national databases by SLED, along with records related to every 300 blackout gun recovered in the eight county region. They also want their own firearms examiner to evaluate the car.

Starting point is 00:43:56 from the two Allendale cases. And they want to be able to show the court what the state knew about the use of 300 blackout rifles in the area as of the first trial in 2023. Again, it's their job to be this thorough. And Ehrlich is getting a lot for the money he claims not to have and that Dick and Jim claim not to be receiving. This is Dick and Jim walking around with metaphorical magnifying glasses up to their eyes at this point. And how much of it is for the headlines? For the drama of it all. Does the defense have a reason to believe that the rifle that was used to kill Maggie is in circulation?

Starting point is 00:44:37 Who is telling them this? Is it just conjecture based on the mere fact that the murder weapon in the Brown case was a 300 blackout? Did someone from SLED put this in their ear? Or, and to be clear, I'm not making any accusations here. this is just a question I think has to be asked right now. Is there something else going on here? Because why now? Right back to that question.

Starting point is 00:45:01 Why is this investigation into Greg Alexander and this mysterious second police officer whose identity we don't know happening now, as opposed to back man? Is there new evidence suggesting his involvement? And why is it being leaked right now as we await the state's replies to Team Murdoch's multiple assertions

Starting point is 00:45:19 of investigators holding back evidence. Who does a benefit? Is this a chess move from the state meant to back Dick and Jim down from their extensive requests? If so, that's a big move. It's a shot across the bow for sure. And like Mandy said at the beginning, we are here for it. Now for the fishy part, y'all. Let's talk about Greg Alexander and his history in this case and with the Murdox, starting with Ellick Murdoch's first trial. Chief Greg Alexander wasn't an investigator in the Murdoch murder case. He also wasn't listed as a potential witness in the trial but either the state or the defense. And yet, his name came up several times during Alex's trial, both for his connection to the

Starting point is 00:46:00 case and to the Murdox and because, in our opinions, we think the Murdox wanted to signal to the quality county jurors that they were tight with Chief Alexander, who is very well-known in the area. Yamesee is a small town, but it has a lot going on, such as monkeys. The monkey farm is there, the one that the Egg Lady juror worked at. You remember the Egg Lady, right? The woman who got tossed off the jury for violating the judge's order against speaking about the trial outside of the courtroom? The woman who wrote a book about this, filled with unfounded and, quite frankly, defamatory theory is that people conspired to have her removed. The woman who said in her book that had she been allowed to stay on that jury, she wouldn't have backed down in her conviction that Eleg was not guilty.

Starting point is 00:46:47 Oh, hey, Joe McCullough is also her attorney. What an interesting coincidence. Anyway, before we talk about John Marvin's unusual route going to Moselle on the night of the murders, with Chief Greg Alexander accompanying him, let's talk about why Greg Alexander is at the heart of one of the biggest problems Elig has in this case. And that's his lie about where he was that night. He said he wasn't at the kennels until after Maggie and Paul had been killed. As you all know, that lie didn't get discovered until investigators were able to open Paul's phone,

Starting point is 00:47:22 where they found a video taken just minutes before their deaths with Eleg's voice in the background. During his trial, Ehrlich took the stand to admit to that lie and to explain why he lied. His excuse? He said he didn't trust SLED because of how they treated Chief Greg Alexander 11 years earlier. And he said he mistook SLED investigators. David Owen for David Williams, the agent who led the investigation against Greg Alexander. But the important thing to hold on to is that Greg Alexander's so-called unfair treatment by sled is why Eleg said that he lied about being at the kennels that night. Uh, what unfair treatment, you ask? Well, in 2010, Greg Alexander, then a captain with the

Starting point is 00:48:14 Yemisee Police Department, was accused of stealing cash seized in two traffic stops. in the amounts of $10,000 and $748, and he allegedly stole that from the agency's evidence safe. He was one of two employees in this very small agency to have access to that safe. Though he denied taking the money, he failed a polygraph administered to him by sled. He was later charged with one count of misconduct in office and two counts of breach of trust by the Attorney General's office, and his trial was held in Hampton County, where Ellick and his father sat behind Greg for support. That's right, Ehrlich and Randolph Murdoch, two badge-carrying members of the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office, whose family was in charge of who would and who wouldn't be prosecuted in five counties for nearly a century.

Starting point is 00:49:10 They sat in a 14th Circuit courtroom to support a police officer who was being charged for car. corruption after a state investigation. Oh, and look at that. The Hampton County jury, quite famously rumored to be in the Murdoch's pocket, found Greg Alexander to be not guilty. And guess who the judge was? None other than the Carmen Mullen. You know, Ehrlich Murdoch's law school classmate,

Starting point is 00:49:43 known for approving the sketchy Satterfield settlement. You know, the judge who, who faced a disciplinary hearing this week, which we will talk about next week. But yeah, let's all let out a collective W-T-F, South Carolina scream, because, ugh, we could not make this stuff up. Old Greg returned to the police department and was eventually promoted to police chief. And that brings us to John Marvin. Let's talk about the night of the murders and what happened with Chief Greg Alexander and Elyke's little brother, John Marvin Murdoch, who lived in Oka, T, in Beauforte, in Beaufort County just outside of Bluffton.

Starting point is 00:50:27 Paul, by the way, was living with John Marvin and his family and working at John Marvin's heavy equipment rental company at the time of his murder. So, John Marvin, and there is no other way to put this, gave some really strange testimony in the murder trial, as if it wasn't enough to, hear him twice clarify that Elyx supposedly pooped himself on the way to rehab after the September roadside shooting hoax, John Marvin had a really odd and disjointed explanation for how he found out about the murders, how he got to Moselle, why he called Greg Alexander that night, and why the vehicle he was driving was on the side of the road. Let's start with John Marvin's own story, told on the stand in February 23, and told to Sled Agent Ryan Kelly shortly after the murders. both instances John Marvin said he was watching a movie with his wife on the night of June 7,

Starting point is 00:51:19 2021, and briefly spoke to Ehrlich about their sick father Randolph who was dying of cancer. In Sled's timeline of events based on cell phone usage, Maggie and Paul Murdoch are believed to have been killed around 8.50 p.m. Elick Murdoch left Moselle at 9.07 p.m. 10 minutes into his drive to Almeda, Elek Murdoch called John Marvin at 918, and that phone call last in 108 seconds. Here is what John Marvin Murdoch said about that phone call to sled. So it was, you know,

Starting point is 00:51:54 I'm assuming it was dark outside. It was probably eight, nine o'clock. Okay. And how long did y'all talk for? A couple of minutes at most. I'm embarrassed to say now I told them we were watching a movie, isn't it? What movie did you watch?

Starting point is 00:52:16 It's a show. I think it's called billionaire. All right. And then, and for the purpose of this, say to this interview, what is your wife's name? Elizabeth. It goes by Liz. And you asked about him, us talking. He then, of course, called me later once all this. Okay. What time did you call you later? You know, we were still watching television, so it would have been closer to 10, I would guess. Okay. Okay, this is small, but there isn't a movie called billionaire. There's a show. show called billions. I wouldn't care about this at all as the rest of John Marvin's testimony

Starting point is 00:53:06 made complete sense. And if he didn't say that he got a police escort on the evening of the murders from the man who is now being investigated by sled for allegedly taking the murder weapons and bloody clothes to his police station. John Marvin could be completely innocent. And for the record, he is at this moment. He has not been charged with anything, but his proximity on the night of the murders to the man now under investigation, that should be called into question and not just questioned, fully investigated, without fear. Just diving deep there, fellas. Because listen, his explanations about his movement that night have never sat right with us, starting with the day that he explained how the Murdox all swapped cars earlier that day. Here is what John Marvin

Starting point is 00:53:57 said in an interview with Sled on June 10, 21, on his family's property. Yeah, so Monday morning, it gets a little bit. So my brother Randy calls me. My dad has a doctor's appointment in Savannah. And long story, he's been battling all kinds of issues, cancers, and just got out to hospital on Sunday. But he has an appointment, a follow-up appointment Monday.

Starting point is 00:54:27 And it turns out it's earlier than we anticipated. and I was scheduled to drive him that afternoon. Randy calls me and says, meet me in Ridgeland. I'm going to have Daddy. We'll go swap cars and you take him on to Savannah. And so we did that. We met at Palmetta Co-op in Richland and I drove him to Savannah.

Starting point is 00:54:45 Doctor's appointment, well, a doctor checks him out and says, man, we've got to get you into hospital. So we spend all afternoon getting him checked into the hospital. As the evening, later in the evening, I probably left Savannah, five, probably five-ish. Okay. In my mom's car, because my brother had given me my mom's car with my dad. My brother took my truck back to my parents' house right here at Almeida.

Starting point is 00:55:12 So I leave there. I call Paul and I said, man, you know, you're going back to Hampton tonight. He said, yes. I said, if you can wait, take my mom's car to Almeida, drop it off, get my truck, bring my truck in in the morning. And then, you know, I'll drive your truck to work and we'll, you know, be back in our own vehicles. Okay. And did that happen? Yes. Well, well, so what? Yeah, all that transpired until not swapping cars back the following morning, of course. Okay. So, so he took my mom's car, dropped it at Almeda. Almeda's where my parents live. Okay. Yeah. Um, got my truck,

Starting point is 00:55:47 drove it to, uh, presumably I'm, drove it to Moselle. Okay. And your truck was at Moselle? My truck was at Moselle. And his truck is at my house. When I got to call that night, I ain't from Alec. Of course, the only car that I don't have my truck, so I get in Paul's truck and start driving it back to meet Ehrlich. Almeida is the location of Randolph and Libby Murdoch's home, which is at the intersection of 278 and Highway 68, southwest of Moselle and northwest of where John Marvin lived, which is about an hour and a few minutes from Moselle. Nothing in Sled's timeline indicates that Paul was at Almeida that day, by the way. Paul had two. trucks at the time. The 2008 F-250, that's the one John Marvin decided to drive that night to

Starting point is 00:56:36 Moselle, we will call that one the beater truck and a newer truck that was in the shop in Hampton on June 7, 2021. Now listen to what John Marvin said about what happened after Ellick called him for the second time that evening. This is again from that June 10th, 2021 interview with Agent Kelly. That's when he was calling to, you know, just described, he said, he says, John, Paul and Maggie have been, have been shot, have been hurt. It was just total panic. And he said, please get here as fast as you can. Okay. I just got dressed as quick as it could.

Starting point is 00:57:15 Okay, okay. And what did you do then? Uh, just threw my clothes on it. and drove to Beauxel. Okay, okay. Yeah, so I just, I drove as fast as I could. I mean, you got the airspace as I could. Okay.

Starting point is 00:57:40 And what car did you drive to get over there? I drove one of Ellix trucks. Okay. And so what truck did you drive? Yeah, it was, I believe it was an F-250, Okay. So, you left your truck. house and got over to Alex. Well, a little bit more transpired in between. I started driving.

Starting point is 00:58:06 I mean, obviously I was speeding. A good friend of mine is the chief in Yemise. And I told, and that's the way I was traveling. The guy said, I said, Chief, I said, there's been something bad's happened. I said, please, you know, meet me on the road and help get me there. You know, and of course he did. He put his blue lights on and help me. You know, okay. You know, we were probably driving 70, 80 miles in. I don't know how fast, but I was, I was, I was, yeah, I was, I was driving past it. All right, so you got to Alex's? No, no, we got, um, we got to three, sorry, 63 where you would turn to go and not halfway down in 63, the truck broke down on me. Okay. Or, or ran out of fuel. I noticed it didn't have much in his hood, but it quit running. And I called Greg and I said, Greg, let's him and come back and get me.

Starting point is 00:58:59 All right, and by Greg, you mean Alexander, Chief of Police? Okay. Like I said, he was just in front of me. Okay. Escorting me, if you will, if you want to call it that. So Chief Alexander came back? He came back, picked me up.

Starting point is 00:59:13 I left the truck, and we went straight to Mosel. Okay, and y'all went straight to Moselle. So what did Chief Alexander do then? Did he stick around with you? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He stayed, well, he stayed not just with me, but, you know, he's a close family. family friend and he stayed as just his support, not in an official capacity. Okay, so there's a lot of red flags being raised from this alone.

Starting point is 00:59:39 The Murdox apparently have a whole fleet of cars between them. Why would John Marvin take Paul's beater truck that was obviously the most unreliable as opposed to one of his newer vehicles? Did Paul's truck have a GPS? Could that be a reason? why he chose that truck that night. Also, why would John Marvin take a slower route to Moselle if he was in such a hurry that he felt the need to call a police chief to escort him? And, excuse me, but what? Is that service available to everyone? When we're all in a rush,

Starting point is 01:00:16 we can just ring up the police chief late at night and have him haul ass in front of us, by the way? Greg Alexander apparently hauled so much ass that he's, left his escort behind him to the point where he had to be called to turn around to get him. More after a quick commercial break, and we'll be right back. What does a sunny getaway with Air Canada sound like? Sunny Jamaica moves to its own rhythm. Rio comes alive long after the sun goes down. Philippines slows everything down.

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Starting point is 01:02:18 Let's hear again what John Marvin said about this night, and how exactly he said that he got to Moselle in his testimony during trial. Ellick called me in just absolutely hysterical. As soon as I heard his voice, knew something bad was going on, Didn't know what. And, you know, I'm in my pajamas. He said, you know, something bad is really happy. I don't know how with his exact words, but I think he said Maggie and Paul have been hurt really badly.

Starting point is 01:02:52 Please get here as fast as you can. And, you know, I drop what I'm doing and I go get dressed and I'm hurry and I'm, you know, just so many things are going through. You know what to do. So I get dressed and I run. run outside and realize I don't have a car. I've Paul's cars out there and it's a hunk of junk. And I mean, you know, this was the farm truck. This was a farm truck. And so I knew I couldn't take my wife's car because she was taking the kids at school. And at this point, you know, I knew something bad. I just didn't know how bad it was. And so did you then get in the farm

Starting point is 01:03:28 truck and head to Moselle? I did. I did. And what happened along the way? Well, so along the way I'd to Randy. He asked me to try to get in touch with a close family friend and one of their law partners, Danny Henderson. I was just constantly trying to call him. I'm driving and driving fast. I'm just trying to

Starting point is 01:03:50 get to Mosel. And you know, once I got Danny and told him that he needed to get up there, you know, I had just a few minutes to myself. And I just, I was crying.

Starting point is 01:04:06 and somebody called me shortly after that. I don't know who it was. I can't remember. But I remember. It was either Ellick or Randy, I believe, and they said the sheets were being pulled over them. Did the farm truck break down? It did.

Starting point is 01:04:28 How'd you end up getting to Moselle? Well, so let me back up in a day. So the route that from my house down in Okadie Buford takes me to Cusahatchie, and I get on 95 to go to Yemisee and getting off and coming up that way. Well, another close family friend, his name is Greg Alexander. He is the chief of police in Yemisee. I reach out to him and I just say, Greg, I gave him, said, it said something bad had happened.

Starting point is 01:04:56 Again, I don't know when I was told about the sheets, but I told him, I said, listen, something bad's happened. We got to get up there. When I get to Yemisee, can you please help make sure I get to Moselle? because this truck's sputtering and I knew it wasn't good. And he met me at Yemisee. And he fell in behind me and we started driving until he finally passed me in Varnville. And go ahead.

Starting point is 01:05:23 And did he end up driving you the rest of the way? Well, he did. So he passed me shortly before Varnville. He took a ride on 63 and he was a little ways ahead of me when the truck quit on me. I called him and said, Greg, I said, you know, come back and get me the truck has broken down. And, of course, he picked me up and took me straight on to Moselle. Hold up. We need to pause here. What did Jim Griffin ask immediately after John Marvin talked about the beater truck breaking down,

Starting point is 01:05:56 him ditching it, and Greg Alexander, who was supposedly escorting him as a police officer in a county outside of his jurisdiction by driving so far in front of him that John Marvin had to call Greg to come get him. Listen to Jim's follow-up question. Were there any guns in the farm truck that Paul had left when you got in it? I have no idea. It was dark. When I got in it, as you all can imagine, I was frantic. I jumped in it and I took off.

Starting point is 01:06:28 Did you ever see any guns in it? That night, never. I mean, I didn't look. I mean, it just, I wouldn't. looking into backseat. I wouldn't worry about anything except getting to Moselle. See, this is something we haven't been able to figure out. Presumably, Jim already knew the answers to these questions. Why did he want them on the record and for the jury to consider? What does the absence of guns in Paul's Beater truck that wasn't at Moselle that evening mean

Starting point is 01:06:56 to Alex's verdict? Why did he ask John Marvin about whether he had seen any guns at all that evening? Was this to get ahead of something the prosecution might suggest? The biggest question in all of this, though, is why John Marvin Murdoch took the route he did that night. Right after the murders, we learned immediately that Paul's truck was found alongside Route 63, where it stayed for a week, apparently. The thought at the time was that the vehicle had been stolen from the scene and left there for some reason, though it was facing toward Moselle. Or that maybe something had happened.

Starting point is 01:07:32 happened with Paul there. We had also learned that on the way to Moselle John Marvin had broken down and that Greg Alexander picked him up and brought him to Moselle. Then we learned that John Marvin had been driving Paul's truck, the beater truck, but that didn't make any sense to us because of where the truck was found and the direction it was facing. Why would John Marvin be on Route 63 southwest of Mosell when he was coming from the east? It wasn't until the trial that it all came to together and yet only made limited sense until you consider where John Marvin's route put him that night. Because, see, there are three suggested direct routes to Moselle from John Marvin's house in Okity. John Marvin didn't take any of them. Instead, he opted for a route that didn't significantly

Starting point is 01:08:21 lengthen the trip, but it did do one thing. It took him past Elmita, something none of the three other suggested and most direct routes would have done. It's time for me to remind you about the state's theory on why Ehrlich went to Almeida that night, despite using his mother's night caretaker as an alibi. The thought is that he stored the weapons and bloody clothes somewhere outside of the house on the property based on the GPS location of his truck and the door opening and closing actions recorded by his truck's internal database. The evidence and testimony also seemed to point to the guns being wrapped in an oversized blue raincoat that Miss Shelley, the caretaker for Ehrlich's mother,

Starting point is 01:09:16 who was home at the time Ehrlich was there, later saw him with after Randolph's funeral. Randolph died a few days after Maggie and Paul. SLED recovered that raincoat as evidence. There were no guns wrapped in it, but Slead tested it for gunshot residue. It came back positive. A slight problem, though, is that Ms. Shelley mistook the raincoat for a blue tarp, and Team Murdoch really tried hard to get the jury to see the raincoat and the tarp as two different things. They also tried to play it like SLED was setting Elyke up with that, which, come on, we'll say it again, but no one in law enforcement wanted to charge Elyke Murdoch. I promise you they were looking for any and all off-ramps from that. Unfortunately, they're really

Starting point is 01:10:03 weren't Annie, and here we are. But the point here is that there is evidence to support the theory that Ehrlich, if he did kill Maggie and Paul, took the guns and clothing to Almeida. And that is why John Marvin's chosen route that night, the one that he took with Greg Alexander, the one that took him past Almeida, is notable. Why did he mention on the stand that Greg had to escort him? Why did he take that beater truck that he eventually left off the side of the road? And why did Jim Griffin ask him if there were weapons in that truck? What if there were? And we have to ask this.

Starting point is 01:10:44 Was John Marvin's phone ever tested by sled to confirm his weird route and his calls to Greg Alexander? Because if Greg did do something here, and he hasn't been charged and neither has John Marvin, Shouldn't everyone else who closely interacted with Greg that night be investigated too? It's why Greg Alexander's role in this has always raised eyebrows. Oh, he was there as a friend? To escort a Murdoch brother? Maybe. Let's see what the grand jury has to say about that.

Starting point is 01:11:15 But isn't it interesting that the Post and Courier isn't just reporting that he is being investigated on suspicion of taking bloody clothes and the murder weapons so that they wouldn't be found? He is accused of taking them back to his own police station. Actually, it's worse. Greg Alexander is accused of bringing Elyke Murdoch a change of clothing that night. Why? I ask, why? Would Eelick have needed a change of clothing when his house was right there at the scene?

Starting point is 01:11:49 Here is what Jason Ryan wrote. Months after the first trial ended in conviction in 2023, this reporter met with David Owen, the lead sled investigative agent on the Murdoch case, to discuss an allegation from a low country official that Yemise's police chief and another officer may have handled murder weapons and bloody clothing the morning after the murders. The official claimed to sled agents, and in an interview with this reporter at the time, that Alexander spoke of arriving early to the murder scene and talked about providing a change of clothes to Murdoch.

Starting point is 01:12:25 The official expressed belief that guns and clothing were brought by the officers into the police station and stored there temporarily. Those assertions, including to agents, could not be corroborated by the post and courier. Quote, Alexander has acknowledged being at the murder scene that night, as were several other law enforcement officers, said McCullough, the chief's attorney. Quote, presumably they would not have allowed anyone, including my client, to remove anything from the scene. so it's kind of ridiculous on its face, he said. But rumors, gosh, no case before or since the Murdoch case has inspired more rumors. You'd have to believe that you're really untouchable to do something like that, right? And finally, the biggest question, why now? Why, after the conviction was overturned? Why leak this news just one month before South Carolina voters decide on

Starting point is 01:13:26 their new governor in an election where the man over this entire investigation, Alan Wilson, is the Republican candidate for governor. What is really going on here? And why is crime always so deeply intertwined with politics in South Carolina? We have so much more to tell you about Greg Alexander, but late on Wednesday. And yes, of course, on a Wednesday. After we were done with part one of this episode and working on part two with Judge Carmen Mullen's hearing this week, Team Murdoch filed another motion to compel about Greg Alexander and what the Post and Courier reported. And it's wildly frustrating, but it's sort of proving our thoughts. Part two of this episode is going to be about that motion.

Starting point is 01:14:19 Like I said, we were going to tell you about Judge Kornbush. Carmen Mullen's ugly, ugly, ugly disciplinary hearing this week in part two. But of course, Murdoch had to Murdoch on a Wednesday. So we will save that for next week. And premium members get ready for a watch party on the Mullen hearing. Until next time, stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production created by me, Mandy Matney, co-hosted and reported by journalist Liz Ferrell, research support provided by Beth Braden,

Starting point is 01:15:11 audio production support provided by Jamie Hoffman and Grace Hills, case file management by Kate Thomas. Learn more about our mission and membership at lunasharkmedia.com. Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky. On April 27, 24, 30-year-old Micah Miller, a Myrtle Beach woman in the process of divorcing her pastor husband, called 911. It would be the last time that the world would ever hear her voice. When I was in County 911.

Starting point is 01:15:42 I'm about to kill myself, and I just want my family to know where to find me. When Micah died, she purposely left behind a paper trail of evidence and clues for someone somewhere to find and expose the people and systems that led to her death. I got a call late last night. My wife has passed away, and it was self-induced, and it was up in North Carolina. Y'all pray for me and my kids and everybody. My name is Mandy Matney. together with journalist Liz Farrell. This new drop feed titled Coerce,

Starting point is 01:16:14 The Devotion and Death of Micah Francis Miller, is a Luna Shark production based on True Sunlight reporting. Yeah, he said my blood is going to be on your hand, but prior to that, he was threatening to come in here, and he said, call the cops, I don't care, I'm armed and ready. Her story is about everything that led up to her death, the alleged coercive control that she faced in her relationship with her pastor-husband,

Starting point is 01:16:38 and all of the systems that failed her. her when she tried so hard to report that alleged abuse and escape from him. And she said, you know, he's such a liar. And she actually said the FBI was looking into it. But now, I mean, what's come out, they have been. Be sure to follow Coerce, the devotion and death of Micah Francis Miller.

Murdaugh Murders Podcast - What’s Behind The Big Leaks About Police Chief Greg Alexander and Murdaugh Murder Weapons? (167pt1)

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