Murdaugh Murders Podcast - Who Killed Maggie & Paul? Part One - (S01E6)

Episode Date: July 29, 2021

On June 7, 2021 Alex Murdaugh called 911 to report that he found his wife Maggie and son Paul shot badly and not breathing at their 1,700 acre hunting lodge in Colleton County, South Carolina.  Th C...olleton County Sheriff's office quickly recused itself from the investigation and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) took over the case. On this episode, we take a deep dive into the 911 call and all available evidence surrounding the double homicide of Maggie & Paul Murdaugh. This episode of Murdaugh Murders Podcast discusses horrific community tragedies. Hopeful Horizons creates safer communities by changing the culture of violence and offering a path to healing. If you or someone you know is experiencing interpersonal violence please go to hopefulhorizons.org to learn more about their mission. 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 For current and accurate updates: Twitter.com/mandymatney This podcast is produced and developed by Luna Shark Productions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:54 Get on board at Miro.com with three boards free forever. That's M-I-R-O.com. I don't know who killed Paul and Maggie Murdock, but I'll tell you what we know about what happened on June 7th, 2021. My name is Mandy Matney. I'm the news director for Fitznews.com, and I've been investigating the Murdock family for more than two years now. This is the Murdock Murders podcast.
Starting point is 00:01:24 On the evening of June 7th, 2021, 22-year-old Paul Murdock and his 52-year-old mother, Maggie Murdock, were found murdered on their 1,700-acre property called Moselle, which is about 60 miles west of Charleston, South Carolina. Around 10.07 p.m., Paul's father and Maggie's husband, Alec Murdock, called 911. The phone call was released by the lead investigating agency in the Murdock Murders, which is the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, also known as SLED, about six weeks after the murders on July 22nd, 2021.
Starting point is 00:02:07 We're not sure what exactly made the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division release the 911 call now, but we're going to play it for you and we'll talk about what we're hearing and try to learn what we can. Hand-pounding 911 with your emergency. Okay, you said 41-47 Moselle Road in Nolenton. You said 41-47 Moselle Road in Nolenton. Stay on the line with me, okay? Yes, sir. Stay on the line with me, okay? Hello? I'm still here. Stay on the line. I'm still here, okay?
Starting point is 00:03:11 Connor, calling communication. Collison, I have Alec Murdock on the line. Call us from 41-47 Moselle Road. He's advising that his wife and child was shot. Okay, and sir, give me the address again. It's 41-47 Moselle Road. I've been up to it now. It's bad. 41-47 Moselle Road is a property that is in Colleton County, South Carolina, just north of the Hampton County border. We're assuming that the call routed to Hampton County 911
Starting point is 00:03:43 instead of Colleton County because the location is so close to the border. Okay. Okay, and are they breathing? No, ma'am. Okay, and you said it's your wife and your son? My wife and my son. Are they in a vehicle? No, ma'am. They're on the ground, out at my kennel. Okay, and did you see anyone? Okay, is he breathing at all? No, no pun.
Starting point is 00:04:20 Sources have told Fitznews that Paul Murdock was killed by two shotgun blasts, one to the chest and another through the arm and head. Maggie Murdock died of multiple gunshot wounds by a semi-automatic rifle, according to our sources. Two weapons were used in the double homicide, which is highly unusual. Okay, do you see anyone in the area? No, ma'am. What color is your house on the outside? It's white. You can't see it from the road.
Starting point is 00:04:56 Okay, is it a house or a mobile home? It's a house. Okay, and what is your name? My name is Alec Murdock. Okay, and did you hear anything or did you come home and find them? No, ma'am. I've been gone. I just came back. Last month, a Good Morning America journalist who spoke directly to the Murdock family reported that Alec was taking his father to the hospital on the day of the killings.
Starting point is 00:05:27 After that, he reportedly checked in on his mother, whose sources say has dementia before returning to the hunting lodge. But where is home to the Murdochs? I really haven't been able to answer this question yet. We know that the Murdochs sold their home in Hampton, South Carolina in April 2020. Maggie Murdock's Facebook page said that she moved to Edisto, South Carolina in July 2020. Edisto is a beach town about an hour and a half southeast of the Moselle property. I know that Paul had an apartment in Columbia, South Carolina,
Starting point is 00:06:01 which is the state capitol and where he went to school. But I also heard that he was known to couch surf in the months before the murders. He was often in Charleston and he was there the weekend before the murders. Sources have also told me that Paul stayed with his Uncle John Marvin, often in Oakity, South Carolina, about an hour southeast of the Moselle property. They were also known to go to the family Riverham in Oakity, South Carolina, often. I say this because it seems like the family did not have much of a routine and it would be difficult to ambush them.
Starting point is 00:06:33 Okay, was anyone else supposed to be at your house? No, ma'am. Please hurry. We're getting somebody out there to you. Oh. It sounds like Alec is replying to a question right here and that question might be redacted. It also sounds like Alec is moving around a lot in this 911 call. In some parts, you can clearly hear the dogs in the background,
Starting point is 00:07:21 which means that he's close to the murder scene. And in other parts, you can't hear the dogs. Okay, what is her name? Maggie and Paul. Maggie is her name? Yes ma'am. Okay. And please hurry.
Starting point is 00:07:42 We're getting somebody out there to you. Me asking you these questions don't slow them down, okay? And you sure they're not breathing? Is he moving at all, your son? I know you said that she was shot, but what about your son? Nobody's, they're not even one of them's moving. What is your telephone number? And does anything look out of place?
Starting point is 00:08:27 Ma'am, I'm not, not particularly really, no ma'am. Okay. So no one knows how they would react to a situation so horrifying as this, but at no point does Alec Murdoch ever mention that he's afraid of a killer being around. Granted, sometimes in situations like this, people feel so hopeless to the point that they don't care if someone else takes their life. And also, this is a redacted 911 call and we're not sure what parts the police took out. So in this part of the 911 call, you'll hear a lot of clicks and beeps,
Starting point is 00:09:04 but that's pretty normal for a 911 call. And we're keeping them in so you can hear everything that was provided to us. Okay. All right, I'm going back down there. Are they close, ma'am? Yeah, they've been around with you ever since you've got on the phone with me. I have multiple people coming out there to you. Okay, can you do me a favor, Mr. Murdoch, and turn on the flashers on your car so that way
Starting point is 00:10:34 they can see where the kennels are? Right here, the dispatcher asked Alec Murdoch to turn on his flashers, but from what we've heard, he's not in his car yet. So we can assume here that at some point Alec tells the dispatcher that he's in his car, in that part for whatever reason was redacted. Looking at the property, the dog kennels are about four football fields away from the main house. Do you have your flashers on for me, Mr. Murdoch? Yes.
Starting point is 00:11:12 Okay, I don't want you to touch them at all, okay? I don't know if you've already touched them, but I don't want you to touch them just in case they can get any kind of evidence, okay? I've already touched them trying to get to see if they were breathing. Okay, well, I just don't want you to move anything just in case they can get any kind of evidence, okay? Ma'am, I'm going to call, I need to call some of my family. Okay, well, do me a favor for me whenever you see the officer or the medics,
Starting point is 00:12:01 because they're all coming to you. Here, the dispatcher asks Alec a favor, but something is redacted and we don't know what it is. Okay, but we have them come in, turn on the flashes on your vehicle so they can see you, okay? According to the Colleton County Dispatch Log, the dispatcher advised Alec to put in there's a three-letter word that's redacted and then it says up when law enforcement arrives on scene. We don't know what that three-letter word is and we're not going to speculate. You got the flashes on for me? Okay, all right, whenever you see them.
Starting point is 00:12:46 Okay. How old is your son? 22. Okay, all right, we're getting them out there to you, okay? And I'll wait until you call. All right. 19 minutes after Alec called 911, Deputy Daniel Green was the first to arrive on scene at 1026 p.m. Within less than a minute, he determined that the scene was secure, clearing the way
Starting point is 00:13:21 for fire and rescue to enter. A minute later, Colleton County Fire Rescue requested the coroner, so they arrived on scene of a gruesome double homicide and they were able to quickly determine that the scene was secure enough for other first responders to join them. At 1028 p.m., just 20 minutes after the 911 call was placed, sled was contacted by the Colleton County Sheriff's Office. At this time, Sled's assistance was requested. Soon after the Colleton County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene at Moselle, Sled took over the case. Sled took over the case for two reasons. One, the complexity of the case was beyond what the Colleton County Sheriff's Office resources could handle. And two, the Colleton County Sheriff's Office had too many ties to the Murdoch family
Starting point is 00:14:08 and rightfully recused itself from the case. According to the autopsy report, Maggie and Paul Murdoch died between 9 and 9.30 p.m. That's a short window of time and we're not really sure how they came up with it. The next day, South Carolina media woke up to the biggest murder investigation in at least the last decade. A flurry of South Carolina insiders were texting each other news of the double homicide throughout the night. Soon after Fitznews broke the story, law enforcement quickly went on the record to say that there was no danger to the public. But here we are seven weeks later and no arrests have been made in connection with the case, nor have any suspects been identified. Prior to the publication of the 911 call,
Starting point is 00:14:53 nothing of substance has been released to the public regarding the direction or status of the ongoing investigation. In fact, Sled has been working very aggressively to plug any leaks related to this investigation. So what do we know? There has been a lot of speculation raised since reports were released last week and those reports indicated that another person might be on the crime scene at the time of the murders. A lot of web sleuths pointed at Buster Murdoch and speculated that he was the other party at the scene that night. So what about Buster? He's been a big question in this investigation. This week, I confirmed with one of my sources that Buster Murdoch was in the Rock Hill Charlotte area at the time of the murders. From there,
Starting point is 00:15:40 we can conclude that Buster was not the other person blacked out from the investigation file. Alec Murdoch was identified by Fitznews sources very early on in the investigation as a person of interest, although he reportedly provided police with a quote unquote ironclad alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the killings. But we haven't heard directly from Alec what that ironclad alibi was. He hasn't talked to any media since the time of the killings. We also haven't heard much from the Murdoch family since the time of the murders. During the Good Morning America interview, Paul's uncle John Marvin Murdoch, so that his nephew Paul had been receiving threats from strangers since the fatal boat crash.
Starting point is 00:16:30 However, John Marvin Murdoch told reporters he didn't think the threats were credible, and he said that the family didn't try to identify the people behind them. I have to note here that all of the boat crash survivors and Mallory Beach's family members voluntarily submitted to questioning and volunteered to provide their DNA as a part of the double homicide investigation. A source close to the situation told me that the beaches and the boat crash survivors have not been questioned again since providing their statements in DNA. During the interview, John Marvin and Randy Murdoch said their family is misunderstood by the public. I see words like dynasty used in power, and I don't know exactly how people use those words,
Starting point is 00:17:20 but we're just regular people and we're hurting just like they would be hurting if this had happened to them. No one is doubting that the Murdochs are hurting right now, but many are doubting that they are just regular people. The Murdoch family has loomed large and low country law for more than a century, with three generations of its members serving as a solicitor, which is South Carolina's version of a district attorney, between 1920 and 2007. They also own one of the most prominent law firms in the state of South Carolina. So three weeks after the murders, Amanda Loveday, whose chief operating officer at a Columbia, South Carolina based public relations firm called NP Strategy, released a statement
Starting point is 00:18:14 about the Murdochs having a $100,000 reward offered by the family in connection with the murders. The statement said that Alec and Buster Murdoch offered the reward. For a person to get this reward, they must provide information that leads to an arrest, but what's interesting about this one is that tips must be submitted before September 30th. So there is a deadline to this reward, so now I want to talk about the evidence or lack thereof that we know about in this case. So we know that Maggie Murdoch's cell phone was found along a rural South Carolina road just outside the family's 1700 acre hunting lodge the day after the murder. Sources have also told Fitznews that multiple guns were removed from the property the night of the murders. Considering the
Starting point is 00:19:06 crime scene was at a hunting lodge, this is not at all surprising, and it does not mean that the murder weapons were taken from there. We also know that law enforcement impounded a 2021 Chevy Suburban registered to the Murdoch law firm from the scene. We also know that on June 16th, sled agents were collecting evidence in a swampy area approximately two miles south of Moselle, and we have no idea what they were doing there. Alec and Buster Murdoch were facing a massive wrongful death lawsuit, which their insurance company was refusing to cover them for in the death of Mallory Beach. A hearing in that lawsuit was scheduled for June 10th three days after the murders. That hearing included a number of motions requiring Alec and Buster Murdoch to fully respond
Starting point is 00:19:56 to previous requests to disclose their financial documents and asking the judge to have the case move from Hampton County to Buford County. That hearing could have also meant that Paul and Maggie Murdoch would be added to the lawsuit. So all of this means that Alec must have been under immense pressure with the lawsuit looming, combined with the fact that his father was dying of cancer. Randolph Murdoch III died at his home on June 10th 2021, the day the hearing was supposed to take place. And we know that sled has asked for patience, and that a judge recently ruled that sled did not break the law in this case by being selective of the information they've released. We have to wait on law enforcement, we have to give them time, and it's still early to judge in this case.
Starting point is 00:20:51 So on that note, we need more time too. I made this podcast for one reason, to expose the truth on another platform. But it brought on way more work and way more pressure than I ever imagined. Turns out spending 99% of your free time working on a murder investigation is not great for your mental health. I can feel myself getting close to burnout and I cannot afford to get there. So I need to prioritize my mental space and I need to take a step back. We will still be doing podcasts but they won't be every week because it's just been absolutely grueling on David and I. We will be back with more episodes, but we need some time until then. And my name is David Moses, fiance, producer extraordinaire, and I may be a little biased here,
Starting point is 00:21:39 but I believe that Mandy Mantney is the most knowledgeable investigative journalist covering this saga and others in South Carolina. If you believe in her reporting like I do, subscribe to FitzNews.com. It truly has the most accurate and timely coverage of any news outlet. If you believe in our mission to expose the truth wherever it leads, please follow and subscribe to the podcast so you get an alert when we publish the next episode. Until we return, we want to hear from you. Email us at info at MurdochMurder'sPodcast.com any questions you want answered. What do you want to know about Mandy's reporting? Are you curious about advertising on FitzNews or sponsoring the podcast?
Starting point is 00:22:24 Drop us a line to info at MurdochMurder'sPodcast.com. That's info at M-U-R-D-A-U-G-H MurdersPodcast.com. And thank you to all of you supporters out there that are leaving five-star reviews, leaving positive comments. It really does keep us going. Stay tuned to the Murdoch Murders Podcast and FitzNews.com for the latest updates in the case. Or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com slash Mandy M-A-N-D-Y Matney M-A-T-N-E-Y. And don't forget to leave a five-star review unless you're going to be nasty and talk about my vocal fry. The Murdoch Murders Podcast is created by me, Mandy Matney, and my fiance, David Moses. Produced by Luna Shark Productions.

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