Murdaugh trial

[Tybee]

I am watching the Murdaugh trial on Fox Carolina. It live streams and people can comment. Unlike Court TV, it's happening in real time--they aren't taping it and replaying it with commercials. The commentary is spot on and it is a communal experience. Iris Lilies, you would really get into this, I think. I know I am. They restart at 9:30 this morning, although the judge has the jury coming back at 10:30, I think.

The victim's sister testified yesterday and there was a lot of drama about what she could and couldn't say, so the defense is arguing to keep out testimony about his attempted insurance fraud/suicide.

There is so much to this case and it is absolutely fascinating. I also figured out my family connection--there is a cousin connection by marriage, so that was interesting to track down on Ancestry, using family names as hints.

It's like the Simpson case only a lot more complex.

[Tybee]

Here is a link to a youtube about what happened in court yesterday, if anyone wants to catch up:
(46) Alex Murdaugh Murder Trial Day 17 Live | Maggie's Sister Testifies! | Afternoon | Lawyer Reacts - YouTube

[sweetana3]

One podcaster has been following this story for 4 years. Finally get to trial. The trial of the Palmetto Bank executive who conspired with Alex Murdaugh was fascinating as well. What a bunch of brazen crooks. Bet it will all be made into a movie.

All gets down to greed.

[Tybee]

The patterns of theft and corruption are astonishing. The love of money, etc.

[iris lilies]

Maybe I’ll read it when the book comes out. I’m not much of a fan of murder true crime, but financial scams are kind of interesting to me.
I honestly have not heard of this trial.

[sweetana3]

Iris, what happened to all the money is also interesting. There are at least 3 big thefts involving settlements to people who were injured in some way. So the victims were those who needed the help the most. One young man was a young deaf man who ended up a quadriplegic. They stole his settlement. Then two young girls who were injured and lost their mother in a car accident. They stole their settlement money. And then the housekeeper of Alex got killed in an "accident" at his home. He helped her kids get an insurance settlement and stole it.

These are only the ones that make the most news. Was millions of $$$. No one seems to know where the money went but speculation is he was involved in drug using and smuggling. Heard the movie maybe from Netflix is waiting till the end of Feb maybe March to catch the end of the trial. But I agree that a well researched book would be more detailed than a movie.

So far he stole from his clients, his partners, lawyers who worked with him, and who knows who else. The whole case is also showing the dark underside of the legal profession where attorneys are fighting to arrange things for their own financial benefit instead of the victims and justice. And it is like a very old movie about the police in small town southern states and the corruption of power.

ps: I watched/read anything I could find on Madoff and Enron. Lessons that many still have not learned.

[Tybee]

Sweetana, Hampton County is very near the county where I lived, and I get students from Hampton County. The trial is in Colleton County. They are all within an hour's drive. Their lifestyle was very lavish, even though her sister testified, "her lifestyle was not lavish." They had the 1700 acre hunting place where the murder occurred, a beach house in Edisto, and the main house in Hampton County. After the lawsuit on the boat incident, Maggie wanted to move to Hilton Head to get away from Hampton County--to start over, I think.

The judge yesterday reversed his morning ruling about the financial scam involving the roadside shooting. That's where he alledgedly had his cousin shoot him to have his remaining son collect a 10 million dollar insurance policy. That's why he is in jail. The murder charges came later; I don't think they would have figured it out save for the botched insurance scame. So in the morning, judge ruled the roadside shooting could not be in as too prejudicial, per the defense. Then the defense themselves brought it up on cross. So the judge ruled it back in, that they can go there. He already had ruled they could present the financial evidence, which the defense tried to keep out as it establishes potential motive.

I was astounded by the Palmetto Bank testimony. At one point he was 372,000 overdrawn, and the overdraft fee was $5. When he said that, the whole courtroom erupted in laughter.

IL, there is also a lot of dog testimony--we heard from the kennel guy who cleaned the kennels, and I am wondering if some of this isn't suggesting the murderer put the dogs in the wrong kennels--we heard exactly which dog went in which kennel, and a piece of key evidence is a video where voices are heard talking about the family dog having a chicken in its mouth. They also had a dog named after one of the victims.

[Tybee]

We are on the live feed talking about voodoo dolls. This case is something else!