May 15, 2026 • 39 mins
The Alex Murdaugh Murder convictions have been overturned due to misconduct by the Clerk of Court. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss what the ruling means - Murdaugh might be tried again for the murder of his Wife Maggie and Son, Paul. Alex Murdaugh is NOT getting out of prison. Murdaugh is serving combined Federal and State sentences of 67 years for numerous financial crimes. Murdaugh was convicted for stealing millions of dollars from clients as well as other financial crimes. Professor Morgan breaks down the murders of Paul and Maggie, explaining how Paul's brain ended up outside of his head on the ground, and how Maggie was executed with a shot to the head.
Joseph Scott Morgan - Host
Dave Mack - Co-Host
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.82 Introduction - Overturning Murdaugh
02:40.25 Clerk of Court
05:50.81 Verdict overturned
10:06.68 The target was Paul
15:33.34 Alex Murdaugh is not getting out of prison
20:15.09 Murdaugh case very complex
25:02.84 Digital evidence
29:52.37 Injuries to Paul
35:12.64 What happened to the long arms
39:23.17 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Quody Vice with Joseph Scott more.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Down here in the South. One of the things that
many of us enjoy, and I include myself in that
number along with my wife, my grandkids, is on fall
afternoons when we're going to go watch football, we will
go to what we call the local peanuts stand. And
a peanuts stand down here is something different than you
might think, like at.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
A ball game.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
We enjoy bold peanuts and people will find that. Some
people find it just how in the world can you
trust me? Once you've had them? They are fantastic, We
love them, we indulge in them. And I've had an
interesting thought because of some news that came out this week.
That news has to do with a particular case or
(00:49):
cases that we've covered for a protracted period of time
down here in the South, as a matter of fact,
out of South Carolina, where I do know in fact
that they love good bowl peanut over there. Well, here's
the thing, the reason or the genesis for why we're
talking about this today, is a fact that a lady
in South Carolina who was the clerk court wrote a book.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
She wrote a book.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
About a trial, and I submit to you she would
probably have made more money by going out and setting
up a bowl peanut stand than she would have off
of a book that she wrote about the trial. But
you know, there was a bigger price to be paid
for it. The bigger price is what we're staring down
right now, and that is the overturning of the double
(01:38):
homicide conviction of Alex Margaugh. Join us today on Bodybags
as we reflect over what occurred back in twenty twenty
one and what the future holds for this case. I'm
Joseph Scott Morgan and this is Bodybags, Dave. I got
(02:00):
to tell you, I've been around courts for a long
long time. I've got relatives that worked in the courts.
I've got attorneys in my family. And I won't go
any further then, further than that than to say I
understand how courts are structured and if there is a
(02:22):
you know, we always think about how powerful a judge
is and how honored you should be toward the judge.
But if there is actually a holy of holies, if
there is a sacroo sainct area within the court house structure,
it is the clerk of court. And that is because
they control and they manage day to day events relative
(02:45):
to dockets, they relative to witnesses, subpoenas. And here's the
other thing that they control. People don't understand this. They're
kind of that middle man, if you will, that handles evidence.
They're actually responsible for the chain of evidence, making sure
it's intact if there's evidence being brought into the court,
(03:05):
all those sorts of things that if you think of
the clerk court, they're kind of the conductor that you know,
because you know, courtroom's not more in the stage, right,
we got all these actors that pass passed across the stage. Well,
the clerk court is kind of the conductor of all this.
I cannot imagine a bigger violation than what occurred relative
(03:30):
to Becky Hill. Well in this this honored position.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, but you know, Joe digging into Becky Hill, you
find out that she wasn't what she pretended to be
at all. We're talking not just what she did with
the jurors in a double homicide, Okay, not just the
jurors that were sitting in judgment of Alec Murda. We're
talking about what she did in abusing her position as
(03:56):
clerk of court. It is a position in an area
like Callington county. You can do a lot of good,
you can also do a lot of bad for the community.
When you're in a position of trust like that, you
damage the public goodwill. And I will tell you I
agree with you. I'm glad you pointed out the clerk
of court is really important. Whenever you need something done,
(04:16):
you just go to the judge. You don't go to
the sheriff. You go to the clerk of court. That's
who's going to And the thing is, if he or
she can't do it his or herself, they'll direct you
to somebody who can.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I mean as a good they really are a very
good but yeah, and very.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Powerful, very powerful.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Yeah, buddy. And Becky Hill, Becky Hill.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Did what you know what, I don't care what you
think about Alec Murdau. Yeah, and I mean that whether
you think he's guilty of sin or innocent, as the
day is long, Yeah, he deserves a right to a
fair trial. The victims deserve a fair trial. Everybody impacted
by what took place deserves to have their day in court.
(05:04):
And you don't need to mess with that for the
sake of making money on a book. That's just that
is just so bad and that's what Becky Hill did.
Now the reason we're talking about this today. And I
know this bonus episode is going to be a little
different than what we normally do. But Joe, you have
(05:25):
lived this case so much, and I'm shocked and saddened
that this is what took place because I thought the
sixth week trial was really well done. I thought the
judge did a good job of staying out of the way.
I felt like he allowed some of the over the
top performances by prosecution and defense. Yeah, but you know,
(05:49):
I mean, you mentioned it's a theater. The court is
a theater, and it is so here your conductor tried
to sway the jury. And I just so you know,
this is what came out the other day and I
this is from the South Carolina Supreme Court. For six
(06:10):
weeks in early twenty twenty three, the eyes of the
nation focused on Collington County, where the state prosecuted notorious
former attorney Richard Alexander Murdau for the murders of his wife,
Maggie and son Paul. Both the state and Murdau's defense
skillfully presented their cases to the jury, as the trial
court definitely presided over this complicated and high profile matter. Joe,
(06:32):
do you disagree with any of that statement? No, okay,
I don't either. I think it's very well said, and
by the way, using Layman's terms, I like that. However,
continuing on with what they wrote, however, their efforts were
in vain because Calladen County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill
placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying
(06:56):
Murdau his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.
Our justice system provides, indeed demands, that every person is
entitled to a fair trial, which includes an impartial jury
untainted by external forces bent on influencing the jury toward
a biased verdict. Now they added something else in here, Joe.
(07:22):
Although we are aware of the time, money, and effort
expended for this lengthy trial, we have no choice but
to reverse the denial of Murdau's motion for a new
trial due to Hill's improper external influences. And it goes
on and on. I wanted to be clear on this
job as we dig into it. What happened is that
there were a couple of things. Immediately after his conviction.
(07:46):
Murdaw's attorney's filed an appeal very common you know, that's
what happens. But as they were going through the process,
if you remember, Judge Toll had to be assigned the
retired Judge Toll because Murdaw's team set aside their appeal
for the conviction and went after saying he didn't get
(08:10):
a fair trial because of what Becky Hill did. Remember,
we had all the hearings on that you. Judge Tole
heard it, and Judge Tole listened to everything, and after
listening to everything presented before Judge Toll, the judge decided
that that while there were things that were not appropriate,
the scales of justice were not swayed, and so the
(08:31):
motion was denied. He didn't get a chance to say
that he didn't get fair trial. And that's what this
was about. This was the appeal of that decision. So
this decision overturns Judge Toll's decision and by the way,
kicks it all the way back to the beginning because
of what Becky Hill did. Murdau did not get a
(08:51):
fair trial. It doesn't mean the evidence was wrong, corrupted,
or anything like that. It's not a technicality. Going to
have to decide if they're going to try it over again.
And I asked you to do this today because I
want to know, Joe, from a forensic standpoint, what happened.
What did Alec Murda, What was he convicted of doing
(09:14):
to his wife and son Paul, His wife Maggie and
his son Paul. What did he do to them to
take the life from their bodies on that night in
June of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well, I mean he executed them, you know, I mean
the now infamous, infamous dog kennels down there. You know,
it was set up as perfect you know, I think,
as perfect slaughter because you know, to draw, to draw, well,
(09:47):
certainly to take out Paul. And then you know, there
are a lot of people that hold that. I hate
to say this because I don't mean to diminish her
or her memory in any way. She was almost collateral.
I think the target was, in fact.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Paul because of the the boat.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Crash, yeah, and and other problems that had arisen. I
think that, you know, stearing it down, and uh, you
know he's when I say he, I mean Alex Murdogg.
You know, he's he's all about him, right, you know,
all I have to do I think back to you
know him, what was it. He was on the stand
(10:28):
and all of a sudden we heard a name that
we had never heard before that was being uttered by him.
He was referring to.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Paul as Paul Paul. Yeah, Paul Paul. Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
You know this kind of term of endearment, and we're
known for that down here in the South. But you know,
it would even make uh, it would make most Southerners blush,
you know, a term of endearment like that, and it
was manufactured. It felt synthetic too much like everything.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, I am so glad you just said that I
thought I was doing. I did not say that outloud.
I did. I thought the same thing, but I thought
I was the only one.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
No, he sees master manipulator. And I think that that's
thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You know that.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, you know, I think that a lot of people
out there, and I've had this happen. Uh, they they
see many people see from other regions of the country.
They see our uh maybe our our openness and warmth
and those sorts of things as we're trying to take
something from them. Well, I can tell you that from
(11:27):
my perspective, at least he is. He's an example of that.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
You know that kind of homespun kind of thing that
he was trying to portray there, you know, the genuinely
southern attorney. You know that I only wanted to help people.
And yeah, I had a few had a few financial
failures along the way and problems. But you know, he's uh,
you know, he's good old boy, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
And that's the way.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And I think that a lot of that this this
is not just an indictment of of him, and well
a conviction now that's been overturned, but it's also an
indictment of that system. I mean, from top to bottom,
because you know, there were a lot of questions that
came up in its wake. And the slaughter of the
(12:13):
two people are two of the people that you would
think that you loved most in the world, the mother
of your children that you've created life with and then
your son. Uh, that he would go to these uh,
these extremes to eradicate them and not give a second
(12:35):
thought about it, and and and.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Just the.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Level of violence here they were treated. And listen, I
am no fan of Paul all right, after everything that
came out about him, not necessarily a fan of the
mother too, because I think a lot of stuff is facilitated,
you know.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
By a lot of entitlement there, Yeah, a.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Lot of entitlement and that that was stated, you know
throughout throughout all of this. But I think that it
goes to the diminishment of the value of life. I
think about the struggles that uh, that the housekeeper had,
for instance, that that sweet lady, uh, that that I did.
I think I did a singular standalone episode just on
(13:19):
her death alone early on uh in body bags. So
but yeah, yeah, out there at that at that at
that kennel was was the stuff of horror. You know,
You've got Paul that has that has sustained two shotgun
blast twelve gay shotgun, uh, steel shot and this the
(13:42):
steel shot that is something that it's not buck shot.
It's it's a it's like a small game shot that
he's hit with and it's not as lethal obviously as
buck shot buck shots relatively, if you're talking about caliber,
these are little steel balls are about thirty it's too caliber.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Let me ask you question yea yeah, sure, all right,
before we get into that actual the murder there, Yeah, paup,
Paul and Maggie. Yeah, A number of things that came
out during the trial about the financial misdeeds, rate addiction
and everything.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Else like that.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I thought I thought that him going to drug right
after the murders. Remember when he checked into drug treatment
in Florida.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Oh yeah, very well.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
I thought that was a scam. I thought he's just
hopping on a bandwagon to get away because of all
the talk about him. But it turns out that he
did have a severe pain. He was addicted to pain medication.
He was also addicted to money talking about murdaw here.
He was addicted to a lot of things. And by
the way, it was all coming down on him when
(14:45):
this night rolled around and he had been at the
law firm that had his family members all over it,
and now they had pulled the buster aside and said, hey, Murda,
you're out, you know, and you guys have to remember that.
But financial, all of the misdoings there, which there are plenty,
(15:06):
he was, he convicted, and he's actually in prison for
the rest of his life. It doesn't matter if Joe.
If somebody came up right now at his next trial
and said, I am the murderer. I set Alex up
to take the fall, but I killed Paul and Maggie
in here here's the gun I used, here's the amo.
Here's a video that my wife took showing me doing it.
Do you realize that if that happened, that, yes, Alec
(15:29):
Murdock would be released, he's free to go, but he
would not be free to go. He's serving a life
sentence right now. He's got forty years on the financial crimes,
and all of the terms are consecutive. He's not getting
out of prison. If he were to find the person
who really killed his wife and son and marks them
up to it's not going to change where he lives.
(15:49):
His home address is still in prison. So I just
want to be really clear on that. The financial crimes
that did shock many people the depth of depravity of
this man. He was evil to the core. But here
we're dealing with just the murders that were overturned, and
I hate to say, just the murders his wife and
his son, and he lured them both there, in particular Maggie.
(16:13):
He ured Maggie was at their beach house. She was
getting a divorce. She was done with him, she was
done with covering up for the drug problem. Paul, Paul,
you know, he was tired of the drug problem. Of
Daddy too. You know, they'd all hid drugs from him.
That's something else that came out, the pill hiding, and
that blew me away talking about how Alec went through
weekends of withdrawal where he was trying to quit drugs
(16:35):
and he would go through a draw and make himself sick,
and you know, it's just the guy was in such
an evil place. The fact that he orchestrated these murders
makes sense to me now didn't at the time. But
he orchestrated everything to get Paul there. He's going to
make Paul pay for the Mallory Beach death and he
I believe he lured Maggie there to take her out
(16:56):
because she was divorcing him. And I think that what
took place in those murders showed the level of disgust
he had with himself and what had become of his
family in so.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Well, yeah, I kind of yeah, let me let me
hold forth on that just a little bit. Because one
of the things that always intrigued me about this case
because it is bizarre, and I've talked I talked to
several I talked to several people along the way that
are uh, well, a number of police officers. Also talked
(17:30):
to a couple of military friends of mine for military
Uh and uh that were you know, their how can
I say it, Huh their doorbuster guys, you know, the
the you know the guys that would kick in a room. Yeah,
and and and uh clear rooms. And I was talking
(17:51):
to them about the plausibility of an individual that was
looking to facilitate a a homicide, a double homicide, and
how how how hard to manage it would be showing
up with two long arms, which you know, for me,
it always came back, you know, because when I say
(18:13):
long arms, I'm talking about a shoulder fired weapon. So
you've got a shotgun and you've got this three three
hundred blackout, which is an AR platform. It's just a
different type of ammunition, very powerful, high powered. You know,
most like if you if you talk about guys that
they are hard chargers in the military. When they go
to say go go in, and they're going to go
(18:37):
into a house and clear a house and whatnot, they
have two sides. They have two firearms with them, they
have shoulder fired weapon. Most of it's going to look
like something like an AR platform and they're going to
have side arm you know, like a nine mili forty
five caliber whatever it is that they're choosing to take
with them. You don't show up with two long arms.
(18:58):
So for me, from an investigation Sandport, that always implied
that and these two weapons couldnot be more different than
these all right, So it implied to me, we're going,
you know, we're going into the to the level of
where his you know, kind of his rotten brain is here.
I'm going to try to make this look like this
(19:20):
was like a hit. You've got two guys showing up
with two different weapons. Maybe you've got a shotgun to
cover a person, because you can't cover them with that,
you don't have to be dead on accurate. And then
we've got an actual shooter that's got a three hundred
blackout platform. An ar platform has chambered in three hundred.
(19:40):
So immediately you've got it's something other than one guy
being able to do this. So there's thought that's going
into this, and that kind of goes to the level.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Of depravity here. I think, brother Dave, we you.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Know, we didn't get all of the information at first,
which you're not going to in any case, right, I mean,
I'd say that we're both old salts. Now at this
we know that you're not going to get everything up front,
but this case was so very complex. First off, it
was kind of a who done it? I think that
authorities probably are those that were outside of the local
(20:30):
constabulary probably had their thoughts about this pretty quickly, and
then they weren't going to say anything about it and
let the publican press talk about all they want. We're
not saying anything. But when it all comes down to
brass tacks here, it finally got laid out for us,
I think, and relatively effectively with the timeline, didn't it.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
It was amazing how and this is going to come
up if it does go back to trial, which many
people do expect that murder is going to be retried
on those murders.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
They don't expect a plea deal.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
So it's important to note that a defense attorney will say, well,
they didn't have physical evidence. They had they didn't really
have direct evidence. They had some circumstantial evidence, but nothing
really direct.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
They had him lying. That's what they got murder off for.
He was a liar.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
That doesn't mean he killed his wife and son. Well,
when you look at the actual the key digital evidence timeline.
This is different than the timeline put together by Joe
and Dave over a cup of coffee, going I think
this happened in today's world. Your phone, and by the way,
your vehicle. Alec Murdo's Chevy Suburban had one of those
(21:41):
trackers on it. You know that it's geotracking or whatever,
and it tells you everything that's going on. It's it's
like a private eye, you know, an AI private eye.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
So we've got.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
From that evening six nine pm to six thirty three pm,
Paul and Maggie exchanged text messages and calls about having
dinner and arriving in time at the home because remember
Maggie was at the beach house, Paul was coming. They
were both headed towards where Alec Murda wanted them to
(22:15):
at the hunting lodges I think what they called it
in college them and so they were both coming in.
That's why they were texting, trying to time it to
be there at the same time. Alex Chevy Suburban leaves
the law firm at six twenty four pm. Seven thirty
nine pm, Paul sends a snapchat video of Alex and
(22:35):
a dog to his friends all right, seven, this is important.
These snapchats are really important. Seven forty five to seven
fifty six pm, Paul's phone places him Paul at the kennels.
Now listen to this EIGHTO nine to nine O two pm.
From eight to nine pm Joe to nine O two pm,
(22:58):
Alex Murdock's phone chords zero footsteps, indicating he was not
moving with his phone, meaning it was sitting someplace, not moving.
He didn't have it on him. Now at a seventeen PM,
Maggie arrives at the home. This is all according to
digital proved geolocation data. Eight seventeen Maggie arrives. A forty
(23:23):
four pm Paul records a final video at the kennels.
This is the eight forty four pm video that puts
Alec Murda at the crime scene, at the murder scene
where he said he wasn't I'm not I wasn't even there.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
I was at my mom's.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Alex Murda I had to admit on the stand during
his first trial that that was his voice heard crystal
clear at a forty four pm with Paul. A forty
nine pm, five minutes after that last video on Paul's phone,
Maggie and Paul's phones go inactive simultaneous. This has been
(24:02):
argued that eight forty nine pm was the time of death.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
For both of them.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Nine oh two PM, Alex's phones begins recording footsteps again.
Nine oh six pm Alex leaves the house for his
mother's home in Almeda, according to a vehicle and phone data.
Ten oh six pm, Aleck calls nine to one one
reporting his wife and son dead. Now, just so you know,
(24:30):
there is so much evidence. Digital evidence show that shows
that Paul was at the kennels you know, and Maggie's
phone being found near her body with forty three steps
recorded between eight thirty and eight thirty three pm, indicating
(24:50):
movement before being locked for good at eight forty nine pm.
That locking of the phone at eight forty nine pm
is really important. And if you remember, they couldn't even
get Paul's phone opened at first, remember that. Yep, they
kept trying, trying, This is why there was not an arrest.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Took him a while.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Then somebody went well, why don't to try his birthday?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
That's what unlocked his phone.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Anyway, There's a whole lot more, but that gives you
the idea right there. And by the way, all of
the other digital evidence, you know, it just puts everything,
Alec Murdas said as a lie. The digital elevens shows
that he not only was at the kennel's, it actually
shows the number of steps he was taking where the
you know, it shows when Maggie's phone is on the move,
(25:38):
you know actually, and it shows when Alex is in
his truck driving down the road and all of a sudden, Alec,
you know, Maggie's phone stops moving and it's right there.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
It's you know, he's driving down the road. Through it
out and they find it right there.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
All these things A.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Remarked, so that digital evidence is enough of a timeline.
It's not circumstantial. It's bottom line here it is. It
ain't wrong.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
No, it's not wrong.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
And when you go back and you look at the
wake of destruction, I think that's left behind.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
That movement.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And I found that, you know, I kind of found
that it was not poignant. That's not the word I'm
looking for. I guess.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
It was, well, it was evil because.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
You know, you've you have, based upon the previous conviction
been determined by a court and a jury of your
peers that you did, in fact slaughter them. And just
so people understand, I have held that.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I think that Maggie was there to be killed. But
as controversial as a statement is, I think that Paul
was a primary target and I think that Paul was
probably debate, uh to get her down there. That's what
I think. And because Paul was taken unawares, you know,
(27:08):
he shot, he is shot, and when he goes down
the the injuries, you know that that he has sustained.
He he's popped once in the chest.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
He shot.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
He shot with a twelve gage shotgun. And again we're
talking about steel shot here. That's like it's like bird shot,
a small game shot. And if if you and I
were were out and you know, you and I were
gonna we're hold up somewhere, and let's say that zombies
are coming after us, right, bird shot is not gonna
(27:46):
be my first.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Choice if I if all I have is.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
A shotgun platform, I'm either going to use a slugg
I'm gonna use buck shot. Buck shots called buck shot
for reason because you can take down a buck with
it like a deer. Even though it is a shotgun,
all right, and it's it's more powerful. You've got multiple
they they're about size of marbles. I guess it's point
three to two caliber of each one of these things.
And they're all heading down range at the same time.
(28:09):
It's it's like being shot with a thirty two caliber pistol,
you know, would like depend upon how many low how
many shots are contained within there, and you're struck by
them simultaneously as opposed to one. All right, but this
is buckshot. I mean, this is bird shot that we're
talking about. So these are like bebies. Now, at a
long distance, you can take down a dove, quail, pheasant,
(28:34):
you know, you name it, rabbit, You can take down
squirrels with them, that sort of thing. But the further
out that it spreads, okay, further out that it spreads,
the less effective it is. You see what I'm saying.
You don't have that concentrated thing. This wasn't This wasn't
spread out. This was concentrated relatively speaking to the pattern
(28:57):
of a shotgun.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
All right, And.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Murdau had history. He was a bird hunter. That was
his thing. Okay. I think he liked to hunt dove
and quail and whatnot. So this is something that's readily available, right,
and when he shows up down there and Paul is
there at the kennel, I think that he took him
by surprise, and whether or not he saw it coming
(29:24):
or not, the reality is is that Paul is in
such a position that he's staring down the muzzle of
twelve gay shotgun. Okay, I don't know if he saw
it or not, but he sustains this blast to the
chest and as.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
The coup de gras first the way the first shot
went into his chest and shoulder, right, So.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, Dave, you know Paul was actually shot in the
chest and the left shoulder. So what we know about
that is that this blast had some kind of spread
to it at that point in time, because they're not
just merely saying the chest, they're not just merely saying
the left shoulder, So you have some kind of spread
(30:05):
on this. But as as Paul has been shot at
that point in Tom Murdoch closes in and that's when
he delivers I don't know what I would call a
coup de gras. That second final shot is going to
be to the neck and to the head. So for me,
you're talking about a shot that is coming from above
(30:28):
to below at that point in time. Hence you've got
this tremendous damage, which of course winds up eviscerating the
brain out of the crane of vault.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
You know, Dug. This brings us to Maggie. You know, Maggie.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Maggie is actually found thirty yards away, you know, from Paul.
So I didn't you know, I think that some people
might have thought early on that she I'd actually heard
somebody say this at one point in time. Do you
think that she was down there with Murda when Paul
was shot, okay, and then she begins screaming or something
(31:20):
and runs away, and then he winds up shooting her.
I don't believe that that's what happened. I think that
Paul was shot and then Maggie approaches at this moment time.
But let's think about the weapon platform that Maggie is
actually shot with. This is a let's face it. If
I were going if I were going to go wild
(31:43):
hog hunting, okay, three hundred blackout is around, that's around
I choose, and I don't like to screw around with
wild hogs because they will It's not like hunting deer.
Wild hogs attack you you need to make sure you're
going to take them down. And that's a round that
I would probably use. It might not be everybody's cup
(32:05):
of tea. This is a very powerful round, and so
when you're considering this, he's shown up with two weapon platforms.
He winds up essentially killing her. There's five shots that's fired.
Now she's got kind of a tight shot group. There's
three shots that are in pretty close proximity. But what
(32:29):
we believe had happened is that she when she is
finally dealt her final her final shot. They believe she
was down on her knee knees, probably supported with her
right hand, okay, and he walks, He walks, walks back
(32:52):
there and pipes her a single time in the back
of the head with this thing and just drops her
to the ground. The other shots would have been effective,
she would have bled out, but she was not immediately
killed by this. You know, there's some people that are
shot with high velocity rounds, David. You know that some
of them are not even aware that they've been shot.
(33:13):
That does happen, and it comes about as a result
of many things. First off, the velocity of which these
rounds move is traumatized in a body, but they have not.
You don't necessarily have the connectivity between your sensitivities to
things because it's happening so quick it takes a few
seconds to register, whereas with shotgun, you shot with a shotgun,
(33:36):
you're going to be pretty well aware of. It's like
getting hit with a ten pound sledge hammer, all right,
It's a completely kind of different event. He saw something
in her at that point time where he was going
to end her life, and this turned out to be
turned out to be just an out and out execution
of the mother of his children, which to me, it's
(34:00):
I don't know why I should be surprised or shocked.
I don't guess I am, because we cover so much
of this stuff on the air, But still it never
ceases to amaze me. You know that people can be
this callous, but they are. And then after the fact,
the way the state has portrayed this and you said
it just a few months ago, where the phone is
(34:20):
actually found tossed out on the side of the road.
So he has left this place too sweet. I mean,
he's making it down the road, he's rolled down the
window and he's flicked this thing out of this vehicle.
But here's a big question, right, one of the big questions,
And wouldn't it be something if they had this trial,
if this did go to trial. His defense team has
(34:41):
already said they want speedy trial, all right, I've already
read that. Wouldn't that be something if all of a
sudden these weapons that no one has ever been able
to find suddenly materialized Because I've always felt like there
was somebody else out there that had something to do
with this. I'm not saying that was a per I'm
saying that was perhaps an adjunct facilitator. I want to
(35:04):
know what happened to those long arms. This is not
like this is not like a twenty two caliber pocket pistol,
all right, that you're just going to you know that
you can take and you go over any swampy areas
out there and just fling it as far as you
can the mud it's going to consume it. That's not
what we're talking about. We're talking about two long arms.
What happened to those weapons in that period of time
(35:27):
where they showed up and they're not there. I just
that's one of the big, one of the big mysteries
here that you know, where we're still left wanting, Dave.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Well, I think that I wanted you to be able
to explain how he murdered them, you know, his own
flesh and blood, his wife and his son, because all
of the rest of it, the explains what was going
on in his life. Everything was about him. The whole
time you mentioned how he was on the standtime about
Pap Paul. See, I think I missed something and that
(35:58):
that was the comment because the way he said it,
But I just thought it didn't seem true. And as
I've looked at everything with him, it's all everything that
from the very verse phone call to nine one one
that made no sense to me. You know, none of
it made sense.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
No, it wouldn't two things I wouldn't let him come
in contact with or you know, my teenage daughter or
my wallet. Neither one of them. I wouldn't trust him
with either one, because that's that's kind of you know
you every every single time you know, I'd watched this,
I felt like I need to go pull my brain out,
(36:35):
screw it with comment. You know, it was just it
kind of felt that way, you know, the entire time.
But brother, Dave, here.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
We are.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
And look, he has previously been convicted that's been overturned.
But I'd like to leave everybody with a real brief
thought here, And this thought goes back to a member
of the Supreme Court from a long, long time ago.
(37:08):
And I've always kind of held on to this because
it's a real app descriptor and it goes to well
protections that we have under the Fourth Amendment, and it
also goes to it goes to the lack of morality
(37:29):
that sometimes exist with those that are in public office.
And it's a guy named Benjamin N. Cardozo. He's famous jurist,
and I think I think that Justice Cardoso made this
statement back in the nineteen twenties. And just let it
sink in. It's no, it's no soaring, soaring thing here.
(37:54):
You know that that I'm about to state. It's very
simple and that's the beauty of it. And it's he
wrote this so that I think that everybody could understand.
And it simply states the criminal is to go free
because the constable blundered. Just keep that in mind when
people in public office embrace their own, I don't know, greed,
(38:22):
their own desires to have things that don't necessarily belong
to them, or they haven't earned justly. When they take
advantage of people, you think that there's not going to
be that big a price to pay, But in this case,
the ripples spread far and wide because of everybody that
(38:44):
has had to go through the trauma. I think about
these families that have had to testify that were peripheral
to all of this. I think about wild accusations that
have flown about, and here we are, We're faced with
the possibility of having to go through all of this again.
And it all comes down to that singular person that
(39:06):
occupied that space in that little corner of South Carolina.
So next time you want to go steal something, next
time you want to go around the law, think about it.
Maybe she should just go out and open a peanut stand.
(39:30):
I'm Joseph Scott Morgan and this is Body Back.
Quody Vice with Joseph Scott more.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Down here in the South. One of the things that
many of us enjoy, and I include myself in that
number along with my wife, my grandkids, is on fall
afternoons when we're going to go watch football, we will
go to what we call the local peanuts stand. And
a peanuts stand down here is something different than you
might think, like at.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
A ball game.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
We enjoy bold peanuts and people will find that. Some
people find it just how in the world can you
trust me? Once you've had them? They are fantastic, We
love them, we indulge in them. And I've had an
interesting thought because of some news that came out this week.
That news has to do with a particular case or
(00:49):
cases that we've covered for a protracted period of time
down here in the South, as a matter of fact,
out of South Carolina, where I do know in fact
that they love good bowl peanut over there. Well, here's
the thing, the reason or the genesis for why we're
talking about this today, is a fact that a lady
in South Carolina who was the clerk court wrote a book.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
She wrote a book.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
About a trial, and I submit to you she would
probably have made more money by going out and setting
up a bowl peanut stand than she would have off
of a book that she wrote about the trial. But
you know, there was a bigger price to be paid
for it. The bigger price is what we're staring down
right now, and that is the overturning of the double
(01:38):
homicide conviction of Alex Margaugh. Join us today on Bodybags
as we reflect over what occurred back in twenty twenty
one and what the future holds for this case. I'm
Joseph Scott Morgan and this is Bodybags, Dave. I got
(02:00):
to tell you, I've been around courts for a long
long time. I've got relatives that worked in the courts.
I've got attorneys in my family. And I won't go
any further then, further than that than to say I
understand how courts are structured and if there is a
(02:22):
you know, we always think about how powerful a judge
is and how honored you should be toward the judge.
But if there is actually a holy of holies, if
there is a sacroo sainct area within the court house structure,
it is the clerk of court. And that is because
they control and they manage day to day events relative
(02:45):
to dockets, they relative to witnesses, subpoenas. And here's the
other thing that they control. People don't understand this. They're
kind of that middle man, if you will, that handles evidence.
They're actually responsible for the chain of evidence, making sure
it's intact if there's evidence being brought into the court,
(03:05):
all those sorts of things that if you think of
the clerk court, they're kind of the conductor that you know,
because you know, courtroom's not more in the stage, right,
we got all these actors that pass passed across the stage. Well,
the clerk court is kind of the conductor of all this.
I cannot imagine a bigger violation than what occurred relative
(03:30):
to Becky Hill. Well in this this honored position.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, but you know, Joe digging into Becky Hill, you
find out that she wasn't what she pretended to be
at all. We're talking not just what she did with
the jurors in a double homicide, Okay, not just the
jurors that were sitting in judgment of Alec Murda. We're
talking about what she did in abusing her position as
(03:56):
clerk of court. It is a position in an area
like Callington county. You can do a lot of good,
you can also do a lot of bad for the community.
When you're in a position of trust like that, you
damage the public goodwill. And I will tell you I
agree with you. I'm glad you pointed out the clerk
of court is really important. Whenever you need something done,
(04:16):
you just go to the judge. You don't go to
the sheriff. You go to the clerk of court. That's
who's going to And the thing is, if he or
she can't do it his or herself, they'll direct you
to somebody who can.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I mean as a good they really are a very
good but yeah, and very.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Powerful, very powerful.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Yeah, buddy. And Becky Hill, Becky Hill.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Did what you know what, I don't care what you
think about Alec Murdau. Yeah, and I mean that whether
you think he's guilty of sin or innocent, as the
day is long, Yeah, he deserves a right to a
fair trial. The victims deserve a fair trial. Everybody impacted
by what took place deserves to have their day in court.
(05:04):
And you don't need to mess with that for the
sake of making money on a book. That's just that
is just so bad and that's what Becky Hill did.
Now the reason we're talking about this today. And I
know this bonus episode is going to be a little
different than what we normally do. But Joe, you have
(05:25):
lived this case so much, and I'm shocked and saddened
that this is what took place because I thought the
sixth week trial was really well done. I thought the
judge did a good job of staying out of the way.
I felt like he allowed some of the over the
top performances by prosecution and defense. Yeah, but you know,
(05:49):
I mean, you mentioned it's a theater. The court is
a theater, and it is so here your conductor tried
to sway the jury. And I just so you know,
this is what came out the other day and I
this is from the South Carolina Supreme Court. For six
(06:10):
weeks in early twenty twenty three, the eyes of the
nation focused on Collington County, where the state prosecuted notorious
former attorney Richard Alexander Murdau for the murders of his wife,
Maggie and son Paul. Both the state and Murdau's defense
skillfully presented their cases to the jury, as the trial
court definitely presided over this complicated and high profile matter. Joe,
(06:32):
do you disagree with any of that statement? No, okay,
I don't either. I think it's very well said, and
by the way, using Layman's terms, I like that. However,
continuing on with what they wrote, however, their efforts were
in vain because Calladen County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill
placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying
(06:56):
Murdau his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.
Our justice system provides, indeed demands, that every person is
entitled to a fair trial, which includes an impartial jury
untainted by external forces bent on influencing the jury toward
a biased verdict. Now they added something else in here, Joe.
(07:22):
Although we are aware of the time, money, and effort
expended for this lengthy trial, we have no choice but
to reverse the denial of Murdau's motion for a new
trial due to Hill's improper external influences. And it goes
on and on. I wanted to be clear on this
job as we dig into it. What happened is that
there were a couple of things. Immediately after his conviction.
(07:46):
Murdaw's attorney's filed an appeal very common you know, that's
what happens. But as they were going through the process,
if you remember, Judge Toll had to be assigned the
retired Judge Toll because Murdaw's team set aside their appeal
for the conviction and went after saying he didn't get
(08:10):
a fair trial because of what Becky Hill did. Remember,
we had all the hearings on that you. Judge Tole
heard it, and Judge Tole listened to everything, and after
listening to everything presented before Judge Toll, the judge decided
that that while there were things that were not appropriate,
the scales of justice were not swayed, and so the
(08:31):
motion was denied. He didn't get a chance to say
that he didn't get fair trial. And that's what this
was about. This was the appeal of that decision. So
this decision overturns Judge Toll's decision and by the way,
kicks it all the way back to the beginning because
of what Becky Hill did. Murdau did not get a
(08:51):
fair trial. It doesn't mean the evidence was wrong, corrupted,
or anything like that. It's not a technicality. Going to
have to decide if they're going to try it over again.
And I asked you to do this today because I
want to know, Joe, from a forensic standpoint, what happened.
What did Alec Murda, What was he convicted of doing
(09:14):
to his wife and son Paul, His wife Maggie and
his son Paul. What did he do to them to
take the life from their bodies on that night in
June of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well, I mean he executed them, you know, I mean
the now infamous, infamous dog kennels down there. You know,
it was set up as perfect you know, I think,
as perfect slaughter because you know, to draw, to draw, well,
(09:47):
certainly to take out Paul. And then you know, there
are a lot of people that hold that. I hate
to say this because I don't mean to diminish her
or her memory in any way. She was almost collateral.
I think the target was, in fact.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Paul because of the the boat.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Crash, yeah, and and other problems that had arisen. I
think that, you know, stearing it down, and uh, you
know he's when I say he, I mean Alex Murdogg.
You know, he's he's all about him, right, you know,
all I have to do I think back to you
know him, what was it. He was on the stand
(10:28):
and all of a sudden we heard a name that
we had never heard before that was being uttered by him.
He was referring to.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Paul as Paul Paul. Yeah, Paul Paul. Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
You know this kind of term of endearment, and we're
known for that down here in the South. But you know,
it would even make uh, it would make most Southerners blush,
you know, a term of endearment like that, and it
was manufactured. It felt synthetic too much like everything.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, I am so glad you just said that I
thought I was doing. I did not say that outloud.
I did. I thought the same thing, but I thought
I was the only one.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
No, he sees master manipulator. And I think that that's
thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You know that.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, you know, I think that a lot of people
out there, and I've had this happen. Uh, they they
see many people see from other regions of the country.
They see our uh maybe our our openness and warmth
and those sorts of things as we're trying to take
something from them. Well, I can tell you that from
(11:27):
my perspective, at least he is. He's an example of that.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
You know that kind of homespun kind of thing that
he was trying to portray there, you know, the genuinely
southern attorney. You know that I only wanted to help people.
And yeah, I had a few had a few financial
failures along the way and problems. But you know, he's uh,
you know, he's good old boy, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
And that's the way.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And I think that a lot of that this this
is not just an indictment of of him, and well
a conviction now that's been overturned, but it's also an
indictment of that system. I mean, from top to bottom,
because you know, there were a lot of questions that
came up in its wake. And the slaughter of the
(12:13):
two people are two of the people that you would
think that you loved most in the world, the mother
of your children that you've created life with and then
your son. Uh, that he would go to these uh,
these extremes to eradicate them and not give a second
(12:35):
thought about it, and and and.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Just the.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Level of violence here they were treated. And listen, I
am no fan of Paul all right, after everything that
came out about him, not necessarily a fan of the
mother too, because I think a lot of stuff is facilitated,
you know.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
By a lot of entitlement there, Yeah, a.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Lot of entitlement and that that was stated, you know
throughout throughout all of this. But I think that it
goes to the diminishment of the value of life. I
think about the struggles that uh, that the housekeeper had,
for instance, that that sweet lady, uh, that that I did.
I think I did a singular standalone episode just on
(13:19):
her death alone early on uh in body bags. So
but yeah, yeah, out there at that at that at
that kennel was was the stuff of horror. You know,
You've got Paul that has that has sustained two shotgun
blast twelve gay shotgun, uh, steel shot and this the
(13:42):
steel shot that is something that it's not buck shot.
It's it's a it's like a small game shot that
he's hit with and it's not as lethal obviously as
buck shot buck shots relatively, if you're talking about caliber,
these are little steel balls are about thirty it's too caliber.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Let me ask you question yea yeah, sure, all right,
before we get into that actual the murder there, Yeah, paup,
Paul and Maggie. Yeah, A number of things that came
out during the trial about the financial misdeeds, rate addiction
and everything.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Else like that.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I thought I thought that him going to drug right
after the murders. Remember when he checked into drug treatment
in Florida.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Oh yeah, very well.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
I thought that was a scam. I thought he's just
hopping on a bandwagon to get away because of all
the talk about him. But it turns out that he
did have a severe pain. He was addicted to pain medication.
He was also addicted to money talking about murdaw here.
He was addicted to a lot of things. And by
the way, it was all coming down on him when
(14:45):
this night rolled around and he had been at the
law firm that had his family members all over it,
and now they had pulled the buster aside and said, hey, Murda,
you're out, you know, and you guys have to remember that.
But financial, all of the misdoings there, which there are plenty,
(15:06):
he was, he convicted, and he's actually in prison for
the rest of his life. It doesn't matter if Joe.
If somebody came up right now at his next trial
and said, I am the murderer. I set Alex up
to take the fall, but I killed Paul and Maggie
in here here's the gun I used, here's the amo.
Here's a video that my wife took showing me doing it.
Do you realize that if that happened, that, yes, Alec
(15:29):
Murdock would be released, he's free to go, but he
would not be free to go. He's serving a life
sentence right now. He's got forty years on the financial crimes,
and all of the terms are consecutive. He's not getting
out of prison. If he were to find the person
who really killed his wife and son and marks them
up to it's not going to change where he lives.
(15:49):
His home address is still in prison. So I just
want to be really clear on that. The financial crimes
that did shock many people the depth of depravity of
this man. He was evil to the core. But here
we're dealing with just the murders that were overturned, and
I hate to say, just the murders his wife and
his son, and he lured them both there, in particular Maggie.
(16:13):
He ured Maggie was at their beach house. She was
getting a divorce. She was done with him, she was
done with covering up for the drug problem. Paul, Paul,
you know, he was tired of the drug problem. Of
Daddy too. You know, they'd all hid drugs from him.
That's something else that came out, the pill hiding, and
that blew me away talking about how Alec went through
weekends of withdrawal where he was trying to quit drugs
(16:35):
and he would go through a draw and make himself sick,
and you know, it's just the guy was in such
an evil place. The fact that he orchestrated these murders
makes sense to me now didn't at the time. But
he orchestrated everything to get Paul there. He's going to
make Paul pay for the Mallory Beach death and he
I believe he lured Maggie there to take her out
(16:56):
because she was divorcing him. And I think that what
took place in those murders showed the level of disgust
he had with himself and what had become of his
family in so.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Well, yeah, I kind of yeah, let me let me
hold forth on that just a little bit. Because one
of the things that always intrigued me about this case
because it is bizarre, and I've talked I talked to
several I talked to several people along the way that
are uh, well, a number of police officers. Also talked
(17:30):
to a couple of military friends of mine for military
Uh and uh that were you know, their how can
I say it, Huh their doorbuster guys, you know, the
the you know the guys that would kick in a room. Yeah,
and and and uh clear rooms. And I was talking
(17:51):
to them about the plausibility of an individual that was
looking to facilitate a a homicide, a double homicide, and
how how how hard to manage it would be showing
up with two long arms, which you know, for me,
it always came back, you know, because when I say
(18:13):
long arms, I'm talking about a shoulder fired weapon. So
you've got a shotgun and you've got this three three
hundred blackout, which is an AR platform. It's just a
different type of ammunition, very powerful, high powered. You know,
most like if you if you talk about guys that
they are hard chargers in the military. When they go
to say go go in, and they're going to go
(18:37):
into a house and clear a house and whatnot, they
have two sides. They have two firearms with them, they
have shoulder fired weapon. Most of it's going to look
like something like an AR platform and they're going to
have side arm you know, like a nine mili forty
five caliber whatever it is that they're choosing to take
with them. You don't show up with two long arms.
(18:58):
So for me, from an investigation Sandport, that always implied
that and these two weapons couldnot be more different than
these all right, So it implied to me, we're going,
you know, we're going into the to the level of
where his you know, kind of his rotten brain is here.
I'm going to try to make this look like this
(19:20):
was like a hit. You've got two guys showing up
with two different weapons. Maybe you've got a shotgun to
cover a person, because you can't cover them with that,
you don't have to be dead on accurate. And then
we've got an actual shooter that's got a three hundred
blackout platform. An ar platform has chambered in three hundred.
(19:40):
So immediately you've got it's something other than one guy
being able to do this. So there's thought that's going
into this, and that kind of goes to the level.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Of depravity here. I think, brother Dave, we you.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Know, we didn't get all of the information at first,
which you're not going to in any case, right, I mean,
I'd say that we're both old salts. Now at this
we know that you're not going to get everything up front,
but this case was so very complex. First off, it
was kind of a who done it? I think that
authorities probably are those that were outside of the local
(20:30):
constabulary probably had their thoughts about this pretty quickly, and
then they weren't going to say anything about it and
let the publican press talk about all they want. We're
not saying anything. But when it all comes down to
brass tacks here, it finally got laid out for us,
I think, and relatively effectively with the timeline, didn't it.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
It was amazing how and this is going to come
up if it does go back to trial, which many
people do expect that murder is going to be retried
on those murders.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
They don't expect a plea deal.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
So it's important to note that a defense attorney will say, well,
they didn't have physical evidence. They had they didn't really
have direct evidence. They had some circumstantial evidence, but nothing
really direct.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
They had him lying. That's what they got murder off for.
He was a liar.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
That doesn't mean he killed his wife and son. Well,
when you look at the actual the key digital evidence timeline.
This is different than the timeline put together by Joe
and Dave over a cup of coffee, going I think
this happened in today's world. Your phone, and by the way,
your vehicle. Alec Murdo's Chevy Suburban had one of those
(21:41):
trackers on it. You know that it's geotracking or whatever,
and it tells you everything that's going on. It's it's
like a private eye, you know, an AI private eye.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
So we've got.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
From that evening six nine pm to six thirty three pm,
Paul and Maggie exchanged text messages and calls about having
dinner and arriving in time at the home because remember
Maggie was at the beach house, Paul was coming. They
were both headed towards where Alec Murda wanted them to
(22:15):
at the hunting lodges I think what they called it
in college them and so they were both coming in.
That's why they were texting, trying to time it to
be there at the same time. Alex Chevy Suburban leaves
the law firm at six twenty four pm. Seven thirty
nine pm, Paul sends a snapchat video of Alex and
(22:35):
a dog to his friends all right, seven, this is important.
These snapchats are really important. Seven forty five to seven
fifty six pm, Paul's phone places him Paul at the kennels.
Now listen to this EIGHTO nine to nine O two pm.
From eight to nine pm Joe to nine O two pm,
(22:58):
Alex Murdock's phone chords zero footsteps, indicating he was not
moving with his phone, meaning it was sitting someplace, not moving.
He didn't have it on him. Now at a seventeen PM,
Maggie arrives at the home. This is all according to
digital proved geolocation data. Eight seventeen Maggie arrives. A forty
(23:23):
four pm Paul records a final video at the kennels.
This is the eight forty four pm video that puts
Alec Murda at the crime scene, at the murder scene
where he said he wasn't I'm not I wasn't even there.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
I was at my mom's.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Alex Murda I had to admit on the stand during
his first trial that that was his voice heard crystal
clear at a forty four pm with Paul. A forty
nine pm, five minutes after that last video on Paul's phone,
Maggie and Paul's phones go inactive simultaneous. This has been
(24:02):
argued that eight forty nine pm was the time of death.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
For both of them.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Nine oh two PM, Alex's phones begins recording footsteps again.
Nine oh six pm Alex leaves the house for his
mother's home in Almeda, according to a vehicle and phone data.
Ten oh six pm, Aleck calls nine to one one
reporting his wife and son dead. Now, just so you know,
(24:30):
there is so much evidence. Digital evidence show that shows
that Paul was at the kennels you know, and Maggie's
phone being found near her body with forty three steps
recorded between eight thirty and eight thirty three pm, indicating
(24:50):
movement before being locked for good at eight forty nine pm.
That locking of the phone at eight forty nine pm
is really important. And if you remember, they couldn't even
get Paul's phone opened at first, remember that. Yep, they
kept trying, trying, This is why there was not an arrest.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Took him a while.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Then somebody went well, why don't to try his birthday?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
That's what unlocked his phone.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Anyway, There's a whole lot more, but that gives you
the idea right there. And by the way, all of
the other digital evidence, you know, it just puts everything,
Alec Murdas said as a lie. The digital elevens shows
that he not only was at the kennel's, it actually
shows the number of steps he was taking where the
you know, it shows when Maggie's phone is on the move,
(25:38):
you know actually, and it shows when Alex is in
his truck driving down the road and all of a sudden, Alec,
you know, Maggie's phone stops moving and it's right there.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
It's you know, he's driving down the road. Through it
out and they find it right there.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
All these things A.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Remarked, so that digital evidence is enough of a timeline.
It's not circumstantial. It's bottom line here it is. It
ain't wrong.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
No, it's not wrong.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
And when you go back and you look at the
wake of destruction, I think that's left behind.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
That movement.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And I found that, you know, I kind of found
that it was not poignant. That's not the word I'm
looking for. I guess.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
It was, well, it was evil because.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
You know, you've you have, based upon the previous conviction
been determined by a court and a jury of your
peers that you did, in fact slaughter them. And just
so people understand, I have held that.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I think that Maggie was there to be killed. But
as controversial as a statement is, I think that Paul
was a primary target and I think that Paul was
probably debate, uh to get her down there. That's what
I think. And because Paul was taken unawares, you know,
(27:08):
he shot, he is shot, and when he goes down
the the injuries, you know that that he has sustained.
He he's popped once in the chest.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
He shot.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
He shot with a twelve gage shotgun. And again we're
talking about steel shot here. That's like it's like bird shot,
a small game shot. And if if you and I
were were out and you know, you and I were
gonna we're hold up somewhere, and let's say that zombies
are coming after us, right, bird shot is not gonna
(27:46):
be my first.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Choice if I if all I have is.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
A shotgun platform, I'm either going to use a slugg
I'm gonna use buck shot. Buck shots called buck shot
for reason because you can take down a buck with
it like a deer. Even though it is a shotgun,
all right, and it's it's more powerful. You've got multiple
they they're about size of marbles. I guess it's point
three to two caliber of each one of these things.
And they're all heading down range at the same time.
(28:09):
It's it's like being shot with a thirty two caliber pistol,
you know, would like depend upon how many low how
many shots are contained within there, and you're struck by
them simultaneously as opposed to one. All right, but this
is buckshot. I mean, this is bird shot that we're
talking about. So these are like bebies. Now, at a
long distance, you can take down a dove, quail, pheasant,
(28:34):
you know, you name it, rabbit, You can take down
squirrels with them, that sort of thing. But the further
out that it spreads, okay, further out that it spreads,
the less effective it is. You see what I'm saying.
You don't have that concentrated thing. This wasn't This wasn't
spread out. This was concentrated relatively speaking to the pattern
(28:57):
of a shotgun.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
All right, And.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Murdau had history. He was a bird hunter. That was
his thing. Okay. I think he liked to hunt dove
and quail and whatnot. So this is something that's readily available, right,
and when he shows up down there and Paul is
there at the kennel, I think that he took him
by surprise, and whether or not he saw it coming
(29:24):
or not, the reality is is that Paul is in
such a position that he's staring down the muzzle of
twelve gay shotgun. Okay, I don't know if he saw
it or not, but he sustains this blast to the
chest and as.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
The coup de gras first the way the first shot
went into his chest and shoulder, right, So.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, Dave, you know Paul was actually shot in the
chest and the left shoulder. So what we know about
that is that this blast had some kind of spread
to it at that point in time, because they're not
just merely saying the chest, they're not just merely saying
the left shoulder, So you have some kind of spread
(30:05):
on this. But as as Paul has been shot at
that point in Tom Murdoch closes in and that's when
he delivers I don't know what I would call a
coup de gras. That second final shot is going to
be to the neck and to the head. So for me,
you're talking about a shot that is coming from above
(30:28):
to below at that point in time. Hence you've got
this tremendous damage, which of course winds up eviscerating the
brain out of the crane of vault.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
You know, Dug. This brings us to Maggie. You know, Maggie.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Maggie is actually found thirty yards away, you know, from Paul.
So I didn't you know, I think that some people
might have thought early on that she I'd actually heard
somebody say this at one point in time. Do you
think that she was down there with Murda when Paul
was shot, okay, and then she begins screaming or something
(31:20):
and runs away, and then he winds up shooting her.
I don't believe that that's what happened. I think that
Paul was shot and then Maggie approaches at this moment time.
But let's think about the weapon platform that Maggie is
actually shot with. This is a let's face it. If
I were going if I were going to go wild
(31:43):
hog hunting, okay, three hundred blackout is around, that's around
I choose, and I don't like to screw around with
wild hogs because they will It's not like hunting deer.
Wild hogs attack you you need to make sure you're
going to take them down. And that's a round that
I would probably use. It might not be everybody's cup
(32:05):
of tea. This is a very powerful round, and so
when you're considering this, he's shown up with two weapon platforms.
He winds up essentially killing her. There's five shots that's fired.
Now she's got kind of a tight shot group. There's
three shots that are in pretty close proximity. But what
(32:29):
we believe had happened is that she when she is
finally dealt her final her final shot. They believe she
was down on her knee knees, probably supported with her
right hand, okay, and he walks, He walks, walks back
(32:52):
there and pipes her a single time in the back
of the head with this thing and just drops her
to the ground. The other shots would have been effective,
she would have bled out, but she was not immediately
killed by this. You know, there's some people that are
shot with high velocity rounds, David. You know that some
of them are not even aware that they've been shot.
(33:13):
That does happen, and it comes about as a result
of many things. First off, the velocity of which these
rounds move is traumatized in a body, but they have not.
You don't necessarily have the connectivity between your sensitivities to
things because it's happening so quick it takes a few
seconds to register, whereas with shotgun, you shot with a shotgun,
(33:36):
you're going to be pretty well aware of. It's like
getting hit with a ten pound sledge hammer, all right,
It's a completely kind of different event. He saw something
in her at that point time where he was going
to end her life, and this turned out to be
turned out to be just an out and out execution
of the mother of his children, which to me, it's
(34:00):
I don't know why I should be surprised or shocked.
I don't guess I am, because we cover so much
of this stuff on the air, But still it never
ceases to amaze me. You know that people can be
this callous, but they are. And then after the fact,
the way the state has portrayed this and you said
it just a few months ago, where the phone is
(34:20):
actually found tossed out on the side of the road.
So he has left this place too sweet. I mean,
he's making it down the road, he's rolled down the
window and he's flicked this thing out of this vehicle.
But here's a big question, right, one of the big questions,
And wouldn't it be something if they had this trial,
if this did go to trial. His defense team has
(34:41):
already said they want speedy trial, all right, I've already
read that. Wouldn't that be something if all of a
sudden these weapons that no one has ever been able
to find suddenly materialized Because I've always felt like there
was somebody else out there that had something to do
with this. I'm not saying that was a per I'm
saying that was perhaps an adjunct facilitator. I want to
(35:04):
know what happened to those long arms. This is not
like this is not like a twenty two caliber pocket pistol,
all right, that you're just going to you know that
you can take and you go over any swampy areas
out there and just fling it as far as you
can the mud it's going to consume it. That's not
what we're talking about. We're talking about two long arms.
What happened to those weapons in that period of time
(35:27):
where they showed up and they're not there. I just
that's one of the big, one of the big mysteries
here that you know, where we're still left wanting, Dave.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Well, I think that I wanted you to be able
to explain how he murdered them, you know, his own
flesh and blood, his wife and his son, because all
of the rest of it, the explains what was going
on in his life. Everything was about him. The whole
time you mentioned how he was on the standtime about
Pap Paul. See, I think I missed something and that
(35:58):
that was the comment because the way he said it,
But I just thought it didn't seem true. And as
I've looked at everything with him, it's all everything that
from the very verse phone call to nine one one
that made no sense to me. You know, none of
it made sense.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
No, it wouldn't two things I wouldn't let him come
in contact with or you know, my teenage daughter or
my wallet. Neither one of them. I wouldn't trust him
with either one, because that's that's kind of you know
you every every single time you know, I'd watched this,
I felt like I need to go pull my brain out,
(36:35):
screw it with comment. You know, it was just it
kind of felt that way, you know, the entire time.
But brother, Dave, here.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
We are.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
And look, he has previously been convicted that's been overturned.
But I'd like to leave everybody with a real brief
thought here, And this thought goes back to a member
of the Supreme Court from a long, long time ago.
(37:08):
And I've always kind of held on to this because
it's a real app descriptor and it goes to well
protections that we have under the Fourth Amendment, and it
also goes to it goes to the lack of morality
(37:29):
that sometimes exist with those that are in public office.
And it's a guy named Benjamin N. Cardozo. He's famous jurist,
and I think I think that Justice Cardoso made this
statement back in the nineteen twenties. And just let it
sink in. It's no, it's no soaring, soaring thing here.
(37:54):
You know that that I'm about to state. It's very
simple and that's the beauty of it. And it's he
wrote this so that I think that everybody could understand.
And it simply states the criminal is to go free
because the constable blundered. Just keep that in mind when
people in public office embrace their own, I don't know, greed,
(38:22):
their own desires to have things that don't necessarily belong
to them, or they haven't earned justly. When they take
advantage of people, you think that there's not going to
be that big a price to pay, But in this case,
the ripples spread far and wide because of everybody that
(38:44):
has had to go through the trauma. I think about
these families that have had to testify that were peripheral
to all of this. I think about wild accusations that
have flown about, and here we are, We're faced with
the possibility of having to go through all of this again.
And it all comes down to that singular person that
(39:06):
occupied that space in that little corner of South Carolina.
So next time you want to go steal something, next
time you want to go around the law, think about it.
Maybe she should just go out and open a peanut stand.
(39:30):
I'm Joseph Scott Morgan and this is Body Back.
Host
Joseph Scott Morgan
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com