Paul and Maggie Murdaugh Murders

 It's probably obvious why I'm starting with this case since it's all over the news right now. Let's break it down into simple terms.

Alex Murdaugh - Murderer (4th generation lawyer)
Maggie Murdaugh - Wife of Alex, Murdered
Buster Murdaugh - Son of Alex and Maggie
Paul Murdaugh - Son of Alex and Maggie, Murdered

To begin, we must go back to 2019, when Paul was 19. Him and five friends go out on a boat. There's a lot of drinking. I mean A LOT. Paul's Blood Alcohol Level was three times the legal limit. Paul is driving the boat back (fast and erratically) home because his friends are complaining. They hit a pylon thing in the water and two people are thrown out. One resurfaces - the other does not. Paul and his four surviving friends go to the hospital. Alex Murdaugh comes in and basically tells everyone that was on the boat not to say a thing about who was driving. The family of Mallory Beach (the deceased) seeks to sue Alex's family for the death of their daughter to the tune of $10 million. Alex says he doesn't have the money. Bank account records are requested.

This is the beginning of the end for Alex Murdaugh. Turns out he's been stealing money not only from his firm but from clients who have used his services. And by money, I mean a lot of money. Millions. This is slowly starting to come out. His son Paul is going to be charged with the death of Mallory Beach.

Then 2021 happens. In June, Alex's world is falling apart. He's being let go from his law firm for stealing money. He's being investigated for stealing other people's money. It's a hot mess. Alex's world is about to get a lot worse when his son Paul and wife Maggie are murdered outside the dog kennels of their hunting lodge.

Alex says he fell asleep on the couch after dinner and then went to see his mother. He tries to call Maggie several times and he doesn't get a response, so he goes to check the dog kennels because he knew Maggie was going there to feed the dogs. He gets there and finds both Paul and Maggie dead of point-blank gunshot wounds to the head. They'd been shot multiple times. Alex says he turns them over to try to check if they're still alive and then calls 911.

Police show up and Alex is crying and talking about people wanting retribution for Paul killing Mallory Beach. He gives three interviews to the police.

Now let's back up. First... when the police get there, Alex is not covered in blood. There's not a drop on him. He's wearing a white shirt and khaki shorts. If he had touched the bodies, he would have had blood all over him.

Second... police look at his, Paul's, and Maggie's cell phone records... Paul has taken a video showing his friend's dog in the kennel. Maggie and Alex's voices can be heard in the background. This is about 4 or 5 minutes before the murder. Paul also talked on the phone to his friend who heard Alex in the background. Maggie's phone is found nowhere near her body on another road.

Remember that Alex was supposedly asleep on the couch when the murders occurred? Also, Alex keeps saying Paul was murdered because of the death of Mallory Beach.

A few days later, Alex is grazed by a gunshot wound to the head while he's changing his tire.

Now here's the speculation. Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son to try to take attention away from the fact that he had stolen so much money and was about to get caught and dragged through the mud. The day before he got "shot" he was let go from his law firm for stealing money. The person who was told to kill him, never shot Alex and it most definitely not occurring while he was changing his tire.

Here are my thoughts:

Alex killed Paul because if Paul was dead the wrongful death suit against the family is likely to go away. There's going to be sympathy that Paul was murdered. Why was Maggie killed too? I guess because she was there. Or maybe she found out he was stealing money and they weren't on great terms. Either way... a double murder is going to garner more sympathy than just one murder.

Whether or not Alex was the one who actually pulled the trigger on his wife and son, he definitely orchestrated this whole thing to try to get out of trouble for his financial activities. I wasn't there, so I don't know if he had coconspirators. All I know is two different guns were used to murder Paul and to murder Maggie. The guns have never been found.

Now onto his punishment. He was found guilty (as he should have been) and sentenced to two life sentences. Some people are angry that he didn't get the death penalty. I don't think he should have gotten the death penalty. Remember he wanted to be shot and killed? The worse punishment is having to live the rest of his life in jail remembering what he did to his wife and his youngest son. Killing Alex Murdaugh won't bring back Mallory Beach, Paul Murdaugh, or Maggie Murdaugh. This way he has to live with what he did.