If she was looking for a divorce, it would have opened him up to an audit of his finances, which would have exposed all the fraud he had conducted.
I don’t see where that’s been confirmed by anyone besides the Netflix doc. But okay that’s a pretty good motive if she was filing for a divorce.
It was talked about in the HBO doc as well. Paul's legal trouble and Maggie wanting a divorce would have exposed him financially and he felt the only way to avoid was killing both of them and then faking an assassination attempt.
Okay I get her wanting a divorce is a good cause for a motive. But was that covered in the trial? I feel like that should have been covered in the trial but no report I read on it said anything about her wanting a divorce.
He was in debt, his son was possibly going to jail, he has committing a bunch of financial crimes, and he was addicted to drugs. His life was spiraling, lots of reasons he wasn’t acting rationally
Yea he definitely did it, just weird that there was never a motive established. At least according to NPR’s reporting. I’m complaining about the reporting, not the verdict.
With the amount of shit this family was up to, there’s almost certainly something they’re still hiding.
I bet it wasn’t allowed into evidence because it was speculative. It looks like all of the reports stem from a People magazine article in 2021.
Finished Netflix last night. The story is compelling but god damn if it wasn't obvious the interviewers had coached up everyone to make the story seem that much more entertaining. Almost lost me at the "Buster is secretly gay" part.
Did you watch the HBO documentary? It goes in to more detail about Stephen and why they think he was in a relationship with Buster. I recommend it.
I watched the 2 part series on American Greed (CNBC) and the HBO Doc. Worth watching the Netflix too or same shit? Also, going to be in Beaufort all of next wk and tend to get to the bottom of this!
Living in a southern small town seems like it would be annoying, how do you just let this family of dorks run things for centuries
Have you seen the people that run our country? This is not isolated to small towns, the only difference is you live next door to them in small towns.
the HBO doc is so fast and loose, so much bad logic used by the people interviewed can't say I recommend it
Stephen Smith's Body Exhumed For Autopsy Amid Murdaugh Scrutiny The body of Stephen Smith, the 19-year-old found dead on a South Carolina road in 2015, will be exhumed nearly two years after state authorities reopened a probe into his death following scrutiny of disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted in the murders of his wife, Margaret and son, Paul, earlier this month, CNN reports. Smith's family raised more than $65,000 through a GoFundMe page to finance an exhumation and private autopsy in what they called a "fight for justice" as many believe the 19-year-old's death was linked to the Murdaugh family. “I could not have imagined when we began this fundraiser that it would take off the way that it did,” Stephen's mother, Sandy Smith, wrote. “Thank you for not allowing Stephen’s story to be swept under a rug. We will pursue the exhumation immediately and provide updates along the way.” Authorities haven't officially announced a connection between the Murdaugh family to Smith's death, which was initially deemed to be a hit and run incident caused by blunt force trauma to the head, according to a South Carolina Highway Patrol incident report. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) did, however, announce that it reopened the Smith investigation two weeks after the deaths of Magaret and Paul Murdaugh based on information gathered during a probe into those murders. “SLED has made progress in the death investigation of Stephen Smith, however this investigation remains active and ongoing," the agency said in a statement to CNN Sunday (March 19). A pathologist cited in a SLED report initially claimed Smith had been hit by a vehicle, however, the responding officer noted in a report conducted by the South Carolina Highway Patrol's Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team said there were "no vehicle debris, skid marks, or injuries consistent with someone being struck by a vehicle" in relation to Smith's death. Murdaugh, 54, was convicted by a jury of seven men and five women in relation to the June 2021 fatal shootings of his wife and son, and could face 30 years to life in prison without parole. The former attorney was also convicted on two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, which could add more than five additional years to his sentence. Murdaugh was indicted on July 14 in relation to the charges, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel announced at the time via CNN. Margaret and Paul Murdaugh were both found dead three days after Alex Murdaugh's father, Randolph, had also died. In December 2021, a copy of her last will and testament obtained by the Island Packet revealed that Margaret Murdaugh left her entire property to her husband before she and their son were mysteriously killed. The S.C. Law Enforcement Division announced the new details about Maggie Murdaugh's will, which was signed in 2005, and her estate records in connection to the murders of herself and her son, though no arrests had been made at the time. The Island Packet reported Alex Murdaugh, who has been jailed since October 2021 in connection to a separate case, was entitled to the family's 1,770-acre property, which sits between Hampton and Colleton Counties in South Carolina, according to his late wife's will signed on August 15, 2005. Alex Murdaugh had previously owned a property knowns as "Moselle" since 2013, but property records show he transferred ownership to his wife in 2016. Alex Murdagh was arrested at a drug rehab facility in Orlando, Florida on October 14, 2021, where his attorneys confirmed he had been staying for six weeks after being shot in the head, which was later proved to be part of a conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. The 53-year-old attorney was accused of hiring a hitman to kill him so his other son could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy and later formally charged with two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses in relation to stealing insurance funds from a settlement in the 2018 death of his late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
They exhumed Stephen Smith's body and announced they're treating his death as a homicide Also Reddit does this thing on here where it shows the post was removed but if you click the icon in the top right corner it takes you to the post
My buddy belongs to a golf course down there so we go down there to golf a few times a year. Dont explore too much tbh. Always end up going to the same places when we dont eat at the club (Old Bull, Dockside, and Breakwater). I dont think I've ever been to Luther's
Former Chief Justice Toal held a hearing today into jury tampering by the clerk of court during the trial and whether a new trial should be awarded. She just ruled against Murdaugh. She found that he had to prove both an improper comment by the clerk in front of a juror(s) and that it influenced a juror(s)’s vote for the verdict, which is the standard required under state law as argued by the prosecution. His team argued it should have been the standard under federal case law which only requires an improper comment for a new trial. She found that the clerk was not credible in testifying that she hadn’t made improper comments, but that 11 of the jurors said that they weren’t affected by the comments and the one that said he was had conflicting testimony. After her ruling she said her decision was certainly going to go to the appellate court to determine which standard (comment alone or comment and influence) is correct for determining whether a new trial should be granted. This isn’t over yet.
He doesn't have a chance in hell at a fair trial no matter what. The judge said last week she didn't expect the hearing to go past today. She was denying a lot of questions until Harpootlian challenged her and said this was supposed to go like 2 more days or something like that, basically inferring he wasn't being given the chance to present his case. If the appallent court says they only will require 1, this was so public and there's so many stories out there, everyone has already made up their minds.
Seems fair that a biased and corrupt legal system convicted him given his family's history of that very thing.
Wouldn’t the federal standard be persuasive authority at best? How well settled is the state law on this?