BREAKING: Maggie Murdaugh Ordered Forensic Accounting of Family Finances Before Her Murder

[China]

BREAKING: Maggie Murdaugh Ordered Forensic Accounting of Family Finances Before Her Murder

 

Maggie Murdaugh, the murdered wife of South Carolina legal scion Alex Murdaugh, had ordered a forensic accounting of her own, in addition to the accounting done by Murdaugh’s law firm that resulted in his sudden resignation the day before he was supposedly shot in the head on a rural road.

 

Reporter Matt Harris, morning show host on WLNK and host of the podcast “The Murdaugh Family Murders: Impact of Influence,” made the stunning announcement on “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.”

 

“That is the word I got from a pretty reliable source,” Harris said. “Maggie hired a forensic accountant.”

 

Both Grace and Harris noted that in the months prior to the murders of Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and her 22-year-old son Paul, “a lot was going on.” Paul Murdaugh was awaiting trial on charges that he crashed a boat while driving drunk. The crash tossed 19-year-old Mallory Beach into the water, killing her. At least one wrongful death lawsuit had been filed related to the crash.

 

The family had been working hard “to protect their assets” before Paul and Maggie were found shot to death June 7 on one of the family’s properties, Harris said.

 

Alex Murdaugh was forced out of the law firm PMPED, founded by his great-grandfather, on Friday after a forensic investigation discovered he had allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars of funds, as CrimeOnline previously reported. The following day, while driving a circuitous route from his Hampton County home to Charleston, Murdaugh called 911 to say he’d been shot in the head.

 

He was airlifted to a hospital in Savannah, Georgia, to be treated for what turned out to be a “superficial” wound, and on Monday, when he was released from the hospital, he announced his resignation from the law firm and said he was entering rehab “after a long battle” that he said had been exacerbated by the murders of his wife and son.

 

The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division is investigating both Saturday’s shooting and the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Ball Security]

This is such a bizarre story.  A few years before the boating accident, the older son’s lover was found dead.  I also read that the maid fell down the steps and died.

[skinsmarydu]

Wow, there's a lot of death following those folks around. 

[Larry]

I may have found a good criminal defense attorney for the Trump family.  

 

[Destino]

This reads like Harlan Coben mystery novel.  

[TheDoyler23]

I thought Ozark was a tv show. Sheesh. 

[Busch1724]

Must be the Clintons

[mcsluggo]

the answer is in the emails somewhere..... or buried in the dominion code 

[tshile]

Well. This is now going to waste hours of my time I don’t have. 
 

thanks for that. 

[China]

So should we be making Clue style guesses.

 

Carol Baskin, in the back yard, with a tiger.

 

 

[Destino]

Quote

Authorities have charged a man in the shooting of a prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh in what they allege was a conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

 

Curtis Edward Smith, 61, of Colleton County has been charged with assisted suicide; conspiracy to commit insurance fraud; pointing and presenting a firearm; and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

 

According to the affidavit filed to support the charges, Murdaugh allegedly conspired with Smith in the shooting on September 4, providing him with the firearm and instructing Smith to shoot him in the head. 

 

The purpose, according to the affidavit, was for Smith to kill Murdaugh so that his son could collect a life insurance payout of approximately $10 million.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/15/us/murdaugh-shooting-arrest/index.html

 

This story just keeps getting more bizarre.

[No Nonsense]

Can’t wait to see the Dateline episode on this one. When all is said and done, I think Alex Murdaugh is going to be charged with hiring someone to kill his wife and son. 

[Destino]

5 hours ago, No Nonsense said:

Can’t wait to see the Dateline episode on this one. When all is said and done, I think Alex Murdaugh is going to be charged with hiring someone to kill his wife and son. 

This deserves a full length documentary that deep dives into this powerful family.  Im betting Alex isn’t the only rotten apple, he’s just the one that let things get sloppy.  

[China]

Alex Murdaugh: Hot shot lawyer turns himself in for 'hit man suicide' plot

 

Prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has turned himself in to police for allegedly ordering a hit on himself so that his son could collect $10m (£7.24m) in life insurance.

 

Mr Murdaugh was arrested just three months after his wife and other son were found shot dead, the latest crime twist in a series of tragedies and scandal that has plagued the family.

 

Here's what we know about the case.

 

Alex Murdaugh, 53, is the scion of a well-connected legal family in South Carolina. Over the course of three generations, his great-grandfather, grandfather and father all served as the top prosecutor for a five-county region in the state.

 

In June, Mr Murdaugh's wife Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22, were found murdered near their home.

 

At the time of his death, Paul was also facing criminal charges stemming from a 2019 incident in which authorities say he drunkenly caused a boating accident that left a woman dead.

 

Mr Murdaugh was shot in early September, which came a day after Mr Murdaugh resigned from his law firm.

 

The law firm later claimed he misappropriated funds, which his lawyer says he primarily used to fund an opioid addiction. Mr Murdaugh entered rehab several days after the shooting.

 

Mr Murdaugh was found with "superficial" wounds to his head after being shot on a roadside on 4 September.

 

Originally, Mr Murdaugh's attorneys had claimed that he was changing a tyre when an unidentified assailant shot him. He was released from hospital two days later.

 

Now, police allege - and Mr Murdaugh's lawyers admit - that he arranged for a man to shoot him so that his surviving son would be able to collect the insurance money.

 

The shooter, a 61-year-old former client named Curtis Edward Smith, now faces a slew of criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, assault and battery, assisted suicide and possession of drugs. Mr Smith has admitted his involvement.

 

Mr Murdaugh's attorney said on Wednesday that he devised the plan in the mistaken belief that his son would not be able to collect insurance money if he took his own life.

 

"He called this guy [Mr Smith] who met him on the side of the road and agreed to shoot him in the head," attorney Dick Harpootlian told NBC. "It was an attempt, on his part, to do something to protect his child."

 

Mr Harpootlian added that Mr Murdaugh is cooperating with authorities and didn't want a "fake crime" to distract them as they investigate the killing of his wife and son.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[daveakl]

My Theory:

Paul Murdaugh was a psychopath and his dad had covered up for him over the years.  Not only did Paul kill Mallory while boating, he also pushed his maid down the stairs resulting in her death.  Alex covered all his sons misdeeds using the family business accounts, keeping Paul out of jail through bribes and settlement payments.  Maggie found out about all this and confronted Paul / Alex one evening with financial documents proving what was going on.  Paul snapped, killed his mother, then turned towards Alex but Alex killed him first.  Unable to live with the guilt, Alex hired Curtis to kill him so that his surviving son could receive the life insurance payment as well as the family inheritance. 

[Destino]

A new twist in the real life mystery novel…

 

Quote

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division on Wednesday announced it was opening a criminal investigation into the February 2018 death of Gloria Satterfield, a housekeeper for the Murdaugh family, and the handling of her estate. 
 

Satterfield died in 2018 in what was described as a "trip and fall accident" at the Murdaugh home, according to attorney Eric Bland, who is representing her estate.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/16/us/murdaugh-housekeeper-investigation/index.html

[China]

Murdaugh Mess Spirals in New Lawsuit Over Fatal Boat Crash

 

Out of jail and back in rehab after botching his own murder in a depraved insurance-fraud scheme, Alex Murdaugh is under new fire for his role in the aftermath of another crime: the fatal 2019 boat crash involving his late son Paul.

 

The disgraced attorney late Monday was named in a new lawsuit, this time for allegedly attempting to “shift the blame” of the 2019 fiasco from Paul, who was charged in the incident prior to his own murder this spring, to another teenager onboard at the time.

 

According to the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Connor Cook—one of the six individuals on the Murdaugh family boat during the Feb. 2019 incident—the 53-year-old South Carolina lawyer took deliberate steps to try Paul from the legal repercussions of that night.

 

That included Murdaugh—whose family has almost continuously held prosecutorial power in the South Carolina Lowcountry for a century—attempting to pin the incident on Cook, the suit says.

 

“Murdaugh.., negligently or intentionally attempted to shift the blame for the boat accident, causing the intentional and/or reckless infliction of severe emotional distress,” the lawsuit states.

“The actions of the [Murdaugh] in attempting to steer the criminal investigation away from Paul Murdaugh and towards Plaintiff Cook and the methods used, proximately caused Plaintiff Cook severe emotional distress, especially given the Murdaugh family’s significant connections with prosecutors, law enforcement, and judges,” it adds.

 

Of course, about a year after the boat crash took place, Paul and his mom and Alex Murdaugh’s wife, 53-year-old Margaret, were found fatally shot “execution-style” outside their 1,700-acre Islandton home. The brazen double-murder shined a national spotlight on Alex Murdaugh, who has been almost constantly embroiled in his own controversies since, ranging from alleged embezzlement at his old law firm to the wild assisted-suicide insurance scheme.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[tshile]

By the way is it forensic accounting?

 

shouldn’t it be accounting forensics ?

[China]

1 hour ago, tshile said:

By the way is it forensic accounting?

 

shouldn’t it be accounting forensics ?

 

Yes, it is Forensic Accounting.  Probably because the person who performs the function is a Forensic Accountant, not an Accounting Forensic.

Edited September 22, 2021 by China

[tshile]

Fair enough

[China]

Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh indicted for murders of wife and son

 

Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh has been indicted for the 2021 murders of his wife and son by a Colleton County grand jury.

 

The once prominent, now disbarred, attorney was indicted Thursday morning on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel.

 

Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found shot to death on the family's property in Islandton, about an hour north of Hilton Head Island, the night of June 7, 2021. Alex Murdaugh placed the 911 call reporting the shooting, saying he had just returned home and discovered their bodies.

Murdaugh, a pillar of the South Carolina legal community, has denied involvement in the deaths, saying he had been visiting his mother at the time.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[CobraCommander]

I saw this episode of Columbo. 5 out of 7 star.

[China]

Alex Murdaugh pleads not guilty to murders of his wife and son

 

Disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the murders of his wife and son, who were found shot to death on the family's property in June 2021.

 

The plea comes nearly a week after Murdaugh was indicted by a Colleton County grand jury on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection to the deaths of his wife, Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, 22.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Alex Murdaugh indicted on murder charges: A summary and timeline

 

For more than a year, a central question swirled around the fatal shootings of the wife and son of disgraced South Carolina personal injury attorney Alex Murdaugh: Who killed them?

 

The unsolved slayings of Margaret, 52, and the couple's younger son, Paul, 22, in June 2021 shattered the immaculate image of the well-connected legal family in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Murdaugh, whose father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather were each elected as top prosecutors in the region in roles collectively spanning almost 90 years, immediately denied culpability in the deaths.

 

Still, the slayings set off a bizarre chain of events that officials say included Murdaugh hiring a man to kill him so his older son could collect on his life insurance policy, and dozens of charges against Murdaugh accusing him of financial crimes.

 

Investigators shared few details and named no suspects or persons of interest in the slayings. But then on Thursday, a grand jury indicted Murdaugh on double murder charges in connection with the deaths of Margaret and Paul, authorities said, capping a long-winding mystery marked by conflicting narratives and a web of other questionable deaths that has yet to be fully untangled.

 

Here's a timeline of key moments in the case.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Alex Murdaugh Trial: Bomb threat interrupts court testimony in double murder case

 

On Wednesday, the state had just called a new witness to the stand in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh when Judge Clifton Newman abruptly announced everyone needed to leave the building.

 

That announcement came around 12:30 p.m.

 

Murdaugh, charged in the murder of his wife and son, was driven from the courthouse by law enforcement.

 

It was around 1 p.m. that SLED confirmed the evacuation stemmed from a bomb threat.

 

But by 2:30 p.m. the courthouse was cleared and Murdaugh returned to the courtroom.

 

As the public reentered the building, security thoroughly searched their bags.

 

The state believes Murdaugh killed his wife Maggie and son Paul to distract from his many alleged financial crimes.

 

Some of the most compelling testimony Wednesday came from a paralegal who worked nearly 10 years with Murdaugh at his former law firm.

 

Annette Griswold told the jury Murdaugh worked strange hours. He would often show up right before 5 p.m.,when everyone else would be leaving.

 

Griswold described to the jury how and when she realized Murdaugh might be stealing money from the firm, revealing she first had suspicions back in 2020.

 

Click on the link for the full article