Murder mystery as mother, son of prominent Irish family in SC found dead

[Eldorado]

The mother and son of a prominent Irish-American family in South Carolina were found dead at their Islandton home last Monday after suffering multiple gunshot wounds.

Maggie Mardaugh, 52, and her 22-year-old son Paul were found dead near a dog kennel at their sprawling rural estate in Islandton, a small town in central South Carolina with approximately 70 residents. 

The bodies were found by Alex Mardaugh - the husband and father of Maggie and Paul. Alex is a prominent attorney in South Carolina and told authorities that he was not home at the time of the murders. 

Full article at Irish Central

[Piney]

It couldn't happen to a nicer pair. 

[docyabut2]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/murdaugh-autopsy-details-sled-timeline-released-in-double-homicide/ar-AAL9cmc

[docyabut2]

How do they figure out why they were killed in old cases ?

[Likely Guy]

What do you mean "old cases"?

[+and-then]

On 6/13/2021 at 6:53 AM, Piney said:

It couldn't happen to a nicer pair. 

Care to share why?

[Piney]

6 hours ago, and then said:

Care to share why?

Nope.......

[Rlyeh]

6 hours ago, and then said:

Care to share why?

Could be because the Mardaugh family have thought to be involved in some murders.

[aztek]

yea, a drunken boat accident 2 years ago, that killed a girl.  their family money and connection kept the kid out of prison,  so someone figured if the system wont bring the kid to justice, someone else must, i hope that person\s are never found.

[docyabut2]

They can `nt find the murders yet. it could be someone in her family  a drunken boat accident 2 years ago, that killed a girl. 

 

Law enforcement missteps in Paul Murdaugh boat crash case captured in new recordings | News | postandcourier.com

Edited August 14, 2021 by docyabut2

[Vincennes]

14 hours ago, docyabut2 said:

They can `nt find the murders yet. it could be someone in her family  a drunken boat accident 2 years ago, that killed a girl. 

 

Law enforcement missteps in Paul Murdaugh boat crash case captured in new recordings | News | postandcourier.com

All in all that's a pretty disgusting article.  Sounds like LE was dedicated to covering up for Murdaugh from the very beginning.  Seems like his kid has an involvement in another death that was turned into a "hit and run" accident 

Hit-and-run death reopened in mother and son shooting deaths (yahoo.com)

Seem like part of the problem here is figuring out just who finally decided they would facilitate justice on their own.  

[tortugabob]

The son was a spoiled brat whose father tried to get the cops to blame another young man in the boat at the time of the boat accident. He was falling down drunk and other people on the boat were begging him to let them drive. Sounds like karma caught up with these assh0LE$

Edited August 14, 2021 by tortugabob

[+susieice]

Now the husband/ father has been shot.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/south-carolina-lawyer-alex-murdaugh-shot-three-months-after-wife-n1278523?fbclid=IwAR1GURfovXcX-rnVL6SYFMb7aaooPes9WauZLJwtoD7OQ1R4A8UWXIOPEaA

South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh was injured in a roadside shooting Saturday, nearly 12 weeks after his wife and son were fatally gunned down, authorities said.

Murdaugh had pulled his vehicle over with a flat tire when a pickup truck passed by, turned around, and approached him, said family friend and lawyer Jim Griffin. Then someone inside opened fire.

 

The shooting comes after the bodies of Paul, 22, and his mother, Margaret, 52, were found on June 7 near dog kennels on family property in Colleton County. They had been shot to death.

Griffin said the latest shooting was "very disturbing."

"It makes you wonder what the hell is going on," he said.

 

[Vincennes]

9 hours ago, susieice said:

Griffin said the latest shooting was "very disturbing."

"It makes you wonder what the hell is going on," he said.

 

That quote seems remarkably dumb.  Well, you know what, maybe you can't treat other people like absolute dirt and protect your rotten little brat as he kills again and again.  Ya think that might be a problem ?

[Vincennes]

 

Another article regarding the shooting.  I have to say that previous article strikes me almost funny in a couple of ways besides the "whatever could it be" quote.  # 1, I've seen them referred to again and again as an "Irish" family.  Well, it's not that they just got off that boat from Dublin.  They've been a legal dynasty there for 87 years.  Wonder when they get to be Americans ?

The other thing is the smiley mama in the mink coat.  Reminds me of a friend of mine who used to show some family pictures of his Bar Mitzvah.  "here's my mom in her full length mink coat, here's my grandmother in her mink coat."   ....... "My Bar Mitzvah was in August."  

Wonder what month it was in South Carolina when she donned her's ?  

Alex Murdaugh, Member of Prominent South Carolina Legal Family Rocked by Murder, Has Been Shot in the Head (msn.com)

 

The kid that ended up dead in 2015 was thrown out on the road like road kill.

Stephen Smith Investigation: Murdaugh Rumors Fly in 2015 Case (fitsnews.com)

 

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by Vincennes

[docyabut2]

Just wonder if it could be the other brother in the family,  shooting his family 

[+susieice]

2 hours ago, Vincennes said:

 

Another article regarding the shooting.  I have to say that previous article strikes me almost funny in a couple of ways besides the "whatever could it be" quote.  # 1, I've seen them referred to again and again as an "Irish" family.  Well, it's not that they just got off that boat from Dublin.  They've been a legal dynasty there for 87 years.  Wonder when they get to be Americans ?

The other thing is the smiley mama in the mink coat.  Reminds me of a friend of mine who used to show some family pictures of his Bar Mitzvah.  "here's my mom in her full length mink coat, here's my grandmother in her mink coat."   ....... "My Bar Mitzvah was in August."  

Wonder what month it was in South Carolina when she donned her's ?  

Alex Murdaugh, Member of Prominent South Carolina Legal Family Rocked by Murder, Has Been Shot in the Head (msn.com)

 

The kid that ended up dead in 2015 was thrown out on the road like road kill.

Stephen Smith Investigation: Murdaugh Rumors Fly in 2015 Case (fitsnews.com)

 

 

This whole thing is a mess! I'm just trying to get some sort of a grip on what's happening here.

First there's this Stephen Smith. Police at the scene can't decide if it's a gunshot death or a hit and run. Isn't there a bit of a difference in the types of injuries which would occur? The Pathologist ruled the death a hit and run. The Coroner says it wasn't. The Pathologist won't answer any questions about why she ruled a hit and run. There's nothing said about any bullet wounds being found. I guess the Murdaughs are in some way linked to this?

Second is the boating death of Mallory Beach. Paul was due to go on trial for operating the boat while under the influence, hitting a bridge and causing the death. Those charges were dropped in August after Paul and his mother were found dead. Police released surveillance video that shows the group about an hour before the crash. The link has a very good video that also includes the 911 calls and photos from the scene. Along with other evidence police had.

https://www.live5news.com/2021/08/12/chilling-new-details-2019-boat-crash-that-killed-sc-teen/

Then, Paul and his mother are found shot to death near a dog kennel by their estate. They were found by Alex, husband and father of the victims. Police think Paul was the target and his mother was caught in the crossfire. But in the OP link, two different weapons were used....

However, the report said that it remains unclear whether the shooting was linked to Paul Mardaugh's involvement in the 2019 boating crash. 

The Island Packet reports that Paul was shot twice with a shotgun, while his mother was murdered with an assault rifle. 

 

Now three months later, a truck, who just happens to be behind Alex as he's driving down the road and pulls over because of car problems, turns around and somebody shoots him in the head. Alex is alive. Did he recognize the truck or anyone who was in it? 

 

Am I getting this right?

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by susieice

[+susieice]

Ok. I did some looking. Apparently the Coroner in the Stephen Smith case believes there is a wound on Smith's head that is consistent with a gunshot. The Pathologist thinks he could have been struck in the head by a truck mirror.

https://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/crime/article252957108.html

After his autopsy, however, Smith’s death was ruled a hit-and-run. The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy hypothesized he could have been struck in the head by the mirror on a large truck.

S.C. Highway Patrol officers investigating the case doubted that conjecture.

“There’s just no physical evidence. We got evidence on the body but no physical evidence,” SCHP Cpl. M. E. Duncan explained to Smith’s twin sister in a July 17, 2015 interview. “Like I said, I will say ‘hit-and-run’. ... I don’t even want to call it that. It’s more a ‘death investigation.’ [It] could be a homicide, could be a voluntary, involuntary [manslaughter].”

SCHP Lance Cpl. Todd Proctor, who at the time was tracking rumors that the Murdaughs were involved, was more frank.

“He didn’t get hit by no car,” Proctor told one person he interviewed.

“I’m not saying whoever did this murdered him,” Proctor said, because murder has to be premeditated. It may have been an accident that was covered up, he theorized.

 

[+susieice]

Docy made a good guess. From above link....

According to the SCHP interviews, Proctor received tips from several sources that Paul Murdaugh’s older brother, Buster, was somehow involved in the death.

The case file shows only that Proctor tried calling Buster Murdaugh once on Oct. 20, 2015. His voicemail was full, so he sent him an email. The file shows no record that Proctor made contact with Murdaugh.

In a Sept. 2, 2015 interview with a tipster about the rumors, Proctor hinted that there may have been more contact with the Murdaugh family over this case.

Proctor said Buster Murdaugh has been on SCHP’s radar for some time.

“The Murdaughs know that,” he said. “They know that he’s on our radar."

The SCHP investigator tried tracing the rumors about Buster Murdaugh back to their source through classmates of Stephen Smith who had passed them along, according to the audio files.

Proctor was unable to find the source or locate any evidence to corroborate the rumors.

The case has one confirmed link to the Murdaughs, according to audio interviews and case notes: Buster’s uncle, Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh IV, a lawyer who called the Smith family shortly after they learned of Smith’s death.

“The day that Stephen passed away, Randy Murdaugh was the second person to call my dad after the coroner,” Stephanie Smith, Stephen’s twin sister, said on a July 17, 2015 interview. “And he said he wanted to take the case, and it would be free of charge and everything.”

 

Stephen's sister goes on.....

then...

While Stephanie Smith was aware that her brother, an openly gay teen in small-town Hampton, was on dating apps, she didn’t think he was in a relationship.

So she and her family were surprised when a 47-year-old Hampton County man came to Stephen Smith’s wake announcing he was Smith’s boyfriend.

In an approximately hour-long conversation with SCHP investigator Duncan that sometimes turned contentious, the alleged boyfriend said he spoke to Smith on the phone on the day he died.

Earlier in the night, the man said, Smith had told him that he was at a store on Snider’s Crossroad, between Islandton and Walterboro in Colleton County.

“He said he was being harassed at that store,” the man told Duncan on July 14, 2015. “He said it was a couple of guys in a pickup truck. If I recall correctly, he said they were *******s.”

He said Smith later told him he felt like he was being followed.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by susieice

[docyabut2]

Just now on the fox news,  it said there be a new report on this case at 6:00 o clock PM east time. 

Edited September 6, 2021 by docyabut2

[docyabut2]

22 hours ago, susieice said:

Docy made a good guess. From above link....

According to the SCHP interviews, Proctor received tips from several sources that Paul Murdaugh’s older brother, Buster, was somehow involved in the death.

The case file shows only that Proctor tried calling Buster Murdaugh once on Oct. 20, 2015. His voicemail was full, so he sent him an email. The file shows no record that Proctor made contact with Murdaugh.

In a Sept. 2, 2015 interview with a tipster about the rumors, Proctor hinted that there may have been more contact with the Murdaugh family over this case.

Proctor said Buster Murdaugh has been on SCHP’s radar for some time.

“The Murdaughs know that,” he said. “They know that he’s on our radar."

The SCHP investigator tried tracing the rumors about Buster Murdaugh back to their source through classmates of Stephen Smith who had passed them along, according to the audio files.

Proctor was unable to find the source or locate any evidence to corroborate the rumors.

The case has one confirmed link to the Murdaughs, according to audio interviews and case notes: Buster’s uncle, Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh IV, a lawyer who called the Smith family shortly after they learned of Smith’s death.

“The day that Stephen passed away, Randy Murdaugh was the second person to call my dad after the coroner,” Stephanie Smith, Stephen’s twin sister, said on a July 17, 2015 interview. “And he said he wanted to take the case, and it would be free of charge and everything.”

 

Stephen's sister goes on.....

then...

While Stephanie Smith was aware that her brother, an openly gay teen in small-town Hampton, was on dating apps, she didn’t think he was in a relationship.

So she and her family were surprised when a 47-year-old Hampton County man came to Stephen Smith’s wake announcing he was Smith’s boyfriend.

In an approximately hour-long conversation with SCHP investigator Duncan that sometimes turned contentious, the alleged boyfriend said he spoke to Smith on the phone on the day he died.

Earlier in the night, the man said, Smith had told him that he was at a store on Snider’s Crossroad, between Islandton and Walterboro in Colleton County.

“He said he was being harassed at that store,” the man told Duncan on July 14, 2015. “He said it was a couple of guys in a pickup truck. If I recall correctly, he said they were *******s.”

He said Smith later told him he felt like he was being followed.

 

 

 

 

Just now on the fox news,  it said there be a new report on this case at 6:00 o clock PM east time. 

[docyabut2]

well that report was nothing new

[Vincennes]

14 hours ago, docyabut2 said:

well that report was nothing new

There was a second report on Fox last night.  The first was the one you saw which had nothing new but then it was followed by this second story which talks about Alex not only apologizing and entering rehab but also that he had been more of less fired from his firm for money shortages.

South Carolina attorney pushed out of firm day before he was shot | Fox News

Susi, as you mentioned, this case just gets stranger and stranger  I'm wondering now because of the way these things have come out.  He gets shot in the head on some back road to the beach,  then he apologizes to everyone and enters rehab, then we find out he's actually been found out for embezzlement at his firm and fired.  Do you think there's a chance here that he might have shot himself in the head and it wasn't a truck that turned around at all ?   

[+susieice]

3 hours ago, Vincennes said:

There was a second report on Fox last night.  The first was the one you saw which had nothing new but then it was followed by this second story which talks about Alex not only apologizing and entering rehab but also that he had been more of less fired from his firm for money shortages.

South Carolina attorney pushed out of firm day before he was shot | Fox News

Susi, as you mentioned, this case just gets stranger and stranger  I'm wondering now because of the way these things have come out.  He gets shot in the head on some back road to the beach,  then he apologizes to everyone and enters rehab, then we find out he's actually been found out for embezzlement at his firm and fired.  Do you think there's a chance here that he might have shot himself in the head and it wasn't a truck that turned around at all ?   

That truck story just seems too fishy to me. There's a good chance he did shoot himself. He hasn't said he recognized the truck or anyone in it that shot him. We're supposed to believe that some random people in a truck who just happened to be there, turned around and shot him. If he was fired the day before and entered rehab that could re-enforce the theory that he shot himself.

The story about the older son being responsible for the death of Stephen is apparently based on rumors so that to me is iffy. There's no doubt that the drunken younger son crashed the boat that resulted in the death of Mallory. Paul's death and that of his mother has no evidence that anyone is releasing. Just that they were shot with two different weapons and to me that indicates there could have been at least two shooters assuming they were both shot at the same time. Could the older brother or the father or both be responsible for that? Yes, it's possible.

The only family member left unscathed is the oldest son. Docy could be on to something here. He could be part of the link but now I'm wondering just how involved dad is. Could it be that he was just protecting his sons and some people in the community decided to take revenge? That's possible too.

So much isn't being released. They were such a prominent family. 

[docyabut2]

If  Alex Murdaugh  tried to kill himself, his gun would be found why he was killing himself.,when the paramedics and police took him to the hospital. There is only one that knew he left  his home was behind him. 

Edited September 7, 2021 by docyabut2