‘Murdaugh Murders’ Saga: Pressure Mounting On Prosecution

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The thing about the double homicide trial of disbarred South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh – the man at the epicenter of the ‘Murdaugh Murders’ crime and corruption saga – is that no one really knows how it’s going. A lot of people think they know how it’s going – and aren’t shy about telling you – but the truth is they are no closer to knowing than you or I.

The truth resides in the presumably siloed minds of the seventeen Colleton County residents charged with determining Murdaugh’s fate. And unless you’ve Vulcan mind-melded with each of the twelve jurors and five alternates in this case, you’re just … what’s the expression in these parts?

“Whistling Dixie …”

Murdaugh stands accused of killing his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and youngest son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh, on his family’s hunting property in Colleton County, S.C. on June 7, 2021. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and is currently standing trial in Walterboro – a town located in the Lowcountry region of the Palmetto State, which Murdaugh’s family ran like a fiefdom for more than a century.

The convoluted tale surrounding this crime – described by one Pulitzer prize winning author as the “courtroom equivalent of Russian nesting dolls” – indeed has more layers than an onion truck. More rabbit holes than a bunny farm. More twists and turns than the blackwater rivers of the ACE basin.

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As the Murdaugh trail meanders its way through week three – and I say “meanders” because it hardly seems to be in a hurry or entirely sure of where it is going – pressure is mounting on prosecutors to begin presenting more definitive evidence (circumstantial or otherwise) pinpointing Murdaugh as the murderer of his family members.

And not just presenting such definitive evidence … but distilling and packaging it into something resembling a cohesive narrative. A narrative a jury can follow.

Seriously … the prosecution’s double homicide case against Murdaugh has been more “all over the map” than Ferdinand Magellan. And nearly three weeks into it, we are still waiting on witnesses who will tie it all together.

Plenty of potentially compelling evidence has been admitted for the jury’s consideration, it’s just been maddeningly discombobulated – as if the state is suffering from some sort of attention deficit disorder. Also, Murdaugh’s attorneys – Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin – have done an effective job thus far poking holes in the evidence that has been presented (and the credibility of the witnesses testifying to it).

Furthermore, Harpootlian and Griffin have yet to present their case … using their experts.

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Even if we take the state’s presently submitted evidence as gospel … does any of it push the prosecution’s narrative across the red line? The one in which reasonable doubt is removed?

From the beginning of this trial, our daily polls have been unambiguous: Our audience believes Murdaugh is guilty of killing both his wife and son. Guilty by overwhelming margins, in fact.

But can the state prove it? Can its prosecutors give those seventeen siloed minds something indisputable upon which to unanimously hang their collective hat?

Something, perhaps, like the blood spatter evidence everyone talked about before the trial (but which hasn’t been mentioned since judge Clifton Newman gaveled these proceedings to order)?

Obviously, Murdaugh is cold busted lying about his alibi on the night of these savage slayings … as multiple witnesses have attested (and will no doubt continue to attest). The fact Murdaugh’s voice can clearly be heard on a recording made at the scene of the crime less than five minutes before the murders is damning.

And the fact he lied about it? Doubly damning.

Also, we have yet to see Murdaugh’s third and final interview with agents of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) – the one in which he was confronted about his shredded alibi.

But does the fact he lied about his whereabouts prove he is the killer? In fact … has the state offered up anything over the last two-and-a-half weeks fitting that bill?

This week saw the introduction of a blue tarp/ rain jacket – a critical piece of evidence purportedly implicating Murdaugh in the murders. This item – the color of which seems to be the only thing the state’s witness remembered about it – was found coated in gunshot residue in a closet at Murdaugh’s parents’ home in Almeda, S.C.

Has the item been definitively linked to Murdaugh, though? And has the state’s theory he used this blue rain jacket to transport the murder weapons from the crime scene even been expressly articulated?

The fact we are still asking those questions is the answer, isn’t it?

Absent the guns around which this blue rain jacket was allegedly wrapped (and the state is absent the guns, unfortunately) … does this piece of evidence matter?

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Speaking of things getting wrapped, a recent ruling from judge Newman has allowed the state’s double homicide case to be enveloped by Murdaugh’s myriad alleged financial crimes (a.k.a. his “motive“). I say “alleged” regarding these financial crimes but come on …

In immortal words of comedian Dave Chappelle, “Baretta did that sh*t.“

In fact, Murdaugh has already confessed judgment in civil court to some of these fleecings – and based on the evidence presented during this trial his attorneys would be committing legal malpractice if they didn’t encourage him to cut a deal on the balance. Facing 99 counts of various theft, fraud and misappropriation totaling nearly $10 million, Murdaugh could go to jail for more than 700 years on these charges alone. And I’d imagine prosecutors would push for the maximum sentence in the event he beats the double murder rap.

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters – who has delivered a virtuoso performance from the opening gavel of these proceedings – has demonstrated with clear and compelling evidence that Murdaugh is guilty as sin of stealing this money. Every penny of it.

The theft is there for all to see – in black and white.

But again … this is not Murdaugh’s financial trial.

This is his double homicide trial.

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To his credit, Waters has masterfully connected Murdaugh’s financial crimes with the date of the murders – June 7, 2021. He has elicited testimony from multiple witnesses (with more to come) detailing the imminent collapse of Murdaugh’s financial ‘House of Cards’ – which stood for more than a decade before being detected by employees at his law firm.

Waters has also adeptly tied the date of the murders to a June 10, 2021 hearing in a high-profile (and ongoing) wrongful death case involving Murdaugh – a looming legal action which not only threatened to expose his fraud but threatened to expose him and his family to significant additional liability.

This “pressure cooker” theory is entirely plausible. Eminently probable, even. But as day fourteen of this double homicide trial dawns, the state does not appear to have met the burden of proving his guilt in the murders beyond a reasonable doubt.

Not yet, anyway …

Can they?

We shall see … but as this trial approaches what many believe to be its mid-point, the prosecution is now very much in the “pressure cooker.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.

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