The Murdaugh Murders - to believe Alex didn't shoot his wife and son?

[XelaM]

The trial is currently ongoing in the US and has been the subject of a Netflix documentary The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.

It's almost unbelievable this case is real and not some movie script for a tragic thriller. It involves the very powerful Murdaugh family- a dynasty of many generations of prosecutors/lawyers who had almost unlimited power and money. They appeared to be above the law. The father was Alex (the heir to the dynasty) and he was married to Maggie with whom he had two sons- Buster and Paul. The younger son Paul appeared to be as appalling a human being as his father (at least according to the documentary).

Five people are dead who were connected to this family:

*Mallory Beach - a young teenage girl who was on a boat that the younger Murdaugh son (Paul) crashed at night being drunk out of his mind. His father Alex tried to initially claim that someone else was driving the boat but then did absolutely everything to make this case "go away" even after Paul had been charged. Paul never faced any consequences for Mallory's death. Her family were pursuing a civil suit.

*Stephen - the elder son's (Buster's) friend who was found dead in the middle of a road in very odd and suspicious circumstances. No one ever faced any consequences for his death.

*Gloria - the Murdaugh housekeeper who allegedly fell down the stairs at their property. Alex collected a $4.3 million insurance payout for her death (on a policy he had taken out a month earlier) and never paid it to her family.

*And now the younger son Paul and his mother (Alex's wife) Maggie were found shot dead on their property with two different firearms.

Alex has been charged with the murders of his son and wife (in addition to having been found to have embezzled huge funds from his law firm and his clients).

But I just don't understand how someone who was so concerned with protecting the family dynasty and whitewashing his son of any responsibility for Mallory's death- why would he shoot the same son two years later? The motive that the prosecution put forward was that he tried to gain sympathy when he was being prosecuted for embezzlement and trying to delay Mallory's family's civil suit. I just don't understand that this is a strong enough motivation for shooting his son?

It happened it 2021. It's a live court case in the news not Love Island,

Paul wasn’t the heir, Alex and Maggie (?) werent interested in raising him (Gloria did). So no probs to get rid of him so that 1) Alex doesn’t any longer have a murderous son in prison and 2) buster can get all the inheritance I guess. Alex soooo arrogant and used to getting his own way, he thought he’d just be able to get away with it, saying he wasn’t at the house when it happened.

That’s my theory! The way the murdaughs intercepted the other boat passengers and their families at the hospital and tried to pin it all on Connor was abhorrent.

They have tallied the movements of Maggie's phone, which was taken from scene and found by the side of the road, which the movements of Alex's car which is pretty damning.

He had been confronted at work that day about the financial crimes and the boat case trial was scheduled for the same week.

Also annoyed me that he pronounces Alex Alec 😵‍💫 what a twat.

Apparently that's a southern accent thing. The woman on Pretty Little Lies and Alibi's explained it at the start.

Ok fair enough 😁 I did wonder if I was a tad harsh there. He’s just overall gross.

But I just don't understand how someone who was so concerned with protecting the family dynasty and whitewashing his son of any responsibility for Mallory's death- why would he shoot the same son two years later?

Arrogance, entitlement, greed. Protecting your family from something else doesn't mean you won't harm them.

I think Buster is very aware of what happened, even if his dad hasn’t confessed to him he can’t be stupid enough to believe him. I think that Apple has not fallen far from the tree. And it’s looking very possible he had something to do with his friends death.

Id say Buster is also prioritising money and the family name over any morals or feelings.

It's not fiction! The actual court case is going on right now. Maybe don't watch the news ever, there's soilers [sic] every day on there.

Heads up - have you seen the episode about the pandemic yet? That's a good one 🙄

He tried so hard to make all of his son's problems "disappear".

was this to protect the son or actually himself & the family dynasty?

He wasn't protecting them for their own good, he was protecting them from harming his reputation and to cover the financial misconduct.

Even Buster was being charged for Paul's underage drinking and use of his ID.

I wonder if Buster doesn't want to believe it's true. He appears to also be an awful person, but how do you get to terms with your father murdering your younger brother and mother in cold blood for seemingly no real reason?

How can it be a spoiler that 1 person thinks he is innocent?

The phone evidence that places Alex in near the kennels just before they died, is pretty damning. I just can't get my head around his "reasoning" for this. And Paul was killed at point blank range. How can he be protecting the "dynasty" when he is killing his own son? I get that Buster was the heir, but two sons makes a stronger dynasty and up until that point, Alex was always trying to protect Paul from facing any consequences for all his antics.

Paul and Maggie were killed with two different firearms. Were there two shooters? Maybe Paul really was collateral damage and only Maggie's murder was planned?

Hah I noticed this too. Paul's ex-girlfriend was always pronouncing his name as "Alec". I didn't know it was a Southern thing.

I think he killed Maggie as crime of passion - she was leaving him - Paul grabbed another gun to try and defend his mum/himself and ended up being killed.

I think he did it, his world was spiralling he couldn't cover up his sons crimes, they were looking into what happened with Gloria, he lost his job at his families law firm. His wife was looking to leave him and in a rage he killed his wife. I think Paul got a gun to protect himself couldn't do it so his dad grabbed it off him and killed him. This was a man who was power hungary who thought he was above the law and was well respected. He couldn't handle the world around him crashing down.

I haven’t seen the Netflix documentary. From the trial footage I’ve seen/heard (including his own testimony on the stand the other day) I absolutely believe he did it and is a pathological liar. He was caught out in lies while on the stand and clearly didn’t give a shit.

The evidence all points to him having done it. I can’t understand either how anyone could do that to their son, but sometimes they do.

Ah, the theory that he intended to kill Maggie and Paul grabbed a gun to protect her could explain why they were killed with two different guns. @Starlitestarbright @SunshineAndFizz

I do agree with @BelindaBears and all the other posters about him being an absolutely despicable person (and his sons were just as despicable) but usually these type of people tend to protect their kids at all costs. It just seems hard to believe he could just shoot his son at close range - just like that

What is the theory behind Buster killing Stephen?

I watched this last night. I think maybe they all got into some sort of huge argument and Paul got the shotgun, they tussled and he killed Paul. Maggie then ran and he grabbed the assault rifle (the assault rifle is a more precision weapon and she was shot in the back as if she was running away) or the other way round. I think one of them was collateral. Most likely he killed his wife and his son got in the way.

I think it’s fairly apparent if you watch the live testimony that he’s guilty.

I don’t think people on here are “slavering” actually: pps including myself have called Alex vile, arrogant, nasty, and hubristic. Many people are posting precisely because they cannot comprehend how a man could kill his wife and his child in this way.

I think it’s fairly natural that there is a general horrified interest in the case as more and more crimes and corruption came to light as the murders were investigated. And because it details the collapse of a previously powerful
family dynasty.

As mentioned below, I personally think the interest is legitimate because, hideous murders aside, it sheds light on human nature, greed and the inequalities of modern America. It’s also, very unfortunately, a perfect study in how the uncontrolled power and privilege of the white middle aged male leads to corruption: the victims in all of these cases being women, or young adults.

Stephen was gay in a very conservative community. There was some implication that maybe Buster was too. At least they were friends.

Stephen's car ran out of gas and he called Buster for help. Buster turned up with a bunch of his friends who it appears all ganged up on Stephen (whether for some particular reason or just "for fun" and killed him). Then they left him in the middle of the road

There was also a rumour that Paul was one of the guys in Buster's car when Stephen died. In the Netflix documentary Paul's ex (Morgan) was talking about it.

Could be a hired specialist to take care of business so to speak but to then make it look like x perspectives