Latest / Bless This Mess: A Southern True Crime Podcast / A Little Less Mess [South Carolina] Murdaugh Murders - Mallory

Transcript

A Little Less Mess [South Carolina] Murdaugh Murders - Mallory · Bless This Mess: A Southern True Crime Podcast

0:21
Hey for awhile. Welcome to bless Us Smiths Southern True Crumb Podcast. I'm
0:24
Kara, Jess Kara. Welcome to a little Less Smiths. It's our regular
0:27
episodes, but without all the banter and jokes and all that stuff. It's
0:32
just the story. If you would like to hear our regular episodes that come
0:36
out on Thursdays and they're numbered in our regular feed for our podcast, you
0:41
can find them there and just want to invite you to like us on Instagram,
0:46
follow us on Facebook Instagram. I do all sorts of things, recipes,
0:50
southern stuff, festivals, things we go on and then rate reviews.
0:55
Subscribe on iTunes is a real helpful and then if you'd like to support the
0:58
podcast, you can go to patreon dot com slash Blesses mess Podcast where you
1:03
can get episodes early and ad free. So without further ado, we'll continue
1:08
our series on the Murdock Murders with this episode will recovering the death of Mallory
1:17
Beach. Mallory Madison Beach was born in April eighteenth, nineteen ninety nine,
1:22
in Walterboro, South Carolina, to Philip and Renee Beach. She had two
1:26
older sisters, Morgan in Savannah. Mallory was a very pretty girl, popular
1:30
and sweet. Mallory would make a best friend in preschool named Miley Altman.
1:34
They would be inseparable throughout their childhood and teen years. She would attend Wade
1:40
Hampton High School, where she excelled at soccer. She enjoyed hunting and going
1:44
to church, and was an animal lover, even wanting to become a veterinarian.
1:48
At one point during their teen years, Mallorie and Molly would add Morgan
1:52
Dowdy to their friend group. They were all three living quintessential teenage lives.
1:57
Miley had a long term boyfriend named Connor Cook, who was cousins and best
2:00
friends with Anthony Cooke. Anthony had known Mallory almost his whole life. Mallory
2:07
was friends with his sister from a very young age, and Mallory had just
2:09
always been around. As the two grew older, the friendship would turn into
2:14
something more, and on New Year's Eve twenty eighteen, Anthony finally asked Mallory
2:17
to be his girlfriend. Now Morgan. She had been dating Paul Murdoch since
2:23
junior year of high school. Paul, Anthony and Connor were best friends dating
2:27
three other best friends, Morgan, Mallory and Miley. They did everything together,
2:31
from prom to going to the river to going on trips. They were
2:35
just having the time of their lives. Paul and Morgan were a bit of
2:38
an odd match. Morgan's family was originally from Long Island and they were working
2:43
class people. Paul was a member of the prominent Murdoch family, who was
2:47
a very powerful family in Hampton County, which is part of the Low Country.
2:52
Low Country is a region in South Carolina at the southernmost tip. It
2:55
gets its name from the fact that most of the area, which consists of
2:59
cities like Charles, Hilton Head, and Beauford, are very close to sea
3:02
level. It all started with his great great grandfather, Randolph Murdoch Senior.
3:07
Randolph started a law firm in nineteen ten in Hampton, South Carolina. He
3:12
would then go on to become the solicitor in Hampton County. Now the solicitor
3:16
is basically the lead day in the area now. He would hold this position
3:20
from nineteen twenty until nineteen forty, when he died after his car was struck
3:23
by a train and the months before Randolph's death, he had been ill and
3:28
his son, Randolph Buster Murdoch Junior, filled in for him frequently at court.
3:34
Randolph's death was ruled an accident, but rumors swirled that he had stopped
3:38
on the tracks intentionally. The fact that it was ruled an accident did not
3:42
stop Buster Junior from suing the railway and winning a sum of money. Upon
3:46
the death of his father, Buster Junior would win the election to become the
3:50
solicitor and would serve in that position until nineteen eighty six. During that time,
3:55
the civil litigation firm that his father had started, p M. P.
4:00
E. D. Law Group, thrived in the town of Hampton.
4:03
Upon Buster Junior's retirement, his son, Randolph Murdoch the Third, would become
4:08
solicitor until he retired in two thousand and six. This is when the line
4:12
of Murdoch's being the solicitor of the fourteenth Judicial Circuit would end, but their
4:16
power would not. They had a long line of political influence in the area
4:20
on both sides the isle, as well as power in the private sector through
4:25
the family law firm. With all this power came money, and this was
4:29
old money passed through generations. Paul's father, Richard Alexander Murdock, was a
4:35
lawyer as well and a beneficiary to all of this power and money. He
4:40
would marry Margaret Maggie Bransteader and they would have two sons, Richard Alexander Murdock
4:46
Junior, who went by Buster, and Paul. They had multiple homes and
4:49
properties in the family, including a seventeen hundred acre plot of land called Moselle.
4:56
The boys ran rampant at Moselle property, especially Paul. Paul was the
5:00
wild one who pushed boundaries. Buster was the more responsible one. He was
5:03
the one that was supposed to follow in his father's footsteps become a lawyer and
5:06
work at the family law firm. The six friends would party out at Moselle
5:12
as well. They noted that Paul began drinking at a very young age,
5:15
around fourteen years old. Drinking was a big part of the Murdoch family.
5:18
They always had alcohol around and would allow their children to drink. They pretty
5:23
much let them do anything they wanted to. When Paul drank, he would
5:27
act very strange and even had a nickname for when he got to the point
5:30
of no return, they would call him Timmy. As time went on,
5:33
Molly began not liking Paul. She tolerated him because it was her best friend's
5:38
boyfriend, but she was uncomfortable with his level of drinking and the way he
5:41
treated her friend. They would break up quite frequently. Paul went on to
5:45
start hitting Morgan. He was becoming violent when he drank. One time,
5:49
Paul insisted on driving with Morgan in the car and they crashed. Instead of
5:54
evolving the police, they called Grandpa Randolph to come clean up the mess,
5:57
along with his parents. During this time, Mallory was there for Morgan and
6:00
encouraged her to lead Paul. On February twenty third, twenty nineteen, the
6:05
six friends, all underage, ranging from nineteen to twenty years old, were
6:10
headed to an oyster roast. They decided to take Paul's boat up Beaufort River.
6:15
They began drinking when they arrived at Paul's Grandpa's river house, then headed
6:19
onto the oyster roast. It was a cold night in the low country.
6:24
They continue to drink and friends around them notice that they probably should not be
6:27
driving back on the boat. They didn't listen and continued on with their night,
6:31
with Connor and Paul wanting to stop at a bar on the way back
6:33
to the river house. They did this throwing back a few shots. All
6:38
of this was caught on camera. Now, at one seventeen am, the
6:42
friends all get on the boat. They say they told Paul he shouldn't be
6:45
driving, but he insisted. As they are driving on the boat, they
6:47
all began getting angry because Paul was acting erratic, taking his hands off the
6:53
steering wheel. They start fighting amongst themselves and it all comes to a head
6:57
when Paul slaps Morgan, calls her a horror and spits on her. Now,
7:01
at this point, they try to help Paul with the steering, but
7:03
eventually give up. Paul had stripped down to his underwear and was just acting
7:09
erratic. Now, around two thirty am, they settle on the boat,
7:12
hoping they can just make it to the river house. When they see themselves
7:15
headed straight for a bridge. The next thing they know, they can collided
7:18
with it. It was fifty four degrees outside, the water was very cold.
7:23
It was dark out, foggy, and the tide was strong. All
7:26
the friends are there except for Mallory. One of them calls nainman one.
7:30
When they got to the shore, you can hear the girl screaming where is
7:32
Mallory body Camp footage shows the chaos after the incident. Paul's first request was
7:39
a phone. Once he gets one, he calls his grandfather and tells him
7:42
they were in a boat crash and Connor was driving. The girls overheard this
7:46
and were shocked. They all knew Paul was driving. Anthony is distraught.
7:49
He is screaming at Paul, who was smirking during all of this, still
7:54
very intoxicated. The parents were contacted and began coming to the scene. During
7:59
all of this, the only parents not contacted were Mallory's. Anthony's mom told
8:03
the police they needed to contact them. Philip and Renee find out about the
8:07
incident from Renee's mother, not the police. They learned that most of the
8:11
injured were at Buford Memorial, but Mallory was knocked. They head over to
8:16
Beaufort, but decided to go to the side of the accident, where they
8:18
find search parties looking for Mallory. Anthony was still at the sight. He
8:22
did not want to leave without Mallory. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Morgan,
8:26
Miley, Paul, and Connor were being treated. Based on snapchat photos
8:31
that were sent out, we see that Connor had a large wound across his
8:35
left jaw up to his lip, and Morgan had large lacerations across her fingers.
8:41
Paul was uninjured and still very intoxicated. He eventually had a breathalyzer several
8:46
hours after the crash and his blood alcohol content was point two four, which
8:50
is three times the legal limit. He was described as angry and nasty by
8:54
hospital staff. Soon after everyone arrived, Randolph and Alex Murdoch showed up.
9:01
They immediately go into cleanup boats, stopping police from speaking to Paul. Alex
9:05
then calls up Connor's parents and tells them that Connor was driving and that he
9:09
would make sure Connor was taken care of. Alex and Randolph were busy in
9:13
the hospital making sure everyone, including the police, thought that Connor was driving.
9:18
The search for Mallory continued into the next day. They had helicopters,
9:22
divers and boats searching the water in the area. There was a large group
9:26
of volunteers showing up with personal boats trying to find Mallory. The search for
9:31
Mallory was all over the news, and the rumors began about Paul being drunk
9:33
and he's the one that's driving. The Murdoch's were right in the middle of
9:37
the investigation into the boating accident the whole entire time. Alex's brother even hauled
9:43
the boat out of the water. They were allowed down near where the crash
9:46
occurred, while Mallory's family was not. It was easy to see that they
9:50
were receiving special privileges and trying to paint a picture of what happened that night,
9:54
putting all the blame on Connor. Now. In March third, twenty
9:58
nineteen, two search and rescuers called in to nine on one stating that they
10:03
had found Mallory about five miles from the crash scene, and autopsy revealed Mallory
10:07
died from blunt force trauma and drowning. After finding Mallory's body, Mallory's family
10:13
was waiting for and arrest of Paul for driving while under the influence and killing
10:16
Mallory, but nothing happened. This is when they decided to hire a lawyer
10:20
to look into it. The lawyer hires a bio mechanical engineer to recreate the
10:24
crash so he can determine where everyone was based on their injuries. It's determined
10:31
that Paul was driving, not Connor. Connor would not have sustained the injuries
10:35
he did if he was behind the will. The lawyer also finds all the
10:39
fodgage leading up to the crash, showing Paul purchasing alcohol using Buster's ID.
10:43
He also learns that most of the lead officers responding to the scene and doing
10:48
interviews at the hospital were buddies with the Murdocks. Phone records even show Alex
10:52
calling one of the investigators while he was at the hospital talking to Morgan,
10:56
Miley, Connor and Paul. This information was brought forward in public outcry question
11:03
why Paul had not been charged. Finally, on April eighteenth, twenty nineteen,
11:07
which would have been Mallory's twentieth birthday, Paul was charged with three counts,
11:13
one count of Bui with the water device resulting in death, two counts
11:18
of Bui with water device with great bodily injury, and Bui is boating under
11:22
the influence. The charges could result in up to twenty five years in prison.
11:26
However, Paul was not arrested and booked into jail. He was awaiting
11:31
arrayment that would occur. On May sixth, twenty nineteen. Soon after charges
11:37
were filed, the solicitor two judges in the Beaufort County Sheriff's Department recused themselves
11:43
due to connections they had with the Murdochs. This was a big story in
11:48
the area. A member of a very powerful family was being brought up on
11:50
felony charges. Three months later, his bell hearing was held and he was
11:54
released on his own reconnaissance. Paul was never once put in handcuff a jumpsuit,
12:01
nothing like a normal person being charged with similar crimes. His mug shot
12:05
was even taken out in the hallway before he went into court. Upon his
12:09
release, Paul went to live on the Moselle property in a little farmhouse.
12:13
There, he continued to party and drink, displaying it all on social media,
12:16
despite being told by the judge to not partake in any drinking or partying.
12:22
It was as if he did not care about what had happened at all.
12:26
He was still surrounded by friends and family out at the property partying.
12:30
Paul even received speeding tickets at this time. He was not lying low after
12:33
the death of Mallory. The friend group did break up after the crash.
12:37
Morgan was finally done with Paul, and so was Aunt Anthony. They saw
12:41
that Paul seemed to show no remorse over what had happened. In the months
12:46
after Paul's indictment, the Murdoch family went through a hard time. Paul had
12:50
his legal issues that were ongoing, and on top of that, Buster was
12:54
kicked at a law school for cheating. These two boys were bringing shame on
12:58
this prestigious emily. Mounting pressure began to show cracks in Alex and Maggie's marriage.
13:03
Maggie found out that Alex was behind on some bills, which should not
13:07
have been happening based on how much money the Murdoch's had. Rumor around town
13:11
was she had hired a forensic accountant to see where the money was going.
13:16
She also was rumored to have been seeing a divorce attorney looking into what her
13:20
options might be. Pile onto that Alex's oxycodon pill addiction that the family had
13:28
been dealing with for years and hiding stresses were mounting. Paul is scheduled for
13:33
his first hearing on the death of Mallory on June twenty twenty one. It
13:39
appears there might finally be some justice, but just three days before something that
13:43
would shock America would happen. A nine on one call comes in from Alex
13:48
Murdoch. Paul and Maggie had been shot dead at the Moselle property. These
13:52
deaths would start into motion the unraveling of the Murdoch family. And that's our
13:58
episode, and join us next week. We'll be concluding the Murdoch murders with
14:05
our last segment with um the deaths of Paul and Maggie. And if you
14:09
would like to listen to our regular episode with all the banter and everything,
14:13
check out our regular fee the numbered episodes. They come out on Thursdays,
14:16
and I guess until then we will see you next time. By everyone,
14:20
don't you know it's bye to be superstitious by noting else is working Si