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BOMBSHELL: Knife Found in Murdaugh Murder Mystery · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:06
Speaker 1: As the story unfolds, we are learning more and more
0:09
Speaker 1: about the so called Murdog murder mystery out of South Carolina.
0:14
Speaker 1: First of all, it began when Maggie Mother Maggie and
0:18
Speaker 1: her troubled son Paul found dead at the Murdog estate
0:23
Speaker 1: they're hunting lodge, both of them shot multiple times. In
0:27
Speaker 1: recent days. Her husband Alex, who found the bodies, was
0:33
Speaker 1: shot himself in the last hours. A bombshell has the
0:39
Speaker 1: knife that was used to slash the tire of Alex
0:46
Speaker 1: Murdog's Mercedes SUV been found. This is how the whole
1:01
Speaker 1: thing started to take a Listen to our friends at
1:04
Speaker 1: w ciic niche for Charleston tonight, we are following a
1:08
Speaker 1: developing story out of Hampton County. According to his lawyer,
1:12
Speaker 1: Alex Murdoch has been shot in the head, his lawyer
1:14
Speaker 1: telling us earlier today Murdoch was changing a tire when
1:17
Speaker 1: a motorist drove past him, then turned around and opened fire.
1:21
Speaker 1: Were told he's been airlifted at USC and that he
1:24
Speaker 1: is currently conscious and breathing. Back in June, Murdoch's wife
1:28
Speaker 1: and son were killed in a double homicide in Culleton County.
1:31
Speaker 1: The shooting now being investigated by SLED that is South
1:34
Speaker 1: Carolina Law Enforcement Division with me an all star panel.
1:38
Speaker 1: Ashley Wilcott, judge, trial lawyer, Court TV anchor at ash
1:43
Speaker 1: Wilcott dot com. Doctor Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst joining us out
1:47
Speaker 1: of Beverly Hills at doctor Bethany Marshall dot com, Starvenee, Netflix, Hit,
1:52
Speaker 1: Leeing Empire. Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics, Jacksonville State University,
1:57
Speaker 1: author of Blood Beneath My Fate on Amazon and start
2:01
Speaker 1: of a new hit on iHeart the Pike and Massacre.
2:04
Speaker 1: But first to Matt Harris, morning show host of The
2:08
Speaker 1: Matt and Ramona Show on wl K and Charlotte and
2:12
Speaker 1: the host of a brand new podcast, The Murdoch Family
2:15
Speaker 1: Murders Impact of Influence. Matt Harris, tell me what's the
2:21
Speaker 1: story behind the headline. A knife linked to Alex Murdog
2:28
Speaker 1: has been discovered. That's what Fitznews is reporting that the
2:33
Speaker 1: knife used to puncture the tire has been recovered. And
2:36
Speaker 1: then you say the wording was linked at Alex Murdoch.
2:42
Speaker 1: So that's all we know at this point. We know
2:45
Speaker 1: that the kind of tires that Mercy he's been sports
2:49
Speaker 1: utility have more than likely that are not going to
2:52
Speaker 1: go flat off a drywall screw or something. It's going
2:56
Speaker 1: to take well hold on. It's my understanding that in
2:59
Speaker 1: those Mercedes SUVs they've got what you have, what you
3:03
Speaker 1: call extended mobility tires is um a flat drive in
3:11
Speaker 1: other words, just the new tires that are on high
3:15
Speaker 1: end vehicles like a Mercedes Suv that when you get
3:18
Speaker 1: a flat you can keep driving like twenty five miles
3:21
Speaker 1: or so. He had those honest Mercedes. I mean when
3:24
Speaker 1: I looked at the crime scene footage, not the double murder,
3:28
Speaker 1: but of Alex Mrday getting shot in the head by
3:31
Speaker 1: an unknown assailant in a pickup truck. When you look
3:35
Speaker 1: at that scene, there are no tools out to change
3:38
Speaker 1: the tire. The sire hasn't been removed from the suv. Well,
3:42
Speaker 1: come to find out, those tires keep on running. Matt
3:46
Speaker 1: Harris called run flat tires and he may not even
3:49
Speaker 1: have a spare. Still trying to figure out that because
3:51
Speaker 1: a lot of those mercedesuses don't even have a spare. Now.
3:54
Speaker 1: His attorney originally said he was out changing the tire,
3:58
Speaker 1: then he released a statement after that said he was
4:00
Speaker 1: just inspecting the tire, which would make a big difference
4:03
Speaker 1: because it wouldn't be a tire there, and blah blah blah,
4:06
Speaker 1: I just went out to look at it. Still, the
4:09
Speaker 1: tire had to be more than likely had to be
4:11
Speaker 1: slashed in order for that kind of tire to go
4:14
Speaker 1: somewhat flat. Even so you're telling me, Matt Harris, according
4:19
Speaker 1: to local reporters, the knife used to slash the tire
4:25
Speaker 1: has been found. The reporting straight out to forensics expert
4:30
Speaker 1: Joseph Scott Morgan joining us, how would they be able?
4:33
Speaker 1: Before I get to the implications of what this means,
4:35
Speaker 1: that clearly Alex Murdock slashed his tire himself stays the scene. Therefore,
4:43
Speaker 1: Argo stays his own shooting in the head, which turned
4:47
Speaker 1: out to be nearly a scrape. Why would he do that?
4:51
Speaker 1: But first, let's talk about this knife. How would a
4:55
Speaker 1: forensic expert such as yourself know that a particular knife
4:58
Speaker 1: had been used slash a particular tire. Well, you know,
5:03
Speaker 1: one of the things that we're going to look for, Nancy,
5:05
Speaker 1: are the dimensions of the actual cutting or slashing or
5:10
Speaker 1: puncturing on the surface of the tire. If say it's
5:15
Speaker 1: a one inch in width. Okay. One of the things
5:17
Speaker 1: you're going to be looking for, obviously, is do we
5:21
Speaker 1: have a blade that's within access easy access that could
5:25
Speaker 1: have generated this specific kind of cut in the tire. Also,
5:30
Speaker 1: another way that we look for it is like matching
5:32
Speaker 1: tool marks. If there is a specific pattern that's left
5:36
Speaker 1: behind that could be associated, say if the knife was serrated,
5:41
Speaker 1: it had an edge like a like a traditional state
5:44
Speaker 1: knife for instance, that's going to leave a different pattern.
5:47
Speaker 1: And then thirdly, we would use a chemical comparison. Let's say,
5:51
Speaker 1: for instance, you have a blade that has taken away
5:54
Speaker 1: with it some of the rubber from the tire, the
5:58
Speaker 1: composite that puts this tire together, and you can chemically
6:01
Speaker 1: match these two things. That's another way that we look
6:04
Speaker 1: for these sorts of things. But I'm really surprised they're
6:07
Speaker 1: saying they have linkage here, Nancy. I'm really surprised at
6:10
Speaker 1: how quickly they turned this around. I'm thinking that it's
6:13
Speaker 1: some other reason other than this. Well, I know this much.
6:18
Speaker 1: Ashley Wilcott joining me anchor Court TV. Ashley, they're the same.
6:26
Speaker 1: It was very easy to observe SLED South Carolina a
6:30
Speaker 1: law enforcement division out in the weeds on either side
6:35
Speaker 1: of that two lane with a metal detector. A knife
6:38
Speaker 1: would have turned up with a metal detector, you would think,
6:40
Speaker 1: so right, And that's exactly what I think they were
6:43
Speaker 1: looking for, some kind of tools, some kind of something
6:46
Speaker 1: that caused that. The other thing I have to say
6:48
Speaker 1: to you, though, Nancy, the other aspect of this that
6:50
Speaker 1: I would consider is think about if somebody split slashed
6:53
Speaker 1: your tire with a knife. Well enough, you wouldn't even
6:56
Speaker 1: get out of your driveway right because your tire would
6:59
Speaker 1: be flat. As soon as you start driving, you would
7:01
Speaker 1: realize that your tires completely flat. Now, if it's a
7:04
Speaker 1: little bit of a puncture wound caused by a knife,
7:07
Speaker 1: maybe it starts to go down gradually. But there's that
7:10
Speaker 1: part of the forensics I would want to know as well.
7:13
Speaker 1: And again, this suv Mercedes had what we call a
7:18
Speaker 1: run flat or a flat drive. In other words, once
7:23
Speaker 1: you flat, you can keep driving again on a tire
7:28
Speaker 1: like that specifically designed for you to drive on it
7:31
Speaker 1: after it goes flat. And this particular suv you can
7:36
Speaker 1: reportedly drive fifty miles on a run flat. He was
7:41
Speaker 1: seven miles from home and just you know, out of curiosity.
7:47
Speaker 1: Even in my beat at minivan, when I turn it on,
7:50
Speaker 1: if one of the tires has a flat, a red
7:54
Speaker 1: mark comes up, a red sign comes up on the tire.
7:58
Speaker 1: I mean, anybody I can figure out, Wow, there's something
8:01
Speaker 1: wrong with that tire because his blinking red and his
8:04
Speaker 1: picture right in front of my face. So how did
8:07
Speaker 1: he miss that? Doctor Bethany Marshall, help me out. You're
8:12
Speaker 1: the shrink. Maybe we name one. You know, there is
8:14
Speaker 1: so much turmoil just swirling around this family. I am
8:19
Speaker 1: not surprised that Sled was out there in the field
8:22
Speaker 1: with a metal detector as soon as all of this
8:25
Speaker 1: went down. I mean, the guy seems really calculated. From
8:29
Speaker 1: the time his twenty two year old son was implicated
8:32
Speaker 1: in a friend's death, from the time his wife and son,
8:36
Speaker 1: you know, we're killed with multiple gunshot wounds, it seems
8:39
Speaker 1: like here's just like a little fly buzzing in the
8:42
Speaker 1: back of his head saying, how can I get out
8:44
Speaker 1: of this? How can I get out of this? And
8:46
Speaker 1: you know, to fain a flat tire, to sain being
8:50
Speaker 1: shot in the head. I mean, those are such obvious
8:53
Speaker 1: ways to extricate oneself from a crime. It's like all
8:57
Speaker 1: of the people we've covered over the years who whites
9:00
Speaker 1: or spouse the short missing, and all of a sudden
9:03
Speaker 1: they say, oh, I tried to kill myself, and then
9:05
Speaker 1: they have scratches all over their wrists. So I just
9:10
Speaker 1: see like a whole story unfolding where he's trying to
9:16
Speaker 1: think himself out of a box here Nancy, and he's
9:19
Speaker 1: just not doing a very good job. No, he's not
9:31
Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Grace. This regarding the knife is
9:38
Speaker 1: almost lost at the sauce with as Dr Bethany Marshall says,
9:42
Speaker 1: so much swirling around Alex Murnogue. But what does he
9:46
Speaker 1: say happened exactly when he claims truck drives by on
9:51
Speaker 1: this lonely stretch of rural road, does he uee comes
9:56
Speaker 1: back and shoots him in the head? Take a listen
9:59
Speaker 1: to our friend Eva Pilgrim at GMA. Alec Murdoch was
10:04
Speaker 1: changing a tire on the side of the road in
10:06
Speaker 1: rural Hampton County Saturday when a car passed him, turned
10:10
Speaker 1: around and someone shot him in the head. He was
10:13
Speaker 1: airlifted to a hospital in Charleston. We are told he
10:16
Speaker 1: is conscious and speaking. Murdoch's brother was sitting down with
10:20
Speaker 1: us back in June. Did they have any enemy's I
10:23
Speaker 1: really don't know if any enemies. You hear all this
10:26
Speaker 1: talk on the social media with regard to Paul, But
10:30
Speaker 1: I don't know if anybody no that would truly it
10:34
Speaker 1: would truly be an enemy. I truly want to harm him. Okay,
10:40
Speaker 1: So who took a shot at him? And why? Straight
10:44
Speaker 1: back out to Matt Harris joining us w l K
10:47
Speaker 1: Matt in the last hours. Alex Murdock has also been
10:52
Speaker 1: booted from his law firm. He claimed he resigned, but
10:57
Speaker 1: the reality is they kicked him out for what they
11:00
Speaker 1: say is misappropriation of over one million dollars of the
11:05
Speaker 1: law firm's money. Some reports say up to eight digits,
11:12
Speaker 1: okay or more? What do you know? They Friday they
11:16
Speaker 1: confronted him. This is the Friday before he was shot
11:19
Speaker 1: in the head, but it didn't come out till later.
11:22
Speaker 1: They confronted him about the drug uses, about the money,
11:25
Speaker 1: and there was some sort of confrontation, but he didn't leave.
11:29
Speaker 1: And then just yesterday, the day before, the bar has
11:33
Speaker 1: kicked him out. To the money thing is all interesting
11:36
Speaker 1: because if he indeed was doing this, that he's accused of.
11:41
Speaker 1: It all lines up with things we had heard over
11:44
Speaker 1: the past week or so where there was accounting being
11:49
Speaker 1: done by Maggie before she died to find out where
11:53
Speaker 1: money was and I got that from two different sources.
11:55
Speaker 1: And also when Maggie and Paul were shot, it was
11:58
Speaker 1: only three days before there was going to be a
12:01
Speaker 1: hearing about the boating accident with the killed Mallory Beach.
12:08
Speaker 1: And in that boating accident, and that hearing they would
12:11
Speaker 1: to talk about money and funds and net worth and
12:15
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. So they would have been digging
12:16
Speaker 1: into money three days after the homicides of Maggie and Paul.
12:23
Speaker 1: So let me understand this. Matt Harris joining us W
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Speaker 1: l n K three days after the two bodies are
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Speaker 1: found magg and Paul. A trial was going forward on
12:35
Speaker 1: criminal charges of Paul Murdoch's part and driving drunk on
12:40
Speaker 1: a boat for Mallory Beach nineteen is thrown overboard. Yes,
12:45
Speaker 1: thank you. Civil trial. During that civil trial evidence would
12:50
Speaker 1: be uncovered regarding the net worth of the Murdoch family.
12:54
Speaker 1: Is that right at its correct? It was a hearing
12:57
Speaker 1: pre trial hearing. Yes, as a matter of fact, take
12:59
Speaker 1: a listen to this into the Associated Press. The law
13:02
Speaker 1: firm Alex worked for claims that the lawyer was taking
13:05
Speaker 1: money from the business. That statement coming from Pmpeed Law Firm,
13:09
Speaker 1: and it came just hours after Murdoch said that he
13:11
Speaker 1: was resigning and entering rehab. The firm says it will
13:14
Speaker 1: hire an accounting firm to fully review its books. It
13:17
Speaker 1: didn't say how much money might be missing, but says
13:19
Speaker 1: Murdoch was no longer associated with them in any way. Guys,
13:23
Speaker 1: you're hearing our friends at NBC News ten to doctor
13:26
Speaker 1: Bethany Marshall psychoanalysts joining us or Bethany Marshall. We have
13:31
Speaker 1: heard stories of, for instance, during the crash, people would
13:34
Speaker 1: jump out of windows and kill themselves because they didn't
13:37
Speaker 1: have their money anymore. What do you make of this?
13:40
Speaker 1: His law firm has given him the boot. Now the
13:43
Speaker 1: South Carolina Bar Association has joined in. Now we learn that,
13:49
Speaker 1: according to the New York Times and the AP, that
13:54
Speaker 1: Murdoch had siphoned off over a million dollars. Nancy, I
14:00
Speaker 1: think it's more likely not that he wanted to suicide
14:03
Speaker 1: or prematurely end his life because he had lost so
14:06
Speaker 1: much money, but that the news was tightening around his neck.
14:12
Speaker 1: He seems to be a bad actor in so many
14:15
Speaker 1: areas of his life, from covering up for his son,
14:19
Speaker 1: to maybe hiding from his wife Maggie, who was doing
14:23
Speaker 1: the accounting for the family, and from the firm. She
14:26
Speaker 1: may not have known how much money he was siphoning
14:28
Speaker 1: off to defrauding his business partners. And this went back intergenerationally.
14:34
Speaker 1: As you can see, the Murdoch's family was a very
14:37
Speaker 1: powerful family, so he was raised in a family milieu
14:42
Speaker 1: where people got away with things. And this may well
14:46
Speaker 1: be Nancy the first time in his life where were
14:50
Speaker 1: they called that chickens are coming home to roost? Where
14:53
Speaker 1: he was getting into trouble. You know, when you have
14:56
Speaker 1: a history of continually getting away with things, of acting entitled,
15:02
Speaker 1: stealing money from other people, covering up for your child,
15:05
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden people start to close
15:08
Speaker 1: in on you, whether it's the sais, whether it's the
15:11
Speaker 1: local police, whether it's the accounting at his local law firm.
15:15
Speaker 1: He may not have had the constitution for taking responsibility
15:20
Speaker 1: for himself. And I think that's what we're seeing is
15:22
Speaker 1: a very very desperate man just scheming and scheming as
15:27
Speaker 1: to how he can get, how he can get out
15:30
Speaker 1: of crime and punishment at this point, and who knows
15:34
Speaker 1: what else is lurking between the surface. Who knows what
15:37
Speaker 1: else this man has done and what's going to come
15:40
Speaker 1: out in the upcoming days. I want to circle back
15:43
Speaker 1: to Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics, regarding the subtle but
15:49
Speaker 1: significant change in wording. At the beginning, we were told
15:55
Speaker 1: that Alex Murdag was out changing a flat. Then it
16:00
Speaker 1: got to inspecting a flat and I find that very
16:06
Speaker 1: significant because of trajectory path of the bullet on his head. Explain, Yeah,
16:14
Speaker 1: you're right, Nancy, I'm glad you picked up on this.
16:17
Speaker 1: You know, if you if you think about the act
16:20
Speaker 1: of actually changing the tire, most people are squatted on
16:23
Speaker 1: the ground, aren't they. You know, they're using a wrench,
16:26
Speaker 1: they're trying to take the tire off. This sort of thing.
16:29
Speaker 1: Inspecting is completely different. That means you can kind of
16:32
Speaker 1: bend at your waist and look at it when you
16:34
Speaker 1: begin to think about this gunshot wound that he sustained.
16:39
Speaker 1: If you're squatted down the trajectory from a remember this
16:44
Speaker 1: person was allegedly firing from a truck, which is going
16:47
Speaker 1: to be at a higher elevation, They're gonna be firing
16:49
Speaker 1: from above to below. If he is inspecting that means
16:52
Speaker 1: he can rise to his feet or come fully erect
16:55
Speaker 1: and they're firing straight on. You know, maybe he hadn't
16:58
Speaker 1: accounted for that, Nancy, Maybe you know, and some wild,
17:02
Speaker 1: wild fantasy thought that he could get away with that.
17:05
Speaker 1: If in fact that is what has happened. By taking
17:08
Speaker 1: this weapon and firing it and giving kind of a
17:10
Speaker 1: graze wound here, the trajectory is going to be completely off.
17:14
Speaker 1: It completely changes the complexion of the investigation. Right, you
17:18
Speaker 1: can tell from the trajectory path whether if he were
17:21
Speaker 1: squatted by the car trying to change tire and the
17:26
Speaker 1: bullet came from above from within a truck driving by,
17:31
Speaker 1: the trajectory path would have been back to front, top
17:35
Speaker 1: to bottom. That's how it would have happened. Please, Yes,
17:39
Speaker 1: one more thing about this that I find very fascinating.
17:43
Speaker 1: You realize that these statements relative to the changing of
17:46
Speaker 1: the tires, this gunshot wound. None the stuff is coming
17:51
Speaker 1: from sled. None of this stuff is coming from the
17:54
Speaker 1: local law enforcement. Who's this coming from. This is coming
17:56
Speaker 1: from his attorney. Okay, and so now he's going to
18:01
Speaker 1: be sequestered away somewhearing this drug rehab thing that he's
18:05
Speaker 1: going to. And the only thing, the only comment that
18:08
Speaker 1: we have thus far is from the attorney his mouthpiece.
18:12
Speaker 1: Another thing I noticed, and jump in Astley Willcott. Not
18:16
Speaker 1: only will the trajectory path of that bullet reveal whether
18:20
Speaker 1: he was shot from someone above him in a truck
18:24
Speaker 1: while he squatted down changing attire. Then that didn't work.
18:27
Speaker 1: Then the wording changed from changing attire to inspecting attire.
18:31
Speaker 1: I think it also had to do with plausibility, because
18:34
Speaker 1: once we all got onto the fact that this is
18:36
Speaker 1: a Mercedes SUV that has a run flat an extended
18:41
Speaker 1: mobility tire, you don't have to change for fifty miles
18:44
Speaker 1: when he goes to flat, and suddenly the word is out,
18:47
Speaker 1: he didn't have to change attire. He's seven miles from home.
18:50
Speaker 1: So instead of changing that tire, oh, it makes more
18:53
Speaker 1: sense to say I was inspecting it. So it may
18:55
Speaker 1: be just to work on credibility. They probably haven't even
18:58
Speaker 1: taken to into a out the trajectory path of the bullet.
19:02
Speaker 1: This is what I love about you, Nancy Grace. Lots
19:04
Speaker 1: of things, but this one. You will always notice these
19:06
Speaker 1: little small details because the narrative has changed. And you're
19:10
Speaker 1: absolutely right. When does the narrative change? Like Joe Scott said,
19:14
Speaker 1: he is now a person of interest, all right. So
19:17
Speaker 1: he tells his attorney the version of the story. Well
19:20
Speaker 1: then they realize, oh wait, this new car that doesn't
19:23
Speaker 1: really fit. Let's change the wording. The narrative is being
19:26
Speaker 1: driven by the attorney for him. The other thing two
19:29
Speaker 1: things I have to say, you say it follow the
19:31
Speaker 1: money and desperate man, and those two things mean that
19:35
Speaker 1: they're now looking at this differently. Climb stories with Nancy Grace.
19:48
Speaker 1: If people in the crash would jump out of windows
19:51
Speaker 1: of skyscrapers in New York City just because they're out
19:54
Speaker 1: of money, what will someone do if their law firm
19:58
Speaker 1: is onto them for embezzling millions, their wife is onto it,
20:04
Speaker 1: she's asked for her own accounting. According to sources there
20:07
Speaker 1: in the area, the house of cards is falling in
20:11
Speaker 1: and about seventy two hours there's going to be a
20:14
Speaker 1: court hearing where assets are delved into under oath. So
20:21
Speaker 1: how does this all come about? Because we've got to
20:25
Speaker 1: follow this theory through to its logical conclusion, if Alex
20:31
Speaker 1: Murdock did puncture his own tire, if he did shoot
20:38
Speaker 1: himself claiming he was shot by someone in a pickup truck,
20:44
Speaker 1: it wasn't a botched suicide because why would you need
20:49
Speaker 1: to stab the tire. That's the big question right now.
20:58
Speaker 1: This is what happened that fateful afternoon. Take a listen
21:01
Speaker 1: to our cut three in This is justin Beagle Live
21:06
Speaker 1: five News WCSC new information on the shooting of Alex
21:11
Speaker 1: Murdoch in Hampton County. According to the South Carolina Law
21:14
Speaker 1: Enforced Division or SLED, Murdoch called the Hampton County Dispatch
21:18
Speaker 1: at one thirty Saturday afternoon. In that call, SLED says
21:22
Speaker 1: Murdoch told dispatchers he had been shot on Old Soakahatchee
21:26
Speaker 1: Road near Varneville. According to SLED, Murdoch was flown to
21:30
Speaker 1: Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah for a superficial
21:33
Speaker 1: gunshot wound to the head. They say officers were called
21:37
Speaker 1: in to lead the investigation by the Hampton County Sheriff's office.
21:40
Speaker 1: The shooting of Alex Murdoch comes nearly three months after
21:43
Speaker 1: his son and his wife were both found shot in
21:46
Speaker 1: Colleton County one thirty in the afternoon, unknown assailant comes
21:50
Speaker 1: along the shoots him in the head. He miraculously lives
21:54
Speaker 1: from a head gunshot wound and he is airlifted to
21:58
Speaker 1: a Memorial Medical Now mmh and Savannah for a band aid.
22:04
Speaker 1: Immediately put himself in rehab. Matt Harris joining me from
22:09
Speaker 1: WL and Okay, you know the other morning when you
22:13
Speaker 1: and I were talking about were there any was there
22:17
Speaker 1: any video surveillance. I know it's a very rural road,
22:19
Speaker 1: but I was asking at either end to the intersection,
22:23
Speaker 1: was there a business, was there a red light that
22:25
Speaker 1: might have security video? And sledbetter trot on over there
22:30
Speaker 1: and get that video. What's the very latest Matt Harris? Well,
22:36
Speaker 1: as we were talking today, we like we looked it
22:39
Speaker 1: up and I got it figured out there. Sure it
22:41
Speaker 1: is Saint John's Baptist. I remember when you told me yep,
22:43
Speaker 1: and I understand that the NBC's reporting that Sled went
22:48
Speaker 1: there and did indeed get a video. Could you bring
22:52
Speaker 1: it down? Tell me that again, very slowly, Okay, say
22:56
Speaker 1: that the church is I'm gonna get It's like the
22:59
Speaker 1: fifteen he was shot twenty block and the church is
23:04
Speaker 1: the next block over, but it's not really a block
23:06
Speaker 1: because it's blonged straight away. But the church is there's
23:09
Speaker 1: a big church, as you noticed when we were talking
23:11
Speaker 1: about it, we pulled up the photos. And now I
23:15
Speaker 1: hear that the NBC has reported that SPLED got video
23:19
Speaker 1: from that church. Two. Joe Scott Morgan, Professor forensics. If
23:24
Speaker 1: this is true, okay, I give you all the credit,
23:27
Speaker 1: Matt Harris, because when I was talking about is there
23:30
Speaker 1: a red light stuff? Is there a ring video? Is
23:33
Speaker 1: there a red light video? Is there a business at
23:36
Speaker 1: either end with the video? You're the one that figured
23:40
Speaker 1: out Saint John's Baptist Church would be toward the end,
23:46
Speaker 1: not that far away of the incident. And yes, this
23:50
Speaker 1: was on a Saturday afternoon, but those video surveillance cameras
23:54
Speaker 1: often run twenty four seven, three sixty five. So Joe
23:58
Speaker 1: Scott Morgan, what if anything would SLED be looking for
24:04
Speaker 1: on that video? A truck perhaps? Oh? Yeah, they put
24:08
Speaker 1: the jackpot here, Nancy. If in fact they have recovered
24:11
Speaker 1: videography that details that road out there that passes by
24:17
Speaker 1: the church. And let me tell you why that video
24:19
Speaker 1: is going to be timestamp. You take that and you
24:23
Speaker 1: combine it with the information that they're going to have
24:27
Speaker 1: off of his phone when this call was initiated back
24:31
Speaker 1: into the nine one one center, and you can actually
24:34
Speaker 1: extrapolate the timeframe for which a truck would have passed
24:39
Speaker 1: in front of that camera. Okay, because you have him
24:42
Speaker 1: calling in, I would assume that he's calling in saying
24:46
Speaker 1: I've been shot. We haven't heard that sound yet, but
24:50
Speaker 1: I've been shot. It was a truck, that sort of thing.
24:53
Speaker 1: He's given this information, and that's detailed information that you
24:56
Speaker 1: can look and see and validate it. These would be
24:59
Speaker 1: the encamp not just that way, but also with the
25:03
Speaker 1: top and so you're oriented on two separate locations on
25:07
Speaker 1: the timeline, and this is going to be damning information.
25:10
Speaker 1: Maybe he didn't count on it. I don't know, but
25:13
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of traffic on this road, Nancy.
25:15
Speaker 1: It's a two lane country road out in the middle
25:17
Speaker 1: of nowhere. It would be argued that that's why it
25:21
Speaker 1: was selected, because it's in the middle of nowhere, a
25:25
Speaker 1: very long, circuitous route between Varneville and Charleston, when he
25:29
Speaker 1: could have just gone point A to point B. Hey,
25:33
Speaker 1: this is what they'll argue. This is what would be argued.
25:36
Speaker 1: And again, no one has been arrested, no one has
25:40
Speaker 1: been named a suspect at all, including Alex Murdoch. We
25:44
Speaker 1: are talking about his story that he was shot in
25:48
Speaker 1: the head by an unknown assailant when he was out
25:51
Speaker 1: changing slash inspecting his car on a rural route. Is
25:55
Speaker 1: that true? He put it out there and we're picking
25:59
Speaker 1: it apart. So this would be the response, Joe Scott, Oh,
26:04
Speaker 1: the assailant. I didn't tell you which way they came.
26:07
Speaker 1: They didn't come the church way. They came the other way.
26:12
Speaker 1: There you get. Yeah, but if he made the shoe turn,
26:16
Speaker 1: if he made the shoe turn, Nancy, there is still
26:18
Speaker 1: a high likelihood that they could have come from the
26:20
Speaker 1: other direction as well. The church would have picked it up.
26:23
Speaker 1: There's only one way in one I mean two ways in,
26:25
Speaker 1: two ways out. I don't think that he could have that.
26:28
Speaker 1: You can argue that definitively before a jury and have
26:32
Speaker 1: them actually buy into it. I think it's a stretch. Well,
26:35
Speaker 1: this is what I would argue to a jury, Ashley Willcott,
26:37
Speaker 1: if I were prosecuting, I would say, yeah, but there
26:41
Speaker 1: is a way in on this end and a way
26:44
Speaker 1: in to the shooting on this end, it's fifty fifty.
26:48
Speaker 1: Who do you believe? I just I wouldn't try to
26:51
Speaker 1: hide it. I'd put it to him just the way
26:53
Speaker 1: it is. Yeah, because remember, you're going to be able, Nancy,
26:56
Speaker 1: You're going to be able to show motives. And so
26:58
Speaker 1: when you say okay at fifty fifty, that's great. But
27:01
Speaker 1: when you add the other circumstances that we're learning about,
27:04
Speaker 1: the money trail, the deception, the number of different deaths, right,
27:08
Speaker 1: at what point is it not coincidence? At what point
27:11
Speaker 1: you have a horrible tragedy that his son was driving drunk.
27:15
Speaker 1: That's not the tragedy. There was a death in that
27:17
Speaker 1: as a result of his son's actions, and then his
27:20
Speaker 1: wife and son are murdered, and now he shot in
27:24
Speaker 1: the head. It starts to add up, and not in
27:25
Speaker 1: a good way for him. The only thing we're missing
27:28
Speaker 1: is a mistress who just said that knock on what Nancy,
27:31
Speaker 1: knock on? Dodger Bethany, you know you're all up in it.
27:46
Speaker 1: Climb stories with Nancy Grace, we are learning that the
27:51
Speaker 1: South Carolina who climbs he was shot in the head
27:54
Speaker 1: by an unknown assailant after his son and wife were murdered,
27:59
Speaker 1: also shot in the head, has not only been kicked
28:04
Speaker 1: out off his law firm for allegedly misappropriating funds, the
28:11
Speaker 1: South Carolina Bar Association has gotten in on it. Take
28:14
Speaker 1: a listen to our friends at ABC eleven. Twist in
28:19
Speaker 1: the mystery surrounding a double murder involving a prominent family
28:22
Speaker 1: from South Carolina. Alex Murder, whose wife and some were
28:26
Speaker 1: killed in June and who called nine one one over
28:28
Speaker 1: the weekend saying he was shot in the head, is
28:31
Speaker 1: now breaking his silence, releasing a statement saying, the murders
28:34
Speaker 1: of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult
28:37
Speaker 1: time in my life. I've made a lot of decisions
28:40
Speaker 1: that I truly regret. I'm resigning from my law firm
28:43
Speaker 1: and entering rehab after a long battle that has been
28:46
Speaker 1: exacerbated by these murders. I'm immensely sorry to everyone I've heard,
28:51
Speaker 1: including my family, friends and colleagues, and now ABC News
28:55
Speaker 1: learning Alex has resigned from his family law firm after
28:58
Speaker 1: it was discovered he had appropriated money from the firm.
29:03
Speaker 1: On Saturday, Alex was airlifted to the hospital after calling
29:06
Speaker 1: police to say he'd been shot in the head in
29:08
Speaker 1: broad daylight while he was changing attire on the side
29:12
Speaker 1: of the road. Authorities say he suffered a superficial gunshot
29:15
Speaker 1: wound to the head. He's now out of the hospital
29:18
Speaker 1: and entering rehab. It's unclear what kind of rehab. Back
29:23
Speaker 1: in June, Alex called nine one one saying he had
29:25
Speaker 1: found the bodies of his wife, Maggie and twenty two
29:28
Speaker 1: year old son Paul at the family's hunting lodge. Now,
29:32
Speaker 1: the South Carolina bar has kicked him out, but let
29:36
Speaker 1: me point out, is only an interim suspension, and Murdoch
29:41
Speaker 1: himself consented to the order. He has been suspended from
29:45
Speaker 1: practicing law interim. And Ashley Willcott, it's my understanding. Why
29:50
Speaker 1: do they love throwing around legal phrases, Latin phrases, interimains
29:54
Speaker 1: for right now, like an intermission, intermittent. It's not permanent,
30:00
Speaker 1: you're understanding, Ashley, that's absolutely what it is. Fancy and
30:04
Speaker 1: the reason that that's important. Two things I want to
30:06
Speaker 1: point out. Yes, you're right, it's introim, but it's also
30:09
Speaker 1: his choice. He went to them proactively. He's smart. I
30:13
Speaker 1: would do the same thing if I were God forbid.
30:15
Speaker 1: And these circumstances, which I never expect to be but
30:18
Speaker 1: because it's his control. Again, who's controlling the narrative? He is?
30:22
Speaker 1: And how is he controlling the narrative? All right? Just
30:25
Speaker 1: because there are all these circumstances and I'm not at
30:28
Speaker 1: faults and I'm not guilty, but just to make it
30:31
Speaker 1: easier for everyone, I'll do the right thing and proactively.
30:35
Speaker 1: I don't know that he give the suspension. Why do
30:39
Speaker 1: you believe he asked for an Ashley? I don't know,
30:41
Speaker 1: but you can do. I don't think he because I
30:43
Speaker 1: understand that he consented to the suspension, and I was
30:48
Speaker 1: curious as to the standard of proof you need to
30:52
Speaker 1: go before a state bar and say, look, he stole
30:55
Speaker 1: money from the farm, because there has been no hearing
30:58
Speaker 1: at all. But I do know this the South Carolina
31:03
Speaker 1: Bar Association. The Supreme Court stated, quote upon receipt, if
31:08
Speaker 1: sufficient evidence demonstrating a lawyer poses a substantial, substantial threat
31:13
Speaker 1: a serious harm to the public or the administration of justice,
31:18
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court may place the lawyer on intraim suspension. Now,
31:26
Speaker 1: I don't know that they got evidence to make a
31:29
Speaker 1: permanent finding, but I think the law firm presented them
31:34
Speaker 1: with evidence. I mean, what do you know, Matt, how
31:36
Speaker 1: did he get suspended from law practice? I do not
31:40
Speaker 1: know how that. I mean the law firm said right
31:44
Speaker 1: away that they had gone straight to the bar, gone
31:48
Speaker 1: straight to law enforcement, and they had made sure that
31:51
Speaker 1: they were on top of this because I'm sure that
31:53
Speaker 1: they don't want to be right with him any law. Yes,
31:57
Speaker 1: is it the law firm, his own family's law. So yeah,
32:01
Speaker 1: but there are other lawyers in it, because when your
32:04
Speaker 1: own family turned against you, you know, it really says
32:08
Speaker 1: that there a lot through speaking of lawyers, Doctor Bethany,
32:11
Speaker 1: your points were all taken. Then he has family members
32:14
Speaker 1: in the law firm. It was founded by I think
32:16
Speaker 1: his grandfather. But his lawyer, Jim Griffin says that, quote,
32:22
Speaker 1: this type of order is standard in cases where there
32:24
Speaker 1: are credible allegations of misappropriation of client funds or when
32:30
Speaker 1: the lawyers incapacitated due to substance abuse. So is he
32:36
Speaker 1: setting up some sort of substance abuse defense? But back
32:41
Speaker 1: to you, Matt, Harris joined us l n K. Again,
32:45
Speaker 1: we are dissecting facts as we learned them. Alex Murlock
32:50
Speaker 1: has not been charged. He has not been accused of wrongdoing.
32:53
Speaker 1: He is not a person of interest or suspect in
32:57
Speaker 1: Maggie and Paul's murders. Let's talk about his gunshot wound
33:02
Speaker 1: to the head and what does it mean A. Was
33:05
Speaker 1: it self inflicted? B if so, was it a botched
33:08
Speaker 1: suicide attempt or an attempt to deflect focus off him
33:15
Speaker 1: suggesting that his wife and son's killer came back for him.
33:20
Speaker 1: Let's think it through. You know one thing as well
33:23
Speaker 1: as anyone. I've talked to attorney a couple at Journeys
33:25
Speaker 1: yesterday for doing the podcast, and messing with trust is
33:29
Speaker 1: one of the things that you yeah in law school, right,
33:33
Speaker 1: don't the bar association. Let's you get away with forcing
33:36
Speaker 1: your clients into sex as payment just all sorts a
33:41
Speaker 1: bad dealing. But you mess with money, you are out.
33:44
Speaker 1: The lawyers do not tolerate you messing with their money.
33:47
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. And so the hammer would calm down,
33:51
Speaker 1: swift and heavy quickly. So let's follow this through to
33:56
Speaker 1: its logical conclusion. What if this was self flicted? Fly,
34:03
Speaker 1: where was this shot fired? We'll find out. Nancy Grace
34:08
Speaker 1: Combs story signing off, Goodbye friend,