Ep 316: The Murdaugh Murders: The Macro Timeline continued, Part 16

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Well, for the first time, we're hearing Alec Murdoch describe the roadside shooting in his own voice.

It happened just a few months after the murders of his wife and son.

Well, in this video, this is from the scene.

Murdoch called 911 on September 4, 2021, saying he'd been shot on the side of a road in Hampton County.

But today, the judge allowed the jury to hear audio from a phone interview between Murdoch and the state investigating.

In this audio, Murdoch admits he set the whole thing up, saying he thought it would be easier for his family if he were dead.

Murdoch admitted he asked Curtis that he Smith to shoot him.

This was his, this way, his surviving son Buster would then collect money from his life insurance policy.

Smith is on the witness list, but it's still unclear if he'll be called to testify.

Even though the roadside shooting happened after Maggie and Paul were killed,

the judge decided to let the jury hear about it because the defense brought up Smith and their line of questioning.

And the prosecution wanted the jury to hear this evidence because they say it shows a pattern of lies.

A fox guy has graced wrinkles in Walterborough to break down today's testimony.

Today's testimony was highly anticipated, especially after so much back and forth between the judge, the state,

and the defense about whether or not the jury would actually get to hear testimony about the side of the road incident.

A slut agent took the stand to testify how Murdoch's story changed over time about what actually happened that day.

Take a listen to this audio from an interview that agent had with Murdoch after he finally confessed it was all his idea.

Why were you truthful with this initially happened?

Did Alec Murdoch ever say that there was any risk or threat to Buster?

He said no. No, he did not. He actually denied it when we asked.

Did Alec Murdoch say that Curtis said he Smith had anything to do with the murders of Mozilla?

He denied it when we asked.

And is there any evidence that Curtis said we were Smith had anything to do with Mozilla?

None whatsoever.

That line of questioning from the state mirrors what we heard the defense ask another slut agent yesterday.

The defense has argued slut focused in on Murdoch as a suspect too early and did not take into account other people like Curtis Eddie Smith or the people Smith bought drugs from.

The state established Smith was not tied to the crime scene at Mozilla and laid out a timeline that shows Murdoch only changed his story about the side of the road.

Once let agents began to investigate Smith and saw large money transfers from Murdoch to Smith.

The state has said that that testimony was key to establishing a pattern of deception.

We've already heard from the defense that they're planning a pretty lengthy cross-examination and that's where things will pick back up tomorrow morning.

In Multimeral Grace One Gold Fox, Carolina News.

Hey lovely listeners and welcome back to my Murdoch Murdoch podcast Remastered Part 16.

This episode becomes even more relevant now with Alec Murdoch's appeal, particularly regarding his so-called distrust of sled.

I mean, the evidence from his interviews with sled and his contact with them through his lawyers reveal to me zero trust issues.

In this episode, I also analyse Alec's statement that he gave to his lawyer Dick Hart Putleon on September the 6th, 2021.

When you hear me deconstruct it, you'll get a very clear idea of who and what Alec values.

And I get into Alec's shooting himself, what I call the stage shooting.

You were here, Alec in his own words, talk about what he did to sled, but I don't buy what he's selling them and I share why I believe Alec did it.

Also note how his lawyers instructed sled that they must not ask Alec about the murders of Maggie and Paul or the financial crimes.

Yes, you heard that right.

In an active double homicide investigation of his wife and son, the police are directed not to ask him any questions.

So it's clear to me who's controlling whom.

And just remember, when the roadside shooting happened, it was only Mandy Mattney and Liz Farrell who had serious doubts about Alec's account.

Everyone else just ate up yet another false narrative from Alec Murdoch.

Okay, let's get into it.

Welcome back to Crime Analyst, your go-to true crime real crime podcast for your fix of expert analysis and insight into cases where the victims are centered and the psychology of the perpetrators is explored using a wide angled lens to spotlight their behavior and hold them to account and to identify intervention and prevention opportunities.

But it's what I do, so I think it's quite important to really highlight the important work of crime analyst and I interview the best people who can provide unique insight like Mandy Mattney who's been covering this case for more than four years now.

You might remember that I said at the start of my analysis, I really wanted to speak with Mandy and many of you asked for this conversation. So I really wanted to make it happen and I spoke to Frank from our podcast platform ad large and he played a key role in introducing us and making this happen.

So a big shout out to Frank. Thank you.

I can't tell you how excited I was to speak with Mandy.

What did you think about the interview?

Fire, am I right? I think our work is really complimentary. Mandy asks great questions in the pursuit of the truth and justice.

She wants to help people and she doesn't settle or fall for any BS. You can probably see why we're aligned.

I think my work here on crime analysts offers insight and in depth analysis to understand the why and the how with the micro macro behavior and the bigger picture as well as detailed time lining of the micro.

And of course I always want to send to victims. So let me know what you thought of our conversation and I'll be sure to pass it on to Mandy.

I have a feeling this is the first of many future conversations. Mandy is a sure.

Okay, so back to my timeline because I'm not done yet.

And the final breakdown of the macro timeline will come in two more episodes.

There's just so much to cover and every time I think I'm at the end I find some other twist or turn in the case that I really want to share with you.

Now across all my research and analysis which has been extensive across many many months.

Two key consistent aspects of Alec Murdoch's behavior are that one he really knew how to schmooze people and by schmooze I mean manipulate.

And secondly he had no qualms about lying to get what he wanted. In fact he lied and lied and lied again.

He changed his story so many times when he was found out but only when he was found out.

For example he had to change his story when video evidence placed him at the kennels with Maggie and Paul just minutes before they were brutally murdered.

He was forced to explain that prior to that he repeatedly said that he had not seen them that he took a nap at night.

Yes that's ridiculous and then he went to his mother's house.

He gave that account to the 911 call handler the officers who first arrived at the scene and thereafter in every interview.

Then when that was proven to be a lie and many people recognized his voice on the first video that Paul posted and that he was up at the kennel just minutes before Maggie and Paul were shot dead.

He then tried to say that he lied because he didn't trust sled.

Take a listen to what he said when asked about it at his trial.

Mr. Murdoch is that you on the kennel video at 8.44pm on June 7th the night Maggie and Paul were murdered?

It is.

Were you in fact at the kennels at 8.44pm on the night Maggie and Paul were murdered?

I was.

Did you lie to sled Agent Owen and Deputy Laura Rutland on the night of June 7th and told them that you stayed at the house after dinner?

I did lie to them.

Did you lie to Agent Owen and Agent Crawl on the follow up interview on June 10th that the last time you saw Maggie and Paul was at dinner?

I did lie to them.

And then the interview of August 11th.

Did you tell Agent Owen and Agent Crawl?

Did you lie to them by telling them that you were not down at the kennels on that night?

Yes.

Why did you lie to Agent Owen, Agent Crawl, and Deputy Rutland about the last time you saw Maggie and Paul?

As my addiction evolved over time, I would get any situations or circumstances where I would get paranoid thinking.

And it could be anything that triggered it.

It might be a look somebody gave me.

It might be a reaction somebody had to something I did.

It might be a policeman following me in a car.

At night, June 7th, after finding Maggie and Paul.

Don't talk to anybody without Danny with you.

All my partners were just repeatedly telling me that.

I had a deputy sheriff taking gunshot tests from my hands.

I'm sitting in a police car with David Owen asking me about my relationship with my wife and my son.

And all those things coupled together after finding them, coupled with my distrust for sled,

caused me to have paranoid thoughts.

Normally, when these paranoid thoughts would hit me, I could take a deep breath real quick and just think about it, reason my way through it and just get past it really quickly.

On June 7th, I wasn't thinking clearly.

I don't think I was capable of reason.

And I lied about being down there.

Also, cast your minds back to the 9-1-1 call and the three interviews with sled.

I broke down the 9-1-1 call in episode 1-2-8 and the interviews in episode 1-3-0, 1-3-1, 1-3-3, 1-3-4 and 1-3-5 in granular detail.

In my professional opinion, I didn't observe any sentiment of distrust regarding sled.

Now, it was very interesting to me that he had a different lawyer present at each interview, but Murdoch was in control of these interviews.

He called special agent David Owen by his first name and later called him Sir when he was asked directly for the first time whether he killed Maggie and Paul.

Murdoch seemed friendly towards him and it was only right at the end of the August 11th interview that last 1 minute and 26 seconds where everything changed.

And it changed because special agent David Owen interrogated Murdoch for the first time and he didn't like it.

It changed because it was made clear that Murdoch was being viewed as a suspect because as special agent David Owen said,

he had to go with the facts and the evidence and that Murdoch could not be eliminated.

As he said and I quote, the family guns, the ammunition, nobody else's DNA was at the scene and therefore I have to put my beliefs aside and go with the facts.

That's when it changed.

After that I would imagine Murdoch didn't trust Sled once he knew that he could not manipulate and or control them.

And let's not forget the actual facts of the case.

Murdoch told the call handler on the 9-1-1 call that he made at Misselle and the first two officers who arrived at the scene, the exact same story about the map, his mother's house, and not seeing Maggie and Paul from after they had dinner together.

And then him discovering their bodies allegedly later that night.

That's what he said and none of those individuals were Sled.

So we can rule out that he lied because he didn't trust Sled.

As I've said many times before, Murdoch would twist and turn things and almost sound convincing.

And with someone like Murdoch you have to bring your A-game.

You have to know the details and the actual facts and evidence in order to know and understand that the narrative he spins and peddles is just that.

It's his narrative and his opinion which for the large part is just simply not true.

And his poor me syndrome as the weeks continued after Maggie and Paul's murders was an all too familiar pattern to me, one that I have to say was predictable.

You'll recall that I mentioned on the 6th of September Murdoch released a public statement via Dick Harpullian that he was stepping down from PMPED and that he was entering rehab for his so-called opiate addiction.

Well, I want to share with you what was in that statement because for me again it's just so instructive and shows the absolute audacity of this bloke.

The sudden acute onset of his poor me syndrome and his calculated attempts for empathy which knows no bounds.

Okay, brace yourself, here we go.

The murders of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult time in my life.

I have made a lot of decisions that I truly regret.

I'm resigning from my law firm and entering rehab after a long battle that has been exacerbated by these murders.

I am immensely sorry to everyone I've heard including my family, friends and colleagues.

I ask for prayers as I rehabilitate myself and my relationships.

Wow, I just have to break this down.

So the murders of his wife Maggie who he fells to name and his son Paul who again he doesn't name have caused him an incredibly difficult time in his life.

Now there are seven eyes and six eyes in that short statement which is revealing and speaks volumes.

In a nutshell this is all about him.

The murders have caused an incredibly difficult time in his life while how inconvenient of Maggie and Paul to have been murdered by him.

He's resigning from his law firm but let's not forget that it was after he stole a lot of money from his own company and was found out.

He says his long battle has been exacerbated by these murders.

These murders these is impersonal and creates distance between him and Maggie and Paul.

Oh and he's saying that his so-called drug problem and the murders caused the problems.

The problems being the bad decisions that he now regrets.

So for me, Murdoch's messaging is clear.

It's the drugs and the murders that are the problem and not him.

So if he goes to rehab for the drugs, hey presto, his bad decision making disappears.

So he's saying sorry for those bad decisions and calling on people to send him prayers as he rehabilitates himself and his relationships.

As in his mind that should be enough and the God fearing people in his community should now forgive him as he tries to put himself and his relationships back together.

Because for Murdoch, they are the two single most important things to him.

This is so instructive about him and what he values.

He values himself and his relationships.

It's so brazen, his sheer arrogance and narcissism are staggering and it's so transparent.

You see also the blinding glimpse of the obvious for me is regarding the emissions, what Murdoch fails to mention.

He doesn't mention any thought or sympathy or concern for what Maggie and Paul went through in their final moments and how horrific it must have been for them.

He fails to mention that the police have to catch whoever did this and that he won't rest until that happens.

He fails to mention any modicum of survivor guilt, which is often present.

No, nothing about any of these things.

Murdoch only wants people to think about him and to hold him in their prayers.

I mean this is some next level male entitlement.

Let's not forget he wrote this in the knowledge that he murdered Maggie and Paul.

His male entitlement and his male privilege again because he is the most important person in the universe and that sums it up right there what this case is all about.

The me, myself and I of Alec Murdoch and protecting him and his name and his reputation at all costs.

That's some spectacular leakage.

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On the 13th of September, Sled opens an investigation into Murdoch's alleged fund misappropriation from his law firm. And on the same day, Dick Hart-Putlian called Sled.

You know, Sled, who Murdoch apparently didn't trust. Well, here he is not trusting Sled and telling them all this information. Take a listen to this.

Let's see. No, it's in the algorithm. My telephone conference interview of Murdoch, my 1321.

This was especially to Dr. Marlby Alden.

Back to the center of him. Yes, he was.

Hey, Jim, this is Brian, Gary, and Dr. Marlby Alden with Sled. How are you?

Oh, yes.

Oh, you're going to have to get out of here.

Okay. Okay.

Sorry about that. You probably, I was happy with some of those. I had to turn around and get in a little place.

And I'm sorry. We were waiting here to see how you got in here. We got to have a long discussion.

Okay.

I like walking through the question of what you're going to learn.

You have to keep yourself from running around.

Okay.

Well, before we get started, can we just have for the printers of our notes?

You know, obviously we prefer not to do telephone interviews.

This is how y'all were requested. So obviously, you know, we don't really have a choice.

But we just could I'm going to need out to identify himself, you know, on the call.

And you know, basically what we do is I'm going to ask of his date of birth and on four of his social.

All right. You just go.

Oh, so you give me your phone name.

Okay. And what you do to birth?

My day of birth was May 27, 1968.

Last four of your social.

Okay. And I understand that, you know, obviously this is unique situation.

Conducting this. You have the phone.

We need to obviously you've been receiving some treatment.

So are, you know, just for the overall, you know, sake of your, your competency to be giving us information.

Are you right now, you know, sound bodies, sound mind?

Okay. Are you talking to us willingly?

Yes.

Okay. All right.

Go ahead, sir.

Okay.

We're going to go back to our company.

We believe that he is a mind.

Mind and body.

Okay.

Now, we're going to, we're willing.

We're going to talk about the shooting incident the week before Saturday, where he would jump ahead.

And why is it done?

Okay.

If you don't want to talk about what happened in Motel.

And we don't want to talk about anything about the finances.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Oh, yes.

Okay.

Alan Quest talked about wine Saturday morning.

Let me go through this briefly.

Who did you meet with the talk to last Saturday morning?

Jim Griffin.

And he checked it.

And that wasn't.

And then I met with this Wilson at my mom's house.

Okay.

And he, and you and Chris were talking about what?

Everything I've done.

Okay.

Everything you've done concerning finance.

Financial sales.

No.

Okay.

No.

Okay.

Were you taking the portfolio back up with the Saturday?

We had a lot of standing on sea cotton or opioid addiction issues.

Yes, sir.

How many years?

The best I can remember around 20 years.

I was 18 to 20 years.

Okay.

Now, on this particular day, on this Saturday,

were you taking the coffee cotton or taking any opioid?

I had taken some.

But, you know, I was taking it.

I had some one else.

And I was.

I had taken some of that food right here.

So I was having some withdrawals.

Okay.

The previous setting, these news come out about your.

That way, we're taking money.

You'll offer money.

That's right.

That's correct.

And how would you describe it?

Save money at that time.

Those are big bachelors.

What are they?

I thought it would be better for me.

Not to be.

What do you mean by not be here anymore?

I thought it would make it easier for me to be dead.

It's easier with the financial range or bad age or death.

Okay.

The amount of life insurance death, isn't that much.

No.

You know, I'm talking about my age, I like to be $12 million.

Okay.

And so you decided to end your life.

That's correct.

And tell me what age and so on.

You want to have an average year.

I called Kogas City Smith, called the telephone.

That's correct.

Who is current age now?

I just got this message.

It says primary person.

I personally still strong for years.

And some weeks you would give me how much money for pills.

I mean, it could be in my record.

It could be.

I mean, we had weeks where that would be $50,000.

If you would give me a pill.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

I'm going in for a year.

A year.

A year.

So did you call me that morning?

Yes.

I did.

That day.

About what time?

I'm not sure.

Okay.

But I asked him, was it asking about Virginia?

It was I come that would you ever ask him?

First of all.

Probably next up.

Okay.

And when you call them, what's that?

I asked him to meet me.

Did he meet you?

He did.

Where did he meet you?

He met me.

Um, um, out there's two parts of the mom's house where he was on the side of the road.

I think it's a few of them and the family, okay, they go, not bad.

He followed me in the car to where it was over where I stopped by.

Listen up, go get a station, okay, you go have a discussion then.

Yes, sir, go get out of your car and just get in your vehicle.

I don't think we got out of the car.

And what time will we go to U.N.?

I was in the song, you know, like you're saying it wasn't the point to you.

He was in a great truck, okay, and I'm wondering what the job's got.

But though, really bad things get really bad.

And those people are all not here.

And I'm passing the shooting thing and you ask them to shoot me.

That's correct.

Who was it for fun?

I mean, I think it's very, it's a little surprise that he said okay.

Did you tell him where you want to come to shoot you?

Yes, sir, which is the only one I've been shooting.

And again, did you tell him I used to arrange that?

What, I mean, what, what, what was the vehicle just do?

Yes, sir, go get it.

That was me following me out and then, um, I was making fun of time.

And he, we go ask me and turn around and come back and do it.

And then he followed you by.

He did?

Now, this was where you get done.

I gave it to him.

Where did you get it, Tom?

We stopped somewhere else.

So it's actually rather than I believe that y'all have a discussion there.

We didn't have much discussion.

What did you say, Mark?

Was there any discussion?

I'm not sure if it was, I was worried about cars coming in.

So it was a very fast 30, you didn't think what kind of, what did you give him?

You're in all the official.

What, Cal?

38.

Can you go to your gun?

Yes, sir.

And, um, so he followed you out to wait.

Start the hatch brother.

You call off the brother?

Yes, sir.

And he pulled off the road.

What did you do?

I stopped.

You made my car to land.

How did you make the car?

What was it like?

It was like, what did you do with the knife, and you made the car for it?

True.

Which car?

Back.

Good job, sir.

That's right.

So you threw a clear cross the road.

Across the road.

Yes, sir.

And he said, was I'm going to over there at the end, sure, you know?

You get it from the ground.

It's like a straight grad.

Okay.

And he did that.

He passed you for the first years you're doing that.

He did, he was, I think that he had already.

He passed me.

It wasn't in front of me.

He went down the road.

He turned around and come back.

Now, when he was coming back, you didn't know if there was a border attack.

He didn't kill me.

Okay.

Back.

Did he pull off you?

That he did.

And we pulled out, did he go get a face?

I don't think so.

That's what happened there.

Is it close to his car?

And he shot me.

It's worth it.

In the rest of the end of the thing back in the end.

Did you catch the start of that?

Jim Griffin stipulated that they did not want to talk about the murders of Maggie and Paul

or anything involving finances.

Wow.

It's so illuminating how they called the shots and have no qualms about doing this

because these are powerful men who've been doing this all of their lives.

And sleds seem to be okay with that despite the fact that Murdoch was the prime suspect in Maggie and Paul's murders.

The sheer audacity of those lawyers and Murdoch to lay down these rules for the interview to law enforcement

under these circumstances just speaks volumes to me.

These men are used to controlling the narrative and used to winning.

They used to being in a position of power.

It's just another day in the patriarchy.

And did you notice Murdoch's voice?

Noticeably, it's much weaker than when he was actually allegedly shot.

Using this feeble voice, he said that he had an 18 to 20 year drug habit.

I'm just queuing up the violins, the poor me syndrome and the empathy roadshow are out in force.

According to this version, Murdoch allegedly took drugs at 4 a.m. that morning and was having some withdrawals

and that he was in a very bad place and it was better for him not to be here anymore.

And by the way, he got the pills from his drug dealer, Curtis Eddie Smith.

For me, it's no surprise that within days Murdoch changed his story about the so-called roadside shooting being a stranger.

Remember, he said he didn't know him, but he would recognize that real nice guy.

Well, he changed his story and named his mate Curtis Eddie Smith as the shooter.

The same far steady that he was desperately trying to get hold of at the hospital,

even offering hospital staff money to use their phone.

But did you notice his hesitation in this part of the storytelling?

He named Curtis Eddie Smith as his alleged drug dealer for years

and he said that he called him up and asked him to shoot him, to shoot Alec Murdoch.

And apparently, Curtis Eddie Smith just said, okay, that doesn't sound odd at all.

No, it sounds absolutely an utterly bonkers because it is.

It makes zero sense.

Also, there's a noticeable power imbalance between these two.

They ran in totally different circles.

Why would Curtis Eddie Smith just agree to shoot La Gromme from Arge Alec Murdoch with no questions asked

or trying to talk him out of it, or no concern about what would happen to him,

Curtis Eddie Smith, if he got caught.

And as I've also said before, if Curtis Eddie Smith was going to shoot him in the head,

a murder was willing for this to happen, why would he miss?

It's just so ridiculous.

But Murdoch continued on and said that this was about life insurance money for Buster.

It's simply ridiculous, but that didn't stop Murdoch, who said that the life insurance money

was for Buster.

For the 8 million or the 10 million or the 12 million dollars,

the vagueness of the number alone screams BS.

Newsflash.

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Also, why would Murdoch stage his own homicide for buster?

He murdered his own wife and son in cold blood for goodness sake.

He doesn't care about anyone, other than himself.

And Mark Timzley also testified that there was no evidence of Murdoch having a life insurance policy

and no one has ever seen it.

And Mandy talked to that too when I interviewed her, so there's that.

In addition to this, the fact it was a shooting, a drive-by shooting by a stranger,

I have no doubt he was trying to stage his own homicide to make it look like the same killer

or killers as who shot Maggie and Paul.

He wanted to make it look like the killer or killers had returned.

And he failed miserably.

But that didn't stop sled from arresting Curtis Eddie Smith,

the day after this ridiculous interview.

You know, sled, who Murdoch didn't trust.

Curtis Eddie Smith was then charged with assisted suicide, assault,

and battery of a high and aggravated nature,

pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud,

and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

That's mind-blowing to me given that Murdoch was not,

and is not, a credible witness or person.

And let's not forget at the time he was the prime suspect in the double murders

of Maggie and Paul, which was also known by sled,

along with his financial crimes.

So why did sled buy into this story?

It makes little sense to me.

And did they ever see his life insurance policy?

Two days later, Murdoch was arrested on the 16th of September in connection to an

insurance fraud scheme that court documents said,

involved Murdoch arranging his own killing.

He was charged with insurance fraud,

conspiracy to commit insurance fraud,

and filing a false police report.

Murdoch surrendered and was released on a $20,000 bond,

and after surrendering his passport,

he was able to return to rehab.

I wonder how many other perps are allowed to do this?

It's absolutely mind-boggling to me how much special treatment Murdoch received.

The day before, on the 15th of September, a criminal investigation into Gloria Satafield's death

was reopened by request of a New Hampton County coroner and information gathered

during a separate investigation.

Gloria's son sued Murdoch, claiming they never received insurance payments allegedly made

after her death. On the 22nd of September, Connor Cook filed a lawsuit against Murdoch,

claiming he orchestrated a campaign to forcefully accuse Cook,

and that Murdoch should have stopped Paul from having access to the boat because of his alcohol

issues. On the 26th of September, PMPED law firm issued a statement claiming Murdoch lied and

stole from them. They also claimed they had no prior knowledge of any financial scheme

or drug addiction. Now that's interesting to me on both counts.

They brought in a forensic accountant in May, and he was challenged in June.

And now this is September, and the fact that no one noticed any drug-related behaviour from

Murdoch speaks volumes. That's because most likely there wasn't any drug-related behaviour.

As I said when I spoke with Mandy, it's just another manipulation, one of the many.

On the 28th of September, Gloria Satafield's sons filed a motion for Murdoch's arrest and

detention until the money he embezzled from her estate was returned. On the 29th of September,

Judge Clifton Newman was ordered to take over the Murdoch criminal cases by the Supreme Court,

and thank goodness for that. Or be it sadly, his own 40-year-old son had just died of cardiac issues.

Now on a personal level, I'm sure that this case was a distraction for him to some degree,

but it must have been incredibly difficult for him to hear a case like this before him.

I think it's a testament to him, how he handled and managed the case. I'll say more about that

another time. On the 1st of October, Gloria Satafield's sons reached a settlement with Cory Fleming,

who was accused of working with Murdoch. On the 6th of October, PMPD sued Murdoch for allegedly

stealing client funds. On the 14th of October, Murdoch was arrested in Orlando, Florida,

outside of a rehab centre for two felony counts of obtaining property by force pretenses.

On the 14th of October, Curtis Eddie Smith appeared on NBC's Today Show and explained his

version of what went on on September 4th. Take a listen to this.

Prominent South Carolina attorney Alec Murdoch has been surrounded by a series of

mysterious tragedies this year starting with a double murder of his wife and son this summer.

Near this morning, one of Murdoch's attorneys says that authorities consider Alec a person of

interest in that case in an interview with Fox Carolina News, though his attorneys continue to deny

he had any involvement in the murders. In September, adding to the mystery, Murdoch said he was shot

in the head on a rural road. Law enforcement now believes Murdoch conspired with Curtis Eddie Smith

to kill him as part of an insurance fraud scheme. To be clear, does your client maintain

utter and complete innocence in this case? Go ahead. I didn't gene. Are you innocent of every

minute? You got a shot. He didn't be dead. He's alive. Smith now telling his side of the story.

Smith tells me he had no idea what Murdoch's plans were. When he agreed to meet a man, he called

his close friend on a remote road in Hampton County, South Carolina. He says Murdoch showed up with

a gun. He's standing out this. He said, you know, I said, no. He said, he just got to do it. He

made his move like this. You know, and I just grabbed his arm. You took the gun and showed it

behind him. Between me and him. They're going on. Did it hit him? Did the bullet hit him?

So that story that you got? No bullet on me is no bullet on him. He didn't get shot in the head.

No. We bounced off his car and the kind of way to move to get the gun, he hit the dirt, you know,

what percent are you positive that he didn't get shot? Do you could put a percentage on it?

1000. He didn't get shot. Murdoch's lawyers declined to comment. They've maintained their client

suffered a head wound. The Hampton County Sheriff's Incident report initially said Murdoch

did not have any visible injury, but a corrected version released shortly after says there was a

visible injury. Murdoch's lawyers say Smith took advantage of a man in the throes of a decades

long opioid addiction who was grieving the unsolved murders of his wife and son. They claim

Murdoch wanted to end his life so his surviving son could collect on a 10 million dollar life

insurance policy. Curtis said he Smith said that he did not shoot Murdoch. He said Murdoch was lying.

What's interesting about this clip is that when he explained what happened,

he's acting it out physically, which points to veracity. And he said that Murdoch did not get shot

in the head and that he's 1000% positive that he did not get shot. Interestingly, the police report

initially said that he did not have any visible injuries, but that report was later changed.

That's very curious. So too was the response from Dick and Jim. So in response to the NBC

interview, Dick and Jim Murdoch's lawyers released medical records saying that Murdoch had an

entry and exit wound as well as a fractured skull. However, the four pages of the actual medical

notes from Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia sent to the Greenfield News showed Murdoch was treated

for a laceration to his scalp, a small subdueral hemorrhage, and a skull fracture consistent

with two superficial bullet wounds to the head. A skull fracture consistent with two superficial

bullet wounds to the head is not quite the same thing as what Dick and Jim said, but don't let

that get in the way of a good story, Dick and Jim. On the 16th of October, after David's were

released claiming Murdoch coordinated with Gloria Satisfield's family to sue himself for insurance

money that he then pocketed. On the 19th of October, a South Carolina judge denied Murdoch's bond,

and ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. On the 22nd of October's sled released a

9-1-1 cause from September 4th. Witnesses said it looked like a setup. Well, yes, I mean,

that's because it was. And on the 26th of October, Gloria Satisfield's estate announced they reached

a settlement with Murdoch's former law firm. On the 28th of October, Randy Murdoch, Murdoch's brother,

sued Murdoch. The suit claimed Murdoch borrowed $90,000 from Randy, and at $46,500 remained

unpaid. On the 29th of October, Murdoch signed a judgment to speed up the court process,

which would have allowed Randy to collect the money. However, an emergency court order

halted further action. John Parker, a PMPED, also sued Murdoch for the $477,000 he claimed he lent

Murdoch that he never repaid. Murdoch again signed a judgment, but an emergency order halted

further action. On the 12th of November, Murdoch asserted the right not to self-incriminate

in response to an embezzlement lawsuit filed by PMPED. On the 19th of November, Murdoch was

indicted with four counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent, seven counts of obtaining

signature or property by force pretenses, seven counts of money laundering, eight counts of

computer crimes, and one count of forgery. On the 2nd of December, Anthony Cook filed a lawsuit

against Murdoch and Parker's for the 2019 boating accident. On the 9th of December, there were seven

new indictments and another 21 criminal charges against Murdoch announced, including nine counts

of breach of trust with fraudulent intent, seven counts of computer crimes, four counts of

money laundering, and one count of forgery. On the 13th of December, Murdoch's bond was set for

$7 million. Circuit Judge Alison Renee told Murdoch and his legal team at the virtual hearing

that the entire $7 million must be posted for Murdoch to go on house arrest,

and she also stipulated there would need to be electronic monitoring and that he'd have to

get counselling and be randomly drug tested. Dick Hartpullium replied that Murdoch was

impokunious, so in other words he pled poverty and said that Murdoch had no money to postpone.

I mean the chops of Murdoch and Dick. Murdoch's paying his lawyers somehow, right? I don't believe

they're working for free. Hey lovely, a quick 30 seconds of your time please. Firstly, thank you

for tuning in and listening to the show week after week. It means the absolute world to me,

and secondly, it feels like I'm only just getting started. And if you enjoy what I do here,

please join the small percentage of people who listen regularly and follow crime analysts on this

app. My commitment to you is that I'm going to do everything I can to make this show as good

as I can for you. I'll cover the cases you want me to and share expert insight and knowledge

and do all the things you love about the show. Thank you so much.

You already have to hear this for yourself. Take a listen to this.

Just moments ago, a bond hearing wrapped up for prominent South Carolina lawyer,

Alec Murdoch. You might recall that in June, his wife and son were murdered. Investigators say

last month he tried to orchestrate his own execution. But today's bond hearing is actually connected

to separate charges of theft from a death settlement meant for the family of his former housekeeper,

Gloria Satterfield. NBC's Katie Beck is in Columbia, South Carolina for this hearing.

Walkister would happen, Katie. And what's next in this legal battle that Murdoch faces?

Well, hey, Chris. Yeah, Murdoch was denied bond today. I think that was a surprise to both the

prosecution and the defense. Both were expecting that he would be walking out of here today. The judge

said he simply didn't trust that Murdoch was in a mental state to be able to handle that

responsibility safely. So he has asked for a psych evaluation to be done by the defense

and presented back to the court at which time another bond hearing will happen and he will make

another determination on whether or not Murdoch should be given bond. Now, this case that you're

referencing was a 2018 case. It was a wrongful death suit after Murdoch's former housekeeper,

Gloria Satterfield allegedly fell at the home and died several weeks later. There was about a

$3 million dollar amount of money that he has accused of stealing out of that settlement

that was supposed to go to the former housekeeper's sons. In court today, he was called a liar

and a cheat by Satterfield's sons attorneys. They said that he has been a stain on the legal

system here in South Carolina and that justice needs to be accountable, including people that are

in prominent positions and maybe have a lot of means. One of the attorneys for the Satterfield

Erick Blant spoke after that hearing here's what he had to say. I think it's a good day for justice

as the arguments that my partner and I made about lawyers who mistreat and steal from their

clients. It's a it's a real stain on our profession and I think that moved the court.

But we're pleased we thought that Alex is a danger to not only our clients but society.

Now the judge also heard from South Carolina investigator who have been working these investigations

into Alec Murdoch today listing off several things that sled is investigating that pertain to him.

The judge I think considered that a factor as well. All of these other pending investigations.

Chris as you know this is a tangled legal web of past and present events and this judge

just simply wasn't convinced that he should be given bond. It's a tangled tangled web indeed

and it's a tangled web all of one man's doing all of Alec Murdoch's own spinning and own weaving.

I'm going to leave it there and let you process all that you've heard and I'm telling you

you won't want to miss the last episode on the timeline. Until then be curious,

ask questions and always trust your instinct.

Here's my final thought and ask before the episode wraps. I really appreciate you listening to

Crime Analyst and if you like what I do please take two minutes to leave a five star review

wherever you listen to me. It really helps others find me and my work and it helps with the ratings too.

Crime Analyst is written, produced and hosted by me Laura. Sound engineering by Jason Sheesley

at a bridged audio and music by Killrude.