Compelling Facts with More to Come. Consider the following:
No Notes.
From the first day, the judge instructed the jury that no notes were to be taken during this highly technical and complex trial of what would become six weeks in duration.
Murdaugh planned the murders in advance.
The prosecution maintained that Alex Murdaugh used the trip to his parents' house the night of the murders as an alibi in the detailed plan he had concocted to kill Maggie and Paul. In fact, Mrs. Barbara Mixon, a long-time employee of forty-plus years of the Murdaugh's family, testified that she placed a call to Alex at his office on the afternoon of the murders. It was a call that tore Murdaugh in different directions. (This incoming call by Mrs. Mixon to Murdaugh at 3:58:39 P.M. is in the call log of Alex Murdaugh's, phone). Mixon testified that she told Murdaugh that his mother, Miss Libby, who was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, was upset because she had found out Alex's father had been admitted to the hospital in Savannah that afternoon. Mr. Randolph Murdaugh, Alex's father died three days later, on June 10th. Barbara Mixon said his mother was "agitated" and "crying" and she asked Murdaugh to come to Almeda that night to comfort Miss Libby. Alex Murdaugh told Mixon he would.
Unfortunately, that created a conflict in the early evening hours as Alex Murdaugh had already told Maggie and Paul he would meet them at Moselle to straighten out the "mess" C. B. Rowe, the groundskeeper, had created. Since Rowe inadvertently killed off a very large sunflower field (doves are attracted to sunflowers) that Paul had had as a personal project for the upcoming dove shoot in the fall Paul, was very unhappy about the "mess." He had told others as much. Alex and Paul were chagrined because it was getting potentially too late to replant and have the field ready if they did not get on it. Rowe's failure to show up since they had called and texted him about coming that day to replant was adding aggravation to an already tense situation. Making matters worse, Rowe not only did not show up but he did not call or text either Paul or Alex during the day, In fact, Paul was sorting out how many seeds were needed for replanting while at the kennel that night. Blanca Simpson, the housekeeper, said Maggie texted her that she would be at Moselle that night as Alex had asked both her and Paul to come to Moselle to straighten out the "mess: C. B. had created. (See text message in Maggie's and Blanca's logs. as well as calls from Alex and texts from Paul to Rowe in Alex's and Paul's logs.
So the state's proffer that Murdaugh had planned his alibi well in advance of committing the murders is simply false. As false as the assertion that the prosecution made up out of whole clothe that no one knew Maggie and Paul were going to be at Moselle that night. The State knew exactly what they were pushing as their narrative regarding the aforesaid testimony, phone, and text logs which all refute their fabrications. Both Blanca and C.B. Rowe knew that Alex, Maggie, and Paul would be at Moselle the night of the murders. Did others, about whom we can only speculate, also know?
Barbara Mixon told the truth, but it did not fit with the State's cobbled together scenario either - just like their assertion that only Alex knew that Maggie and Paul would be at Moselle that horrific night. If Mrs. Mixon did not speak to Murdaugh about his upset mother why the call to him at 3:58:39 that appeared on Murdaugh's call log just after Libby Murdaugh and the rest of the family members were informed that Randolph Murdaugh had been admitted to the hospital in Savannah and John Marvin Murdaugh was making arrangements for his and Alex's father's hospital stay.
The prosecution were keenly aware that Mrs. Mixon had asked Alex to come to Almeda that night by chance. Are we to believe that he schemed between those less than five hours to kill Maggie and Paul and then use the trip that had just come up as an alibi? Additionally, on the day of the murders he was in his office until after five when he clocked out late and drove to Moselle where Paul and he were together until Maggie arrived for dinner (affirmed by the timeline presented at the trial). Could he have planned and executed all this in those scant hours? The state's position that Murdaugh created the alibi well in advance by visiting his mother's house and that only Alex Murdaugh knew that Paul and Maggie were at Moselle that night falls apart in light of Ms. Mixon's testimony, Blanca testimony, texts and phone logs.
Moreover, it is doubtful that Murdaugh would have been planning to go to visit Almeda that night if the turn of events regarding his father had not played out as they did. He and Maggie had been to Almeda the night before. They had brought "Handsome", Alex's father's nickname, his favorite raspberry donut from Krispy Kreme in Columbia, South Carolina when they returned to Moselle after visiting "handsome" and readied themselves for the next day. Maggie had a doctor appointment in Charleston and Alex was embroiled in preparation for a hearing on the boat accident later in the week. And they had to sort out the "mess" with the sunflowers that Paul was so upset about after all his hard work on the field to ensure a great annual hunt for family and friends in the coming September.
Were there other suspects?
Why was there a must fought-over protective order granted by the judge in favor of the prosecution? The granting of this motion to the State against the defense was a defeat. The ultimate outcome of the protective motion thwarted the defense from introducing any evidence that might indicate someone else, other than Alex Murdaugh, could be responsible for the killing of his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul. Who had what to hide? And did the judge fairly rule that any such evidence failed to meet the evidentially nexus between another suspect and the crime. Also the test should deal with the potential that if the evidence of another suspect was entered could that evidence be exculpatory.
More questions about DNA
Why did the defense have to file motions to have access to the DNA that the State withheld? The DNA under Maggie Murdaugh's nails did not match Alex Murdaugh's DNA and she had had her nails done only hours before the murders. Maggie had driven straight home from the salon that evening. This extraordinary fact was treated as nothing to see here, just "transfer DNA" - move on. Much more to come on the DNA story. Many more facts that were under-reported or not paid any attention to, were, as a result of the breathtaking attitude of the prosecution, ignored. Again, move on nothing to see here.
A thought: Politics and the Media Game Did this trial succumb to partisan politics that we are now witnessing all too often at play in this country? Murdaugh and his family were reasonably powerful Democrats, and his attorneys are Democrats as well. In fact, one attorney was a senator in the South Carolina State House and a past two-time chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, but he was defeated in the primary, in June 2024 after decades of service. It is said that Richard (Dick) Harpootlian can be arrogant and occasionally offend a jury – is that why he asked the jury to not hold his demeanor against his client, Alex Murdaugh?
On the other hand, Alan Wilson, an elected Republican Attorney General, who attended the trial most days and even took over questioning from the lead prosecutor of a key witness in the televised trial, is the son of the powerful United States Congressman, Joe Wilson (R SC). Some say Attorney General Wilson has ambitions for a higher office and the siren call of a televised trial was more than he could resist.
Did Alex Murdaugh, the self-avowed drug addict and self-avowed thief, become the trophy to be awarded at the end of the trial? Where were the probing media? Most, unfortunately, many remained unaware or could not separate themselves from their leaked morsels of scoops favoring one side or the other as the under-covered machinations were taking place back of house beyond public view? A fair trial? That remains open to debate and appeals.
About Shay McNeal
Passionate and Dedicated
Shay McNeal is passionate about creating compelling fact-based books that engage and inform readers. With a strong work ethic and a commitment to excellence, Shay McNeal is known as a whip-smart renaissance woman who is fearless when calling balls and strikes as she sees them.
McNeal has been fortunate to have gained access to many in the Murdaugh story. Her contact list is impressive and extensive. Her conclusions are, in part, as a result of what she has learned over the months from those who were either a party to the events of that night, or close to the investigation or the Murdaugh family. Who knew when she sat behind Alex Murdaugh and to his right in the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, that the trial and its outcome would become her single focus over the next sixteen plus months. The Closing Argument: Unraveling the Alex Murdaugh Mystery and Verdict is the compilation of her work. It is compelling.
During her professional career, she has been listed in numerous Who's Who over the years, and is the winner of countless awards for excellence in advertising and marketing for domestic and international clients. She really enjoyed heading up, as a political consultant, the media campaign that led to the defeat of David Duke, the former neo-Nazi and Klansman in the closely contested Louisiana Governor's race.
After running on the fast track of the media world, she wrote her first book, The Secret Plot to Save the Tsar. Its successful initial release in the United Kingdom landed the book at the top of Amazon's list for weeks. The book also received many positive reviews, including an almost full page review in The Sunday Times, in London.
Finishing a lengthy book tour, she settled down at her farm, Aspen Dale, in Upper Virginia. A new challenge emerged. A few years on she taught herself to make wine and founded Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn. Ultimately, she won the best Cabernet Sauvignon and the best Sauvignon Blanc on the East Coast, presented by the American Wine Society, on Capitol Hill at the Cannon House Building in Washington, D.C. She sold the winery in 2012.
Continuing to write, she became Associate Publisher of The Charleston Mercury, in Charleston, South Carolina where she published a column, Meet You in the Middle for over 13 years. On October 22, 2018, she published a very prescient book, entitled, The Road to Trump: How Failure to Meet in the Middle Fueled Trump's Rise and the Resurgence of China and Russia. The book is a compilation of her columns with emphasis on China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran; highlighting decisions made in the global body politics that led to the election of Donald Trump amid a climate ripe for turmoil both here at home, in the United States, and across the world.
Shay has spent the last 16 months examining the Alex Murdaugh case.