Her brother, Dave, argued . A neighbor had seen a green pickup truck parked outside the home around 9:30 a.m. Wilson said that evening he called Murdaugh to tell him what he'd heard, and they agreed to meet the next day. Here are seven important details the Netflix show missed about the story of the two murders. The officer who found it recognized it as belonging to Gibson resident Island Schultz, 18. Alex Murdaugh, 54, who called 911 to report the discovery, was charged with their murders 13 months later. Upon learning of his conviction, his wife divorced him. "I don't think I was capable of reason and I lied about being out there and I'm so sorry that I did.". Bizarrely, this is after Murdaugh opened a group text message, called a videographer he barely knew, and appeared to Google "Whaley's Edisto," a restaurant in the beach town where the Murdaughs were renovating a home. Schultz's family and friends knew them both: Her best friend, Amanda Fenton, said they were friends with McMahan, and even Schultz's grandmother, Sonja Schultz, had met him. [12] At his sentencing the following month, Gibson was subsequently handed a death sentence, to which he told the sentencing judge that it was "no big deal" and that he deserved what he was getting. Their bodies were found in a remote area outside of Somerset, hidden by tall weeds. ", "On June the 7th, I wasn't thinking clearly," he said. On Tuesday, June 7, Gibson was arrested on suspicion of pistol-whipping a Rite Aid clerk during another Wilmington robbery. [4] While Gibson complained of frequent headaches, stomachaches, insomnia and hypochondriasis, Howerton and the prison's mental therapist concluded that he suffered from mild anxiety and had indications of anti-social behavior, but was otherwise sane. He said Murdaugh broke down and told him he had been addicted to opioids for 20 years, and admitted to stealing from a client they had jointly represented. Smith testified that she was at Murdaugh's parents' house when he visited the night of the murders, before he said he discovered Maggie and Paul's bodies. McAbee then slit his throat before they then moved the body into the garage. The pair moved to an apartment in Borden, Indiana. Family and friends told police Gibson had been released from jail and raised concerns about his behavior, Vanore said. In a Delaware Department of Corrections report, Gibsons probation officer wrote that Philadelphia police had contacted him to tell him Gibson was in their custody and being eyed as a suspect in his mothers death. Thirdly, Owen acknowledged that SLED was told that Murdaugh was spending $50,000 a week on drugs, which he was buying from gang members who were never investigated by law enforcement in connection with the murders. The Gibson household has a record of domestic violence calls between the parents, but they consistently refused to press charges, Peoria Police Department spokeswoman Amanda Jacinto tells PEOPLE. NBC10's Danny Freeman has the details. His father, Alex Murdaugh, a local attorney and the son of Randolph Murdaugh III, owns the boat.. There were .22 caliber shell casings on the floor. This is a complex case and theres still a lot of evidence to review.. Crime scene specialist Kenneth Kinsey, right, shows where he believes a shotgun round entered Paul Murdaugh during Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse, Feb. 16, 2023, in Walterboro, S.C. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Michelle Gibson and Steven Gibson Jr. Erik McBee approached Steven Sr. as he slept upstairs on his bed and struck him several times with a baseball bat before going back downstairs. More than half have since been solved. Three of the killings would have happened after the Delaware judge allowed his release. The judge accepted the recommendation. The three-part series centers around the Murdaugh family, which has dominated the legal system in the local area for nearly 100 years with generations of lawyers who not only founded one of the most prominent civil law firms in the area but also worked with prosecutors in a role known locally as "solicitors," affording them connections to law enforcement. Two men were shot dead in a store in Philadelphias Germantown neighborhood, but police did not recover a gun. [16], Since his incarceration, Gibson has repeatedly appealed his death sentences, with his defense lawyer claiming that his confession to the Kirk murder was a mitigating circumstance. After his release from the hospital, he was sent to serve the rest of his sentence at the Floyd County Jail, where he remained until his discharge on March 12, 2002.[4]. Three weeks after the murder, Gibson was arrested for driving a GMC truck while drunk. He attacked his wife, Mary Gibson, 31, with a chair and eventually knocked her out. After going through a four-day withdrawal, he was examined by the prison's psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Howerton. He also said he entered a rehab facility. The defense ended their questioning on Friday by again asking Alex Murdaugh if he murdered his wife and son. ", "These two stepbrothers were starting to develop a closer relationship," said Scharnberg-Hampton. In a shocking twist, barely 24 hours after the release of the Netflix documentary, Murdaugh himself took the stand on Thursday, waiving his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in order to tell his side of the story. It was neither the unfamiliar gray station wagon seen in Garber's driveway at 5:15 that morning, nor her truck. When police went to her home shortly after 9:30 a.m., they found the door unlocked and Garber . They received life sentences in federal court and consecutive life sentences in state court, guaranteeing neither would ever get out of prison. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. The reputable South Carolina family first made headlines in 2019, when the then-teenage son Paul Murdaugh was involved in a boating accident that killed 19-year-old Mallory.. Last summer, Paul and his mother Maggie Murdaugh were both shot and murdered - and discovered by the family . "In the last year, the two brothers started getting into meth," Lofreddo explained. He was released on April 5, 1999, after which he was added to the Indiana Sex and Violent Offender Registry. Steven Jr. then later drove [a] large knife he was holding into his fathers chest at least three times, the documents say. Alex Murdaugh told the court Friday that he lied to investigators about the last time he saw his wife and son due in part to his distrust of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), a state investigative agency. The elder Steven Gibson had been arrested in Nov. 2012 for allegedly assaulting an officer during a DUI stop, but none of the family members had any other significant criminal history. Do you, This was definitely in IL because we are friends with, Hi. Michelle Gibson claims she was out shopping with her kids at the time, but her 16-year-old daughter Alysa told police that after the three of them drove to a store, Steven Jr. was driven back to the house by his mom after he received a phone call. The high-profile family is linked to five deaths, two of which patriarch Alex is on trial over. McMahan's mother and Kauffman's father got together in 1979 and eventually married. That disturbed the girls so much they said they wanted to go home. He would say, If you dont tell us, we cant help you.. The man fled in Ruiz-Basilios vehicle. [7] On April 18, he was visited by a 75-year-old friend of his late mother, Christine Whitis. [18], In 2018, he was among several death row inmates to be featured in the documentary Inside Death Row, hosted by British journalist Trevor McDonald. Clayton said that the half-siblings went for a walk to the local grocery store that day. My dad was a loving man and was not abusive in any way.. After a month-long investigation, detectives now say it was all a sinister act. UPATOI, Ga. (WTVM) - One of the three men charged in the murder of three Upatoi family members in 2016 is motioning for a retrial. She passed away at Floyd Memorial Hospital on January 18, 2012, with some neighbors suspecting that her death greatly impacted Gibson's psyche. Officials have indicated there may be more charges for killings in both Philadelphia and Delaware, including that of 28-year-old Metro by T-Mobile employee Leslie Ruiz-Basilio. The Murdaugh family legacy is now coming crashing down as 54-year-old Richard Alexander Murdaugh (known as Alex, pronounced "Alec") stands trial accused of shooting his wife Maggie and adult son Paul to death on June 7, 2021. [10], During his murder trial, prosecutors presented an interview Gibson had given to investigators upon his arrest, during which he claimed that an "evil" had overcome him and had made him commit the murder. Six people were on board the boat at the time of the crash, including 19-year-old Paul T. Murdaugh. "I would never hurt Maggie. The Pensacola police found it parked behind a hotel, and hotel staff confirmed the boys were there with a new third person. Officials concluded this after a month . Meanwhile, McAbee and Molina-Pompa attacked Steven as he slept at the house. This week Cold Hearted examines the 1975 murder of Sherry Gibson, a case where the truth took nearly three decades to be revealed. Gibson was once again released from prison and began his probation term. Tennessee has its own rough past, drenched in murderous stories that will keep you locking your doors. Murdaugh's remaining son Buster does not receive a call from his father until 10:44 p.m. that night, according to cell phone records. Police tracked him down by using a GPS tracker that was in some of the money handed over to him. Despite pleas from prosecutors, probation officers and police in two states to keep a convicted killer locked up, a Delaware judge authorized the release of the man who is now being investigated in at least six more slayings. As part of the deal, it was decided that evidence presented at the Hodella trial would not be used as evidence or an aggravating factor in any follow-up trials. The docuseries devotes more than half of its airtime to telling the story of Mallory Beach, who died in 2019 aged 19 after a boat seemingly driven by a heavily intoxicated and belligerent Paul Murdaugh, also 19 at the time, crashed into a bridge, hurling her overboard into the waters where she drowned. But in 1997, a vicious crime spree proved things aren't always "Iowa nice" here. He was on supervised release and was not to leave Delaware. Police found $29,000 in cash less than half of what they'd stolen 19 days before and a .22 caliber handgun. The first said there were no stains consistent with the blood spatter you'd see from this type of shooting, and the second said there were over 100 stains consistent with blood spatter. I would never hurt Paul," Alex Murdaugh said. March 1, 1975, in rural Indiana and firefighters were called to . After the crash, and while Beach was still missing, the Murdaugh family sprang into action to pull as many strings as necessary to protect Paul, even appearing to try and frame his friend Connor Cook as the driver of the boat, according to interviews Cook and his parents gave the Netflix docuseries. In later interviews, he claimed that he had never experienced any abuse or neglect from either of his parents. He rolled out of bed, bundled up warmly, pulled on his boots, and stepped outside with a metal pail. [2] Hospital staff claimed that Gibson seemed disinterested in the treatments, and two psychiatrists later diagnosed him with a bipolar disorder, for which he was prescribed Seroquel, but again, no indications of a mental illness or a psychiatric disorder were noted. Jamie Mcmahan and Chris Kauffman. Here are seven of the key pieces of information we've learned from the trial so far. She said that some days later, Murdaugh had a conversation with her that she found upsetting, in which he told her that the visit had lasted 30 to 40 minutes, but that to her recollection, it had lasted 20 minutes. The same type of weapon was used in the Philadelphia killing of Lugo at the Dunkin store. All rights reserved. Dateline was unable to reach an official at the Pulaski Sheriffs Department for comment, but according to their press release, it took four days for the Pulaski County Sheriffs Department, along with help from the Somerset Police Department, to find their bodies. Two happened earlier, in January. [4] During that time, he found a job at C&C Hardwood Flooring in Borden, where he was described as a diligent worker, and was regarded positively by friends and neighbors for attending the local non-denominational "Power of the Cross" church, making papier-mch figures and for helping his sick mother - on the other hand, patrons of the bars he frequented considered him strange, and on at least a few occasions, he had asked out women to visit his home, to varying success.[4]. Owen's cross-examination also revealed multiple inaccuracies in his prior testimony to the state's grand jury, which some onlookers may interpret as a sign that Murdaugh never should have been indicted for the murders in the first place all of which was absent from the Netflix documentary. The narrative presented in the show relies heavily on heartwrenching interviews with Beach's family and friends, including Morgan Doughty, who was dating Paul Murdaugh, and who describes him as a troubled and entitled young man, prone to extreme intoxication and abusive behavior. The boys wanted to drive to Florida and check out the theme parks with the two teenagers. Alex Murdaugh took to the stand for the second day in a row on Friday. Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. [5] Hodella's badly decomposed body was found on January 7, 2003, and identified via thumbprints from a previous arrest. When asked how she interpreted the conversation, Turrubiate-Simpson said, "I know what he was wearing the day he left the house and I was basically confused. Alex Murdaugh, right, speaks with defense attorney Jim Griffin during a break in his trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., Feb. 15, 2023. Prosecutors wrapped their cross-examination by showing a clip of body-camera footage of the first deputy arriving at the scene of the killings, prior to SLED's arrival, during which Waters noted that Alex Murdaugh also "told the same lie. At the time of his death, Steven was facing aggravated assault charges. In a frantic 911 call on March 1, Michelle Gibson tearfully told police about a grisly discovery she made at 2 a.m. in the familys Peoria, Ariz., home. [17] These appeals were rejected by the Indiana Supreme Court, which reaffirmed all of his convictions. McAbee told them he was the killer. They planned to dispose of the body elsewhere but left it in the garage after hearing sirens. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. The mystery at the heart of one particular episode, however, looks set to remain frustratingly out of . One key question left unanswered by the docuseries is what potential motive Murdaugh could have had for murdering Maggie and Paul. 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