WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.639 --> 00:00:11.080 You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking 2 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:14.160 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 3 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:21.519 written about them Gaesy Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker VTK. Every 4 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:25.239 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 5 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.879 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host, 6 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:33.359 journalist and author Dan Zufanski. 7 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:45.439 Good Evening, Power, Privilege and Blood. This is the definitive 8 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:50.320 and thrilling true story of Alex Murdau's violent downfall from 9 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:54.359 a veteran Wall Street journal reporters become an authority on 10 00:00:54.520 --> 00:01:00.719 the case. Alex Murdau was a benevolent dictator, resident of 11 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:06.239 the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association, a political boss, a 12 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:10.519 part time prosecutor, and a partner in his family's law firm. 13 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:14.680 He was always ready with a favor, a drink, and 14 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:20.000 an invitation to Mozelle, his family's seventeen hundred acre hunting estate. 15 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:26.840 The murder name ignited respect and fear for one hundred miles. 16 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:32.040 When he murdered his wife Maggie and son Paul at 17 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:36.799 Mozelle on a dark summer night, the fragile facade of 18 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:42.319 Alex's world could no longer hold his forefathers had covered 19 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:46.879 up a midnight suicide at a remote railroad, crossing, a 20 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:51.400 bootlegging ring run from a courthouse, and the attempted murder 21 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:56.359 of a pregnant lover. Alex, too almost walked away from 22 00:01:56.439 --> 00:02:01.120 his unspeakable crimes, with his reputation intact, But his downfall 23 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:05.840 was secured by a twist of fate, some stray mistakes, 24 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:09.840 and a fateful decision by an old friend who'd finally 25 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:14.680 seen enough. Why would a man who at everything kill 26 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:19.120 his wife and grown son. To unwind the roots of 27 00:02:19.159 --> 00:02:24.479 Alex's room, Award winning journalist Valerie Borlin reported not just 28 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:28.000 from the court house every day, but also along the 29 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:32.120 back roads and through the tidal marshes of South Carolina's 30 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:36.879 Low Country. When the jurors made their pilgrimage to the 31 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:41.159 crime scene, trying to envision Maggie and Paul's last moments, 32 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:46.400 she walked right behind them, sensing the ghosts that haunt 33 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:53.960 the murdas now shattered legacy. Through masterful research and cinematic writing, 34 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.840 The Devil at His Elbow is a transporting journey through 35 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:03.400 Alex's life, the night of the murders and the investigation 36 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:08.319 that culminated in a trial that held tens of millions spellbound. 37 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:13.840 With their stunning insights and fearless instinct for the truth. 38 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.759 Borline uncovers layers of the Murdaw mystery case that have 39 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:23.159 not been told. The book that we're featuring this evening 40 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:28.159 is The Devil at His Elbow Alex Murda and the 41 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:33.639 Fall of a Southern Dynasty, with my special guest, National 42 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:39.759 affairs reporter for The Wall Street Journal and author Valerie Borline. 43 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:42.199 Thank you very much for this interview and welcome to 44 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:47.599 the program. Valerie Borline, good morning, Good morning, and thank 45 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:51.000 you so much for this interview, and congratulations on this book, 46 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:53.080 The Devil at His Elbow. 47 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:55.599 Thank you. I'm happy to be here. 48 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:00.199 Tell us how you came to be involved with this story. 49 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:03.840 Well, I'm from the South. I grew up one county 50 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:07.240 north of the South Carolina line in North Carolina, and 51 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:10.280 so i have followed politics in South Carolina for a 52 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.319 really long time. I used to work in Colombia and 53 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.199 the capitol, and so I'm very familiar with kind of 54 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.519 the collegiate. I guess I could call it collegial would 55 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:21.279 be the term of art, but really the good old 56 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:25.120 boy system that still is pervasive in South Carolina politics, 57 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:29.160 and so I follow I follow South Carolina stories as 58 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:31.439 part of my job at the Wall Street Journal, and 59 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:34.600 this story was percolating for a couple of years. You know, 60 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.199 there was the boat crash in twenty nineteen that I 61 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:40.120 was aware of, involving the death of Mallory Beach, and 62 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:44.360 then when the homicides happened, it was really shocking. So 63 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:48.639 it wasn't national news immediately in the rest of the 64 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:50.519 country or the rest of the world, but in South 65 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:53.040 Carolina it was big news when Maggie and Paul Murdoch 66 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:56.000 were killed on June seventh. So I was following along 67 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.879 and just out of interest, really, and a top at 68 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:02.720 of mine at the Journal reached out and said, Hey, 69 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:05.000 are you following this case in South Carolina? And I 70 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:07.040 was like, yeah, I'm aware of it, but I'm not 71 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:09.199 sure what the Wall Street Journal version of this is, right. 72 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:12.079 I mean, we care about business and we care about power, 73 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:14.879 and it wasn't immediately clear to me, oh, this is 74 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:17.800 a Wall Street Journal story. And he's like, Val, you know, 75 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.959 sometimes a great story is just a freaking great story, 76 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:23.639 and he was right, and so I actually it was 77 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:25.839 on my radar very early on in June of twenty 78 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:28.759 twenty one, and I made my first trip to Hampton 79 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:31.399 in July of twenty twenty one, so it came on 80 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.759 my radar out of interest and then also just because 81 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:36.480 it was pretty clear immediately that this was a really 82 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:37.439 fascinating story. 83 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.399 You say your book is based on hundreds of hours 84 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:45.360 of interviews and includes scenes witnessed over four months of 85 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:48.759 reporting in South Carolina. You were in the courtroom for 86 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:52.920 every major moment in Alex's legal saga, from his initial 87 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:56.959 bond hearing in October twenty twenty one to his hearing 88 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:00.720 on his request for a new trial in January twenty 89 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:05.399 and twenty four. In this book project, you found out 90 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:10.000 really what the Murdoch family represented in this area in 91 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:14.600 South Carolina. Tell us what you found about that family. 92 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:20.040 And before we talk about the events preceding the murder, 93 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:24.240 you talked about the boat crash in twenty nineteen. And 94 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.879 we're doing this interview considering that many most people that 95 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:33.040 will listen to this story have a certain grasp of 96 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:36.399 the story from certain things like the Netflix series and 97 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:41.920 various podcasts and just the social media itself and reporting 98 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:43.560 well I found. 99 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.680 You know, it may be surprising to those of us 100 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:48.839 that live in cities, but I don't think it's really 101 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:51.759 super surprising to people that live in small towns or 102 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:56.319 rural areas that it's still common, particularly in the Deep South, 103 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:59.680 to have one family or kind of one, you know, 104 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.759 one political boss maybe that runs things, that's the patron. 105 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.160 And what I found in Hampton, South Carolina, where this 106 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:12.079 story is set, the Murdoch family had been that family 107 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:14.879 for more than one hundred years. And you just can't 108 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:17.959 overstate the case. Right if you wanted to be not 109 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:19.759 just run for sheriff, but if you wanted to be 110 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.240 a sheriff's deputy, if you wanted to be a county commissioner, 111 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:26.120 if you wanted to work for the local road department. 112 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:28.639 You know, if you want it, particularly if you want 113 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.040 to run for judge, you had to have the blessing 114 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:36.399 of the Murdochs. And they ran the civil justice side. 115 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:38.639 They ran this big, powerful law firm that was by 116 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:43.240 far the economic engine of Hampton, but they also ran 117 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:47.199 the criminal courts, so they had immense amountpower if you 118 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:49.639 were if they could make they could make a dui 119 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:52.360 go away, they could make you know they could make 120 00:07:52.439 --> 00:07:54.680 more serious things go away, and then if you happen 121 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:57.920 to be on a jury later, or a family member was, 122 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:00.600 you might remember that they did you a favor. So 123 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:04.000 what I found was that this family had a huge 124 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:08.319 amount of influence and power in the community where they 125 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:09.959 operated for one hundred years. 126 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:13.879 Tell us about the situation in terms of you said 127 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:17.000 he was the law. The Murdoch was the law. But 128 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:20.240 tell us about his law firm. And before we talk 129 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:21.720 about this boat. 130 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:25.680 Crash, well, the law firm Hampton, South Carolina, and really 131 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:29.360 the entire kind of five counties where the Murdochs were 132 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.960 most powerful in the southeastern corner of South Carolina. It's 133 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:35.519 very rural, it's very poor, it's predominantly black for the 134 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:38.559 most part. And the law firm is a play. It's 135 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:43.759 a personal injury firm where you don't necessarily hire a 136 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.440 law You don't hire our lawyer at the hourly rate, right, 137 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:48.039 not like you would think about it. But if there's 138 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:52.080 a bad wreck or God forbid a fatality, you would 139 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:56.120 hire the Murdoch law firm and pay them forty percent 140 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:59.320 of whatever judgment you might get. And in a place 141 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:02.320 where the road are really some of the most dangerous 142 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:04.879 in the United States, and in this part of of 143 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:07.879 the country, in the place where very blue collar, so 144 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:10.440 a lot of the jobs are quite dangerous. There is 145 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.399 an immense amount of personal injury work. And the law 146 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:17.519 firm just became this behemoth in our part of the world, 147 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:21.799 in the rural south. And you know they if you 148 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:23.559 go to Hampton, I can see it in my mind. 149 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:27.000 It's this. It's this poor downtown, you know, a couple 150 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:29.120 of streets, most of them boarded up, and then you 151 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:32.600 have this three million dollar, you know, brick edifice that 152 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:36.200 that's built to last forever. And in keeping with their 153 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:38.720 history of a one hundred years, they've always said they 154 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:40.440 wanted to be so well known. They never have to 155 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:43.080 hang a shingle. And there's no sign out front. Everyone 156 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:45.240 just knows that's the Mordocoli Firm, you know it for 157 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:47.159 one hundred miles. That's where it is. 158 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:52.080 Now, let's get to this fast forward for our audience 159 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:56.480 that there is a boat crash involving his son. So 160 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:01.279 what happens in this boat crash, but also what is 161 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:06.039 the reaction and what is the behavior from Alex Murdach. 162 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.360 Well, the boat crash is the lynchpin that that changes 163 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.919 everything for the Murdoch family. The boat crash happened in 164 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:18.399 February of twenty nineteen. There were three young couples going 165 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.559 out and it's called Wright. It's February going out on 166 00:10:21.639 --> 00:10:24.399 a boat to an oyster roast, which is a big, 167 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.639 a big party in the low Country. And they took 168 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:31.759 the boat to avoid DUI checkpoints, to avoid getting pulled 169 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:35.080 over because they were all underage and they knew they 170 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:37.919 were going to be drinking. And so Paul Murdoch, who 171 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:40.519 was Alex's younger son, he was nineteen at the time, 172 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.840 was driving his father's boat and they went to the 173 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:48.840 six young people went to this this oyster roast. They 174 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:52.039 drank a lot of beer over time. The evidence shows 175 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:54.679 that Paul had nineteen drinks in the course of you know, 176 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:58.399 eight hours or however long it was. And then on 177 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.879 the way back, Paul and particular was very drunk and 178 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.840 very belligerent and started getting angry at the other young 179 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:10.120 people in the boat. Is driving erratically and eventually even 180 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:12.720 confronts his girlfriend who's trying to get him to calm down. 181 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:16.919 He slaps her face, he spits on her. This ride 182 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.000 is going horribly awry at two o'clock in the morning, 183 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.879 in the dark, in the cold, on the waterways in 184 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:25.720 South Carolina, and Paul is angry, the young people later said, 185 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.759 and sped up the boat to twenty nine miles an 186 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:33.120 hour and hit at full force, hit the pilings of 187 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.120 a bridge and crashed. And three of the young people 188 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:38.519 went to the water, and one of them, Mallory Beach, 189 00:11:38.519 --> 00:11:42.159 who was nineteen, never surfaced and she drowned. And so 190 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:46.480 this creates just a catastrophic event, not just for the 191 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:49.399 life of her family, who was devastated, but also for 192 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.559 the Murdocks because by this point Elec Murdoch had a 193 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:55.120 lot of secrets, and this boat crash involving his son 194 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.559 threatened to have them all pouring out into the surface. 195 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:03.960 Besides the a ensuing lawsuit that Alec Murdoch fears on 196 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:06.919 behalf of his son, what does he do to try 197 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.559 to cover up the crime? 198 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:13.919 Essentially, Yeah, they're kind of two main threats to Elick 199 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.399 Murdoch at this point. He's a personal injury lawyer, right, 200 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:20.360 he knows immediately there's the threat of a civil lawsuit 201 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.919 he has filed. He has filed himself lawsuits involving boat wrecks. 202 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.799 He knows the stakes if he isssued, what secrets could 203 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:31.279 come out in terms of his financial his financial crimes 204 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:32.960 that he's been committee for a decade at this point. 205 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.320 But even more than that, the more immediate threat the 206 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:37.279 night it's you know, two twenty in the morning when 207 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:41.600 this happens. Elick Murdoch is at the hospital in Beaufort, 208 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.120 South Carolina, in a little over an hour. I mean 209 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:48.080 it's more than an hour away. He drove hugely fast 210 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:50.720 to get to the hospital with his father, Randolph Murdoch, 211 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:54.240 the third who is the most recent prosecutor in that area, 212 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:58.240 because the snakes are for his son, Paul Murdoch. If 213 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.799 she dies as a fear and as it turned out 214 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:05.279 she did drown, Alec the driver of the boat, would 215 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:08.639 be facing a very long prison term, a very long 216 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:12.240 prison term, and he knew that right so his family's 217 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:15.320 prosecutors they prosecuted those types of cases. So what he 218 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:18.159 needs to do immediately after the boat wreck in the 219 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:21.279 hospital is talk to the witnesses, meaning the other the 220 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:23.679 other end people in the boat and get their story 221 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:27.120 straight and so confusion about who's driving. To protect his 222 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.440 son from a long bid in South Carolina prison, which 223 00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:33.360 is a place it's very difficult to be It's not 224 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:36.240 it's it's it's one of the more it's it's one 225 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:39.519 of the more difficult states to be incarcerated in terms 226 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.799 of just conditions. Right, he was trying to spare him that, 227 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:43.480 and then he was also trying to spare all these 228 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:46.080 secrets coming out, so you can you can that evening 229 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.039 he had a lot of doubt to sew and the 230 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:51.360 evidence shows he really did that very effectively. 231 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:56.360 Actually, you said that he also had secrets regarding the 232 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:00.080 financial crimes that he had perpetrated on his clients, and 233 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:03.559 we find out his own law firm for over ten years. 234 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:07.720 So tell us about that other pressure and where was 235 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:10.159 he feeling that pressure from specifically. 236 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.960 Well, Alec was living two lives at least, But on 237 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:17.879 the surface he was a hail fellow, well met he 238 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:20.720 was everybody was like, hey bo, which is a Southern thing, 239 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.159 hey bo, how you doing. He was everybody's best friend. 240 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.399 He you know, if you look at pictures, he's always 241 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:28.519 got his arms slung around the person next to him. 242 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:31.519 He is the life of the party and the big 243 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:33.840 man in town and really in that part of the world. 244 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:38.360 That's the surface, but underneath he has been stealing at 245 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:41.840 this point twenty nineteen from his clients for well over 246 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:45.120 ten years. He was, you know, this personal injury lawyer, 247 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.399 and he would meet clients who were at their lowest moment. 248 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:51.000 Right they've been through something catastrophic, either they or a 249 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:55.120 loved one had been desperately injured or killed. He's meeting 250 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.200 them at a time where they really need an ally. 251 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.720 And he is a person with a reputation whose firm 252 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:03.240 has a as a stellar reputation for helping people. And 253 00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:06.960 so what he was doing at that time was taking 254 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:10.399 advantage of the poorest of the poor at their most 255 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:15.200 vulnerable moment. And for example, he had clients who were 256 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:18.679 motherless girls. Their mother had been killed in a terrible 257 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.600 word explorer wreck on I ninety five going through South Carolina, 258 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:26.120 and you know, he was he told them one thing, 259 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:27.879 that he got them all this money, and then he 260 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.600 was taking their money over the course of years, and 261 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.120 he would tell clients that he got them a million dollars. 262 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.159 You'll never believe I got you a million dollars. Nobody 263 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:38.879 else could have done that for you. And they're thrilled, right, 264 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.519 they get, you know, sixty percent of a million dollars, 265 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.399 because what he got three million dollars. Not only did 266 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:47.399 he take his forty percent fee, he took the delta 267 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:49.600 from what he told them he had. So he was 268 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.720 robbing his clients at that point and knew it, and 269 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:56.320 knew that if anybody started looking into his bank accounts 270 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:58.919 and records they would find evidence of that. So he 271 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.039 had those secrets to keep that night as well. 272 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:07.279 You write about Jane Seconder, which is the chief financial 273 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:12.000 officer at his law firm, tell us about this rather 274 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.080 large check discrepancy. 275 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:18.320 Sure, So Genie secondary was is a formidable woman. She's 276 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:21.159 the chief, the chief financial officer at the law firm. 277 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:24.519 And she also has known Alex since high school. You 278 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:26.320 can look at their high school in yearbook and she's 279 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:28.960 on the home court. He was the prom king, he 280 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:32.200 was the quarterback. They've known each other forever and they're 281 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:35.679 they're in each other's circle social circles in this small town. 282 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:40.600 So Jeannie knows him as a bullshit artist, is what 283 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:43.440 she is. What she calls him going way back, but 284 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:46.279 he is he's the great grandson of the founder of 285 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:48.559 this law firm. He's a partner, his brother's a partner, 286 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:49.879 his father's in the law firm. 287 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:51.919 You know, she. 288 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:57.120 Gives him a certain amount of deference, but his finances 289 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.120 have always been a little bit hinky within the law firm. 290 00:16:59.159 --> 00:16:59.360 There. 291 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:02.120 He had been fudging expenses on his credit card. So 292 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:05.920 she's a little bit got her, you know her, she's 293 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.599 she's a little bit sensitive to what he's doing to 294 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:12.480 start with. And then there's this matter of a big 295 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:16.160 missing fee, the seven hundred and ninety two thousand dollars 296 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.839 fee that was that was due to the law firm 297 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.359 from a case that Eleck was involved with, and the 298 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:23.480 check for the expenses came in, but the check for 299 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.119 the fee itself didn't come in, and typically at the 300 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:29.200 law firm, those two checks would come in together. So 301 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:31.720 she's looking for this seven hundred and ninety two thousand 302 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:34.880 dollars that's missing. His peer legal had been asking Eleck 303 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:36.359 about it for a number of weeks and he's sort 304 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:38.640 of been putting her off. And finally on June seventh 305 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:41.599 of twenty one, Genie really needs to figure this out. 306 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.279 She's got to reconcile the books, so she she goes 307 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:50.160 to Elec's office and he's standing outside the foul cabinet, 308 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:52.839 leaning on the foul cabinet, talking to people, you know, 309 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:57.799 shooting the breeze. And she walks up to him and 310 00:17:57.880 --> 00:17:59.960 she's she's about as big as a minute. She's she's 311 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.839 she's petite, and he's six foot four and he's too, 312 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:04.759 sixty five a two hundred and sixty five pounds at 313 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:06.599 this point. And she said he gave her a look 314 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:08.920 just like a like a look that just told her 315 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:12.519 to kiss off, and a dirty look, like the like 316 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:14.359 the kind she'd never seen from him, and said, what 317 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.920 do you want from me now? And she said, I 318 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.119 need to need, I need to talk to you. And 319 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:20.960 so they go into his office and close the door 320 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.319 and she confronts him. She says, oh, like, you know, 321 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:25.359 I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask 322 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.480 you about this missing money. I've got to get a 323 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:30.319 straight answer from you. And when you know, right then 324 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:33.839 the phone rings and it's his older brother calling to 325 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:36.680 tell them that their father, Randolf Murdock third, is at 326 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:39.160 the end. He's been he's been dying over the course 327 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.400 of months. He's finally close to the end. And they're 328 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.160 rushing him to the hospital. So there's this there's this 329 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.920 crisis that afternoon at work where he's finally confronted not 330 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.000 about the boat rack necessarily in all those finances, but 331 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:53.799 about a separate matter of seven hundred and ninety two 332 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:57.359 thousand dollars that he is that's missing from the law firm. 333 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:02.200 And he narrowly escapes a really difficult conversation because another 334 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:04.519 crisis in his life, his father, his protector, is dying. 335 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:09.279 You take us to June seventh, and Alex is at 336 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:13.359 this property called Moselle and he went out and he 337 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:18.279 saw Blanca. Can you tell us what Blanca found regarding 338 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:22.160 Randolph Murdoch IID and some of his medication. 339 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:26.519 Sure. So, Blanca Simpson is a hugely important person in 340 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:28.680 the life of the family. Blanc is sort of the 341 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:33.240 glue that holds their home together. She's the housekeeper, but 342 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:36.119 she also cooks for them. She runs errand she catches checks. 343 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:41.440 She's Maggie's person that helps run Mozelle, which is this massive, 344 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:46.759 this massive estate, seventeen hundred acres, so essentially twice the 345 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:49.039 size of Central Park in New York. It's a massive Wow. 346 00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:53.480 The Blanca is at Mozelle as often as the family is, 347 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:55.599 or more so. She knows it like the back of 348 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:58.599 her hand. And she's worried about Elex. She knows that 349 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.319 he's been used opioids for a number of years. She 350 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:07.480 has a practice of finding She finds, you know, zip 351 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.519 hot baggies of pills and residue in his pocket when 352 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:12.960 she's doing the laundry. There's a little red cup in 353 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:15.519 the cabinet over the washing machine where she puts that 354 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.559 those pills. So she knows he uses pills, and it's 355 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.680 an open secret within the household that he has been 356 00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:24.480 using for a number of years. So she's aware of 357 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:27.680 the the opioids. She's aware of booze, there's they're a 358 00:20:27.799 --> 00:20:31.279 heavily drinking family. But what really concerns her is in 359 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:35.559 the weeks leading up to June seventh, she found palliative 360 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:39.240 care drugs, end of life drugs that were on Elex's 361 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:42.880 bedside table, prescribed to his father who'd been dying of 362 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:46.279 lung cancer. So she's really worried about that. Right, he's 363 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:49.440 staking not just opioids, but she fears that he's also 364 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:54.279 taking these very strong, barbituous or sedative drugs that are 365 00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:56.720 meant to soothe the end of life. 366 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:01.200 Now you talk about that. Because his father is in 367 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.119 dire straits in the hospital, he uses as this as 368 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:09.440 a He calls Maggie and wants her to return to 369 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:14.519 Moselle and tells her why, and also wants Paul to 370 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:18.759 come there as well. Tell us about this conversation, the 371 00:21:18.839 --> 00:21:21.400 call for these people to return to Moselle and the 372 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:23.200 reason why sure. 373 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:26.160 Which it's shocking if you look at this incredible eighty 374 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:29.079 eight page timeline. That's that sled. It's not kond On 375 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:31.720 a law force division to put together. It's shocking if 376 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.079 you look and you kind of like cross reference alex 377 00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:38.400 phone records. He's confronted by Genie Seconder right at the 378 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:42.640 law firm in the afternoon. Then it gets the call 379 00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:45.039 that his father is dying. And that's such a crucial moment. 380 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.680 His father is not just his closest friend and companion. 381 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:52.319 His father's his protector, his father when he's his father's 382 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.519 loaned him a million dollars over the course of time 383 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:58.160 just to bail him out of one one financial strait 384 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:01.519 or another. His father also is hugely influential. He was 385 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.039 the he was the prosecutor for decades in that part 386 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:07.359 of the world. So his father is is it's not 387 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:09.279 just a person he loves, it's a person he needs. 388 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:12.200 So within minutes of getting that call that his father's 389 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.039 at the end. You can see, he calls Maggie. You 390 00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:16.920 can see he calls her and she doesn't pick up 391 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:20.200 right away, and and then you know, but then she does, 392 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:23.799 and he asks her to come home, and she calls 393 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:25.519 her sister and she's like, I don't know, I really 394 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.680 don't want to go, and her sister says you should, 395 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.240 And he calls Paul, and he asked Paul to come 396 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.039 home to Mozille, and Paul is not planning to he 397 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:37.720 comes anyway. So it's it's stunning that he lures them 398 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:42.160 both home within minutes of being confronted over this missing money. 399 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:46.079 It's it's very the prosecution made a case that's very damning, 400 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:49.920 the immediate nature of those those requests who come home 401 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:51.960