Alex Murdaugh Took the Stand!
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Ok, y’all. A few have reached out to ask me if I was following the double homicide trial of disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh. Ok, fine, yeah, I know I am on twitter commenting here and there (but who is still on twitter these days?), but I feel I should decompress in a longer post about today’s testimony.
Yes, I have been following it. A couple of year’s back I even recommended on an episode of STAY F. HOMEKINS to check out the Murdaugh Murders Podcast. At the time, the podcast revealed a vast web of lies, deceit and other casualties (as in, yes, dead bodies!!) connected to this Southern dynasty. Since then, there’s been a plethora of articles and documentaries unraveling this scandal. There is even a new Netflix docuseries that dropped last night. So, yeah, I have been learning this astonishing story as it unravels.
ANNOUNCING A LIVE TRIAL-WATCHING CHAT IN THE SUBSTACK SMARTPHONE APP TOMORROW FOR WEEKEND WATER PAID SUBSCRIBERS
Never mind that I have consumed stories of crime and justice since I was in high school. I recall reading HELTER SKELTER as an eighth grader, along with a bunch of Stephen King mixed in. (I think Catholic School nudges you toward horror and murder with all the ghosts and live crucifixions and stuff?) Then I moved on to the entire Anne Rule canon. Truman Capote, oh boy, check! And, in this age of documentary and podcasts, the justice-seeking has exploded! And I have consumed a lot of those stories and marveled at the many facets of criminality out there. So, this particular Murdaugh family downfall story piqued my interest as a baffling mystery, but also it resonated for being in the very state where I grew up. The events around this family all happened not far from the barrier island off of Charleston, SC where I read about Manson as a kid! Can’t tell you how many Buster and Paul types I went to school with in South Carolina, either. I graduated from the University of South Carolina in Columbia for undergrad and tried to avoid the frat boys by being a theatre kid, instead. However, I would go to the parties and bars in Five Points, and those were the kinds of guys that were everywhere!
Today the defendant, Alex Murdaugh, in this double homicide case took the stand. And it was SO STRESSFUL. Did anyone else out there watch his testimony today? First of all, this man is an admitted serial liar. He is a proven con artist. And a con artist whose marks were traumatized disenfranchised vulnerable clients, to boot! He is also an attorney himself. It is impossible to watch him say he didn’t kill anyone and NOT think he is lying, because why wouldn’t he, if mendacity’s his default?
One thing that was noteworthy is he made use of the word “intentionally” when he claimed he would never harm his son and wife. Why would you say you’d never “intentionally” harm them on a witness stand? Is he admitting to some sort of accidental slaughter? His defense for making up an alibi was that he was a paranoid drug addict who didn’t trust the police. However, the prosecution pointed out he was cozy af with police for YEARS. Even carried a badge and had a blue light installed in his vehicle.
The toxic patriarchal system of this privileged white Southern family being badged up and just LOOTING the hell out of their trusting neighbors is symbolic of a lot of that region (not all, but a lot). The good ol’ boy system of justice and wealth disparity and just aggressively taking up spaces is something that I witnessed as a woman growing up in the South. And I sadly saw a lot of racism too, surrounding this ilk. That good ol’ boy friendly kind of bigotry where they “sir” and “ma’am” you while maintaining a socioeconomic superiority and clinging to their status with an easy entitlement and unearned confidence was pervasive. It is a MINDF*CK to be around it! I know I am speaking in quite general terms, but this case really has a WHIFF of a lot of the kind of stuff I was exposed to growing up and attending high school and college in South Carolina.
So, hop on the chat tomorrow, if you are watching*** and have that smartphone substack app! Keeping it to paid subscribers currently for a smaller conversation. However, may do a larger chat down the road for all of Weekend Water, if the interest is there!
Thx y’all!
Janie
***I watch the live trial feed on YouTube on the Law & Crime channel.
If you’re a paid subscriber to WEEKEND WATER, make sure you add the substack smartphone app to your phone. I am planning to get up early to watch more of his cross examination tommorrow, and I will start a “live chat” in the substack app for any WEEKEND WATER subscribers who are also watching and want to discuss in a closed forum with me and anyone else (and maybe PFT too, but he doesn’t know it yet LOL!)