Critical to Begin with — Did Alex Murdaugh Plan the Murders in Advance and Create an Alibi?

Critical to Begin with – did Alex Murdaugh Plan the Murders in Advance and Create an Alibi?

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, Ms. Barbara Mixson, a long-time employee of forty-plus years of the Murdaugh’s family, testified early on 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 Ms. Mixson to Murdaugh at 3:58:39 P.M. is in the call log of Alex Murdaugh’s phone).

Mixson testified that she told Murdaugh that his mother, Miss Libby, who was suffering from early stage 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 Mixson said his mother was “agitated” and “crying” and she asked Murdaugh to come to Almeda that night to comfort Miss Libby. Alex told Mixson he would.

That call and commitment created a conflict in the early evening hours of the murders. 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. Blanca, the housekeeper, also testified that Maggie told her she had to return to Moselle to straighten out the C.B. Rowe “mess.” Yet, the prosecution maintained in court that no one knew Maggie and Paul would be at Moselle that night except Alex. Simply not true. Both Blanca and C. B. Rowe knew Maggie and Paul would be there. Alex and Paul had repeatedly called and texted Rowe asking him to come to Moselle that evening. The call logs introduced into evidence show the telephone calls and texts to Rowe by both Alex and Paul.

C. B. Rowe had not shown up for work on the day of the murders to take care of the “mess.” There is some murkiness about why he had not shown up. Purportedly he had to take his father to the doctor, but later it was said he was actually looking for another job. Rowe, the groundskeeper, had maintained he “accidentally” sprayed Roundup on the large acreage that comprised a sunflower field that was to be used for a dove shoot in the fall. Paul had worked hard on the field since the family hosted a yearly dove hunt, in September, for clients, friends, and family.

Doves are attracted to sunflowers and well cultivated sunflower fields in the Lowcountry are the stuff of bragging rights. This field had been Paul’s personal project to show his father his cultivating prowess. Paul was bewildered at the field’s demise since C.B. was a former chemistry teacher and should have been able to avoid this “mess.” The “mess” – the in-trouble sunflowers. Much to Paul’s displeasure they eventually did die.

Seeing his field go from thriving to dying, Paul was extremely unhappy about the “mess.” He had told others how upset he was, including his co-workers, and in so doing used some colorful language to express his dismay about the “mess.” Paul sent a text to C.B. Rowe at 7:00:06, “Are you coming tomorrow?” Then only twenty seconds later at 7:00:22, “Sunflowers are dead, We need to plow them under.” The phone log of Paul tells quite a different story than the one recounted in a book published shortly after the trial regarding an exchange between C.B. Rowe and Paul on the day of the murders. In the book Murdaugh She Wrote,

On page 286.

“Anyway by 7:20 p.m. on the Monday he (Paul) was at Moselle, where he made a call to an estate worker (Rowe) asking advice about the proposed sunflower field and telling him that his Daddy wanted them to take care of the problem right away.”

It sounds like the author, Kathleen McKenna Hewtson, may have spoken with Rowe regarding the events of the day Maggie and Paul were murdered. Further reading reveals more contradictions in her book that differ from the actual evidence. Troubling. Where did she get this information? If she did not speak with him then why this account of a dialogue between Rowe and Paul?

She goes on on page 287.

“Paul and the estate worker got along very well and when all the reasons for not complying with Alex’s request were explained to Paul, he agreed they could start the next day.”

The phone records presented by SLED and the FBI only show the aforementioned texts from Paul – no record of a phone call. Not even a lengthy text exchange.

Not receiving any response throughout the day from Rowe via text or telephone to Paul, Alex sent a text to C.B. at 7:18:44, “Call me pls.” Again, no response from C. B. on SLED or FBI phone extractions. Alex and Paul must have been chagrined because it was potentially getting too late in the month to replant and have the field ready if they did not plant right away. Rowe’s failure to return texts or a call with a reassurance he was as concerned as they were about replanting added to an already tense situation.

Paul was working on his replanting plan while at the kennel that night. Interestingly, in Murdaugh She Wrote , the author also says on page 287 that Rowe finally called Alex at 9:00. Yet, she also says that Alex called Rowe at 8:00 on the night of the murders. SLED and FBI records reveal that Alex did not call Rowe around 8:00. The author states that Rowe called Alex at 9:00. Again, SLED and FBI records reveal that C.B. did not call Alex around 9:00, but instead Rowe finally called Alex at 9:21:36.

In fact, the call to Murdaugh at 9:21:36 PM came while Alex was on the way to see his mother, per Ms. Mixson’s request earlier that day. Alex was on the phone with Chris Wilson who had called him at 9:20:34 PM. The Wilson call lasted 131 seconds. Alex did take Rowe’s call and it was brief. They agreed to talk the next day at Moselle.

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 cloth to sell the notion 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 while ignoring the aforesaid testimony, phone, and text logs, which all refute their fabrication of the planned alibi.

Barbara Mixson and Blanca apparently told the truth, but it did not fit with the State’s cobbled-together scenario. If Ms. Mixson 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 after Libby Murdaugh and the rest of the family members were informed earlier that Randolph Murdaugh had been admitted to the hospital in Savannah and John Marvin Murdaugh was making arrangements for their father’s hospital stay. It was only then that Miss Libby got upset and Mixson called Alex to come that evening.

Once again, the prosecution was keenly aware that Ms. Mixson had asked Alex to come to Almeda. She testified to that in court. So are we to believe that Murdaugh 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 he drove to Moselle to meet Paul and Maggie. He and Paul were at Moselle until Maggie arrived for dinner (affirmed by the timeline presented at the trial). If he had evil intent on his mind, he could have killed Paul in that window of time while they were practicing at the shooting range. Accidents do happen. Then there would have been no need for Maggie to become collateral damage, which from all indications, she was that night.

The State’s position that Murdaugh created the alibi well in advance to visit his mother’s house that night and that only Alex Murdaugh knew that Paul and Maggie were at Moselle on the night of June 7 falls apart when presented with the facts you have just read. In light of Ms. Mixson’s testimony, Blanca’s testimony, texts and phone logs, the State had to know this was a misrepresentation of the facts. Yet, they hammered it home to the jury. And it stuck.

Where were Alex and Maggie in the 24 hours leading up to the murder? The trial testimony shows the following: 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 where they had spent the weekend with Buster and his now wife Brooklyn. On the way back to Moselle, they stopped at Almeda and spent time with Handsome. He was not doing well and hardly woke up. After some time spent visiting with his caretaker, Maggie and Alex let him sleep and left.

Returning to Moselle, they 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. It is doubtful that Murdaugh would have been planning to go to visit Almeda the night of the murders if the turn of events regarding his father had not played out as they did. Unfortunately during the night after they left his father would take a very bad turn. John Marvin and Randy tag-teamed each other the next morning to take Handsome to the doctor in Savannah. Later that day, in the evening at Moselle, Maggie would read some very surprising and sad news.

On each of their agendas that morning was the “mess.” They had to sort it out since time was of the essence to achieve the successful field replant for the annual September dove hunt. And Paul had made no secret of his displeasure regarding the “mess.” Paul was so upset about the situation after all his hard work. This was the atmosphere at Moselle that day and night, and it is supported by testimony, phone and text logs of all three.

Again, the State knew exactly what they were pushing as their narrative regarding the aforesaid testimony, phone, and text logs which when viewed clearly refute their fabrication of the planned alibi. Did others, in addition to Blanca and C.B. Rowe, also serendipitously know that Paul and Maggie would be there to fix the “mess?” We can only speculate and reexamine the facts to secure the answers.