Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. After a month-long investigation, detectives now say it was all a sinister act. Wilson testified that on the morning of September 4, hours before Murdaugh would call 911 saying he had been shot in the head by a stranger on the side of the road, he confronted him about the accusations. [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. "I did a lot of damage, I wreaked a lot of havoc, there's no question," Alex Murdaugh said. The pair moved to an apartment in Borden, Indiana. Prosecutor Creighton Waters asked him to recount what he did during a "crucial" four-minute period around 9 p.m. that night, when Alex Murdaugh said he was in his home getting ready to visit his mother. [2] Eight months later, Gibson was charged with robbery and sexual battery relating to an incident involving a 21-year-old woman whom he sexually assaulted in a phone booth near the Louisville Galleria in Louisville, Kentucky. The judge accepted the recommendation. Couple Is Killed in Alleged $750,000 Murder-for-Hire Plot Designed to Keep Suspect's Affair Secret, Suspect Arrested and 'Charged with Murder' in Killing of Houston Teen Diamond Alvarez: Authorities, How a Camping Trip Among 4 Arizona Teens Ended in Murder, After 12-Year-Old's Murder, Police Arrest Teen and Suspect's Father, Who Allegedly Drove Son to Scene, 'Big Family, Old Money, New Drama': Inside the Powerful S.C. Family at Center of Murder Mystery, Alex Murdaugh Arrested, Charged with Insurance Fraud and Filing a False Police Report, Murder and QAnon: Inside the Case of Matthew Coleman, Accused of Killing Kids with Spear Gun, Ohio Teen Faces Murder Charge in Deadly Alleged Plot to Kill 13-Year-Old Friend's Mother, Wrong Woman Kidnapped and Killed in Alleged Love Triangle Murder-for-Hire Plot: Police, Missouri Woman Allegedly Killed Man to Frame Another Who Questioned Her Role in His Wife's Unsolved 2011 Murder, Celebrity Baker Charged in Murder-for-Hire Plot to Kill Ex-Boyfriend, Fianc Allegedly Planned Murder of Colo. According to the Pulaski Sheriffs Department, after investigating the scene, it seemed that Linda and Cody had been murdered elsewhere, and their bodies were then dumped in the field, which was only two miles from the road on which they were last seen. The mom also allegedly told the two boys that they needed to make sure her husbands body was found so a money inheritance could be paid out.. Murdoch?" Wilson had worked with Murdaugh on various cases in which Murdaugh has been accused of misappropriating funds. "If I was under the pressure that they're talking about here, I can promise you I would hurt myself before I would hurt one of them. Neither the prosecution nor the Netflix production is obliged to provide a motive in order to accuse Murdaugh of murder, but in its absence, both jurors and viewers alike will likely be left wondering what exactly they are being told to believe happened on the night of June 7, 2021. Firstly, Jeanne Seckinger, the CFO of Murdaugh's family law firm, testified that on June 7, 2021, hours before the murders, she confronted Murdaugh about $792,000 of missing legal fees in a case he had worked on. Rose Harsent, victim of the Peasenhall murder. Alex Murdaugh was arrested in October 2021 and remains in jail, where he is being held without bond Credit: SLED. Steven Gibson, 39, was allegedly the target of a family murder plot hatched by his wife Michelle and their son Steven Jr., 15, who took part in stabbing him. [2], Later that year, Bailey filed a police report claiming that Gibson had blocked her car with his vehicle while she was delivering newspapers and proceeded to hit her before stealing her car keys and fleeing the scene. For more on this case and others like it, watch "Killer Siblings,"airing Fridays at 8/7c on Oxygen,or stream episodes here. They call it Iowa nice.. [15] In spite of the guilty plea, prosecutors pushed for another death sentence, aiming to prove aggravating factors during the commission of Kirk's murder. 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. In their cross-examination, prosecutors grilled the former attorney on his actions around the time investigators believe the murders occurred. Gibson was arrested in Philadelphia in February for violating his probation on a Delaware manslaughter conviction. The boys grew up together inOskaloosa, Iowa a city of then about 10,000 people around 25 miles from the aforementioned crimes. The defense ended their questioning on Friday by again asking Alex Murdaugh if he murdered his wife and son. [5], At this final murder trial, Gibson unexpectedly pleaded guilty again, waiving his right to a jury trial. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Philadelphia police were then contacted by Elsmere police, and both agencies began working very closely together, Vanore said. Linda Gibson was a fun-loving and easygoing 21-year-old woman, according to her younger brother, Clayton Gibson. The warnings did not sway Medinilla in accepting the public defender's recommendation. "I saw what yall have seen pictures of," he told the jurors, crying. 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. When they asked, McMahan told them that he'd robbed a bank and two people had been killed. And if you didnt, you were far and few between.. Surveillance video captured the suspect forcing Lugo to give him money which Vanore said amounted to around $300 before shooting and fleeing. Jamie Mcmahan and Chris Kauffman. The next morning, they used a ruse about needing Garber's phone and once inside, McMahan told Kauffman he had to kill Garber in order to prove himself. [4], After being released from jail, Gibson continued hanging around bars, but on February 21, 2006, he stole the purse and $300 from a female acquaintance. [4] The following year, Gibson was arrested for stealing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and sentenced to 3 years imprisonment, but was allowed to spend half of that time at the Madison State Hospital in Madison, where he would receive treatment for his drug and alcohol addiction. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. They took Garber's pickup, but then, according to Kauffman, McMahan decided he wanted to keep it after the robbery, so they needed another car. 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. Molina-Pompa held a gun on Steven as McAbee bashed the 39-year-old several times in the head with a baseball bat. The docuseries devotes under 10 minutes of its last episode to the September 4, 2021, roadside incident, a tale so strange it left people baffled well into the trial. But for those following closely, it will likely feel like it barely scratched the surface. Crucial testimony also established that Murdaugh's father was in terminal condition (he later died three days after the murders on June 10, 2021), which the defense has argued would cause enough sympathy and distraction from the financial matters. 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. When police went to her home shortly after 9:30 a.m., they found the door unlocked and Garber, sitting in a chair with her breakfast in reach, shot twice in the head and twice in the chest. Michelle, along with her two teenage children, Steven Jr, 16, and Alysa, 17, decided to kill the family patriarch, Steven, but she didnt want them doing the dirty work. Mom Nearly 3 Months in Advance: Prosecutors. 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. "Murders dont take place and banks rarely get robbed.. ", "It is an absolute fact that I am not manufacturing an alibi," Alex Murdaugh said. After going through a four-day withdrawal, he was examined by the prison's psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Howerton. The Dupont De Ligoness Family Murders Coverup Theory Explained. But it was the cross-examination of lead investigator David Owen by defense lawyer Jim Griffin that would leave onlookers with the most questions in the investigation. Among the murders he has confessed to is the 2000 murder of Elizabeth Banister, who was stabbed to death at her home in Evansville, but so far, he has not been charged with her murder.[20]. The boys left in the morning but picked them up around noon in a green pickup truck and with a bunch of cash. Is anyone feeling that the mom has strong narcissistic vibes, I worked on both cases. The lawyer representing the boys, who were charged with federal counts of aggravated robbery and carjacking and two state counts of first degree murder, negotiated a plea to help them avoid the death penalty. Gibson eventually stopped attending church altogether in late August 2011, when his mother was admitted into a nursing home. As fans of the blockbuster musical "Hamilton" are now acutely aware, Founding Father and architect of the American financial system Alexander Hamilton was mortally wounded in a duel with his. One key question left unanswered by the docuseries is what potential motive Murdaugh could have had for murdering Maggie and Paul. Authorities are investigating whether he was responsible for six . He said that being asked about his relationship with his wife and getting tested for gunshot residue following the murders triggered his paranoia. Harsent was six months pregnant at the time of her death. Miller said Gibson violated probation by fighting with other offenders and was sentenced to six more months in prison, followed by 18 months of probation. Whenever he went to school, Gibson was bullied up until the sixth grade, when he became large enough to defend himself - however, he started bullying other children. Alex Murdaugh detailed on the stand a 20-year addiction to opioids, noting that he has been clean for 535 days. It was tragic, the way we lost them., He told Dateline that, Cody was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.. 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. Im with my kids and I just got home and my husbands out in the garage dead!. Dr. Mark Wangler killed his wife, Kathy Wangler, at their home in Lima, Ohio, and tried to cover it up by blaming her death on a carbon monoxide accident. 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. William Clyde Gibson III (born October 10, 1957) is an American serial killer and rapist who is currently on Indiana 's death row for the sexually-motivated murders of two women in 2002 and 2012, in addition to serving a 65-year sentence for a third murder committed in 2012. Ultimately, McMahan released the hitchhiker, then left Kauffman leave, and finally gave himself up. No arrests have been made, but according to the Pulaski Sheriffs Department press release, the investigation has uncovered possible suspects and investigators have been concentrating on those leads. Follow the links to read about more marital discord that ended in murder. 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. At this point, we knew we were dealing with the same people.". Subsequent text messages indicated she was concerned about Murdaugh's wellbeing when she decided to return to the Moselle property. Keith Gibson was arrested after allegedly attacking a Rite Aid clerk in Delaware during a robbery. For several days, McMahan and Kauffman spent the cash "like crazy," said Quinn but by the time the foursome got to Disney World in Orlando, the girls wondered how they'd actually come by so much money. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner approved murder charges Wednesday against Keith Gibson in connection to the February fatal shooting of his mother, Christine Gibson. Its just what it is.". On June 21, the girls' parents called back: Their daughters had returned home safely. His attorney, Jim Griffin, asked right away if he shot his wife and son in the head. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. When asked why he lied about the last time he saw his wife and son, Murdaugh blamed his addiction to painkillers, which he said caused "paranoid thinking. [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]. FBI and local authorities caught the kidnappers by tracing the serial numbers on the ransom money; the culprits were a pair of young hoodlumsHarmon Waley and William Dainardwho had first met in the Idaho State Penitentiary and one of their wives. This time, Robert Gibson's father . Four of the murders Gibson is linked to happened in May and June. Around 2:24 a.m. on June 6, 42-year-old Ronald Wright as shot and killed in a street robbery in Wilmington, Delaware. He would say, If you dont tell us, we cant help you.. Gibsons mother was shot dead in her place of work in Philadelphia. Alex Murdaugh gives testimony during his murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., Feb. 23, 2023. The Pulaski County Sheriffs Department and the Somerset Police Department are conducting the investigation. Two men were shot dead in a store in Philadelphias Germantown neighborhood, but police did not recover a gun. Secondly, the Murdaughs' housekeeper Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson testified that on September 4, Murdaugh asked her to send him a photo of his medical insurance card, telling her he was trying to schedule some routine medical checks. Closing arguments are expected to take place Wednesday before the case is turned over to the jury. She loved her family, and we love her too, Clayton told Dateline. Court is adjourned until Monday morning. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Investigators began reinterviewing the family and others. Kauffman had just graduated from high school with apparently few prospects and a group of friends who "ran the streets," and McMahan had recently lost his job at a local plant. Dylan Eason and Isaiah Churchwell were convicted of murdering Cynthia William "Patrick" Alexander remains in prison for murder. Police found Gibson had violated probation, but they did not recover a gun, and video didnt show him at the location of his moms murder, meaning any evidence linking Gibson was only circumstantial, Vanore said. 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. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? [11] On October 25, 2013, Gibson was found guilty in Whitis' murder at a jury trial, with the jurors taking less than 20 minutes to find him guilty on all charges. [2] This continued outside of school, with a childhood friend, Melodie Schultz, claiming that Gibson had shot another child in the eye with a pellet gun. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Gibson was convicted of manslaughter in 2010 and released last year. After spending the day doing drugs and having sex, the pair returned to Gibson's house, where they argued over some pills. When asked by his lawyer about those prior statements, Alex Murdaugh admitted to lying to investigators. Her brother, Dave, argued . Parole officials did not object to a recommendation by the public defender to sentence Gibson to time served plus 18 months probation. [McBee] then took the knife and slit the victims throat.. Two suspicious deaths and a fatal boat crash in the preceding years are all part of this astonishing story that the Netflix documentary was set to unravel.