A GoFundMe launched a campaign to raise funds for Alex Murdoff“for her bravery” in testifying at her murder trial.
Mushel “Shelley” Smith delivers emotional testimony at the Colton County Courthouse in walterboro, South Carolinawhere he cast doubt on Mr Murdaugh’s presence elsewhere that night the killing – He lied while revealing how much time he spent at his sick mother’s house.
Breaking down in tears at several points, she told how an “eager” Mr Murdaugh came to the house for a brief 20-minute visit on 7 June 2021, but later told them to tell officers he had doubled up there Have spent time
He told jurors that after the murders, he offered to help Ms Smith both financially and with her second job and brought a mysterious blue object to drop off at her parents’ house.
Now, Ms Smith’s daughter Rachel Buckner has started a GoFundMe campaign to “reward her for her bravery and her honesty as this was one of the hardest things she has ever had to do”.
“As you all know my mother was the carer for Alex Murdoff’s mother. She recently had to testify against him and it brought her a lot of grief and stress. My mother was the most Caring, giving and selfless person. She’d have the shirt off her back if she could,” Ms. Buckner writes on the page.
“Knowing she has to bear witness to what she can do, what I should do, and what I have to do! I want to reward her for her bravery and her honesty because it’s one of the hardest things she’s ever done.” was one of
“We want to show her that she is not alone and we stand behind her 100%!”
As of Thursday morning – less than 24 hours after it launched – the GoFundMe had raised more than $7,800 for Ms Smith.
The campaign was brought to trial Thursday afternoon when the defense noted that another witness, Mark Tinsley, had donated $1,000.
Mr Tinsley is the lawyer who filed the lawsuit against Murdoff on behalf of the family of the Mallory Beach, 19-year-old killed in a boating accident where Paul was allegedly drunk behind the wheel in 2019.
Defense attorney Phil Barber asked to strike Mr. Tinsley’s testimony due to the fact that he “made financial payments to a witness in the middle of a trial … as a reward for his honesty”. Mr Barber argued that Mr Tinsley – who has removed his name from GoFundMe – has a financial interest in the outcome of the trial.
Judge Clifton Newman denied the motion, calling the issue “good fodder for cross-examination”.
Before Mr. Tinsley’s donation was mentioned in court, legal experts warned that GoFundMe could be damaging to the prosecution’s case if the state wanted to call him to testify again.
“This is a really bad idea. This witness is now getting something valuable for her testimony. If the prosecutor’s office knew about this they would shut it down,” tweeted Elizabeth Riley, who says that he spent 35 years as a trial lawyer, specializing in constitutional law.
“The defense may call the daughter as a witness to establish that Smith, during the course of the trial, is benefiting from her testimony.”
Ms Smith acted as a carer for Mr Murdoff’s mother Libby since October 2019.
GoFundMe launched for caregiver of Alex Murdaugh’s mom
(GoFundMe)
In court on Monday, she told jurors about Mr Murdaugh’s unusual behavior on the night of the murder and in the days following.
She testified that between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on 7 June 2021 a “furious” Alex Murdoff came to the home of his sick mother – then left 20 minutes later. She testified that it was “unusual” for him to come at night and that he was “fiery”.
A few days after the murders, she testified that Mr. Murdoff spoke to her about his visit that night, telling her: “I was here 30 to 40 minutes.”
The conversation made her feel “nervous,” she said — so much so that she called her brother who is a police officer to tell her.
A few days after that initial conversation, Mr. Murdaugh spoke to her again—this time offering to “help her out” with paying for her upcoming wedding and putting in a good word for her at her second job.
Ms. Smith broke down in tears, describing Mr. Murdo and his family as a “good family” and told jurors under cross-examination that she believed his offers to help her were simply a “good person”.
A few days after Mr Murdaugh proposed with the wedding expenses, Ms Smith testified Mr Murdaugh appeared at her mother’s house at 6.30am with a “blue thing” in his hands.
He said he took it upstairs and then left before leaving.
He also noticed for the first time that there was a cut or bruise on his forehead.
During a search of his parents’ home, law enforcement found a blue tarpaulin and a blue rainjacket.
SLED forensic scientist Megan Fletcher testified that at least 38 gunshot residue particles were found inside the coat—an amount that fits with the prosecution’s claim that he had concealed and moved one or both of the guns used in the murders. Garments are used for. Another 14 were found outside, making a total of 52 items.
A small amount of gunshot residue was also found on Mr. Murdaugh’s hands, T-shirt and shorts, and on the seatbelt buckle on his car.
Agent Fletcher said the evidence was consistent with a recently fired firearm inside the rainjacket.
Maggie and Paul were found shot to death on June 7, 2021, at the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre estate in Islandton.
His killings brought to light a series of scandals surrounding the Murdoes, including unexplained deaths, a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme, and a failed hitman plot.
At the time of the murders, Paul was awaiting trial over the death of Mallory Beach – a 19-year-old woman who died in 2019 in an accident on the Murdoff family’s boat.
Mushel “Shelley” Smith takes the witness stand at Alex Murdo’s trial on Monday
(AP)
Paul was allegedly driving a boat under the influence of alcohol and crashed on the beach. His body washed up on shore a week later. Paul had been charged with several felonies in connection with the boat wreck and was facing up to 25 years in prison at the time of his murder.
The Beach family sued Mr. Murdo and a trial was set for the week of the murders. It was postponed following the murders of Maggie and Paul.
Days after the shootings, an investigation was reopened into the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, who was found dead in the middle of the road in Hampton County.
The openly gay teen, 19, had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and his death was officially ruled a hit-and-run. But the victim’s family has long doubted this version of events, with the name of the deceased appearing in several police tips and community rumours.
In September 2021 – three months after the murders – Mr Murdoff was shot in the head in what turned out to be a failed hitman plot, which he co-authored with alleged accomplice, distant cousin and drug dealer Curtis Eddie Smith Had done
He checked into rehab after 20 years of opioid addiction days.
It then emerged that he had been ousted from his law firm, PMPED, for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from the law firm’s clients.
Aside from the murder trial, Mr Murdo has been charged with nearly 100 counts from multiple indictments for embezzling nearly $8.5m from customers in fraudulent schemes spanning a decade to 2011.
The attorney, who has since been disbarred, allegedly represented clients in wrongful death lawsuits before collecting the settlement money for himself.
An investigation into another mysterious death involving the Murdoff family was also reopened – that of Murdoff’s longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
She died in 2018 in a mystery trip and accident at the family home. Mr. Murdaugh allegedly stole nearly $4 million in a wrongful death settlement from his sons.
Mr Murdaugh, 54, is facing a life sentence for the murder of his wife and son. He has pleaded not guilty.