
Murdaugh Timeline
The Timing and Motive Behind the Murdaugh Murders: Proving Alex Could Not Have Done it Using the State’s Timeline
On the evening of June 7, 2021, Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were found brutally murdered at Moselle, the Murdaugh family’s sprawling hunting estate. While the trial and conviction of Alex Murdaugh have captivated the nation, questions remain about the timing of the murders, why Maggie was killed, and whether the true motive was tied to Paul. The lack of life insurance on either victim adds another layer of mystery to an already complex case. Add in that Alex contends it stems from the boat wreck.
The Timing: Why 8:49:01 PM?
The timeline of events on the night of the murders suggests the killings were carefully timed. Paul, known for his routine trips to the kennels to care for the dogs, was there shortly before 9 PM. If the killers were targeting Paul, they may have waited until he was isolated and vulnerable. The kennels, located away from the main house, provided the perfect setting for such an ambush. Paul’s phone was locked at 8:49:01 p.m. and Maggie’s at 8:49:31 p.m.
Paul also was a heavy user of SnapChat, and anyone with the app, and were friends with Paul on the app would know where he was and what he was doing and when. So they sit and wait in the woods for Paul to be alone.
However, Maggie’s presence complicates this theory. It is widely believed that Maggie did not plan to be at Moselle that night. Reports suggest she was either summoned to the property or convinced to go to the kennels by Paul or Alex. This raises a crucial question: Did the killers expect her to be there, or was her death an unintended consequence?
Why Maggie?
If the real motive was to kill Paul, why was Maggie also murdered? The lack of life insurance on both victims eliminates financial gain as a plausible motive. Instead, Maggie’s death may have been the result of her proximity to Paul at the time of the attack.
- Unintended Witness: Maggie might have been killed simply because she was present and could identify the attackers.
- Paul’s Protector: If Maggie was seen as a potential obstacle to the killers’ plan, they may have acted preemptively to neutralize her.
- Message to Alex: If Paul’s murder was an act of revenge—perhaps tied to the 2019 boating accident lawsuit—Maggie’s death could have been intended to amplify Alex’s suffering.
- If Maggie was also their target, then there was no need to wait until 8:49:01 to make a move. Kill them both while Alex isn’t down at the kennels.
- If all the Murdaugh’s were their targets, then why not kill Alex, Maggie and Paul all at the same time? Why wait for Paul to be perceived as alone?

Whomever it was that shot Maggie, clearly was taken by surprise to have Paul’s mother come flying out of the hangar. If the .300 Blackout was used, it was wildly shot at her.
Murdaugh Property Called Moselle.
At the CC News Network we have investigated this to no end. If Alex was to have shot Paul two times with the irregularly loaded 12 gauge shotgun at 8:49:01, then drop that weapon and pick up the .300 Blackout and run at an angle of 41 degrees (per SLED), then drop to a knee or shoot from the hip to get the wild angles correct. Alex would to have had to have done this in just seconds. We have tried to recreate this scenario, and have never been able to do what Alex is accused of doing in the amount of time he had to have done it.
- Seconds after 8:49:01 – Alex would have had to go get a hidden shotgun, and .300 Blackout at the same time, then lay the .300 down or lean it up against the kennel feed room.. Let’s say 10 seconds have passed for Alex to complete these minor tasks.
- If Alex shoots Paul at 8:49:11 p.m., then believing he’s dead, either stand there, or grab the .300 Blackout. But Paul walks out to the feed room door, then is shot a 2nd time. If Maggie’s phone locks as stated by the state at 8:49:31 p.m., then we can assume she locked her phone and ran out to see what all the shooting is about. The question is did she run out after the first or second shot? Paul would have been screaming in pain.
- If her phone locks at 8:49:31 p.m., she runs a distance of 30 feet, or about 12 human steps and dies from gunshot wounds allegedly from a .300 Blackout. It would have taken Maggie 4 to 5 seconds to run where she died. So if her phone locks at 8:49:31 p.m., and she waited 5 seconds to run out of the hangar after the first shot, that means that Alex has approximately 10 seconds to shoot Paul twice, drop the 12 gauge, pick up the .300 Blackout, then run 30 feet at an angle of 41 degrees, then drop down to a knee or shoot from the hip. All in 10 seconds. But we have to factor in that it takes Alex the same 4-5 seconds to run 30 feet, with bad knees, high on Oxi pills, bad eyesight, and over 300 pounds. This leaves Alex with only 5 seconds to to shoot Paul twice, drop the 12 gauge, pick up the .300 Blackout, then begin to run the 30 feet.
- Why does Alex have to be at the spot Maggie dies? Because Maggie had gun stippling on her body. Which means the killer had to be within 3 feet of her. Dr. Kenny Kinsey says stippling can travel 3 to 6 feet. But we have found no evidence of this. 30 inches to 3 feet is a wide range. Stippling refers to the tiny abrasions or burns caused by unburned gunpowder or hot gas expelled from the firearm upon discharge. It appears as a speckled pattern on the skin or surfaces near the entry wound and is often used to estimate the distance between the muzzle and the target.
- As we stated, the CC News Network has tried to make the state’s timing work using simulations. A stone sober 50 something year old man, with bad knees, cannot get to the 30 feet that it took if Alex shot her, in the amount of time allotted.
Why Not Alex?
The absence of any attempt on Alex Murdaugh’s life suggests he was not a target. Several factors might explain this:
- Targeted Vengeance: The motive could have been specific to Paul and, to a lesser extent, Maggie. Paul’s involvement in the fatal 2019 boating accident and the subsequent legal fallout made him a prime target. Also to note Paul may have known about who really killed Stephen Smith in Hampton around July, 2015.
- Risk of Self-Defense: Alex, a former prosecutor and gun owner, might have been perceived as a more formidable threat.
- Framing Alex: Sparing Alex allowed the killers to create suspicion around him, potentially deflecting attention from themselves.

Exploring the Motive
Paul’s life was mired in controversy, primarily due to the boating accident that claimed the life of Mallory Beach. But others like Connor Cook and Patrick Wilson have said that Paul had been in many accidents involving alcohol, or fights at parties. Ultimately, Cook and Wilson shared that Paul would get out of trouble with help from his grand daddy and daddy, with legal and financial help.
As lawsuits mounted and tensions escalated, Paul became the focal point of anger and resentment. This backdrop suggests the murders could have been an act of revenge aimed squarely at him. If we toss in that he was aware of who the people were that were responsible for Stephen Smith’s death, you now have double the trouble.
What if those people were also friends with Mallory Beach, or related somehow? Is there a better motive to kill someone than keeping yourself out of a long term prison sentence? Ever watch the Sopranos, or Goodfellas? It’s the classic mob movie twist, the guy who gets pinched, and knows all the dirty secrets is thought that they may rat out the others to save himself, and that person gets whacked, as they say in the movies.
However, Maggie’s presence may have been an unexpected complication for the killers. Whether she was summoned to Moselle intentionally or arrived by chance, her death underscores the chaotic nature of the crime. It makes sense to call her home to come say a final goodbye to her father in-law, rather than stay at the beach house. Besides, how do you get “Lured” back to your own house?
Key Questions
- Was Paul the Primary Target?
- Paul’s legal troubles and reputation may have made him the main focus of the killers’ plans. Add in potential knowledge of Stephen Smith’s real killers and this is a terrible situation for Paul. What if Smith’s killers were friends with Mallory Beach, or someone close to Mallory?
- Why Was Maggie at Moselle?
- We know Maggie wasn’t lured to her own home, but was her presence at the kennels an unplanned variable? The shot patterns to her appear erratic and that she took someone by surprise.
- What Does the Timeline Suggest?
- The killers acted when Paul was at the kennels, away from the safety of the main house. Did they wait for Alex to leave the kennels and get into the house? The timeline will prove this.
- Was there Time for Alex? The time from 8:49:01 p.m., and 9:02 p.m. is 12 minutes and 59 seconds. In that 12 minutes and 59 seconds, after Maggie and Paul’s death, Alex has to gather both guns, get back on the golf cart and drive 1,110 yards, and that takes 2 minutes just to drive it. But wait! Maggie’s phone starts to move between 8:53:15 p.m. – 8:55:32 p.m., or 02:29 of activity. Her iPhone was on Find My iPhone with John Marvin Murdaugh, and a solicitor’s detective, and showed her be down at the kennels. Then her small location dot moved to it’s final place. If Alex is the killer, he knew Maggie’s passcode. Why grab Maggie’s and not open it? He did not know Paul’s passcode, but Paul’s phone didn’t move from his body like Maggie’s did. In fact Maggie’s phone travelled 59 steps or about 150 feet. That distance is exactly near the side of the hangar by the reported tire tracks.

According to Maggie’s phone, Alex would still be down at the kennels with the bodies of his dead son and wife from 8:49:01 to 8:55:32 p.m, or 6 minutes and 31 seconds after their deaths. Here is what Alex would have to now do from the kennels starting at 8:55:32 p.m. Get on the golf cart and drive with the guns, the guns and Alex still bloody from Paul’s execution to the main house. That’s a 2 minutes drive by golf cart. That puts Alex at the main house at 8:57:32 p.m. Now he has to shed his clothes, shower and put the bloody guns in the Suburban.
Remember, there is no publicly available evidence indicating the presence of any blood in other areas of the property beyond the immediate crime scene. The investigation and subsequent trial focused on the blood evidence found near the victims, and no reports suggest that additional blood traces were discovered elsewhere at Moselle.
But while Alex’s phone is recording steps from 9:02 to 9:06:47 – Alex Murdaugh’ s iPhone shows 283 steps traveled, and Maggie’s phone is not moving, or recording steps while Alex’s phone is recording steps. This means her phone is not on his person
When does he have time to shower and change? By the way, there’s not a drop of blood in or around the house, in his bedroom, or in the shower drain. If his phone is moving at 9:02, then the only time to shower and change is 4 minutes and 28 seconds, from the time Alex arrived at the house and started making calls and moving. Could you get in and out of the shower that fast (4 minutes and 28 seconds), and leave zero trace of blood on your body or in the house?
Even if Alex wore a “Blue rain jacket,” or poncho as depicted in the Lifetime movie, with significant blood exposure, such as during a close-range gunshot or stabbing, blood spatter could land on the poncho. Since ponchos are loose-fitting and create folds, spatter might accumulate in certain areas or drip down toward the edges, potentially forming trails. There were no trails of Paul’s blood.
At 9:04:23 Alex calls Maggie and lets it ring for 18 seconds, and likely got her voicemail and hung up. At 9:05:44 Maggie’s phone lights up, as if someone picked it up. It is not recording steps, nor is her GPS available. 1 minute and 21 seconds passes between when Alex picked up his phone to call Maggie, and her phone moved again.
The time between when Maggie’s phone lit up and the time it stopped recording anything is between 9:05:44 and 9:06:20, or 36 seconds. The CC News Network did multiple testing of this timing, and from the back entrance of Moselle Rd to the spot her phone was found the next day took us 31 to 32 seconds each time we timed it. From the back hangar to Moselle Rd should take about 4 seconds if you’re moving at a good speed. 32 seconds plus 4 seconds is 36 seconds. The exact amount of time between when her phone lit up, and went from landscape to portrait, then to landscape again, and stops recording at 9:06:20. While Maggie’s phone is NOT recording steps any longer during this time, Alex’s phone is recording steps until 9:06:47. Well after Maggie’s phone stops recording ANY movements.
Riddle me this Batman? If Alex is the sole gunman, and he had to have had Maggie’s phone on his person, how is Alex’s phone recording steps, and Maggie’s is no longer? Because we know for a fact that her phone was just recording steps when Maggie’s phone starts to move between the times of 8:53:15 p.m. – 8:55:32 p.m., that’s 02:29 of activity, just 10 minutes prior.
Alex is still at the main house according to his GPS signal and steps recorded, and at 9:06:52 he calls Maggie again, from the front yard, then at 9:06:53 his phone connects to his Suburban. This means Alex is outside walking to his Suburban. So again I ask the question. Since we know that Maggie’s phone was recording steps, how can Alex be walking to his truck recording steps, still have Maggie’s phone with him, and her phone is not recording steps? Then at 9:07:06 Alex is driving and leaving Moselle. Maggie’s phone makes no more movements to landscape, portrait, or anything. In fact her phone sat and recorded no movements from 9:07:00 until the next day.
But state is wanting you to believe that Alex threw her phone out the window after he sent her a text at 9:08:58, even though the last recorded movement of her phone was at 9:06:20. If Alex had her phone in his cup holder or center console, here’s what her phone would record:
Summary of Recorded Data
- Acceleration: Initial spike when picked up, zero-G during free fall, and a sharp spike upon impact.
- Rotation: Detected by the gyroscope, showing any spinning during the throw and orientation changes.
- Speed and Location: Recorded by GPS until the phone loses connection or stops moving. (But SLED says they don’t have it)
- Final Position: Face up on the ground, which the phone’s sensors would detect based on its orientation.
At 9:08:58, Alex Messages Maggie’s phone the words: “Going to check on Em be rite back.” This is not voice to text, as that will spell words correctly. The CC News Network ran extensive tests from the main entrance of Moselle to where Maggie’s phone was found. We went the exact same speed Alex did at 42 mph top speed. In broad daylight, sober, good eyesight, and haven’t allegedly just killed my wife and son, I could not replicate the time to type those words out in that form, and then hit send like he supposedly did at at 9:08:58, then pick up her phone, without it recording any movement, and throw it out the passenger window of the Suburban moving 42 mph. Then speed up 2 mph faster after I just sent the text.
Is this beginning to make sense to anyone yet? From SLED crime scene agents, to Anthony Cook, to Dr. Kenny Kinsey, to multiple highly qualified defense witnesses, to famous defense attorneys have all said you cannot rule out two shooters. I believe I just made the best case ever presented, by using the State’s own timeline, that it could not have been Alex Murdaugh, no matter how bad of a person he is, no matter how bad you want to believe he did it. The evidence and multiple tests prove the state’s theory is just plain wrong.

This timeline shows the amount of time and steps that Alex and Maggie’s phones recorded steps and movements together during the times of 8:49:01 p.m. and 9:08:58 p.m. on the night of June 1st, 2021. It shows that in 19 minutes and 57 seconds, the time between when Paul was shot and Alex sent the text to Maggie, that Maggie and Alex’s phone NEVER recorded any movement or steps together at the same time, even thought the state said Alex acted alone, which makes him the only one to hold her phone in those times. Zero, plus zero, equals zero, (0+0=0)
Conclusion
The murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh remain shrouded in questions about timing, motive, and intent. If the killers were targeting Paul, the timing of the attack—when he was isolated at the kennels—makes sense. Maggie’s death, however, raises the possibility of collateral damage or was it a symbolic act meant to send a message to Alex. The lack of life insurance on either victim further complicates the case, removing financial incentives as a likely motive.
As more information comes to light, this case continues to challenge investigators and the public alike, forcing us to question whether the full story has truly been uncovered. Also, the death of Stephen Smith still remains a mystery.
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