Trial
Our days have been filled with the Alex Murdaugh Trial. My husband and I did not follow it from the beginning. It was only when both of us got COVID that we turned on the television for entertainment. Plastered on the screen was live footage of the double murder trial. We were only looking for a movie to watch but soon found ourselves glued to the trial instead. We first watched only to observe Mr. Murdaugh on the stand. Then it became a daily part of our recovery to tune in as witnesses took the stand.
Can you even begin to imagine being a part of this jury? We heard shocking testimony as we sat on our couch with fever, sniffles, coughs, and Covid-induced misery. At times there was extreme graphic testimony by experts. While we did not see the pictures shown to the jury, the descriptions from the experts were what you would expect from the most horrific nightmares or the most horrifying movies. It was hard to imagine the fair-skinned, redheaded defendant could possibly have taken the life of not only his wife but also his son! It’s just extremely hard to fathom!
Is he guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?
We learned of a Snapchat video his son, Paul, posted prior to his death. This placed Mr. Murdaugh at the scene, although he denied being at the “kennels” for such a long time. What happened to the clothes he was wearing in the Snapchat video? When he was seen on the police footage later that night, he was wearing something completely different. Then there was testimony about him carrying a tarp-like article when at his mother’s house that night.
Mr. Murdaugh was adamant when on the stand that he did NOT shoot his wife or son at any time. Ever. He admitted to lying and then having to lie some more to cover the first set of lies. He admitted to stealing money. But was he a murderer?
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. But the question is WHY would he kill not only his wife but also his beloved son? From what we understand, he didn’t have a large life insurance policy on either of them so there goes that theory. The argument now is he was trying to distract from the large amounts of money he had stolen, but to the extreme that he would kill his family members? And if he would kill his wife and one son, why not the other one, too? Why stop there?
It’s just so hard to comprehend!
Now, we know his son was involved in the tragic death of sweet Mallory a few short years ago. Was someone out to get Paul and “make him pay” for Mallory’s death? Was his mom just at the wrong place at the wrong time? Or was she lored there to face such horror that would come?
Even with all the questions swirling around in our minds, it’s hard not to feel compassion for Mr. Murdaugh as you watch him sobbing on the witness stand. With tears and other fluids running down his red face, he looks distraught while listening to the graphic description of how his wife and son died and were found.
If he didn’t commit these murders, he will still require a lifetime of counseling for all he’s endured throughout this trial. He did horrible things by stealing money, but was he capable of murdering his family members?
We realize he had an opioid addiction, and addicts become someone else entirely when they are under the influence of drugs. Did the drugs turn him into a killer?
As my husband and I prepare to return to the office tomorrow after a week, we will leave the daily courtroom drama behind. While we won’t have the time to follow this trial as we did on sick leave, we will still be interested in the verdict when it comes.
There’s such sadness and tragedy here with so many lost lives. The ending of beautiful lives. No matter what a person has done in their lifetime, they don’t deserve to face death like this.
Then there are the lost lives of people living in sin worshipping money and drugs. Some want to see him “pay.” I believe he will for all eternity if he committed these murders. If he didn’t kill his wife and son but stole money, he will still “pay” in that regard with jail time but also the testimony from experts that will forever haunt him.
My heart is just sad for the families involved. From Mallory’s family and friends, the housekeeper, the gentleman found on the roadside, to Paul and Maggie, and others like the uncle cleaning up after their bodies were removed. With tears in his eyes, the uncle talked of how he did this for Paul. How could you bring yourself to visit the crime scene but then to clean it on top of that? How would you not be tormented by that image engrained in your mind from that point on? When you lay down to sleep, how would you get that movie in your mind to stop?
And so we will pray for them … ALL of them! We ask God to help the lost souls, the hurting family and friends, and even those law enforcement officers who responded to the scene to find all they did that night. We pray for the jurors and all in the courtroom hearing the testimony and having the images in their minds now of what the crime scene looked like.
There is such evil in the world today, and we need God now more than ever before.
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This was written before the verdict was handed down. Guilty.
We gathered around the computer at work watching as the judge sentenced Alex Murdaugh to life in prison for the murders of his son and his wife.
Do you feel he had a fair trial? The trail of lies he told and the money he stole from innocent people paved the way for no one to believe him despite how he cried on the witness stand. Did the jury just get fed up in that situation and automatically deem him guilty?
Alex stood in the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit with socks and sandals before the judge. He spoke of his innocence mere moments before handcuffs were placed on him. Although he said HE would never hurt his wife and his son, does he know who did? If he wasn’t the one to pull the trigger, was he there when it was taking place? It seems he was there mere moments before they both lost their lives, so he had to hear and possibly see the shooter – if it wasn’t him!
These are thoughts that will forever linger in our minds.
The judge was very calm, cool, and collected as he spoke to Alex regarding the death of his son and wife. The judge just lost his own son, so you can imagine the feelings he was dealing with as well. The judge spoke of how Maggie and Paul must visit Alex, and Alex acknowledged the nightly visits. It’s hard to imagine how sleep would ever come with the visions in his head of the crime scene.
Buster is the only remaining immediate member of the family left on this earth to fin for himself in the outside world. Some speculate that even he had something to do with the death of his own mother and brother.
What a wicked world we live in for something like this to have occurred.
This cements in my mind that we need GOD now more than ever before!
Broken
Recently someone close to me experienced a significant loss and then another on top of that. Devastation swept over her, and tears fell like rain. Hope was crushed, and the pain was almost unbearable. Yet, even though she felt broken, she turned her focus into helping others. In doing so, she helped walk herself through the sorrow she was feeling. She started a page (sounds familiar) to share her thoughts and feelings, although she did so anonymously. This allowed her to be as transparent about her pain as possible because no one would know it was “her” writing those words and sharing her heartbreak. None of her friends or family would associate the page with her if they stumbled upon it. She was free to lay it all out on the line without holding back. This allowed her to get it out instead of keeping it bottled up inside.
What a healthy way to heal her broken heart!
We have all questioned, even though we are told not to, because we are human! We want to know WHY something bad happened to someone that was trying to live a good life for the Lord. The only answer is because there is sin in the world, so will there be sorrow and pain as well. It almost feels like believers will face more trials and tribulations than sinners. We struggle with how unfair this seems to us who are trying to follow Christ. That is also a very human response, and it is extremely normal to feel this way. Along with what you are dealing with, let shame and guilt go, as you have every right to feel these feelings.
She was surprised to learn of a number of followers to her page; shocked at the response. Here she was sharing her raw grief yet shining like a beacon in the night for those who felt they were alone on the stormy seas of life. People need to know they are not alone!
Maybe God allows bad things to happen to good people so they will reach out and comfort others who are struggling … just as He has comforted us.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
Stewardship
I believe God orchestrated the “chance meeting” of mere strangers in an online forum over 20 years ago. He knows what we need right when we need it. Something drew us all into that forum. It was something other than our interest in the television network for women. I believe we were seeking companionship. We wanted to be a part of something and feel like we mattered (because we all do).
We formed friendships that spanned over two decades. While we may not talk every day or share emails as often, we are all still connected.
When Facebook entered the scene, we went from hiding behind made-up screen names to using our full names. Not only that but some listed where they were from and even their employers. It seemed impossible! How could we be this comfortable sharing information on the world wide web where anyone may be able to find us? How did we become so trusting when once we were so fearful?
Ah, but we love Facebook. Some have even become addicted to it and visit multiple times a day to see what’s new on their newsfeeds. Facebook has made us familiar with others and what we share online. We see pictures of family gatherings, which I love! We share “updates” and keep others in the loop via private messages from time to time. We are still only a keystroke away.
Isn’t it funny how things have come full circle? It began with an online forum all those years ago, and here we are after meeting in person and sharing quality time together, back checking on each other in another online forum. Our lives have been changed. We will never be the same again!
We have all gotten older, and sadly, some of our dear friends have passed away. We are forever thankful for how they enriched our lives and the imprint they left on our hearts. Debbie’s story was told rather briefly, but the impact she had on our lives lingers on. Fogel, from earlier in this series, left us way too soon as well. Another dear friend I haven’t mentioned yet is Rick, otherwise known as Heyou in our lounge days. Rick lived in Corning, New York, and he was among the brave men in our group. We connected on a deeper level and shared our lives through emails, posts, pictures, and phone calls. I never got a chance to meet Rick in person, although that was in the works at one point. He fell ill, and I respected his privacy. I knew he had his share of health struggles through the years, and his visits to the hospital were “club med” as he would refer to it. He shared the antics of his dogs with me, and we had many laughs over that through the years. I came to know his mom, which was truly special. As his days drew near to when he would leave this earth, his mom shared updates with me so I could pray. While we hoped he would recover, cancer had taken a toll on his body starting in his foot, of all places. He beat it before, and we were hopeful he would again. He fought the lows and highs of the blood pressure meds, feeling weak when his blood pressure was too low. He was a strong man even still and remained positive in every conversation we ever had, despite what he was going through. He was a bright light that went dim and was snuffed out way too soon. I will forever be grateful for the impact he had on my life and for the friendship we had through the years.
The stewardship of friendship is a reminder to use our God-given talents and gifts to give back and seek to leave the world a better place. We are reminded to take care of the friendship that has been given to us by God. Guiding us also for better interactions and connections in life, we value simplicity, peace, integrity, equality, and last, but not least, community.
Yes, community, where it all began.
