Opioid Addiction and The Alex Murdaugh Case

Davey Do · Feb 22, 2023

Emergent said:

what factor do you think opioid addiction played into this.

Interesting perspective, Emergent, as in: Did the opioid addiction cause the behavior or merely cause manifestations of an established sociopathic personality disorder?

I have no knowledge of this case previously, but from skimming over the article, got a sense of a familial predisposed genetic personality template.

With the theory of the genetically predisposed personality template, traits are passed on through, of course, the genes. As much as physical attributes, certain personality traits are passed on to the offspring.

The oldest son, Buster, is suspected of murdering acquaintance, Stephen Smith, and father, Alex is suspected of murdering his wife Maggie, and youngest son, Paul.

Opioids decreases inhibition and can also increase certain animalistic natures within individuals. So, it seems more of a chicken/egg concept: Was the inclination toward apathy for the lives of others already there, or did the opioid abuse cause a neuropathic malfunction resulting in the aberrant behavior?

From the history of the multitude of deviant behavior by Alex, Buster and Paul, I lean toward the opioid addiction being merely a symptom and not the causative factor.

Emergent, RN · Feb 22, 2023

@Davey Do you echo my thoughts about this. Sociopathy is often a inherited deficiency in the area of the brain that forms our conscience. I agree that genetics is often a major factor.

klone, MSN, RN · Feb 25, 2023

They all sound like they were POS - Alec, Buster, and Paul. They were born into privilege and their money and status allowed them to do whatever they wanted without consequence.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2023

He does seem to be the poster child of the destruction that is addiction.

I agree that sometimes these things are inherited because there is so much in addiction in my my family including my parents and all three of their children.

That of course doesn't make anyone immune from the consequences of their actions. Lies upon lies and theft have consequences. Them trying to paint the motive to as him wanting to distract from his theft seems a bit odd even for an addict. But it does seem like his life was out of control. No way it wouldn't crash down upon him. For addicts it almost always does.

londonflo · Mar 1, 2023

Tweety said:

Them trying to paint the motive to as him wanting to distract from his theft seems a bit odd even for an addict. But it does seem like his life was out of control.

I watched the Netflix series last night. My guess is he killed the wife because a divorce would show he had no money and killed the son because he had no money for his son's high profile lawyer, that the family would need. But where did all the $$ go? his son Buster gambled but there was no mention of Alec gamboling.. A show witness said he could have been kept in Oxycontin for 114 years for the about he was spending. Maybe Blackmail?

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Mar 1, 2023

The opioid addiction had little to nothing to do with the murders. I hate to admit this, but I have been watching the entire trial on YouTube for the last month. The murder of the son is revenge of the boating accident. They (2 murders) did not expect the mother to be there. No one takes two long guns to murder two people. The only other scenario would be that he owed a lot of money to the drug cartel (spent a lot of money each week on drugs) and they murdered his family. There is no way that Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son (killed in a very gruesome manner) that everyone agreed that he adored. He would need to kill both of them, drive the golf cart back to the house without any blood on the golf cart, shower, clean up all blood from the bathroom, change clothes, and leave for his mother's house in 15 minutes. He would need 30 minutes to shower and clean up in order to get all the blood and body parts off his body. The son was shot twice within 3 feet and there was blood everywhere in the room.

londonflo · Mar 2, 2023

NICU Guy said:

No one takes two long guns to murder two people.

No, both my husband agreed he used two guns so it looked like 2 shooters, absolving him. But he did use one gun that was pretty unique, and his family had that type of one. The amount of oxycontin anyone could buy off the cartel was way less than he could spend for 114 years, even taking what he did.

NICU Guy said:

. He would need to kill both of them, drive the golf cart back to the house without any blood on the golf cart, shower, clean up all blood from the bathroom, change clothes, and leave for his mother's house in 15 minutes.

The evidence showed he had high velocity spatter on his shirt. He never got close to them to get blood on himself. What blood in the bathroom? what shower?

londonflo · Mar 2, 2023

NICU Guy said:

The son was shot twice within 3 feet and there was blood everywhere in the room.

I think the son was killed by the dog kennels as he recorded one of the dogs and his father is on the audio

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Mar 2, 2023

londonflo said:

The evidence showed he had high velocity spatter on his shirt. He never got close to them to get blood on himself. What blood in the bathroom? what shower?

They police took his shirt, shorts, and shoes. There was no blood on them when they tested them. The first shot was within 3 feet due to stippling (hot gases from gun) and hit him in the chest. The second was a contact shot against his head that splattered blood and brain on the ceiling. The shooter would be covered in blood.

The police found no blood in the bathroom, shower, or drains of the bathroom in the house. It would be extremely difficult to clean up that amount of blood that cleanly that there is no blood evidence in the 15-20 minutes he had from end of kennel video to OnStar GPS indicating he left for his mom's house. There was no blood found in his car or seatbelt, so he would of had to clean up before getting in the car.

toomuchbaloney · Mar 2, 2023

NICU Guy said:

The opioid addiction had little to nothing to do with the murders. I hate to admit this, but I have been watching the entire trial on YouTube for the last month. The murder of the son is revenge of the boating accident. They (2 murders) did not expect the mother to be there. No one takes two long guns to murder two people. The only other scenario would be that he owed a lot of money to the drug cartel (spent a lot of money each week on drugs) and they murdered his family. There is no way that Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son (killed in a very gruesome manner) that everyone agreed that he adored. He would need to kill both of them, drive the golf cart back to the house without any blood on the golf cart, shower, clean up all blood from the bathroom, change clothes, and leave for his mother's house in 15 minutes. He would need 30 minutes to shower and clean up in order to get all the blood and body parts off his body. The son was shot twice within 3 feet and there was blood everywhere in the room.

At least one of the weapons belonged to the family.

Why did he lie about being with his son and wife at the kennel shortly before their murders?

Why was the kennel of dogs quiet and content if unknown attackers were lurking nearby on the property? That's not normal dog behavior, particularly when they are in groups.

The fellow was not using good judgement secondary to his opiate addiction and the imminent legal troubles related to his theft. He demonstrated that he was willing to create an event for an agenda when he hired a hitman and then lied about that. He was trying to bolster the case that he wasn't the killer and generate some sympathy. IMV

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Mar 3, 2023

Verdict just in: Guilty on double murder and possession of a weapon during a crime.