[Discussed in this post: The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty by Valerie Bauerlein]

Have you ever taken a twelve minute nap?

I just finished reading Valerie Bauerlein’s book about Alex Murdaugh and the murders he committed in Hampton County, South Carolina in 2021. At the trial, Murdaugh’s entire alibi hinged on a twelve minute time period during which he argued he was snoozing on the couch. For twelve minutes.

Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, were brutally murdered with a shotgun and a blackout rifle the night of June 7 near the dog kennels on their grand property out in the country. Alex claimed from the start that he was not present during the murder. He said he had been at the house napping, and then he had driven several miles to visit his ailing mother. It was only upon his return home that he found the dead bodies of his wife and son out near the kennels.

Police had no reason to doubt Alex’s alibi for most of the investigation. But ten months in, they were finally able to unlock Paul’s cell phone. On it, they found a video taken just minutes before the murder occurred. Paul had filmed the dogs out at the kennel. His father Alex’s voice was clearly heard in the background.

So, at the time Alex claimed he had been napping in the house, he was actually out at the kennels.

After opening up the phone, police were also able to gain access to the black box on Alex’s Chevy Suburban. The data on the truck’s computer revealed that he did indeed visit his mother that night, but he departed later and returned home sooner than he had claimed.

In short, Alex initially said that between napping and visiting his mom, he was away from his wife and son for a large chunk of time that night. This was supposedly when someone else came onto the property and killed Maggie and Paul.

After Paul’s video was found and the Suburban’s data was collected, though, there was only a small amount of time that was unaccounted for. It wasn’t a couple hours. It was twelve minutes.

The prosecutor in the trial argued that after the cell phone video was taken, Alex killed Maggie and Paul.

Alex argued that after the video was taken, he went back to the house and took a nap.

The prosecutor pointed out it could have only been twelve minutes because Alex’s vehicle left the property at that point.

Alex said sure, he napped for twelve minutes. He wasn’t present when his wife and son were murdered, and he didn’t hear gunshots, because he was asleep in the house. He left after the nap and when he got home, he found his wife and son’s bodies near the kennels.

The prosecutor appealed to the jury to use their common sense. Who naps on the couch for twelve minutes? At 9:00 pm? And sleeps so soundly in those twelve minutes that they don’t hear multiple shotgun and rifle blasts 250 yards away?

It was too much to fathom. It strained credulity.

And yet, when the jury in Alex Murdaugh’s trial began deliberations, one juror was undecided and two more believed he was innocent.

Why would Alex Murdaugh have received the benefit of the doubt by anyone at that point? After all, it was revealed at the trial that as a lawyer, Alex had stolen money from his clients for years. He had been abusing illegally obtained opioid pills for years. He had been impersonating law enforcement for years, flashing around the badge his father had used in his time as county solicitor.

Alex had covered up his son Paul’s responsibility for a drunken boat wreck that killed a teenager named Mallory Beach. He had cashed in a property insurance claim when his longtime maid Gloria Satterfield fell down stairs in the Murdaugh home and died. He filed the claim and kept the money for himself instead of giving it to Ms. Satterfield’s family.

Why would Alex Murdaugh get any benefit of the doubt?

Perhaps because he was personally intimidating. Perhaps it was because of his charm and charisma, which he also had. He had family connections. He had many friends in law enforcement and the justice system. The Murdaugh family, practicing law in Hampton County since 1910, routinely engaged in witness tampering and bribery, even fixing juries. Perhaps people were reluctant to challenge the Murdaughs out of fear of retribution.

Maybe if you’re in a certain position, or from a certain family, you can get away with anything you want.

Up to a point. Perhaps up to the point you ask everyone to believe you took a twelve minute nap.

The twelve minute nap was a bridge too far, the jury ultimately concluded. They found him guilty and the judge sentenced him to two life terms.

While we’re on the subject of imprisoning powerful public figures, how can you not think of our current Republican nominee running for president? He has a lot in common with Alex Murdaugh: a family dynasty, friends in the justice system, plenty of wealth.

Also, a long track record of committing crimes with no serious consequences. He has the classified documents case. The financial crimes for which he has yet to be sentenced. The sex crime for which he has yet to pay the civil penalty. He stood on a debate stage once and asked Russia to hack his political opponent. He stood on a debate stage another time and asked the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” He invited and encouraged the riots at the Capitol on January 6.

And he is currently neck and neck in the polls with his opponent in the presidential race.

At some point, it will become untenable. We will be confronted with Trump’s “twelve minute nap”: the one thing it will be impossible to believe, impossible to ignore, impossible to reconcile with reality. And we will finally dismiss him from public life.

Or, come this November, he will win the election and make all the controversy go away by leaning on the levers of presidential power.

It’s up to us. It’s up to our common sense. We’ve all got to decide how far we’re willing to let Trump take it, because like Alex Murdaugh once upon a time, his life and his decisions are not going in a good direction. Don’t get caught napping on November 5.