Impact of Influence: The Murdaugh Family Murders and Other Cases

Valerie Bauerlein talks with the show about her new book, The Devil At His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty. If you think you knew all about Alex Murdaugh, his trial, the murders of Maggie and Paul or the Murdaugh family, think again. Valerie Bauerlein is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and attended the entire Alex Murdaugh trial. Impact of Influence is part of the Ev...

The South Carolina Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on whether Alex Murdaugh will receive a new trial based on jury tampering by former Clerk of Court, Becky Hill. Seton and Matt discuss the latest developments with law professor and attorney Matt Siembieda. Will this make new case law in SC? Matt Siembieda is an attorney and law professor at Temple Law School. Mr Siembieda breaks down h...

In Part 4 of our series on Jimmy Robertson we play parts of the trail. the defense closing on guilty or not guilty, unsettling testimony from the victims of Robertson's stalking, and a psychiatrist tries to keep Jimmy off of death row. In November of 1997, two days before Thanksgiving, Earl and Terry Robertson were brutally murdered by their son, Jimmy Robertson. The story captivated the nation. T...

Rex Heuermann, the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer charged in six killings has a connection to South Carolina. Heuerman was arrested in July of 2023 for the murders of four woman. Recently two more victims were added to his charges. Last July, authorities searched properties that he and his brother own in Chester, SC. Impact of Influence is part of the Evergreen Podcasting Network Seton Tucker a...

Attorney Joe McCullough represents a couple of the jurors from the Murdaugh double murder trial. Both of those jurors feel like they were pressured by the Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill during the trial to reach a guilty verdict. One of those jurors, #785, was kicked off the jury and now has written a book about the trial. McCullough has filed a motion, on behalf of juror #785, to have...

The Beach Civil Outrage lawsuit is heating up. Seton and Matt breakdown the latest in that battle. Impact of Influence is part of the Evergreen Podcasting Network Seton Tucker and Matt Harris began the Impact of Influence podcast shortly after the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. Now they cover true crime past and present from the southeast region of the U.S. Look for Impact of Influence on Fa...

Pete Kaliner joins the podcast to talk about the Robertson case. Pete covered the Jimmy Robertson trial for a radio station in Rock Hill, SC. Pete also had a personal run in with Robertson just about a month before the trial. You can listen to Pete's show daily at https://thepetekalinershow.com/ In November of 1997, two days before Thanksgiving, Earl and Terry Robertson were brutally murdered by t...

Tommy Pope was the solicitor in charge of convicting Jimmy Robertson and of sending Robertson to death row. Pope shares his memory of the case that shook the nation. In November of 1997, two days before Thanksgiving, Earl and Terry Robertson were brutally murdered by their son, Jimmy Robertson. The story captivated the nation. The story of a well off couple being murdered by their math genius son...

Buster Murdaugh has filed a defamation lawsuit against eight media outlets. The lawsuit includes creators and distributors of documentaries, a local paper and its editor. The complaint alleges Buster was falsely accused of harming Stephen Smith by the media entities named in the lawsuit. Impact of Influence is part of the Evergreen Podcasting Network Seton Tucker and Matt Harris began the Impact o...

For this special Father's Day episode we hear from Seton's father, Matt Siembieda. This episode was originally on The Wicked South Podcast. Matt Siembieda is an attorney and law professor at Temple Law School. He was also involved in the civil rights movement and he gives us his firsthand account of his involvement. From seemingly insignificant small towns like Hampton, South Carolina, to historic...

In November of 1997, two days before Thanksgiving, Earl and Terry Robertson were brutally murdered by their son, Jimmy Robertson. The story captivated the nation. The story of a well off couple being murdered by their math genius son caught the eye of the country. Plus, Jimmy had an accomplice. What was her story? The trial was covered gavel to gavel on CourtTV. In the first episode of the series...

Two and a half years after the estate of Mallory Beach filed a lawsuit claiming civil conspiracy and outrage by the Parker's team, some discovery may finally take place. The defense filed three motions to compel discovery to attorneys representing the estate. They were seeking information about dissemination of a confidential mediation video, knowledge of jury tampering in Hampton County and commu...

Matt and Seton discuss State reporter, John Monk's report that Alex Murdaugh was in a prison fight with an inmate who assaulted his niece. Becky Hill the former Clerk of Court of Colleton County is facing 76 counts of misconduct according to the State Ethics Commission. Impact of Influence is part of the Evergreen Podcasting Network Seton Tucker and Matt Harris began the Impact of Influence podca...

FitsNews editor and reporter, Will Folks joined Matt and Seton to discuss how social media might effect reporting and investigating crime stories, and how social media can react to what is being written or said by media outlets. https://www.fitsnews.com/ Will Folks is the founding editor of FITSNews.com. Prior to that he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. Before entering...

In 1889, two brothers, Andre and Edouard Michelin, started a company that made the world’s first removable pneumatic tires.  Today, their names are synonymous with fine dining around the world.  If you wonder what rubber tires have to do with the world’s greatest restaurants, I assure you it all makes perfect sense, even if the story isn’t perfectly linear.  Learn more about the Michelin Star Rest...

The most famous man in South Carolina lives in prison. He stands convicted of a staggering amount of wrongdoing—more than 100 crimes and counting. Once a high-flying, smooth-talking, pedigreed Southern lawyer, Alex Murdaugh is now disbarred and disgraced. For more than a decade, prosecutors asserted that Alex was secretly a fraud, a thief, a drug trafficker, and an all-around phony. On the night o...

In this episode, we want to warn you that we will be talking about suicide and mental health. If you or a loved one are struggling with mental health, please seek help. There is a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. All you have to do is call or text 988 and a trained counselor is there to help. In the last week we’ve received many messages asking us to cover the tragic death of 30 year old Mica...

More Puzzling Questions Surrounding the death of Kadie Major This is a follow up episode to a March 20th episode we did on the death of Kadie Major. On January 17, 2008, the bodies of pregnant 26 years-old Kadie Majors and her ten month old daughter, River, were found near railroad tracks in Moncks Corner, SC. A coroner ruled Kadie's death a suicide but the pathologist at MUSC in Charleston ruled...

We start with the latest news on Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill. You may remember that Neil Gordon co-authored, Behind the Doors of Justice, with Becky Hill. Melissa Gordon was the photographer for the book. Since the book was published, Hill admitted to plagiarizing a portion of the book and she faces multiple ethics investigations. Hill was also accused by Alex Murdaugh's defense tea...

The book, Tremors in the Blood: Murder, Obsession, and the Birth of The Lie Detector explores the history of the polygraph. We discuss that history with the author, Amit Katwala. Are the machines "truth serum" or "junk science"? Did the inventors stand by the reliability? How has the polygraph failed law enforcement and people accused of heinous crimes? Support our sponsor Regal Cinemas and Regal...

On April 1, Alex Murdaugh was in federal court to find out his sentence on financial crimes. We discuss his failed polygraph and his sentence. Support our sponsor Regal Cinemas and Regal Unlimited. Sign up now in the Regal app or www.regmovies.com/unlimited and use our code IMPACTREG Impact of Influence is part of the Evergreen Podcasting Network Seton Tucker and Matt Harris began the Impact of In...

Alex Murdaugh's plea deal on federal financial crimes is in jeopardy. Alex failed a lie detector test. The author of The Fall of The House of Murdaugh, Michael Dewitt, joins us to talk about the book and the death of Alex's mother. Support our sponsor Regal Cinemas and Regal Unlimited. Sign up now in the Regal app or www.regmovies.com/unlimited and use our code IMPACTREG Impact of Influence is par...

In 2008, a pregnant mother and her ten month old daughter were found dead near train tracks in Moncks Corner, SC. There were many questions surrounding her death. Kadie Major's death was ruled a suicide but Kadie's mother continued to fight for justice. The case was reopened in 2018. Seton Tucker and Matt Harris began the Impact of Influence podcast shortly after the murders of Maggie and Paul Mur...

The Burden is a new investigative true-crime podcast from Orbit Media. The show tells the story of Detective Louis Scarcella, once celebrated for his prowess in solving tough cases in 1990s New York City. Scarcella becomes embroiled in controversy as a group of convicted murderers (who all claim to be innocent!) turned jailhouse lawyers uncover his involvement in dozens of cases, leading to the re...

The ACLU is challenging the South Carolina Department of Corrections policy preventing inmates from speaking to reporters in person, among other restrictions. Matt Siembieda is an attorney and law professor at Temple Law School. Mr Siembieda breaks down how the US Supreme Court has ruled on similar cases and how the SC policy will be challenged by the ACLU. Seton Tucker and Matt Harris began the I...