The daughter of the caretaker who testified that she saw Murdaugh on the night of the double murder creates a GoFundMe page

The daughter of the caretaker who cracked Alex Murdaugh’s alibi on the night of the murders set up a GoFundMe page to “reward her mother’s bravery”, but a legal expert warned that “it appears she is being paid for her testimony”.

Rachelle Buckner, the daughter of Shelly Smith, has raised more than $7,000 so far, including an anonymous donation of $1,000 that was made within the first hour of the page’s creation on Wednesday.

Former prosecutor Lori Murray told DailyMail.com: ‘It’s clearly not looking good.

“It seems especially suspicious because the first donation was made an hour after the page was created,” he added.

However, the lawyer does not believe there is anything sinister at work. Murdaugh’s double murder trial is captivating the public and many people have expressed their sympathy for Smith online following his emotional testimony.

“I just don’t think that’s the case right now, there are a lot of people who feel sorry for her on social media,” Murray said.

Musshelle ‘Shelly’ Smith (left), the caretaker for Murdaugh’s elderly mother, Elizabeth ‘Libby’ Alexander Murdaugh (right), recounted how she spoke to the suspected killer on the night of the murders when he visited her parents’ home. Prosecutors say this was after he killed Maggie and Paul.

Rachelle Buckner, the daughter of Shelly Smith, has raised more than $7,000 so far, including an anonymous donation of $1,000 that was made within the first hour of the fundraising page’s creation.

Smith wept Monday when she told jurors how Murdaugh had visited her mother’s house the night of the murders for about 20 minutes.

A few days later, he ordered her to tell the police that she had been there for 40 minutes.

Smith told jurors this made her so “nervous” that she called her police officer brother to tell him about the conversation.

Prosecutors say Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were shot to death shortly after 8:49 p.m. and that Murdaugh drove to his mother’s house at 9:06 p.m. to “manufacture an alibi.” .

Data from his Chevrolet Suburban shows that the car was parked for approximately 21 minutes at the time Smith said he came to visit his mother.

Elsewhere, Smith’s evidence seemed more beneficial to Murdaugh’s defense.

She testified that she saw Murdaugh holding a blue tarp when she visited the house again a few days after the murders.

Former prosecutor Lori Murray told DailyMail.com it “clearly doesn’t look good”

The prosecution claims it was a blue raincoat that was covered in gun residue, but during cross-examination, Smith said what he saw was a blue tarp.

Murray said he doesn’t think it’s in the interest of either the prosecution or the defense to call Smith as a witness and that the idea of ​​either side paying him for his contradictory and confusing evidence seems unlikely.

However, Elizabeth Riley, a trial attorney with 35 years of experience, said that if the state finds out about the existence of the page, it will move quickly to shut it down.

‘This is a very bad idea. This witness is now receiving something of value for her testimony. If the prosecution finds out about this, they’ll shut it down. The defense could call the daughter as a witness to establish that Smith is benefiting, during trial, from her testimony,” Riley tweeted.

Another trial lawyer, Robert Rikard, tweeted: “Her and daughter now fair game in defense case and won’t be pretty…shows bias, motive to embellish testimony, motive to testify a certain way for gain financial, etc. It could get very ugly.

Miller Shealy, a professor at Charleston Law School and a former prosecutor, said he’s never seen a fundraiser for a traumatized witness, but he doesn’t see anything inappropriate as long as people understand what they’re donating to.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing, but I have no reason to believe it’s inappropriate,” Shealy told the Post and Courier.

Murdaugh arrives at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on February 9.

Buster Murdaugh and his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, and Alex’s brother, John Marvin Murdaugh (right) and sister Lynn (left), arrive at the Colleton County courthouse on Thursday.

Alex Murdaugh with his wife Maggie, eldest son Buster, right, and youngest son Paul, left

The fundraising page reads: ‘As everyone knows, my mother was the caretaker for Alex Murdaugh’s mother. She recently had to testify against her and that had caused her a lot of pain and stress…

‘Since I knew I would have to testify, I had been through a lot with what ifs, should Is, and DO I HAVE TO? I want to reward her for her bravery and her honesty, as it was one of the hardest things she had to do. We want to show her that she is not alone and that we support her 100%!’

Buckner said her mother took time off work because she is concerned that media attention could distract students at her workplace.

Since then, the description on the GoFundMe page has been reduced to just two lines. He says, ‘These are her children doing this for her! She had no idea about this!!!’

Smith’s daughter has been contacted for comment.

Murdaugh, 54, is accused of shooting his wife and youngest son Paul on the night of June 7, 2021 at the family’s sprawling hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina.

The prosecution is still presenting its case in the trial that began three weeks ago.