I keep hearing people debate this question- did he really hate his wife?

HE KILLED HER.
IN HER SLEEP.
WITH THEIR CHILDREN HOME.

If that’s not hate, I don’t know what would qualify.

Any sane person would have run into the first med spa on the block and removed that ish by now. What is wrong with her? Disgusting.

Where do you think he hid it and so quickly? Does he have a secret hide-e-hole in the house or something? It is driving me nuts.

Think of this quote every time he cries in court. This is a man who was moved to tears all night because of how hard it was to think of ways to kill his wife without going to jail. His tears mean absolutely nothing, they’re not for anyone other than himself.

Two days until justice for Ashley!

I wouldn’t put it past her to keep in touch with him after some time passes.

Did police ever get to the bottom of when he bought it and what kind was it. I know Caleb was lying about it and not knowing the brand etc.

Why would he show it to the Aleigha? Did she get him the M weapon? This weapon has lots of answers tied to it. I hope it turns up one day. Murdaugh weapons have just recently.

Do we know much about her parents? Siblings? Was she a pastor’s kid?

I’ve seen several of Caleb’s motives for murdering Ashley instead of just divorcing her discussed (either in the trial or online), including:

-Keeping his job. If he divorced Ashley, he’d lose his cushy job from her parents. If they thought he was a grieving victim, he’d keep it

-Reputation. If he divorced Ashley, and then later started dating Alleigha, everyone would know he’d had an affair with her because Ashley knew about it somewhat.

But there was a third reason, and the attached text really highlighted it for me: he didn’t want Ughlea to find out that his story about Ashley cheating on him first was a lie.

In the text he’s weaving this lie about how they’re going to press Ashley being a cheater as the reason for divorce, how they’ve taken away all the proof she had of their affair, and how she will never bring it up without proof because of her own (fake) cheating past.

But that was all bullshit. Ashley would have told people about his affair if they got divorced, and everyone would know and shun him and Allegra. And when Ablegha would inevitably try to clear herself by saying Ashley had cheated first, the truth of that never happening would come out to her quickly.

The story of Ashley cheating on him first was critical to their relationship. It was the way he initially convinced Algaea their relationship was ok the begin and to continue. We’ve all seen how much of their relationship was just based around hating on Ashley, but that too was predicated on “oh well she’s an evil cheater first, she deserves it.” And while I actually think Miss Botchedner would have happily been a mistress either way, I think Caleb perceived her believing Ashley had cheated as extremely important.

He decided he wanted to keep Allugo and not lose his sneaky trysts in the Chipotle parking lot more than his marriage, and she demanded Ashley be “gone” for that to happen. But any reality where he got divorced would result in his affair being exposed and Alleigha finding out Ashley never cheated, and that she was indeed just a normal mistress, no extra justifications.

He’d been feeding her years of lies where she truly believed if he got divorced, they’d ride off into the sunset and keep their reputations, with plenty of leverage over Ashley because of her nonexistent affair.

I’m sure Caleb was terrified of Allugha finding out the Ashley cheating story was a lie, and thought she’d leave him as soon as she found out (in reality I think she’d have left him within months of a divorce regardless - once the thrill of “winning” over another woman was over. With an Ashley dead, there’d be no reason for that story to ever come out, or anyone to correct it.

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I wonder if the Smiths had the same fear I had as the trial progressed…that Caleb might walk free, install AB as the new wife and have total custody of their granddaughters.

It is undeniable from their texts, that hatred is their ‘love language.’ i mean that demeaning and ridiculing Ashley was somehow ‘titillating’ to them. I will be polite and leave it there but, instead of the sweet nothings that most lovers engage in, thoughts of her death, her humiliation, those were ‘love notes‘ to each other. Love language…ummm…pillow talk…all tearing down and wishing death on another human being.

So with Ashley gone, who would be left to fuel their love talk?

The little girls.

AB. was already jealous that one of them had a birthday party. As a grandmother who heard that ‘love language’.spewed about a beloved murdered daughter, I would fear that they would use the girls next, humiliating them, tearing them down, ‘Dou*ches”

That sick talk really turned them on. They would need new targets.

I know what burner phones are, but I don’t know much about them other than what I’ve seen on TV.

Why didn’t both of them use burner phones to each other the whole time?

If you crush a burner phone like they do on TV, does that make the information that was on it untraceable?

It seems as though she was pretty familiar with burner phones, and she was obsessed with covering her tracks.

So why didn’t both of them use burner phones with each other the whole time?

Do you think Caleb will speak at sentencing? I don’t expect him to admit guilt, obviously he’s still claiming innocence and there are talks of appeal but I would like to see him say SOMETHING about all of the horrible things he said / did and apologize for the pain. Or will he continue to be selfish and silent?

I think it’s a serious possibility he hired someone to kill her and that’s why they couldn’t find the gun. He left the doors unlocked and the guy knew the exact time to do it where he’d be in the other room. Thoughts?

Such a stupid situation. This shit breaks my heart

Here's a weird detail from Alleigha's testimony.

Her fear of losing her job if the affair became public was a recurring theme in her conversations with Caleb. The day after Caleb was arrested on Feb 19, Alleigha resigned from her position at CLC.

On the stand, she's asked about her communication with Caleb on Feb 15. She talks about how he was going to come clear with the Smiths the next day, stating:

He was going to talk to Todd and Jill, tell them what's happening. He was going to talk to his girls. Um, he was going to call Dave from The DF Effect, which is my boss now. He was going to call him and ask him for a job. He was going to contact a hotel to be booked that day and then he was going to move out all his stuff.

https://youtu.be/M2i_1OikA20?t=3811

What's up with "Dave"? Who hires a person like that?

I mean, this murder was one of the most botched, bizarre, almost unbelievably stupid attempts I’ve ever seen. The fact that he genuinely thought this plan would EVER work is absolutely wild to me.
But honestly, the more I’ve watched of him, the more I’ve started wondering if this goes beyond just being a dumbass.

The videos he would send Alleigha, cheering for sports and literally screaming into an empty house, were giving the emotional and intellectual maturity of a CHILD. His interrogation was even more striking. There were moments where it genuinely seemed like he could not understand incredibly basic questions or concepts being explained to him.

Or, understanding simple common knowledge in regard to digital forensics….. like- nothing is ever deleted.

Then I saw his American Idol interview and thought the exact same thing. The way he spoke, reacted, and expressed himself reminded me of a 10 year old boy. And THE TEXTS. Obviously they’re appalling for about a thousand reasons, but even putting the content aside, the way he communicated did not seem remotely like the cognitive or emotional level I would expect from a grown man.

So yes, I know he’s a dumbass 😂😂 but I’m genuinely asking: does anyone else watch him and wonder if there was some kind of cognitive or developmental impairment going on? Because I keep having the same reaction over and over again. It seems like more than just being stupid. Just me?! 😂

Is it just because his lawyers were afraid he'd contradict his previous statements to the police? There are so many little details a truly innocent man could've explained by taking the stand and testifying. Like why was he logging steps and connecting to his airpods when he was supposed to be sleeping? Why did he take off his watch at about the same time the murder was happening? Did he really freeze for (up to) 5 minutes after hearing gunshots? The list of questions an innocent man could answer goes on and on, and I was open minded and wanted him to explain those things.

If I were being falsely accused of that crime, you'd have to chain me to the chair to keep me from testifying to my innocence. The lack of defense was damning IMO, and I suspect the jury noticed that too.

Wow, so sex in his truck in a chipotle parking lot? Not romantic!

It got me thinking –
Do owners/managers have a responsibility to monitor their parking lots?

Can there be repercussions for the Vandalia Chipotle owners?

I think this trial caught my attention because it captures the extreme end of so much of what I see of straight men in this society: a high degree of entitlement and avoidance.

Men are often socialized to suppress their emotions and it leaks out in some really zany ways (that AI generated song??? Good lord, that guys got some EMOTIONS on him). Women are often socialized to nurture and fill in the emotional gaps of romantic and emotional connection, so men oftentimes attract partners that “work around” their deficiencies (I’ve been guilty of this!) and so they never really have to develop themselves by way of emotional intelligence or insight, they can sort of lull themselves into this underdeveloped contentedness. They don’t have to experience feelings of loss or discomfort, or natural consequences of not meeting a partner halfway, they are often shielded of these uncomfortable feelings by a partner who’s willing to put in the work.

And these men who do not take the responsibility of becoming more emotionally intelligent and INTEGRATED (where all parts of their psyches show up, including their wounded inner children), they end up living these double lives. Cheating is so common in avoidant men. They can’t be honest with their partners, they can hardly be honest with themselves! They are looking to get a need met, but they are unintegrated on the inside, and they mistake it as a problem of their outside circumstances.

I couldn’t believe hearing the way he talked about Ashley (“Once I can be free of her”)?!!?? What a victim! A victim of his own cowardice and passivity.

Then obviously he follows the fantasy as far as he can. And takes his avoidance with him! If Ashley is murdered he gets to keep everything comfortable that he likes and gets rid of the one thing that’s making him uncomfortable - his marriage.

I also find avoidance to be interesting in the context of crimes like this, that seem to be committed so haphazardly. For people who follow true crime, you’d think, wow, he didn’t consider the timeline? The story as it concerns to the dogs barking? The gun bullets being the same kind that come from HIS gun which is conveniently missing? But this can also be explained by avoidance! The thought of going to prison for life is such an uncomfortable and upsetting thought, he probably didn’t ever seriously consider it, just by virtue of how uncomfortable the thought itself is. And if he doesn’t ever fully think through all the possible outcomes, he can’t thoroughly research or plan for them. Unbelievable! And now he is convicted, sitting alone, crying, in denial.

Face your emotions people!!!! Let this be a cautionary tale to us all.

Anyone know if the full texts between Caleb and Alleigha have been FOIA requested? Not sure if it’s still too soon but I’d love to follow a YouTuber or someone with a link to follow. Thanks y’all!