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Alex Murdaugh, a South Carolina lawyer, is charged with killing his wife and son
alex murdaugh The police reviewed the deaths of many people who were involved in the Murdaugh family’s death last year and found that Mr. Murdaugh was guilty of a number of financial crimes.
Fourth-generation South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh was charged with murdering his wife and one son at their family’s remote hunting estate. This mysterious murder has remained unsolved for over a year.
Two counts of murder were brought against Mr. Murdaugh (54). Prosecutors say he shot Maggie Murdaugh 52 times with a rifle, and his son Paul Murdaugh 22 with a shotgun on June 7, 2021. Alex Murdaugh, a 54-year-old man, called 911 from Islandton, 65 miles west Charleston, to report that he was returning home to find his son and wife dead in their dog kennel.
The investigation by the South Carolina attorney-general and state police did not reveal any additional details. This stunned the legal community and caught the eye of amateur sleuths from across the country. After being indicted for numerous financial and fraud crimes, Mr. Murdaugh has been held in jail since October. He will be appearing before a judge Wednesday morning to face bond hearings on the murder charges.
On Thursday, Mr Murdaugh’s lawyers stated in a statement that Mr Murdaugh was innocent and loved his son and wife “more than any other person in the world”.
The lawyers stated that Alex wanted his family, friends, and everyone to know that there was nothing to do with the murders of Maggie and Paul. They claimed that Mr Murdaugh had been identified by the police prematurely and that he did not have any motive to kill them.
The Murdaugh family was immediately under scrutiny for their actions and the deaths of many people they were associated with. His great-grandfather, father and grandfather were all top prosecutors in the vast area at the southern end the state called the South Carolina Lowcountry.
The police started to investigate the 2015 death Stephen Smith, a 19 year-old man found on a road 10 miles from Murdaugh’s home. He was believed to have been struck by a truck. In 2018, Gloria Satterfield, a housekeeper for Murdaugh, also died after falling onto their front steps. Last month, the police stated that they would exhume Ms. Satterfield’s body. They have not charged anyone with wrongdoing in any of the deaths.
These killings brought attention to a fatal boat accident in 2019 that was allegedly caused by Paul Murdaugh. Paul Murdaugh was charged by prosecutors with driving the boat into a bridge and killing Mallory Beach in 2019. He was still facing these charges at the time he was shot.
Alex Murdaugh was sued by Ms. Beach’s relatives, who claimed that he was partly responsible for the crash due to his knowledge that his son was underage and was drinking. The lawyer representing Ms. Beach had asked a judge for Alex Murdaugh’s financial records to be turned over.
Alex Murdaugh began to lose control of his life soon after the murders of 2021. His family began to accuse him for years of financial corruption. His great-grandfather founded the law firm where he worked more than 100 years ago. In September, he stated that Mr. Murdaugh had stolen millions from the firm.
He was forced to quit the firm the day after the shooting. Police say he then asked one of his cousins to shoot him in the side of the road. The act was staged as if it was a murder to allow Buster to collect his life insurance policy. The plan was a failure. Mr. Murdaugh was reportedly shot but not seriously injured in the incident. Curtis Edward Smith and his cousin were both charged with various crimes.
Over the next months, Murdaugh was accused of a number of financial crimes. He also took $2.8 million from Ms. Satterfield’s settlement funds, which were supposed to be paid to her relatives in a wrongful death lawsuit for her fall on Mr. Murdaugh’s property. Last month, he admitted to owing her sons $4.3million.
Two associates of Mr. Murdaugh, a lawyer and former chief executive officer of a South Carolina bank, were also charged with financial fraud and conspiracy in connection to what prosecutors called schemes to misappropriate funds in support of Mr. Murdaugh. According to the South Carolina attorney General, Murdaugh was charged with fraudulently taking in $8.5 million.
His distant cousin Mr. Murdaugh, and Mr. Smith were indicted for conspiracy to launder money related to the distribution of oxycodone. Last year, Mr. Murdaugh stated that he had a drug addiction. He checked himself in to a Florida drug detox center. However, he was arrested in October for financial crimes in connection with the settlement funds in Ms. Satterfield’s case.
The Supreme Court of South Carolina disbarred him this week after he admitted that he owed his family money and that he had taken money from his law firm.
Hampton County, which is home to the Murdaugh legal dynasty since 1910, has been the focus of a lot of attention.
Chief Mark Keel, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, stated in a statement that agents have remained focused over the past thirteen months on the investigation and were determined to identify the perpetrator.
Chief Keel stated, “Today represents one more step in an ongoing process for justice for Maggie & Paul.”
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