EP. 53 SOUTH CAROLINA - The Murdaugh Family Murders
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Since the beginning of time, your name and the family you come from can have a big effect on your status in life. If your family comes from money, it's likely that you'll be very well off. Before you can even walk, you'll already have connections, wealth, and privilege that the majority of the world will never have access to. On the contrary, if you don't come from money, you'll have to work a lot harder to seek those same rewards.

It's a social hierarchy that's been around since the beginning of time, and it's seen throughout all of the world, even in small towns across America today.

In these small communities, there are families who have lived in the town for centuries. And throughout the generations, the family business is carried on and their status continues to grow. And soon enough, everyone in town knows who they are. This is the case for the Murdoch family in Hampton, South Carolina.

100 years, the Murdaws have had a reputation in Hampton for being a prominent legal family. For the past 85 years, someone in the family has held the position of Hampton's district attorney. They also have their own successful law firm that has been around since 1910.

The Murdaws are incredibly wealthy and they have many connections within law enforcement. It's been said that throughout the years, anytime anyone has any legal issues within Hampton, it's likely that you'll come across a Murdaw. But like many powerful families, the Murdaws had some skeletons in their closet and these

And these skeletons would come pouring out in 2019 after a horrific boat crash took the life of a young girl. This crash would serve as a catalyst in exposing the family's secrets, and their dynasty would soon come crashing down after a string of lies, corruption, and suspicious deaths fell upon the town of Hampton, South Carolina. This is the story of the Murdaugh murders.

I'm Courtney Shannon. And I'm Colin Brown. And you're listening to Murder in America. Hampton, South Carolina. It's a small town with a population of just over 2,800 people. And it definitely has a South Carolina feel. There are moss trees lining the streets, swampy areas, seafood. And they're especially known for their annual Watermelon Festival.

Because the town is so small, there are almost no strangers. Everyone knows everyone, and many of the families who reside here have had roots in the town for generations, including the Murdoch family, one of the most prominent families in the city. The Murdochs first came to Hampton in 1910 when Randolph Murdoch Sr. moved to the city and started his own civil law firm.

In 1920, he became the city's district attorney and the Murdaugh name really started to gain respect. Randolph's son, who they referred to as Buster, would follow in his father's footsteps and became the district attorney in 1940. And soon enough, another generation of Murdaugh's would come. And Randolph III would also end up having three sons, Randy, John, and Alex Murdaugh. And the person we are going to focus on today is Alex, because his decisions in this story will completely destroy the Murdaugh name.

Alex Murdaugh came from old money. Like we mentioned, his family had been wealthy for generations and he always knew he wanted to join the family business. So in 1990, he graduated from the University of South Carolina and then went on to USC School of Law where he graduated in 1994. Afterward, he moved to the University of South Carolina

back to Hampton to join the family firm. And at this time, the family was very prominent in the legal system. They've had three generations of elected prosecutors, so throughout the years, they had been well respected for putting the city's criminals away. And they always had a very good relationship with law enforcement.

The family prosecutors were always known to invite the sheriffs to go hunting and fishing with them and discuss different cases that were happening in the city.

And this just shows the connections that the family had within their community. Not only were they respected by the citizens of Hampton, but by law enforcement as well. And Alex was one of these people who everyone knew and respected. He would get married to a woman named Maggie, who he met at USC in the late 80s.

and the two would go on to have two sons, Richard, who they called Buster, and Paul. And we tried to find some information about the dynamics of Alex Murdaugh's immediate family, like what his relationship with his wife was like, or how he interacted with his kids, but I wasn't able to find anything. Most of the information out there only talks about the family after the boat crash in 2019, but that accident doesn't have much to do with Alex Murdaugh. Instead, it has to do with his youngest son,

Paul, which brings us to February 23rd, 2019. Like most teenagers in Hampton, Paul and a few of his friends wanted to spend their Saturday night with their girlfriends. And the six people that all wanted to hang out were actually three different couples. There was Paul and his girlfriend Morgan Dowdy, a guy named Anthony Cook, and his girlfriend Mallory Beach, and then Anthony's cousin Connor Cook and his girlfriend Miley Altman.

And the girls of the group didn't want to just sit around at someone's house that night. They wanted to go out on a date. So Paul Murdaugh offered to take the group out on his dad's boat. There was an oyster roast in the area, so the group planned to have a few drinks and drive to the Low Country Boil for some dinner.

and have a fun night. Now, you might be thinking, who let these six young adults take a boat out at night all by themselves? But this is actually pretty common in South Carolina. Many people live on the water in these areas and a lot of people spend their time on boats. But something that troubled this night from the beginning was the alcohol that Paul Murdaugh brought on board.

Earlier that day, Paul can be seen pulling his truck and boat into Parker's, a local gas station in town. He then walks inside, grabs a few cases of beer, and brings them to the checkout counter. But the problem is, Paul isn't of drinking age just yet. In fact, he was only 19 at the time. But to his excitement, the lady at the front desk didn't even notice that he had given her a fake ID. You see, before leaving, Paul grabbed his older brother, Buster's ID, who was over 21.

And so Paul was able to leave the gas station with a good amount of alcohol that day. Security footage even shows him walking back to his truck and lifting his arms in celebration that he was able to purchase it. - At around 6:30 p.m., everyone met up at the Murdahl family's river property, a place that they called Murdahl Island. Alex Murdahl, Paul's dad, gave him permission to take the boat out that night. But the boat was kind of small and not really suitable for six young people who had been drinking.

But nonetheless, everyone got into the boat that night and they leave the property at around 7 p.m. And for the first part of the night, everyone was drinking, probably listening to music and having a great time as they drove the boat to the oyster roast. Once there, they docked the Myrtle boat and spent the next five hours eating shrimp, oysters, sausage and potatoes.

It was your typical low country boil, spent eating and socializing. But another thing that is very common at these places is drinking. And even though none of the group was old enough to drink, they were participating in that too. Throughout the night, the group would all go back to the boat

drink beer from their cooler, and then slip back into the roast. And they did this for about five hours. As you can imagine, at the end of the night, they all had a good amount to drink, especially Paul Murdoch. According to the other people in the group, Paul was belligerent.

A little after midnight, the group decided that it was time to leave the oyster roast and head back to the boat. But everyone was a little nervous to have Paul driving considering how drunk he was. Apparently, Anthony had even tried to take over driving, but Paul refused. He was insistent that this was his boat and he was the only person that was going to drive it. And it's getting to the point in the night where everyone is tired and just wants to leave.

But Paul isn't ready to go home just yet. He wants to make one more stop at a bar. So he drives the boat from the Oysteros to downtown Beauforts. Now, allegedly, no one wanted to go to this bar and they really didn't want Paul going considering how drunk he already was. But Paul is everybody's transportation for the night, so it's kind of a situation like "we'll leave when I'm ready to leave." Security footage shows the group as they get to the bar and the girls and Anthony are kind of lagging behind.

it's clear that they didn't really want to be there. And they ended up just waiting on the docks outside while Paul and Connor went into the bar. And they were only at the bar for around 10 minutes, but they did take multiple shots within that time. And at this point, Paul is wasted. You can see him a few minutes later walking back to the boat with a group, and he's clearly intoxicated. Another thing to note in this security footage is Anthony and Mallory. The couple had known each other since they were babies.

Mallory and Anthony's families had actually went to the same church, so they had been in each other's lives for as long as they could remember. And over the years, they discovered that their connection went beyond just a friendship. And before long, the two were smitten and very happy together. This is very evident when you watch the security footage of them on this video. While everyone else is walking back to the boat,

the couple kind of lags behind, almost as if they're soaking up a moment together. They're laughing and kind of flirting with each other, like young people do when they're in love. But

But watching this footage is difficult when you know the story of what's about to happen. Because shortly after the couple steps out of view from the camera, they get onto the boat, completely unaware that these would be their last moments together. And before getting back on the boat, there was an argument between Anthony and Paul. It was clear to everyone that Paul was far too drunk to be driving.

And Anthony told him this. But Paul wouldn't listen. And according to Miley Altman, Paul was a very different person when he drank. Getting kind of drunk? I could tell he was drunk as...

And everyone in this friend group knew this about Paul. They said that his personality changed when he was intoxicated. In fact, it changed so much that they called this drunk alter ego, Timmy. Timmy was usually an angry drunk, reckless, and belligerent.

And on this night, everyone was starting to see Paul's alter ego come out. After the group got on the boat, Paul was so drunk that he stripped his clothes off and started driving the boat in his boxers. Once they were out in the middle of the water, he starts doing doughnuts.

And everyone is kind of annoyed with Paul. Like we mentioned earlier, everyone was ready to go home at this point. And he was being reckless in the middle of the lake. So Morgan, his girlfriend, actually tells Paul to cut it out and take them home. Paul was just driving and doing donuts since we're not going anywhere. Just like, just doing tinkles. And Morgan gets mad and like yells at him and is like, listen, like you need to stop. Like, stop.

They even start trying to convince Paul to let Connor drive. But Paul again was insistent that this was his boat and he was the only one who was going to drive it. We were just like, anything is better than Paul right now because he knows what he can do.

And while all of this was happening, Mallory asked to get off the boat. She didn't feel safe with Paul's reckless driving, but they were in the middle of the lake, so there really wasn't anywhere to drop her off. And according to Miley, Paul would randomly stop the boat, walk over to his girlfriend Morgan, who was sitting near the front, and scream at her for whatever reason. Paul was known to be aggressive when he drank, but tonight he was in a rage.

He kept screaming at her, calling her names, and he even slapped and spit on her. And he just started calling her like a bitch and was like, "You're such a whore," and all this kind of stuff, and was like, literally like, yelling at her. And Morgan was yelling at him too. And he got this close to her face.

And while all of this was happening, Connor Cook would take over driving the boat until Paul kind of calmed down and stepped behind the wheel again. Now, everyone is really ready to go home at this point. Paul is being aggressive and abusing his girlfriend and everyone is ready to just get to their houses and go to bed. And according to the 2020 episode on this case called The Fall of the House of Murdoch, Paul then tells everyone,

"Fine, you wanna go home?" And then he walks over to the throttle, pushes it down, and the boat starts to speed towards a very windy and narrow part of the river called Archer's Creek. Now, there aren't overhead lights illuminating the water, and the boat doesn't have very bright lights, so they're literally holding flashlights to light their way while Paul continues to speed down this narrow waterway.

And everyone's position on the boat at this time is very important for the next part of our story. So let us explain it to you in simple terms. Mallory and Anthony are sitting in the back of the boat, kind of down lower on a cooler. And Mallory is sitting on Anthony's lap. In the middle of the boat, Paul and Connor are standing next to each other while Paul drives. And then Morgan and Miley are in the front of the boat.

And as the six young adults speed down the creek, everyone suddenly sees the RC Berkeley Bridge right in front of them. With the speed that they were going and the lack of light, the bridge appeared out of nowhere. And before they could even react, it crashed into a wooden structure called a dolphin piling at a speed of around 34 miles per hour. I saw the bridge coming, and I was just in shock. And then, like, at the last second, I got, like, screaming.

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Over the next 33 seconds, the boat continued to hit the bridge at speeds up to 17 miles an hour, hitting structure after structure, and with each hit, it was harder for everyone to stay inside of the boat. Eventually, it crashes up onto the bank of the creek.

But when they went to gather themselves to see if everyone was okay, they soon realized that only three people were still inside of the boat. There was Morgan and Miley who were at the front of the boat when it crashed, and Connor who was standing near Paul. But Anthony and

Mallory, who were sitting in the back, and Paul, the driver, were all ejected during the crash. Moments later, Anthony and Paul emerge from the water and join the others on the bank. But as they look around, it soon dawns on them that Mallory is missing. They call her name over and over, hoping she'll yell out and say that she's fine. But instead, they are met with silence.

And it's here where the group starts to panic. Mallory never resurfaced after falling in the water. And soon enough, the weight of the situation starts to fall on the group. And at 2.20 a.m., Connor Cook places a call to 911. Paul, what bridge is this? Keep it up, bitch.

911, where's your emergency? Police fire in us. Hello? We're in a boat crash on Archer Street. Whereabouts on Archer Street? In Archer Street, the only bridge on Archer Street. Archer Street? Archer Street. Archer Street. Archer Street. Okay.

What's going on? It's Bob Harris Island. Right. What's going on? We're in a boat crash. You're in what kind of a? A boat crash. A boat, did you say a boat crash? A boat crash. Okay, so you're at a dock? Yeah.

Hello, are you at the dock? No, we just crashed in a boat. Are you in the water or are you... We're in the boat. Okay. We have one missing. Okay, hang on one second, okay?

All right, mom. Archers Creek, correct? Paul, what is this? Paul, what is this bridge called? Okay, where, how far? There it is.

Please send someone. No, I'm coming. We're coming. We're coming, okay? See? Well, how far off shore are you? In Archer's Creek. Right. How far out?

There's only one bridge in Orchard Creek. By the bridge? There's only one bridge in Orchard Creek. Okay, and who's that in the background? There's six of us and one is missing. Okay, there's six, one is missing.

so do you guys have life jackets on yes ma'am we have we have more than enough life jackets but we're on the thing okay what miss you who is missing uh female mallory b

It's eerie to hear the female voice in the background of this call screaming out Mallory's name, and you can imagine how terrifying it would be to be in this situation, where you can't find your friend in a body of water.

First responders eventually arrived on scene and they immediately started the search for 19-year-old Mallory. But it's been around 20 minutes since the crash and she still hadn't resurfaced. So it's clear to everyone that they will not be finding Mallory alive. Here's some audio at the scene of two cops discussing the crash. - They hit, I think, one of the bridge piles and where you see the boat before it ended up. - Okay. - One of the young ladies got ejected and she still has not been found.

So we got five, six total, five accountable.

As for the five other members of the group, they're all in a state of shock as first responders tend to their injuries. Morgan, Paul's girlfriend, injured her hand in the crash, and Connor fractured his jaw, which was bleeding pretty bad after hitting the boat's console. But other than that, their injuries weren't too severe, and the main focus was finding Mallory. And this was especially the case for Anthony, Mallory's boyfriend.

A cop quickly put Anthony in the back of a patrol car because he was very distraught after the accident. I mean, I can't imagine having your girlfriend sitting on your lap at one moment and then the next moment she falls in the water and never comes back up to the surface. And the cops could tell that Anthony was very distressed, so they did their best to calm him down. Here are a few clips of Anthony speaking with a cop about 30 minutes after the accident.

Come on.

I'll support you.

And now we're gonna play you the audio from the phone call that Anthony made to his mother. We hit a bridge in the boat. Connor's fucked up.

Connor's messed up bad. We can't find Mallory. Morgan's messed up bad. We can't find Mallory. Where we at? We're at Parris Island. Parris Island Bridge. No, just tell them to come to the entrance to Parris Island so you can go on this. Parris Island. Entrance to Parris Island. Entrance to Parris Island. I don't know, man. There's 50 cops out here. Everybody's shit up. I said there's 50 cops out here.

And one of the cops was nice enough to let me call you. Mom, there's 50 cops here, Coast Guard, everything. We can't find Mallory. It's been 30 minutes. You probably need to call Mr. May or Mr. Phillips.

It's clear in Anthony's voice that he is coming to terms with the situation and that Mallory was not going to make it out of this alive. And he's frequently heard asking the cops if they're still looking for her, just to be met with news that yes, they were still looking. Now, if you noticed in the call, Anthony tells his mom that she should probably call Renee and Phillip. And he's referring to Mallory's parents who still didn't know about the crash. And it would only

be a matter of time until they received the dreadful news. In the meantime, Anthony is still in the back of the patrol car when Paul Murdoch, who is still only wearing his boxers, is seen walking with a cop by the car. And when Anthony sees him, he becomes enraged. We're on the main road. You want me to... Get that motherfucker right there away from me. Yes, ma'am. We'll be here. You talking about that one with no shirt on? Hey, do not. I don't want you getting in no trouble. You hear me? Yes, sir.

You fucking smell like your fucking body my fucking girlfriend go fucking funny Fucking hell

Now, if you listen closely, Anthony said, quote, he ain't going to get in no fucking trouble, end quote. And he says that because Paul is a part of the Murdoch family, a well-known family in the community with a heavy hand in South Carolina law. And Anthony even tells the cop that he doesn't think Paul will get in trouble for what happened that night. You all know Alec Murdoch? That's his son. That's so crap. Good luck.

Good luck. As in good luck prosecuting a member of one of the city's most privileged and powerful families. And the fact that the cop even knows the Murdaws shows just how prominent of a family they actually were. Now eventually, while Paul is out of Anthony's sight, the cop manages to calm him down a bit. And he even gives him a cigarette. And while Anthony is sitting there smoking, his mind turns back to his girlfriend Mallory. And he tells the cop this.

Yeah. Yeah.

How big to drive that fucking boat. But the driver, how much has he had to drink tonight? Dude, I can tell you this much. We left, I don't even know where the fuck we were. We left and stopped fucking downtown Beaufort. And I, me and him about fought on the fucking dock because I told him not to go up there to that fucking bar that we needed to be going home. Downtown? How were y'all drinking down there? Hell, I wasn't. I stayed on the damn boat. But he was drinking actually at the bar? I reckon...

I didn't go up there. So y'all came from downtown through the creek, and that's when it was going way too fast? I don't even know. I finally got to the point I grabbed my girlfriend and put her in my lap in the bottom of the boat and was holding on with my eyes closed. The next thing I know, I'm in the fucking water, and I can't find her.

Like Anthony said, the couple had survived a car crash about a year earlier. A pretty bad one at that. But Mallory survived that crash. And it's becoming all too clear to Anthony that she didn't survive this one. And that's when he says this. Is anybody in the water looking for her? Yes, we got tomorrow. We got DNR, fire departments got their boats in the water. Coast Guard is on the way with the chopper. DNR's in route. All right.

She's in the bottom of the room. We have a dive team. We got a dive team. We got a bunch of resources. Regardless, like I told you, regardless of the outcome, we'll find her.

Now, before Anthony was brought to the patrol car, you could hear in the dash cam audio Paul Murdaugh asking the officers if he could use one of their phones. Can I use your phone? Hey, bud, I ain't got my phone on me, bud. You ain't got your phone on you? No, you dropped yours in the grass right back there. Okay. Have you been checked out?

Hey buddy. Yeah, I'm fine. Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, what's your last name, buddy? Murdon. N-U-R-D-A-U-G-H. Okay, what's your first name? Paul. Paul, P-A-U-L? Shit. Yeah.

They're down there looking right now, okay? You know they got it.

That's a good search, right? Yeah. Yeah, they got a good team down there looking for her, okay? Can I use your phone? I don't have my phone on me, buddy. Here. Hey! Here, stay right here. I'm going to go get that one you dropped on the ground back there, all right? Yes, sir.

After this, the cop walks over to the grass, grabs Paul's phone, and lets him make a call. And the person he chooses to call that night is his grandpa, the former district attorney and one of the city's most prominent lawyers. But the fact that Paul was even able to place this call went against all protocol in these types of situations. You see, in any other fatal boat crash involving a drunk driver, the police would have immediately taken the phone into evidence, and they definitely wouldn't have let the driver use his phone. But for Paul Murdaugh, those rules didn't apply.

Police also never submitted his clothes or wallet into evidence. And the only reason they probably didn't is because of his last name. Now, one would think that Paul would be in hysterics and remorseful about what just happened, but he wasn't. Instead, he continued to be belligerent, like he had been the entire night. And according to Miley Altman, he was even getting into the police officer's face, saying, You think you're a bigger man than I am? And normally, after seeing this behavior, officers should have immediately given Paul a field sobriety test

but that was never done. Instead, Connor Cook was asked to take one, but he refused. And interestingly enough, according to 2020 on their episode of this case, at least three members of law enforcement that responded to this scene were somehow connected to the Murdoch family. So Paul was given special treatment on this night after just killing one of his friends.

After this, everyone was taken to the hospital while law enforcement continued to search for Mallory. It was difficult for the officers to convince Anthony to go to the hospital. He didn't want to leave until they found Mallory, but they eventually took him anyways to care for his injuries. And it was around this time when Mallory's parents arrived at the scene and they were met with horrific news that the authorities still hadn't found their daughter.

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At the hospital, while Paul is being treated for his minor injuries, a DNR officer walks into the room to talk to him about the crash. But as soon as they start their conversation, Paul's father and grandpa walk into the room and immediately shut it down, saying, "You're not talking to him anymore."

You're talking to us. We're his attorneys." They both had been lawyers for years and they knew that the more Paul talked, the more trouble he would be in. And Paul was still being aggressive and violent at this point.

so much so that they actually had to strap him down because they were scared of what he would do. And at 4:00 a.m., over two hours after the crash, Paul's blood alcohol levels were over three times the legal limit. Alex Murdaugh used this time in the hospital to give legal advice to the other four people in the group.

and he actually went by each of their rooms telling them to stay quiet and not talk about what happened. In fact, Connor, who had a fractured jaw, was in a wheelchair on his way to get examined when Alex stopped him in the middle of the hallway and told him not to say a word. Shortly after this, Paul was cleared from the hospital and he was able to go home that night.

Now this is strange because usually when a drunk person is driving their own boat and someone dies because of their reckless driving, that person is immediately taken to jail. But not Paul Murdoch. Instead, he got to go home and sleep in his comfy

Unfortunately, the next day would come and go and Mallory's body still had not resurfaced, and it wouldn't for another week. Day after day, her family waited in agony, hoping to finally retrieve their daughter's body. And on Sunday, March 3rd, that day would come. Her family had just gotten out of church and decided to drive by the crash site, a place that they had visited every day since the accident.

But this day was different. There were more cars in the area that day, and one of the men that exited his vehicle had a shirt on that read, And right then and there, Mallory's family knew that they had found her. Mallory's body had been spotted by some fishermen about five miles north of the crash site.

And the family was thankful that they could finally start their grieving process and bury their daughter. In a 2020 interview on this case, Mallory's mother Renee said that Mallory was headstrong, that she loved all kinds of animals, and that she was the life of the party. Mallory loved being around people.

and she was always very social. She also had a great relationship with her parents. Her dad said that she could dress up and be ladylike, but she could also go hunting with the boys and wasn't afraid to get her hands a little dirty. And from everything we could find, Mallory really was a bright light in this world, and when she was taken from it, the city of Hampton would be forever changed. Mallory's funeral was held that upcoming Thursday at Open Arms Fellowship Church, where members of the community filled the room to remember Mallory Beach

and the person that she was. Thank you so much. Family and friends came together to say their final goodbyes to Mallory Beach. The young girl was killed in a boat crash less than two weeks ago in Beaufort County. Fox 28's Katie Filling was at the young lady's funeral today. A life taken too soon. Mallory Beach was just 19 years old. Her funeral was today. She went young.

She went full of life and grace. She loved her family. She loved her friends. She loved her shelter pets. Open Arms Fellowship Church in Hampton, South Carolina was packed with people who came to say goodbye one last time. Those who knew her described her as a sweet, kind, and caring young woman, a lover of animals, family, and God. And many of us, on the outside, looking in and saying, what a disaster. I said, no, no, no.

I got a plan of peace. Church leaders say family members are relying on their faith to get them through this difficult time. I know that today there's sorrow and there's that feeling of loss, but I'll tell you today, Mallory is not feeling lost today. She is celebrating it.

in Jesus's arms after the searched for Mallory in t after the crash, her bod a marsh area, giving the She didn't have to worry about didn't have to worry abou have to worry about the e

She was esclived into the throne room of Jesus. Now she's been laid to rest surrounded by her loved ones. In Hampton, Katie Filling, Fox 28 News at 10. But Mallory's funeral was far from the end of this story. What about Paul Murdahl and his consequences for drunk driving that night? Well, weeks and weeks would pass and many people were wondering the same thing. Why hadn't he been arrested yet? It had now been a month since Mallory had died and no justice had been served.

meantime, Mallory's parents actually filed a lawsuit for Parker's, the gas station where Paul bought all the alcohol before the crash. And they filed a suit for Alex Murdaugh, Paul's father, and for Buster Murdaugh, Paul's brother, for letting him use his ID to buy alcohol. And the reason they did this was because they wanted to make sure someone was held responsible.

A huge fear of the Beach family from the beginning was that no one would ever have to face consequences because of their family name. So they filed these suits. In response to the suits, Parker's the gas station denies the fact that they knowingly sold alcohol to a minor. The Murdoch family also denies their suit, saying that Buster had no idea that Paul was using his ID to buy alcohol. And the Murdochs even go as far as to claim that Paul wasn't even

the one driving the boat that night when it crashed. The real driver was Connor Cook. But that story didn't match the other witness accounts of what happened. According to everyone else, the only time Connor drove the boat was when Paul walked away from the wheel to yell at his girlfriend.

But luckily for Mallory's family, Paul Murdaugh would eventually get charged, and that day would come on April 18th, what would have been Mallory's 20th birthday. Paul Murdaugh was brought to the court that day and charged with three counts of driving under the influence. Now, it took the DNR almost two months to finally bring these charges in, and many people believe it would have taken longer if they wouldn't have had so much public pressure. And if Paul were to be found guilty on these charges, he could have spent up to 25 years in prison. But

Paul wasn't treated like most criminals in Hampton County. Usually, when people are charged with felonies, they're put in handcuffs, taken to jail, and then brought to court. But the Murdoch family arranged for Paul to skip the jail part, and instead, he was just brought straight to the court, where he was booked and arraigned there. And usually in court, the defendant has to wear handcuffs. But when the deputy went to handcuff Paul, the prosecutor told the deputy...

that the cuffs were not necessary, and that in itself shows the power that this family had. And for Paul's mugshot that is usually taken in jail, he didn't have to do that either. Instead, Paul took his mugshot on an iPhone 7 in the courthouse that day. After his arraignment, the court allowed Paul to go home on a $50,000 bond.

to await trial. Paul Murdoch sat silently for most of his arraignment hearing. He and all the other underage passengers that night aboard were deemed grossly intoxicated by police. Murdoch's attorney made his plea of not guilty to three felony counts and

and waived the hearing of any charges, which means the details will stay hidden until it goes to trial. The focus then turned to whether that 19-year-old should go to jail. He is presumed innocent. He's pleading not guilty. And as a result, he should be afforded a release on his own recognizance because there is no showing of any of the criteria which would affect that. He would have some concern as to danger to the community.

given that this case involves the use of alcohol. The standard condition with Bond is that we not have any crimes committed on Bond, so I would assume that would include the underage use of alcohol. Murdahl showed good faith by turning over his passport and waiving extradition, which means if he does try to run, he would be brought back to stand trial.

and no evidence presented to this court that the defendant will not appear when he is called to court. In fact, all the evidence points

Otherwise, I'm going to set a personal reconnaissance bomb in the amount of $50,000. He wanted to accommodate any concerns the AG's office had. He's not leaving the state. He's not going to leave the country. So in the way of extradition, those are normal conditions. So, no, we did exactly what's normal. This is being handled in a very normal fashion. Anything to say about that, about why he decided to plead not guilty?

because he's not guilty. And like we've seen before, it can take years for these trials to actually come around. And this would be the case for Paul's trial. 2019 eventually came to an end, and then 2020, and Paul was still in Hampton, lying low as a free man. But soon enough, his charges would be dropped. And the reason why they were dropped would send this story into the national spotlight. ♪

On June 7th, 2021, Paul's father, Alex, would come home to a 1700 acre property where the family was living at the time. And this was a very rural area with a lot of land and not a lot of neighbors.

So when Paul pulled onto the property that night at around 10 p.m., it was quiet. The only noise from the property was coming from the dog kennels that they had a little ways away from the house. And it was at these dog kennels where Alex Murdaugh would make a gruesome discovery. ♪♪

Okay.

Okay, you said 4147 Moselle Road in Isleton? Sir? You said 4147 Moselle Road in Isleton? Yes, sir. 4147 Moselle Road. Stay on the line with me, okay? Yes, sir. Stay on the line with me, okay?

Okay. Okay, and are they breathing? No, ma'am. Okay, and you said it's your wife and your son? My wife and my son. Are they in a vehicle? No, ma'am. They're on the ground out at my kennel. Oh, my God.

Okay. Did you see anyone? Okay. Is he breathing at all? No. Okay. Do you see anything? Do you see anyone in the area?

No, ma'am. No, ma'am. What color is your house on the outside? What color is your house on the outside? It's white. You can't see it from the road. Okay. Is it a house or a mobile home?

It's a house. Okay, and what is your name? My name is Alex Murdoch. Okay, and did you hear anything, or did you come home and find them? No, ma'am. I've been gone. I just came back. Okay, and was anyone else supposed to be at your house? No, ma'am. Okay.

Please hurry. We're getting somebody out there to you.

Is he moving at all, your son? I know you said that she was shot, but what about your son? Nobody. They're not. Neither one of them is moving. Okay. I don't want you to touch them at all, okay? I don't know if you've already touched them, but I don't want you to touch them just in case they can get any kind of evidence, okay? I already touched them trying to get a...

Ma'am, I'm going to call. I need to call some of my family.

okay alex murdahl came home to find his wife 53 year old maggie and his son 22 year old paul shot to death outside of the dog kennels the mother and son were lying lifeless somewhat close to one another on that hot summer night in june of 2021 after calling 911 alex placed a call to his brothers when they arrived on scene

they could see Maggie and Paul underneath the white sheets, and they couldn't believe it. How could this have happened? Crime scene investigators stayed at the property for hours, gathering evidence and taking pictures, trying to figure out exactly what happened.

And Alex was in shock and could barely even hold a conversation with anyone. Buster, the oldest son, was living in Raquel at the time, so Alex had to call him to give him the horrific news. But when Buster answered, Alex couldn't even find the words to tell his son that his brother and mom had been murdered.

So Alex's brothers had to deliver this heartbreaking news. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, otherwise known as SLED, took over this double murder investigation. And what they found at the scene was interesting. Based on the shell casings found near the bodies, they were able to tell that two different guns were used. One was a semi-automatic rifle,

and the other was a shotgun. Usually, when there are two guns, this means that there are two different shooters. They also determined that Paul and Maggie were shot somewhere between 9 and 9:30 p.m., shortly before Alex Murdaugh returned home. So, where was Alex during this time? Well, according to his testimony, on the night of the shooting, he had visited his mother at her house across town. You see, Alex's dad had been in the hospital, so he went by there to make sure his mom was doing okay by herself.

His mom is older with dementia so he conveniently was there checking on her. Now, clearly Alex Murdaugh was a person of interest in this case from the very beginning, but his brothers say that there is no way he could have done it. And to make matters even worse for the family, Alex's father, Paul's grandpa, would pass away from natural causes just days after Paul and Maggie were killed. And it seemed like the Murdaugh's just couldn't escape these tragedies.

Autopsy results are in tonight of a mother and son found dead in Colleton County last week. The corner tells us someone shot Paul and Maggie Murdoch multiple times last Monday night.

The coroner confirmed their estimated time of death was between 9 and 9.30. Tonight, there are still a lot of questions surrounding what led to their deaths. Our Brooke Butler spoke to a family friend to get some answers. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Colleton County Sheriff's Office still not releasing much information about the shooting deaths of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, but a family friend is providing some insight.

It was just sirens after siren. I mean, we're right here on the main road. Tangi Omer was in her bedroom June 7th when she knew something was wrong. Usually when you hear that many sirens, it has to be something, something really tragic.

Omer was devastated to learn Paul and Maggie Murdaugh had been shot. She says Alex Murdaugh found their bodies. I can only imagine when you come home and have to find your wife and your son in the yard. You may remember Paul Murdaugh had been awaiting trial on a charge of boating under the influence causing death. But Omer says the Murdaugh's were kind people who never meant any harm. Obviously there are some mistakes made and some things that but.

The people themselves, they're great. They care about the community. They really do. Omer says the days leading up to their deaths were normal. I would have never, never guessed I'd have gotten that kind of call that night even. Now she and this prominent South Carolina family of attorneys are counting on law enforcement to get them some answers. I think they have enough faith in the judicial system and, you know, the law enforcement to do their jobs. I think they have enough faith in that that they'll

They'll know some answers. Now, Omer says, just like everyone else, she's not sure if the shooting was targeted or not, but she does say the fact that they were shot multiple times does seem personal. Reporting in Colleton County, I'm Brooke Butler, WJCL 22 News.

After Paul and Maggie were killed, it became national news. I remember hearing about it last summer and I knew I needed to cover this case. And what we've covered so far is only the tip of the iceberg. The very next day, after Paul and Maggie were murdered,

Authorities made a statement that the public was safe and that they didn't have to worry about anything. But how is that so if no one has been arrested? This made the public believe that SLED knew exactly who their killer was. And everyone that heard about the murders in Hampton believed that it had to somehow be related to the boat crash. And some people even suspected that the killer was someone close to Mallory Beach.

But Mallory's parents immediately gave their DNA to investigators to prove that they were not responsible. So they were quickly ruled out as possible suspects. Mallory's parents told 20/20 that some people have come up to them saying that they got the ultimate justice for Mallory because her killer was murdered. But they don't agree with that. Mallory's dad said that neither Paul nor his mother deserved to be brutally murdered. And they too need justice.

But this begged the ultimate question: who killed Maggie and Paul? Was it Alex Murdaugh? Did he have someone else assist him in the murders of his wife and son? Or was it someone else who wanted to be a vigilante? Paul had received multiple threats throughout the years after the crash, so that was a big possibility. There are many questions surrounding these murders and unfortunately, as of now, we don't have those answers.

In the eyes of the law, Paul and Maggie's murders are still unsolved. But with the massive coverage on this case, the Murdoff family was again put in the national spotlight. And this time, people started to look into the family's past and what they would discover would forever change the Murdoff family's reputation.

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And that brings us back to 2015, four years after the boat crash. It was July 8th when a man named Ronnie Capers was driving down Sandy Run Road in Hampton County at around 4 a.m. And as he drives down this dark road, his headlights illuminate something up ahead. As he gets closer, he realizes that it's the body of a young man lying lifeless in the middle of the street. So he quickly places a call to 911. Hampton County 911, where's your emergency?

Uh huh. Alright, we'll get it also headed out that way.

When investigators arrive on scene, they find the body of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. He had a huge laceration across his forehead, and he was hit so hard that there was a depression in his skull above his right eye. And at first, investigators couldn't tell if this was a hit-and-run or if Stephen maybe was shot in the head. Now, something to note was that there were no tire marks in the road, which is usually something you see in a hit-and-run accident. There also weren't any car parts in the road.

which is something you see in a hit and run. So how did Stephen get there in the middle of the street? Investigators were wondering that as well. That answer would come a little later when they found Stephen's car three miles down the road. SLED would later make a report stating, After receiving a search warrant, agents searched the area and the vehicle. The gas tank door was open and the gas cap was hanging on the side of the vehicle. The vehicle doors were locked. The key located in the victim's pocket

was used to open the vehicle. The vehicle was in park. The battery was functional. However, the vehicle would not start. So it was assumed that Stephen ran out of gas on the side of the road and then started walking to get some help or get some more gas. And along this walk, a car struck him and drove away. And specifically, they said that Stephen was probably walking too close to a semi when its mirror struck him in the head. But not everyone agrees with this finding. You see, Stephen's shoes were still loosely on his body when they found him.

And usually in hit and run accidents, shoes fly off on impact. So some people believe that Steven was shot, but there wasn't enough evidence to prove this either. Steven's own mother doesn't believe that he was walking down the road that night because he ran out of gas. And for her, she couldn't get past the fact that he had his cell phone in his pocket when they found him.

And he was only six miles away from their house. So she believes that if he would have run out of gas, Stephen would have definitely called someone for help. And something about the fact that his shoes didn't come off when a car allegedly hit him didn't sit right with his mom either. And soon enough, rumors started spreading around town about what exactly happened to Stephen Smith. But before we get into that, we want to talk about who Stephen Smith was and the

impact he would go on to have in his community. Steven was described as extremely intelligent and also very funny. He always knew how to make people laugh. His twin sister Stephanie told 20/20 that they were very close from the moment they were born. Like most twins, they did everything together and the loss of her brother has been incredibly difficult.

The Smiths were a tight-knit family and very, very supportive. Stephen knew this firsthand because he was gay and even though people in Hampton would always give him trouble for his sexuality, his family was always a source of love and support. His mom said that Stephen never even had to come out as gay because she always knew and something he would always say was, I am who I am.

But people in Hampton weren't always very supportive of Stephen, especially kids at his high school. But he never let this get in the way. Stephen had big dreams of receiving a nursing degree and eventually going to med school to become a doctor.

He had dreams of leaving Hampton, moving to another country, and caring for underprivileged children. Stephen had a huge heart, and he could have really made a difference in this world. But his life was taken way too soon on that July night in 2015. Stephen's funeral was held at the People's Rodent Funeral Home on July 11th, 2015, and his family gave him an open casket so people could see what had been done to him.

but there were still so many questions surrounding this case. And at this point, the rumors started spreading fast. Some people said it was a hit and run. Others were saying he was shot in a hate crime. But ultimately, on July 14th, Stephen's death certificate was issued, listing his cause of death as blunt force trauma, possibly involving a truck.

And there was a lot of disagreements between the doctors, coroner, and investigators. You see, investigators and the coroner thought that there was foul play involved. But the doctor who performed the autopsy disagreed, saying it was a hit and run, even though there was no evidence to prove that. And they even said that the only reason they ruled it a hit and run was solely because he was found on a road. And you may be asking, what does this random accident that occurred four years before the boat crash even have to do with the Murdoch family?

Well, after Stephen's death, rumors started spreading around town that a Murdaw had been responsible. But not Paul Murdaw. The rumors were that it was his older brother, Buster, who had actually gone to the same high school as Stephen. Now, Stephen's mother even heard this rumor that Buster was involved, and she went to investigators with this information. But this wouldn't be the only time authorities would hear this. In fact, they had heard from around 40 different people that Buster was responsible. Now, small-town rumors spread fast.

and many of the times they don't have a lot of credibility. But it's interesting to note that all of these people pointed the finger at Buster before the Murdaw name was even dragged through the dirt. Before the boat crash, before the murders, everything. So why would people make this up? And something that makes these rumors even more compelling was the account of someone who claimed to have spoken to Steven on the night of his death. This guy claimed that he and Steven were kind of seeing

each other and that on the night of the murder, Stephen called him saying that he was about to run out of gas and that these guys in a pickup truck were harassing him. Another thing that kind of raised some eyebrows in this case was that right after Stephen's family got the call that Stephen had died, they received

another phone call, this time from Randy Murdaugh, Alex's brother. Randy Murdaugh called Stephen's father right after they found out their son died. I mean, they even said that the next call they got right after the coroner called was Randy, and he told them that he wanted to be their attorney, and that he would take their case for free. And the Smith family found this to be very strange.

Their son had just been killed and this random man from the Murdoff family that they've never even met before is calling trying to help them out out of the kindness of his heart. And Steven's dad was suspicious of this. And in hindsight, it's even more suspicious when you find out that Buster was a person of interest. Now, normally, Highway Patrol doesn't deal with homicides.

But they took over the case. And after hearing the dozens and dozens of people name Buster as a possible suspect, they did try to reach out to him via phone call. But he never answered. And that was that. They just never followed back up. And the suspicious death of Stephen Smith would end up going cold for the next six years.

years. But then, just three weeks after the murders of Maggie and Paul, the case was beginning to heat up again. Apparently, while investigating their murders, they uncovered something related to Stephen Smith's case, and SLED released a statement saying that they are reinvestigating Stephen's death. As of now, no one has been charged in the case of Stephen Smith, and the Murdoff family denies Buster's involvement.

but I guess we will have to see what SLED finds in their investigation. And although there are no real answers to this case with Stephen Smith, it really does show just how strange it is that the Murdaugh's are always connected to these horrible stories. First the boat crash, then the murder of Paul and Maggie, and now the suspicious death of Stephen Smith. And just when you think the story couldn't get any

weirder, we need to tell you about another suspicious death surrounding the Murdaw family. In February of 2018, about a year before the boat crash, the Murdaws were associated with another tragedy, this time involving their housekeeper, 57-year-old Gloria Satterfield. Gloria had worked for the Murdaws for years. She actually started the job when Buster and Paul were just babies. And it was said that when Paul was little, he would call her Gogo, and she would call him Paul-Paul.

She was a part of the family and she really loved her job. Her family described Gloria as friendly and a very hard worker. She loved the Murdaugh's and was really proud that she was able to work for them. But this would all change on February 2nd, 2018, when Gloria was walking up the stairs outside of the Murdaugh home. Allegedly, while she was doing so, one of the family's dogs jumped up on her, causing her to fly down the brick staircase. Here's the 911 call that Maggie Murdaugh placed afterwards.

Come in. 911, what is your emergency? 4147 Moseville Road. What's going on out there? My housekeeper has fallen and her head is bleeding. I cannot get her up. Okay, you said she's fallen and she's bleeding from the head? Yes. Okay. How old is she? I'm not sure, like 58 maybe. Do you think she fell from standing or not? No. Where'd she fall from? She fell going up the steps, up the brick steps.

At this point, Paul Murdaugh takes the phone from Maggie.

Yeah, can you ask the patient what kind of pain she's having? Ma'am, she can't talk. Okay, do you know... She's cracked her head and there's blood on the concrete and she's bleeding out of her left ear. Okay, she's bleeding out of her ear? And out of her head. She's cracked her skull. Okay. Alright, did other ladies say that she had tried to stand up and fell down again?

No, I was holding her up. Okay. She told me to turn her loose and she was trying to get her arm, but then she fell back over. Okay, do you guys know who she is? Yes, she works for us. Okay, do you know if she's ever had a stroke or anything before? Ma'am, can you stop asking her questions? I already have them on the way. Me asking questions does not slow them down in any way. These are relevant questions that I have to ask for the ambulance. One of my questions is, has she ever had a stroke?

Okay. Okay. Is she able to talk to you guys at all or is she unconscious now? Okay. Okay. Do you know what her name is?

Gloria's family would sit by her side in the hospital for the next three weeks. They frequently asked her questions about what happened, but she was never able to respond to them. Gloria would never regain consciousness after this hard fall, and she passed away on February 26th, 2018. Gloria's family was absolutely devastated, especially her two sons.

It's not easy losing parents, but to lose one in a freak accident somehow makes it a lot worse. The family would have a funeral for Gloria and at the funeral, Alex Murdaugh walked up to her grieving family and told them that he was so sorry about their loss and how since the accident happened at his house involving his dogs, he was going to make sure the family got a good lawyer and that they were taken care of. He told the family that the lawyer he would get them would sue him and then he would give the family money for what happened.

And Gloria's family was very appreciative of this. Gloria had worked for the Murdaws for years and they trusted that Alex Murdaw would take good care of them. And both of Gloria's sons said that Alex Murdaw promised both of them face to face that he would handle everything and make sure that they were financially taken care of. - But by the next year, Gloria's sons had still not seen any money. But in the Murdaws' defense, they were very busy during this time. They were dealing with the boat crash in 2019,

then the murders of Paul and Maggie in 2021, and then the incident that would happen on September 4th, 2021. On this day, Alex Murdahl was driving down the road when all of a sudden he gets a flat tire. So he pulls over and while he's taking a look at the tire, a truck drives up offering to help. But while Alex's back was turned away from the Good Samaritan, he was shot in the head. What's going on?

I got a flat tire. And I stopped. And somebody stopped to help me.

And when I turned my back, they tried to shoot me. Oh, okay. Were you shot? Yes. But I'm okay. Did they actually shoot you or they tried to shoot you? They shot me. Okay. Wait, you need EMS? Well, I mean, yes. I can't drive. Okay. I'm bleeding a lot. It was a white fella. What's your contact number for you?

I'd say a white man, a fair amount younger than me, really, really short hair. You have an ambulance coming there? Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Alex had been shot in the head and his injury was pretty bad, so much so that they airlifted him to a hospital in Georgia. And soon enough, the news of this started spreading like wildfire, not only in South Carolina, but throughout the entire nation. First Paul and Maggie

and now the father, Alex? It seemed like the family had a hit on their heads, and people were starting to wonder whether or not there was a vigilante going around and killing off the family who had corrupted their city. But soon after this news shocked the nation, SLED released a statement saying that Alex Murdaugh's gunshot wound was superficial, causing a lot of suspicion.

Breaking news. Another member of a prominent South Carolina family tied to a murder mystery has been shot. Good evening. I'm Amir Shinkins.

State Law Enforcement Division agents confirm Alex Murdock was found shot. He's the father of Paul Murdock and husband of Margaret Murdock. They were both found dead earlier this year. News 2's Riley Benson has been covering this story since the day the mother and son were found dead. And he's live for us in studio right now. Riley, catch us up on the case and give us the latest details.

- Yeah, Maris, officials tell us Alex Murdock was found shot in the head at a Hampton County property near the 15,000 block of Saukahatchee Road. And Murdock was found just less than 10 minutes away from where his wife and son were found brutally murdered back in June. - But shortly after this news started spreading, another bombshell shocked the nation.

Two days after Alex Murdaugh was shot, he released a statement saying,

But this statement shocked everyone. What were these regrets that Alex Murdaugh was talking about? And rehab? No one was aware that Alex had any type of addiction. And these questions would be cleared up pretty soon, because right after Alex released that statement, it was made public that he had been stealing money from his family's firm for years, and the most recent time was the day before the shooting.

So the firm urged Alex to resign. And Alex didn't just steal a little bit of money from the PMPED firm. He stole millions of dollars. And his reasoning behind stealing all of this money was because he had an opioid addiction that got out of control. Alex's brother Randy, who also worked at the firm, released a statement stating...

I was shocked, just as the rest of my PMPED family, to learn of my brother Alex's drug addiction and stealing of money. I love my law firm family and also love Alex as my brother. While I will support him in his recovery, I do not support, condone, or excuse his conduct in stealing by manipulating his most trusted relationships. So now, Alex's life is going downhill quickly. His wife and son had just been murdered. There's this mysterious story about him getting shot in the head.

It's revealed that he was diverting money from his firm and now he has to resign and check into rehab. His entire life is pretty much over, but there are still a lot of questions about this roadside shooting that Alex was involved in. Something just didn't really add up. And on September 10th, the nation would be shocked when it

a man was arrested in connection to this shooting. It was 61-year-old Curtis Eddie Smith, who went by Eddie. He was actually represented by the Murdahl family when he was in an accident that caused a lifelong disability, and he was distantly related to the family. Now, I couldn't find out how they discovered Eddie was involved.

But they had enough evidence to arrest him. And shortly after his arrest, Alex Murdaugh confessed that he hired Eddie to shoot him so that his oldest son Buster could get a life insurance payout of $10 million. Alex Murdaugh's attorney stated that Alex's life was driven by his addiction and that's the reason why he stole money from the firm and why he hired someone to kill him.

His life was pretty much over. His wife and son were dead, his law firm discovered that he'd been stealing, and Alex felt like suicide was the only way out. But you can't get a life insurance payout if you commit suicide. So on September 4th, he said he hired Eddie to do it for him. After hearing this, Eddie was charged with assault and battery of a highly aggravated nature,

pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and assisted suicide. Eddie's account of what happened that day is a lot different than Alex's. He claims that Alex called him that day and told him to bring his work truck out to Alex's parents' house. And because Alex told him to bring the truck, Eddie assumed that he was going there to do some work for the family. But when he met

Alex on the road that day, Alex had a gun in his hand. According to Eddie, Alex started asking him to shoot him, but Eddie refused. And he actually tried to take the gun from Alex, but during the struggle, the gun went off and shot him in the head.

Now, we don't necessarily believe the story that Eddie is telling. And something that makes us suspicious of this story was the fact that Eddie admitted to disposing of the gun after the shooting. If this was an accidental shooting, then why would he need to get rid of the gun? Alex's attorney said that Eddie intended on killing him that day, but the plan was botched. It was also said that Eddie was Alex's drug dealer.

But Eddie denies these claims. So after this story came out, Alex Murdaugh was arrested on charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. And for the first time, the city of Hampton would see Alex Murdaugh in court in his jumpsuit and handcuffs around his wrists. But just when you think this story is over, something else would be brought to the spotlight.

Remember how Alex told his late housekeeper's children that he would make sure they were taken care of after her death? Well, when all of this came out about the botched assisted suicide and Alex stealing money from his firm, Gloria's sons would come across some information that would get Alex in even more trouble. So let's rewind to the months after Gloria's death in 2018. Alex had promised Gloria's sons that he would take care of them, and he did so by referring them to a lawyer in town.

Well, this lawyer was actually Alex's best friend from college, a man named Corey Fleming. After this, Alex convinced the sons to turn over their representation of their mother's estate. And they did it. You see, in their mind, they didn't know much about how all of this worked. So when Alex gave them that advice, they listened. I mean, they had known each other for years and they trusted Alex. But the very next day, after handing over their representation, Alex filed the settlement and never told Gloria's sons about the payout.

And because they didn't know about it, they didn't receive a penny. But do you want to guess who did profit off of Gloria's settlement? Yeah, that's right, Alex Murdaugh. And no one even caught on to this because the settlement was filed under a different name. So Alex Murdaugh's name wasn't even attached to it, making it to where he could pocket the money and fly under the radar. When it was all calculated, it was found that Alex had stolen $4.3 million from Gloria's family and he kept

it all. $2.7 million of that should have been given to Gloria's sons, but they never got a penny. In fact, they didn't even know that a settlement had been filed until they read about it online. So after all of this came out, Alex Murdaugh was facing even more charges, and authorities revealed that they were reopening the case of Gloria Satterfield's suspicious death

and the handling of her estate. Gloria's sons also filed a lawsuit against Alex, wanting their mother's wrongful death money that Alex had promised them. And I think this case really goes to show just how twisted Alex Murdahl really is. His housekeeper for nearly 20 years died on his property

and instead of helping her family, he took advantage of them and their grief. Since then, over 50 charges have been filed against Alex Murdaugh, and he's in jail on a $7 million bond. Now, he can't pay this because...

He's broke. He has nothing. Right now, he's in jail facing eight different lawsuits from people in his community. And he's facing very serious charges. Even if he's convicted on some of the lesser charges, it's likely that he will never get out of prison.

and his family's power can't help him this time around. Now, this case is far from over. Stephen Smith's death is still being investigated, and although we don't know what investigators discovered about the Murdaugh's that made them reopen the case, but we hope that we get those answers soon, so his family can get closure and whoever killed him will finally be brought to justice. And as for Gloria Satterfield's death, it's

being investigated as well. We don't think that Gloria was murdered, but we definitely think that Alex Murdaugh saw an opportunity to make some money after her death and he took it. But what about the murders of Paul and Maggie? Although Paul was not a likable character in this story, his murder deserves answers too. And we can't shake the thought that Alex Murdaugh had something to do with it.

At the time of the murders, Alex was losing a lot of money. His son was facing jail time and Maggie had a life insurance policy ensuring that if anything happened to her, all of her money would go to Alex. It wouldn't be far-fetched to say that Alex wanted that money and so he hired someone to kill her. It wouldn't be the first time we've seen him do shady things.

for a buck. And the assisted suicide isn't adding up either. Why do Alex and Eddie have different stories as to what happened that day? To me, it seems like both of them are hiding something. Maybe they're lying because the botched suicide can be linked back to Paul and Maggie's murder.

What if Alex orchestrated the botched suicide to make it seem like someone had a target on the family and maybe take the suspicions off of him that he was involved in Paul and Maggie's murders? And if the whole opioid angle is true, then this story could possibly take even more twisted turns in the future. The Island Packet reported...

A state grand jury is looking into a trail of money from Alex Murdaugh's alleged opioid drug habit to a low country gang based in the Waterloo area and believed to be called the Cowboys, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The money trail linking Murdaugh is allegedly in checks he wrote to a person who, in turn,

would write checks to couriers to buy drugs. It goes on to say, money paid to the couriers is believed to have been used to buy the drugs from cowboy gang affiliates. And it's been said that Alex spent over $200,000 in checks during a three-month period in 2021. And this time period was right after Paul and Maggie were murdered. Before that, it's been said that Alex would only spend about $10,000 to $20,000 a month. And this has led people to believe that Alex could have possibly gotten involved with dangerous people.

Maybe he didn't pay his debts and someone took revenge by killing his family. Or maybe Alex orchestrated the murders because he knew he would get life insurance money to support his addiction. We just don't know. And I think that this story, compared to all of our other cases that we've told, has the most

questions, which in part is because it's still unfolding. Alex Murdaugh will eventually have his day in court and hopefully a lot of these questions will be answered. But as we're wrapping up this story, it's hard not to think about all the lives affected by the Murdaugh family. And it's crazy to think that none of this would have even come to the surface if the boat crash would have never happened in 2019. And it goes to show that these crimes eventually do catch up to you, no matter who you are.

No one is above the law, and the Murdoch family learned this the hard way. Throughout the years, the city of Hampton was able to see the rise and collapse of one of its most prominent families, a family whose greed and corruption destroyed many lives, including the lives of Mallory Beach and her loved ones, Gloria Smith and her sons, and possibly even Stephen Smith and his family.

And it makes you wonder how many others out there have been affected by the Murdoch family throughout the years. The law firm that had been in the family for over a century no longer reps the name

Murdaugh. Because in the city of Hampton, South Carolina, the name Murdaugh is only a reminder of the destruction that that family name has caused. It's almost like the Murdaugh name is cursed. It's a curse that's haunted the Murdaugh family, a curse that seemingly will never go away. Hopefully, when we get more answers in this case, we'll be able to see just how deep this curse truly runs.

Hey, everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you again for joining us this week for another episode of Murder in America. The family is just growing larger and larger. We are so, so happy to have so many amazing people out there listening to the stories that we're telling. And we're going to be telling some very important stories in the next month.

So we, uh, yeah, we have some updates. Courtney and I, as you probably know already are getting married February 18th. So we're going to have to take a break for a few weeks in February without releasing episodes. Um, I was just in El Paso this last week and I actually interviewed a, a man who was the childhood best friend of Richard Ramirez, the night stalker. I had, uh,

an in-depth interview with him about how he grew up with Richard. It was so eye-opening, and it was such a crazy opportunity. But I want to give a shout-out to all of our new patrons from this week. Lindsay Huff, Diana W., Patera Pairama, Tiana Stevens, Cheyenne, Misty Thompson, Arturo Santayana, Allison, Frank Camano, I hope I said your name right, Lori Sunblad, Zena Petit, and Sandra LeBlanc.

Once again, if you want to join our community on Patreon, we are posting stuff almost every day. True crime finds stories. We have bonus episodes on there. We post the ad free version of every episode as well. Every week, right at the same time when these episodes go live on Spotify and Apple podcasts and wherever you're listening to from. So yeah, this is a crazy story. The Murdoch family. It's,

It's a twisted tale and one that is still unfolding. I'm just really eager to see any more developments in the case and really find out what happened. And, you know, who did what? It's crazy. You know, all these stories are just hard to believe. But it makes me wonder the same old question. The dead don't talk. Or do they? See you next week, everybody. Happy February.