Shamed South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was officially charged last week with the murders of his wife and son, who were found dead last year at the family’s hunting lodge.
In June 2021, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, 52 and 22, were found fatally shot at their family’s 1,770-acre lodge in Colleton County. The grand jury indictment accuses Alex Murdaugh of acting alone in their slayings.
The document — which charges Alex with two counts of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime — also stated that Maggie was killed with a rifle while Paul was fatally shot with a shotgun.
Despite Alex Murdaugh’s murder charges, the motive behind the killings remains undisclosed. It is also unclear who was killed first.
Murdaugh is also facing 84 criminal counts for allegedly stealing money from numerous clients and his former law firm. He remains jailed on $7 million bail.
The jailed attorney’s lawyer said in a statement following Thursday’s indictment:
“Alex wants his family, friends and everyone to know that he did not have anything to do with the murders of Maggie and Paul. He loved them more than anything in the world. It was very clear from day one that law enforcement and the Attorney General prematurely concluded that Alex was responsible for the murder of his wife and son.”
Alex Murdaugh Indictment by Leigh Egan
It continues, “But we know that Alex did not have any motive whatsoever to murder them. We are immediately filing a motion for a speedy trial, we are requesting that the Attorney General turn over all evidence within 30 days as required by law and we demand to have a trial within 60 days of receiving that evidence.”
On September 3, 2021, Alex survived an alleged suicide plot that reportedly entailed him having former client Curtis Smith, 61, shoot him in the head so his son Buster would receive a $10 million insurance payout. A day before the shooting, Alex was forced out of his family law firm amid allegations he misappropriated funds.
Two days after the apparent botched suicide, Alex announced he was entering rehabilitation for drugs. Alex was charged with insurance fraud in connection with the suicide-for-hire plot and released on bail.
In October 2021, Alex was rearrested upon leaving a rehabilitation center in Florida for allegedly stealing $4.3 million from the estate of his former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who suffered a fatal fall on his property in February 2018.
In that case, Alex Murdaugh was accused of stealing insurance payouts that were intended for Satterfield’s family. Authorities recently announced plans to exhume Satterfield’s body amid an ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.
Last month, Alex and Smith were indicted for allegedly purchasing and distributing oxycodone in multiple counties.
Murder charges against Alex Murdaugh come days after he was formally disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
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[Featured image: Buster, Maggie, Paul, Alex/Facebook]
*Additional reporting by Jacquelyn Gray*
