South Carolina prosecutors have declined to say whether they would prosecute Alex Murdaugh for allegedly assaulting a sex worker in 2014 and 2015.
The accuser, Lindsey Edwards, told FitsNews in August that Murdaugh, 54, choked her until she lost consciousness, battered her, and ripped hair from her head during the four encounters she had with him. However, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office recently told the Daily Mail that Murdaugh has 99 grand jury charges against him, including fraud, but none stemming from the claims lodged by Edwards.
On Thursday, Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife and son, Maggie and Paul, at their Colleton County property in 2021. In turn, he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
“We do intend to pursue the other charges pending against Alex Murdaugh. However, there are no charges against him at this time related to sex trafficking or sexual assault. We cannot confirm, and certainly cannot comment on, anything that may or may not be under investigation,” said the agency’s spokesperson, Robert Kittle.
FitsNews reported this past summer that SLED had interviewed Edwards, a former sex worker. At the time, she told the news outlet that her madam brought her and others to a party in the Isle of Palms in late 2014 or early 2015, where she met Murdaugh.
Edwards said Murdaugh initially seemed like a “very nice person” but his personality and behavior completely changed during their encounter. Edwards said the change in demeanor may have been due to the cocaine and other drugs he took at the gathering.
“His pupils got so much bigger to the point his eyes were almost solid black,” she recalled to FitsNews last year. “I was violently choked with both hands, being pinned down to the bed by my throat,’ she said. ‘It was at the point where I couldn’t breathe.”
“I was blacking out, I was seeing spots, seeing stars. I was beating and scratching on his wrist as much as possible to get him to stop, because I thought at that moment I was going to die.”
Edwards alleged she was violently raped during the ordeal. She also stated that she was naked when she ran away from Murdaugh.
Edwards stated that she was unaware that her madam arranged a second meeting with Murdaugh weeks later. She alleged it was during that encounter that Murdaugh ripped hair out of her head. A third encounter that allegedly occurred days later entailed Edwards fleeing with a phone she smuggled and capturing a cab.
Edwards told FitsNews that the people who trafficked her found her five hours later and took her back to Murdaugh.
“‘He was even more pissed then,” she recalled. “I got hair pulling and choking. If he wasn’t choking me I had a wash rag shoved in my mouth and I was being slapped across my face violently for a good 20-30 minutes.”
Edwards reportedly declined payment for her interview and instructed any payout from a civil suit to go to an organization that supports sex trafficking survivors.
In light of Murdaugh’s murder conviction, he is still expected to be prosecuted for a September 2021 incident that allegedly entailed Murdaugh having former client Curtis Smith, 61, shoot him in the head so his surviving 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. Shortly after that, he was charged with insurance fraud in connection with the September 2021 suicide-for-hire plot and released on bail.
However, in October 2021, Alex was rearrested upon leaving a rehabilitation center in Florida for allegedly stealing $4.3 million from Satterfield’s estate. In that case, he was accused of stealing insurance payouts that were intended for Satterfield’s family. Authorities plan to exhume her body amid an ongoing investigation regarding her death.
In addition to the murder charges, Alex faces more than 100 criminal counts related to fraud.
In June 2022, Alex and Smith were indicted for allegedly purchasing and distributing oxycodone in multiple counties. In December 2022, Alex was indicted for tax evasion for allegedly failing to claim the $6 million he allegedly earned through illegal acts between 2011 and 2019.
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[Featured image: Lindsey Edwards/TikTok; Alex Murdaugh/South Carolina Department of Corrections]
