National News
Alex Murdaugh’s web of lies led to conviction in murders of wife and son
NEWNow you can take heed to Fox Information articles!
The rise and fall of disgraced South Carolina authorized scion Alex Murdaugh continues to captivate the nation years after his double-murder conviction in a case that uncovered a long time of deceit, greed and energy.
The story of the Murdaugh household’s downfall is retold in Hulu’s new restricted collection “Murdaugh: Demise within the Household,” an eight-part dramatization of one of the crucial notorious true crime tales in current reminiscence.
On June 7, 2021, Murdaugh known as 911 to report that he had discovered his spouse Maggie and youngest son Paul shot to dying in an obvious homicide on the household’s sprawling Lowcountry property.
ALEX MURDAUGH’S MONEY MAN PAYS THE PRICE AFTER ADMITTED ROLE IN MILLION DOLLAR CRIME SCHEME
Alex Murdaugh is led into the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina on Monday, January 30, 2023. Murdaugh is on trial for the double homicide of Murdaugh’s son Paul and his spouse Maggie in June 2021. (Mark Sims for Fox Information Digital)
The cellphone name set off a stunning chain of occasions that finally uncovered Murdaugh’s lengthy historical past of lies and deceit, culminating within the homicide of his spouse and son.
“I believe it is usually tough for individuals to compartmentalize what we expect and the individual we expect we all know,” Mark Tinsley, an legal professional who testified within the legal case towards Murdaugh, advised Fox Information Digital. “I believe there’s in all probability a gaggle of people that nonetheless discover it arduous to consider that the facade they noticed wasn’t actual.”
Murdaugh got here from one of the crucial prolific authorized households in South Carolina, making him a robust determine in native politics thanks to call recognition.
‘UNACCEPTABLE’ ALEX MURDAUGH COMPARED TO TED BUNDY FOR OUTRAGE IN FAMILY MURDER
Alex Murdaugh, proper, is proven right here along with his household. (The Murdaugh Household)
Nevertheless, his household was not with out controversy.
In 2018, the household’s longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, mysteriously fell to her dying within the Murdaughs’ residence.
Three years later, Paul, who was 19 on the time, boarded his household’s boat with a gaggle of buddies for an evening of ingesting on the water. Hours later, the ship struck a close-by bridge, sending 19-year-old Mallory Seashore into darkish waters.
ALEX MURDAUGH APPEAL AGAINST MURDER CONVICTIONS CHALLENGE FACE STATE PUSHBACK OVER JURY INFLUENCE CLAIMS
Alex Murdaugh’s mugshot. (South Carolina Division of Corrections)
Seashore’s physique was discovered days later, and the household finally filed a wrongful dying lawsuit towards the Murdaughs. After intense public stress, Paul was hit with state prices in reference to Seashore’s dying.
Two years later, on the evening of Maggie and Paul’s murders, investigators responded to Murdaugh’s 911 name from the household’s residence in Colleton County. The our bodies of each mom and son had been discovered close to the canine kennels within the property’s yard, the place they had been pronounced useless on the scene.
Whereas Murdaugh initially advised authorities he was not current on the kennels that night, a Snapchat video recorded by Paul confirmed that his father was on the scene of the crime inside the timeframe when investigators believed the couple was killed.
ELIZABETH BANKS TAKES ON THE ROLE OF KAREN READ AND JOINS DENNIS QUAID AND PATRICIA ARQUETTE IN TRUE CRIME
Disbarred legal professional Alex Murdaugh arrives in court docket in Beaufort, SC on Thursday, September 14, 2023. (AP Photograph/James Pollard)
In September 2021, Murdaugh tried to stage his personal taking pictures in an try and award Buster, his surviving son, a $10 million life insurance coverage payout. The plot failed when Curtis Edward Smith grazed Murdaugh’s head with a bullet.
Nevertheless, it was Satterfield’s dying that finally led investigators to uncover Murdaugh’s net of lies, after it was revealed that he had stolen $4.3 million in insurance coverage funds that had been meant to be awarded to her grieving household.
“I knew he had carried out some issues that weren’t essentially in the best way [the Satterfield case] was dealt with,” Tinsley mentioned. ‘Nevertheless it turned out to be lots worse than I assumed it was. By the point the roadside taking pictures occurred, I knew the total extent of what had occurred, and there was lots.”
CULT LEADER CHARLES MANSON CONFESSED TO ADDITIONAL MURDERS IN NEWLY RECOVERED PHONE CONVERSATION
A month later, Murdaugh was arrested on prices of defrauding the Satterfield household whereas in rehab in Orlando, Florida. according to The Related Press. Quickly after, prosecutors introduced 27 new prices towards Murdaugh, alleging he stole almost $5 million from a number of victims.
Within the months main as much as Murdaugh’s indictment within the murders of his spouse and son, prosecutors collected dozens of indictments alleging the disgraced legal professional stole thousands and thousands of {dollars} from shoppers and victims’ households to assist his habit to painkillers.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
He was charged with the deaths of Maggie and Paul on July 14, 2022, resulting in a months-long trial that ended with a responsible verdict.
Murdaugh was sentenced to 2 consecutive life sentences in 2023 for the murders of his spouse and son. He’s additionally serving one other 40 years in jail for his monetary crimes and stays in custody in a maximum-security jail in South Carolina — marking the tip of a authorized dynasty that dominated the Lowcountry for many years.
Murdaugh’s legal professional, the prosecutor and Hulu didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
“I believe most individuals typically perceive it,” Tinsley advised Fox Information Digital. “Most individuals perceive, and most of the people see by means of his net of lies and deceit.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.