Alex Murdaugh
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One of the more bizarre and sprawling criminal stories in recent memory is about to begin what might be its final chapter. Alex Murdaugh — a prominent attorney and leader of a legendary South Carolina legal dynasty — is on the verge of being charged with the murder of his wife and son.

On June 7, 2021, Alex called the police and claimed he discovered the bodies of his son Paul and wife Maggie at the family’s hunting lodge. Paul and Maggie suffered from multiple gunshots from different weapons. Alex reported that he had been with his terminally ill father and mother, who has dementia, at the time of the killing however, authorities had regarded Alex as a person of interest in the homicides from the beginning.

When they inevitably make a TV series about this family, you’ll have a hard time believing the twisting story of the Murdaugh family.

Who Is Alex Murdaugh?

Alex Murdaugh is a prominent attorney and civic leader in South Carolina’s “Low Country.” He and other members of his family have long held the district attorney position for South Carolina’s 14th district. His family ran a hugely successful civil litigation firm that took advantage of unique South Carolina torts laws to win massive injury settlements against CSX and other large corporations. 

Many of Mudaugh’s crimes are tied to his alleged Oxycontin addiction. 

The Life And Crimes Of The Murdaugh Family 

The murder of Paul and Maggie is just the tip of the iceberg. Alex, his children, and his extended family have been involved in many deaths, fraud, and embezzlement. 

Alex has been accused of at least 79 embezzlement and theft charges related to misappropriating money from clients he represented in civil cases. In one case, he allegedly stole upwards of $1 million from the family of a man who died under mysterious circumstances in an assisted living facility. The investigation also implicated a prominent South Carolina bank that had allegedly helped Murdaugh embezzle the settlement money. 

According to a state grand jury, Murdaugh and his associates allegedly stole over $8.5 million from his former clients, including a retired police officer and the family of his deceased housekeeper, who died in a fall on the family property.

South Carolina police are also investigating this housekeeper’s death after Murdaugh reported she died from a fall, but the death certificate said “natural causes.”

Adding to Murdaugh’s financial crimes, earlier in 2022, Alex was indicted along with a distant cousin in a scheme to launder $2.4 million in stolen money through the illicit sale of narcotics.

He also tried to have his drug dealer kill him in a “murder for suicide” scheme so that Alex’s living son Buster could receive a 10 million dollar insurance payout.

Lest you think that Alex is the only criminal in the family, we should note that his sons have been implicated in crimes as well. At the time of his murder, Paul was investigated for a boating accident that left a girl dead. Paul was well over the legal blood-alcohol limit but was not given a field sobriety test, nor was he required to seek treatment or wear an alcohol monitor. 

Alex’s other son Buster is possibly connected to the bludgeoning death of a man in 2018.

I’m telling you, this story gets crazier and crazier. Every time I came across something new while researching this my jaw dropped. Having your drug dealer kill you to collect an insurance payment sounds like something ripped from Breaking Bad or Ozark!

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