The deadly shootings of Alex Murdaugh’s wife and kid in South Carolina more than a year ago sparked a major controversy: who was responsible for their deaths?
The spotless reputation of the conveniently linked legal family in South Carolina’s Lowcountry was destroyed by the unsolved murders of Margaret, 52, & the couple’s younger son, Paul, 22, in June 2021. Murdaugh, whose father, grandpa, and great-grandfather were all elected as the region’s top prosecutors in positions that lasted for a combined total of almost 90 years, instantly denied responsibility for the fatalities.
However, the murders sparked a weird series of events that, according to authorities, included Murdaugh paying a man to murder him so that his elder son could collect on the life insurance policy, as well as dozens of complaints against Murdaugh charging him of financial crimes.
Few specifics were provided by the investigators, and no suspects or people of interest were mentioned. But then, according to police, in July 2022, a grand jury indicted Murdaugh on charges of double murder in connection with the deaths of Margaret and Paul, putting an end to a protracted investigation marred by contradicting accounts and a web of further suspicious deaths that has yet to be fully unraveled.
After around six weeks of testifying in the double murder trial, which started in January, Murdaugh was declared guilty of killing both his wife and son.