The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal Explained

On June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh, a prominent attorney and partner at his family's law firm, called 911 to report finding his wife Maggie and son Paul shot to death at the family's hunting property in Islandton, South Carolina.

Maggie Murdaugh was killed with an assault-style rifle and Paul Murdaugh was killed with a shotgun; both weapons were tied to the Murdaugh family. No arrests were made for months, despite a $100,000 reward offered by relatives.

In 2019, Paul Murdaugh was involved in a fatal boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. He was charged with boating under the influence causing death but died before facing trial; Beach's family separately sued the Murdaughs for wrongful death.

In 2018, longtime Murdaugh housekeeper Gloria Satterfield died after a fall at Alex Murdaugh's home. Her death was initially ruled accidental, but it later emerged that Murdaugh had arranged a $4.3 million insurance settlement for her family and then stole most of the money himself.

On September 4, 2021, Alex Murdaugh was found with a head wound on a rural road near Varnville. He initially claimed he had been shot by a stranger, but later admitted he had arranged for Curtis Edward Smith, a former client, to shoot him so his surviving son Buster could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy.

Murdaugh said the staged shooting was driven by depression over his family's deaths and an addiction to opioids. He checked into rehab afterward, resigned from his family's law firm amid embezzlement allegations, and was disbarred from practicing law.

On October 14, 2021, Murdaugh was arrested on charges including insurance fraud and filing a false police report; he was released on bond and ordered to wear an electronic monitor.

On November 16, 2021, Murdaugh was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder for the deaths of Maggie and Paul, along with weapons charges, and was again released on bail.

Curtis Edward Smith, the man Murdaugh hired to shoot him, was arrested in January 2022 on charges including insurance fraud and conspiracy. He denied involvement in the double murders and said he only agreed to shoot Murdaugh in exchange for money.

Murdaugh's murder trial began on January 25, 2023, in Colleton County, South Carolina, with Judge Clifton Newman presiding over the six-week proceeding.

Prosecutors argued Murdaugh killed his wife and son because they were about to expose his financial crimes, presenting forensic evidence, phone records, bank statements, and surveillance and 911-call recordings.

Murdaugh's surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, testified for the defense in February 2023, telling jurors his father was 'heartbroken' and 'destroyed' by the killings.

On March 2, 2023, the jury found Murdaugh guilty on all counts after deliberating for less than three hours. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole.

Murdaugh separately pleaded guilty to dozens of financial crimes, including stealing millions of dollars from clients and his own law firm over nearly a decade, and was sentenced to lengthy concurrent state and federal prison terms for that fraud.

In May 2026, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh's murder convictions and ordered a new trial, ruling that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca 'Becky' Hill had improperly influenced jurors during the original trial.

Even with the murder convictions overturned, Murdaugh remains behind bars because of his separate financial-crime sentences, which were not affected by the ruling.

The case inspired the Netflix documentary series 'Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal,' released in February 2023, featuring interviews with investigators, journalists, and relatives of the victims.