Disgraced authorized dynasty inheritor Alex Murdaugh has been convicted in a South Carolina courthouse of the murders of his wife and son.
Mr Murdaugh, 54, was discovered responsible by a jury of taking pictures Paul, 22, twice with a shotgun and Maggie, 52, 5 instances with a rifle on the household’s sprawling searching lodge in Islandton on 7 June 2021.
He was arrested more than a year later in July 2022 and charged with their murders.
Within the 20 months for the reason that brutal double murders propelled the Murdaughs onto nationwide headlines, a collection of different scandals, allegations and alleged crimes have additionally come to gentle.
Right here’s a timeline of the important thing moments within the case:
8 July 2015 – Stephen Smith, 19, was discovered lifeless within the center of a highway in Hampton County, South Carolina. The overtly homosexual teenager had suffered blunt power trauma to the pinnacle and his loss of life was formally dominated a hit-and-run. His household doubted this model of occasions, and the Murdaugh identify cropped up in a number of police ideas and group rumours.
2 February 2018 – The Murdaughs’ long-term housekeeper Gloria Satterfield died in a mysterious journey and fall on the household dwelling. Satterfield, who labored for the household for greater than 20 years, was discovered on the backside of some stairs. She by no means resumed consciousness and died from her accidents on 26 February.
24 February 2019 – Paul, then 19, was allegedly drunk driving the household’s boat when it crashed, throwing him and his buddies overboard. The physique of Mallory Seashore, 19, washed up on the shore round every week later.
18 April 2019 – Paul was charged with three felonies over Seashore’s loss of life together with boating underneath the affect. He was going through as much as 25 years in jail. Seashore’s household additionally filed a wrongful loss of life lawsuit towards the Murdaughs.
7 June 2021 – Maggie and Paul had been shot lifeless on the household’s sprawling property in Islandton. Maggie was shot 5 instances with an computerized rifle and Paul was shot twice – as soon as within the head and as soon as within the chest – with a shotgun. Mr Murdaugh made a dramatic 911 name at 10.07pm claiming he had returned dwelling from visiting his aged mom to seek out their our bodies.
17 June 2021 – Mr Murdaugh’s brothers Randy Murdaugh IV and John Marvin Murdaugh appeared on Good Morning America insisting their brother was not concerned within the murders.
22 June 2021 – SLED introduced that it was reopening an investigation into Smith’s loss of life, primarily based on info gathered throughout its investigation into Maggie and Paul’s murders.
22 July 2021 – Investigators launched the 911 name made by Mr Murdaugh on the night time of the murders. Within the name, he’s heard sobbing as he tells the dispatcher “it’s dangerous” and “my spouse and little one have been shot badly”. Mr Murdaugh additionally tells the dispatcher that he hasn’t seen anybody on the property.
3 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh was confronted by the companions at his legislation agency PMPED after they found he was allegedly misappropriating thousands and thousands of {dollars} of purchasers’ funds. He was pressured to resign.
4 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh was shot on the facet of a highway in Hampton County. He survived and known as 911, claiming he was ambushed in a drive-by taking pictures whereas he was altering a tyre on his car. He was handled at a hospital for a “superficial gunshot wound to the pinnacle”.
5 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh entered rehab, asserting he was fighting a 20-year opioid habit and that he had resigned from his legislation agency PMPED.
13 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh confessed to police that he had orchestrated his personal taking pictures as half of a botched hitman plot. He mentioned he paid Curtis Smith, 62 – a former shopper, distant cousin and allegedly Mr Murdaugh’s drug seller – to shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot in order that his surviving son Buster may get a $10m life insurance coverage windfall. The 2 males had been arrested and charged however Mr Murdaugh was allowed to be launched on bond to return to rehab. SLED additionally opened an investigation into allegations that Mr Murdaugh had been misappropriating funds from his legislation agency.
15 September 2021 – SLED introduced it was reopening an investigation into Satterfield’s 2018 loss of life.
14 October 2021 – Mr Murdaugh was launched from rehab solely to be dramatically arrested on expenses of stealing funds from Satterfield’s household. The household had reached a wrongful loss of life settlement with Mr Murdaugh however mentioned they didn’t obtain a dime. They filed a lawsuit towards Mr Murdaugh claiming he pocketed the cash.
19 November 2021 – Mr Murdaugh was charged with virtually 30 counts over the Satterfield wrongful loss of life settlement.
3 June 2022 – SLED introduced that it was planning to exhume Satterfield’s physique.
12 July 2022 – The Murdaugh household was notified that Mr Murdaugh can be charged with Maggie and Paul’s murders. The identical day, Mr Murdaugh was disbarred from working towards legislation in South Carolina by the state’s Supreme Court docket.
14 July 2022 – Mr Murdaugh was charged with the murders of Maggie and Paul – two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon throughout the fee of a violent crime.
20 July 2022 – Mr Murdaugh appeared in court docket on the homicide expenses the place he pleaded not responsible.
22 November 2022 – Russell Laffitte, former Palmetto State Financial institution CEO, was convicted of financial fraud expenses in connection to Mr Murdaugh’s alleged white collar fraud schemes.
23 January 2023 – Mr Murdaugh’s homicide trial started in Colleton County Courthouse with jury choice. Opening arguments started two days later. By this time, Mr Murdaugh was additionally going through greater than 100 different prison expenses over the suicide hitman plot and the alleged white collar fraud scheme the place he’s accused of stealing greater than $8m from purchasers. He’s additionally going through a number of civil fits.
24 January 2023 – A decide permitted the settlement settlement within the wrongful loss of life lawsuit introduced towards the Murdaugh household by the Seashore household.
