The well-known Murdaugh family came into the national spotlight this year after their name became tied to multiple deaths.
The Murdaugh family has been synonymous with court cases and legal happenings for over a century in South Carolina. Their dynasty of attorneys began in the 1920s with then-patriarch Randolph Murdaugh. Since then, the legacy of legality has been kept by Murdaugh sons; this dynasty has recently ended with Alex Murdaugh after his family came into the public eye.
On June 7, Murdaugh called emergency services after finding his wife and younger son unresponsive on the ground outside their home in Colleton County. According to a transcript of the 911 call, Murdaugh simply described the crime scene as “bad.”
Maggie and Paul Murdaugh — 52 and 22, respectively — were pronounced dead at the scene. The Colleton County sheriff’s office has since officially determined that both Murdaughs died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The surviving Murdaugh son, Buster, was not reported to be at the scene during the death of his mother and brother. Neither the Murdaugh family nor Colleton County law enforcement has released an official statement regarding his whereabouts that night.
As law enforcement continued to investigate the double homicide, other deaths in the area caught their attention. The common factor with each death: the Murdaugh family. Over the span of the last six years, multiple local deaths have mysteriously been connected to at least one member of the Murdaugh family.
In February 2018, Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh’s housekeeper of over twenty years, fell on the Murdaugh’s property. Soon after her accident, Satterfield was pronounced deceased. While this was seen as a natural death at the time, Satterfield’s family has called for the investigation to be reopened in light of the Murdaugh double homicide.
Exactly a year later, in 2019, Paul Murdaugh and a number of his friends took the Murdaugh family boat out for a ride. Just after midnight on Feb. 24, Murdaugh’s boat collided with a bridge near Parris Island. Mallory Beach, 19, fell into the water during the crash and was presumed missing. Nearly a week later, law enforcement officers pulled her corpse from the water.
This was also ruled an accidental death, while Paul Murdaugh was arrested for operating a boat under the influence. He pleaded innocent to this charge and was awaiting trial when he was shot alongside his mother. Murdaugh’s uncles hypothesized that the death of Mallory Beach may have had a hand in his own death. According to the brothers of Alex Murdaugh, their family had been receiving threats since Beach’s body had been discovered.
Another local death has been reevaluated since the Murdaugh name came into the national view. In the summer of 2015, the body of 19–year–old Stephen Smith was found on the side of the road less than ten miles from the Murdaugh residence.
While Smith’s death was pronounced as a potential hit-and-run, his mother has since reopened the investigation alongside the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Smith’s mother, Sandy Smith, was startled to remember that her son and the surviving Murdaugh son had been classmates in high school. Law enforcement officers have said that evidence gathered while investigating the Murdaugh murders prompted reexamining Smith’s death.
Sandy Smith told CNN in June that she did not believe her son’s death was the result of an accident but that the investigation had not been thorough enough.
“Stephen’s always been put on the back burner. It’s like nobody was looking for answers,” Smith said.
With the Murdaugh family’s deaths being actively investigated, local and national theories have begun to spread. Examining the aforementioned deaths in comparison to the Murdaughs being targeted leads to more questions than it does answers.
As of Sept. 4, another twist has revealed itself in this investigation. Alex Murdaugh called emergency services on Sept. 4 to report an injury. According to Murdaugh, he had been shot in the head while changing his car’s tire. He reported that he did not know who the shooter was.
A week later, Murdaugh admitted that he had hired the shooter so that Buster Murdaugh could claim a multi-million life insurance policy. An accomplice was needed, as the Murdaugh family insurance had a suicide exclusion — the policy would have been voided if Murdaugh’s death had been ruled as a suicide.
Murdaugh’s attorney, Richard Harpootlian, is quoted as saying that this plot was “an attempt on Murdaugh’s part to do something to protect his child.”
The shooter, Curtis Edward Smith, was arrested for assisting suicide, assault and presenting a firearm. It is unclear whether or not he is related to Stephen Smith. Alex Murdaugh was arrested shortly after his confession. He was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report. He was released on bond after his hearing, and his license to practice law has been suspended.
Since his release, Murdaugh has been in rehab for an opioid addiction, according to Harpootilan. His release date is unknown at this time.
