The Web of Lies Sprung From the Murdaugh Family

In 2019, a story grabbed American attention, a young woman was involved in a boat crash, being thrown into the water and drowning. This was the first death connected to the Murdaughs that grabbed the general public’s attention. But this was not the first a Murdaugh was accused of murder or a wrongful death, nor the last time.

Paul Murdaugh was the son of Alex Murdaugh, a man from a powerful attorney family in South Carolina. The Murdaughs almost had a supremacy in the town of Hampton. It was because of this, when Paul caused the death of Mallory Beach by driving a boat drunk and crashing into a bridge. Paul pleaded not guilty and was still awaiting trial when the day of June 7th, 2021 came.

On June 7th, 2021, Alex Murdaugh had discovered the bodies of his son, Paul Murdaugh and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh. They were both shot with specific types of weapons multiple times. Alex Murdaugh called 911, sounding frantic and saying he’d been with his mother who had dementia. But cell phone data proved otherwise.

First, Paul had sent a snapchat recording to one of his friends close to an hour before he was killed where you can clearly hear his dad. And second, Alex had said he’d taken a nap and immediately gone to see his mother, but his phone was at the site of the kennels where the body was found.

An investigation into the murders began, placing Alex as the leading suspect. But the police did not preserve the crime scene. Buster Murdaugh (Paul’s brother) and John Marvin Murdaugh were seen on drone footage removing eight guns from the property where Maggie and Paul were murdered. And other family and friends were allowed to walk through the crime scene.

The evidence against Alex Murdaugh mounted up, including a failed suicide attempt by Alex where he tried to blame his drug dealer. After he was indicted and taken into custody, his trial began. On the day of the trial, after three hours of deliberation, Alex Murdaugh was convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He is currently being held at Kirkland Correctional Institution Reception and Evaluation Center for his evaluation, before they decide what maximum security prison he will be going to.

Now, it seems like the story ends there, but the truth isn’t that simple. There are two more skeletons in the Murdaughs’ closet. Steven Smith and Gloria Satterfeild. Steven Smith was a young man, only 19 years old when he was killed like Mallory Beach in 2015. He was found in a road very close to the Murdaughs’ property with gashes and blunt force trauma to his head. They thought it could have been a hit-and-run, that was the story police who were connected with Alex Murdaugh said. Although there were many inconsistencies disproving that it was a car-crash or hit and run. But others fully believe that it was a homicide.

The case went cold, but there was one thing someone mentioned. In the police reports, Buster Murdaugh was mentioned multiple times. Nothing ever came of his death, but his body was exhumed on April 4th, 2023. We may see more evidence come from the claims of Steven being murdered based on this, or not.

There is another body connected to the Murdaughs, Gloria Satterfield. Satterfeild allegedly tripped and fell over the Murdaughs dogs on the stairs. At that time Gloria had discovered Alex Murdaugh’s drug addiction. A damning indication that the Murdaughs, more so Alex and Maggie Murdaugh. Her son is now pushing to exhume the body. Another thing about Satterfield’s death is that Alex Murdaugh took out 4.3 million dollars in insurance funds, but Satterfield’s family only received a fraction of the money.

The Murdaughs seemed to all have dirt on their hands, some seemingly more than others. These deaths and wrongs shouldn’t have happened and all people can hope for is justice. If you wish to know more about the Murdaugh murders and history of the family there are many documentaries, one of the most prominent being the Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal docu-series by Netflix. I would recommend watching it to get a more comprehensive view of what happened in the Low Country region of South Carolina.