INSIDE THE FAMILY MURDERS

MYSTERY STILL SURROUNDS THE DISTURBING MURDAUGH CASE

- Michael Crooks

During the double murder trial of well-known American lawyer Alex Murdaugh, the court was shown bodycam footage of when police arrived at the gruesome crime scene. In the dramatic vision, taken on the evening of June 7, 2021, Murdaugh is seen sobbing near the dog kennels of his sprawling hunting lodge 'Moselle' in Islandton, South Carolina, where his wife and son lay dead in pools of blood. After checking on the lifeless victims, a police officer arrives by Murdaugh, who says, through apparent tears, "They're dead, aren't they?"

But Murdaugh already knew the answer to that question. On March 2, a jury found the disgraced attorney guilty of the murders of his wife Maggie, 52, and son, Paul, 22, in a case that shocked the tight-knit counties of southern South Carolina. The prosecution argued that Murdaugh, who was the heir of a law firm empire that wielded enormous power in the state, callously killed his family members as a distraction from his many financial crimes.

"Alex Murdaugh tried one last con to prevent the accountability he has never had to face in his life," said prosecutor Creighton Waters. "But the jury saw through that, and properly found he murdered his wife and son in cold blood."

How he arrived at that cold-blooded juncture remains the central mystery of a bizarre case that involved fraud, a drug addiction, two other mysterious deaths and a fatal boat accident.