Alex Murdaugh Set to Face Trial Over Murder of Wife and Son - The New York Times

WALTERBORO, S.C. — The walls were caving successful connected Alex Murdaugh.

It was the outpouring of 2021, and Mr. Murdaugh, a South Carolina lawyer whose prominence was rooted successful the ineligible dynasty that his household had built implicit generations, was astir to spot that bequest travel crashing down.

His instrumentality steadfast was asking him astir missing money, and helium was being pressured successful tribunal to disclose his finances, perchance unraveling what prosecutors accidental were yearslong schemes to bargain millions of dollars from clients and colleagues. Then, connected June 7, 2021, Mr. Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and the younger of his 2 sons, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were changeable to decease connected the family’s expansive hunting spot successful a agrarian country of South Carolina’s Lowcountry.

The killings went unsolved for much than a twelvemonth earlier Mr. Murdaugh was charged with 2 counts of murder and disbarred, a stunning downfall for a antheral whose father, gramps and great-grandfather had each served arsenic the apical authoritative for a immense swath of the state.

On Monday, the proceedings of Mr. Murdaugh, 54, began with assemblage enactment successful a lawsuit that has combined a brutal transgression with a novelistic communicative of the unraveling of a almighty family. It could instrumentality respective days to whittle down the assemblage excavation to find 12 suitable jurors. The immense bulk of those interviewed connected Monday said they were alert of the case, and immoderate said they would beryllium incapable to acceptable speech opinions they had already formed astir whether Mr. Murdaugh was guilty.

Prosecutors successful the bureau of South Carolina’s lawyer wide are expected to reason astatine proceedings that Mr. Murdaugh was facing a raft of crises, including suspicions from his instrumentality steadfast astir his finances and a suit implicit a fatal vessel clang involving Paul Murdaugh. They accidental Alex Murdaugh felt truthful trapped by his deceptions that helium decided the lone mode to flight further scrutiny was to summation sympathy by making it look arsenic if an chartless assailant had killed his woman and son.

Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers, meanwhile, program to reason that investigators tried to pin the transgression connected him from the start, failing to earnestly see different imaginable attackers. They volition besides apt reason that the authorities has nary carnal grounds proving that Mr. Murdaugh committed the murders. The defence contends that the carnal grounds prosecutors person disclosed publically — a garment Mr. Murdaugh wore connected the nighttime of the transgression — should beryllium kept retired of the proceedings due to the fact that an expert’s investigation of imaginable bloodstains connected it was shoddy.

The proceedings comes nearly 600 days aft the deaths of Mr. Murdaugh’s woman and son, and follows a question of revelations astir the household and its patriarch. The twists and turns person captivated radical crossed the country, from residents successful the tiny municipality of Hampton, S.C., where the Murdaugh dynasty was built, to devotees of true-crime mysteries and podcasts acold from South Carolina.

“There’s a 1000 rabbit holes, and there’s a rabbit successful each 1 of them,” said Mark B. Tinsley, a lawyer who is suing Mr. Murdaugh successful the vessel clang case. “He had a batch of balls successful the aerial that helium was juggling. And I’m convinced that determination are things that we inactive don’t know.”

The constabulary person opened an probe into the 2018 decease of a housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who died aft falling connected steps astatine Mr. Murdaugh’s location connected the aforesaid spot wherever his woman and lad were aboriginal killed. Her decease was agelong considered an accident, but the lawsuit was reopened when, aft the murders, it was revealed that Mr. Murdaugh had pocketed millions of dollars successful colony funds that were expected to person gone to Ms. Satterfield’s relatives. South Carolina’s authorities constabulary bureau said past twelvemonth that it was exhuming her body.

The authorities constabulary besides opened a caller probe into the 2015 decease of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old antheral who had been recovered on a roadworthy astir 10 miles from the Murdaugh location and who was thought to person been deed by a truck. The constabulary person not accused anyone of wrongdoing successful Mr. Smith’s oregon Ms. Satterfield’s death.

Amid the aggravated attraction connected Mr. Murdaugh, prosecutors accidental his erstwhile instrumentality steadfast discovered a cheque successful Mr. Murdaugh’s bureau successful September 2021 that was expected to beryllium addressed to the steadfast but was alternatively made retired to him. That uncovering led the firm, which was founded by his great-grandfather much than a period ago, to observe much fiscal misconduct by Mr. Murdaugh and to ask for his resignation, which helium gave.

The adjacent day, successful different bizarre twist, Mr. Murdaugh claimed that helium had been changeable successful the caput connected the broadside of a agrarian roadworthy by idiosyncratic who drove by portion helium was alone, changing a level tire. He was taken to a hospital, but his communicative soon began to autumn apart. It turned retired that helium had been connected the broadside of the roadworthy with a person and distant cousin, Curtis Edward Smith.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Mr. Murdaugh disclosed that helium had agelong been addicted to painkillers and said that helium was going to question assistance astatine a rehabilitation center. But his enactment determination was short-lived. About a period later, successful October 2021, helium was charged with stealing from the household of Ms. Satterfield, the housekeeper, and has been successful jailhouse ever since — incapable to marque bail arsenic the fraud charges person piled up.

Mr. Murdaugh has admitted to owing respective radical money, including Ms. Satterfield and his brother, but has said helium had thing to bash with the sidesplitting of his woman and son. Since Mr. Murdaugh was charged successful their deaths successful July, his lawyers, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, person pushed to clasp a proceedings arsenic soon arsenic possible. Mr. Harpootlian, who is besides a Democratic authorities senator, said they wanted their lawsuit acquitted rapidly truthful that constabulary could find the “real killer.”

At 1 tribunal proceeding successful September, helium said the lone unit Mr. Murdaugh had ever taken portion successful was the botched termination effort connected the broadside of the road.

Mr. Murdaugh has said that astatine astir 9 p.m. connected the nighttime of the transgression helium drove from the hunting spot to sojourn his mother, who was with a caregiver assistant, and past helium returned astir an hr aboriginal to find the gruesome transgression scene. He called 911, frantically telling an operator that his woman and lad had been changeable adjacent the property’s canine kennels. “I’ve been up to it present — it’s bad,” helium said connected the call. Investigators person said that Maggie Murdaugh was changeable with a rifle, portion Paul Murdaugh was changeable with a shotgun.

Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers, successful a flurry of ineligible motions, person alleged that the constabulary enactment unit connected an extracurricular expert, whom they picture successful 1 lawsuit arsenic “scientifically illiterate,” to alteration his decision astir whether humor spatter is connected a garment Mr. Murdaugh was wearing connected the nighttime of the killings. They accidental that the authorities constabulary past leaked those revised findings to FITS News, a brash online quality outlet successful the authorities that has breached a bid of stories astir the case, to sway nationalist sentiment up of the trial.

In a tribunal filing past month, prosecutors laid retired their lawsuit successful the fullest presumption yet, saying that a gulf existed betwixt however Mr. Murdaugh portrayed himself and the antheral helium truly was: “an allegedly crooked lawyer and cause idiosyncratic who borrowed and stole wherever helium could to enactment afloat and 1 measurement up of detection.”

The pb prosecutor, Creighton Waters, wrote that Mr. Murdaugh had “been capable to debar accountability passim his life” until the unit became excessively large connected the time of the murders.

Earlier that day, earlier the murders took place, prosecutors accidental idiosyncratic astatine Mr. Murdaugh’s instrumentality steadfast told him that helium needed to instantly relationship for a missing interest payment. And that was not each that was weighing connected him.

At the clip of the murders, Paul Murdaugh, a pupil astatine the University of South Carolina, was facing charges that helium had drunkenly crashed a vessel into a span successful February 2019, sidesplitting 1 of his passengers, Mallory Beach.

Mr. Tinsley, the lawyer representing Ms. Beach’s family, had filed a suit against respective people, including Alex Murdaugh, and was seeking elaborate accusation astir Mr. Murdaugh’s finances. The murders took spot 3 days earlier a proceeding successful which a justice was to see Mr. Tinsley’s request.

If Mr. Murdaugh is recovered blameworthy of the execution charges, authorities instrumentality mandates that helium beryllium sentenced to astatine slightest 30 years successful prison, and prosecutors person said they volition question a beingness sentence. The authorities lawyer wide said prosecutors would not question the decease penalty.

The assemblage enactment signifier of the proceedings successful Walterboro, a metropolis of astir 5,400 radical that sits astir an hour’s thrust inland from the coast, could past for respective days. That volition beryllium followed by opening statements from each side. The proceedings is expected to tally done Feb. 17. Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers person declined to accidental whether helium volition testify.