Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh has been indicted for double murder in the killings of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh, almost 13 months after he made an emergency call saying he had found them dead near a dog kennel at the family’s country home.
The charges mark a milestone in a case that encompasses seven separate investigations in the sprawling saga, each involving the 54-year-old attorney at their center.
Murdaugh had reported finding his wife and son shot dead shortly after 10pm on 7 June last year. Investigators released little information on the killings, but word soon surfaced that they had been killed with different guns – an assault rifle and a shotgun. Investigators said no threat existed, prompting speculation that a suspect must already be known to them.
The killings also placed a spotlight on the prominent Murdaugh family, which has for almost a century represented wealth, power and privilege across the lowlands of South Carolina.
But interlocking investigations began to produce charges against Alex Murdaugh. Prosecutors accused him of diverting $8.5m in legal settlements from personal injury cases to a bank account he controlled.
Murdaugh is also facing 79 fraud-related charges. Two other people have been indicted in connection with the alleged financial crimes. A federal investigation into the Murdaugh empire is also under way,
