S.C. attorney Murdaugh charged with murder in deaths of wife, son

More than 13 months after disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh called 911 after finding his wife and son shot outside their home, a grand jury indicted him Thursday on murder charges in their killings.

But the legal documents shed little light on the ongoing mystery over the deaths that captivated the public, who have clicked on hundreds of stories and podcasts detailing the dozens of other criminal charges that have piled up in the months since Murdaugh’s wife Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, were killed on June 7, 2021.

Murdaugh, 54, has repeatedly denied any role in the deaths, saying he was visiting his mother and ailing father and discovered his son and wife slain when he returned to their estate.

“Alex wants his family, friends and everyone to know that he did not have anything to do with the murders of Maggie and Paul. He loved them more than anything in the world,” Murdaugh defense attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian said in a statement.

Each murder indictment was one paragraph with exactly one new detail, accusing Murdaugh of killing his wife with a rifle and his son with a shotgun. They include no details on how police linked Murdaugh to the deaths after 13 months of investigation or why a man who had no criminal history and was part of a wealthy, well-connected family that dominated the legal community in tiny Hampton County might have wanted to kill his own family members.

Murdaugh is already in jail unable to pay a $7 million bond on the dozens of other charges.

Murdaugh’s family has dominated the legal scene in tiny, neighboring Hampton County for nearly a century. Murdaugh’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather were the area’s elected prosecutors for 87 years straight. Murdaugh once worked for the centuryold, family-founded law firm, which said in September that he was stealing money.

Murdaugh’s lawyers said “it was very clear from day one” that law enforcement was focusing on Murdaugh and no one else. They said they want his trial held in the next three months.

“We know that Alex did not have any motive whatsoever to murder them,” the defense attorneys said.

If convicted of murder, Murdaugh would face 30 years to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors could also choose to seek the death penalty under state law because more than one person was killed.

The South Carolina Supreme Court disbarred Murdaugh on Tuesday, confirming the inevitable after Murdaugh’s attorneys declined to contest arguments at a June disbarment hearing.