Deaths, arrests, lawsuits, jail: A timeline of Alex Murdaugh’s decline since the murders
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Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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Alex Murdaugh and his family were on top of the legal and social world in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.
At least it seemed that way. He was partner in the powerhouse law firm established by his great-grandfather. The family had a beach house. Hundreds of acres for hunting and fishing.
But after Alex Murdaugh’s younger son, Paul, and wife, Maggie, were gunned down outside their sprawling Colleton County estate in June 2021, the well-constructed facade began to crumble.
Now, almost a year after the murders, Alex Murdaugh has found himself on the other side of the legal system, held in jail on one of the highest-ever bonds in the state and facing 79 criminal charges and at least 10 lawsuits.
His fall from grace has been a swift one, but it isn’t over.
Here’s a timeline of major events involving Alex Murdaugh since June 2021:
2021
Monday, June 7: Alex Murdaugh calls 911 to report that his younger son, Paul, and wife, Maggie, have been shot to death outside Moselle, the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre property on Moselle Road in Colleton County.
Tuesday, June 15: SLED releases its first public statement, confirming Alex Murdaugh was the person who called 911.
Friday, June 25: Alex Murdaugh and his surviving son, Buster, announce a $100,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed Paul and Maggie. The reward expired at the end of September.
Friday, Aug. 27: After Paul Murdaugh’s estate goes to probate, his father signs away his right to administer the estate and asks his brother Randy Murdaugh IV to take it over. Randy Murdaugh agrees, but resigns in October.
Friday, Sept. 3: Members of the Murdaugh family’s century-old law firm, Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED), confront partner Alex Murdaugh, accusing him of misappropriating millions from the firm. He says he’ll resign.
Saturday, Sept. 4: Alex Murdaugh is allegedly shot in the head on the side of a rural Hampton road. He survives.
Monday, Sept. 6: Alex Murdaugh releases a statement saying he’s resigning from his law firm and entering a rehab facility. Hours later, PMPED releases a statement about the missing funds and Friday’s confrontation with Murdaugh.
Tuesday, Sept. 7: The 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office announces it will bar Alex Murdaugh, whose family ran the agency for nearly a century, from prosecuting cases on its behalf.
Wednesday, Sept. 8: S.C. Supreme Court suspends Alex Murdaugh from practicing law.
Wednesday, Sept. 15: The sons of the Murdaughs’ former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who died after falling in the Murdaugh home in 2018, sue Alex Murdaugh, as well as another attorney and a banker, alleging that hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance paments were never distributed to them. SLED announces it is investigating Satterfield’s death after Hampton County Coroner Angela Topper requests it.
Thursday, Sept. 16: Alex Murdaugh turns himself in to police on charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and falsifying a police report stemming from his botched staged murder attempt. Soon after, a local judge grants him a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.
Monday, Sept. 20: Connor Cook, a passenger aboard the boat that crashed and killed Mallory Beach in 2019 (Paul Murdaugh was awaiting trial on felony drunken-driving charges at the time of his death) files suit against Alex Murdaugh, Buster Murdaugh, and the gas station that sold Paul alcohol the day before the crash. The lawsuit alleges that Alex Murdaugh and “others were orchestrating a campaign” to blame Cook for the crash.
Thursday, Sept. 30: A spokesperson for Alex Murdaugh disputes a People Magazine report that Alex and Maggie Murdaugh’s marriage was in trouble before she was killed on June 7.
Friday, Oct. 1: Gloria Satterfield’s sons reach a settlement with Beaufort lawyer Cory Fleming, accused of working with Alex Murdaugh to withhold death settlement money.
Wednesday, Oct. 6: PMPED files a lawsuit, claiming that Murdaugh, their former partner, had funneled stolen money from clients and the law firm into a fake bank account for years.
Thursday, Oct. 14: Alex Murdaugh is taken into police custody in Florida from a rehabilitation facility in Orlando. Earlier in the day, Curtis Edward Smith appears in prerecorded interviews on multiple national news stations, saying he didn’t shoot Alex Murdaugh.
Friday, Oct. 15: Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers, state Sen. Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, release his medical records from the day he says he was shot in the head. The records indicate Murdaugh had entry and exit wounds and a fractured skull.
Saturday, Oct. 16: After waiving extradition, Alex Murdaugh returns to South Carolina and is booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County.
Tuesday, Oct. 19: S.C. Circuit Judge Clifton Newman denies Alex Murdaugh bond on the missing money charges pending a psychiatric evaluation.
Friday, Oct. 22: SLED releases the 911 calls from after Alex Murdaugh was shot on Sept 4. One witness said it “looked like a set up.” Multiple lawyers file coordinated lawsuits against Murdaugh to prevent him or his surviving son from disposing of any financial or property assets without approval by a judge.
Thursday, Oct. 28: Alex Murdaugh’s brother and former law partner, Randy Murdaugh, sues him in Hampton County. The lawsuit says Randy Murdaugh recently lent Alex Murdaugh $90,000, and that $46,500 remains unpaid. A day later, Alex Murdaugh signs a “confession of judgment,” which allows his brother to collect money, virtually speeding up the court process. An emergency order halts further action.
Friday, Oct. 29: John E. Parker, of PMPED, also sues Alex Murdaugh in Hampton County. The lawsuit says Parker lent Alex Murdaugh $477,000 since March and has not been repaid. Alex Murdaugh also signs a “confession of judgment” in this case, and again, an emergency order halts further action.
Tuesday, Nov. 2: State Judge Dan Hall orders Alex Murdaugh’s cash and assets be frozen and controlled by court-appointed overseers. This news comes days after sources tell The Island Packet and The State newspapers that a state grand jury is investigating how money from Alex Murdaugh’s alleged opioid drug habit went to a Lowcountry gang based in the Walterboro-area. The gang is believed to be the “Cowboys.”
Wednesday, Nov. 10: Judge Clifton Newman denies Alex Murdaugh bond a second time after he reviews Murdaugh’s psychiatric evaluation. Hours later, Murdaugh’s attorneys file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the S.C. Supreme Court, saying the state does not have the right to keep their client jailed indefinitely. Murdaugh remains incarcerated.
Friday, Nov. 12: Murdaugh asserts his constitutional privilege against self-incrimination in response to an embezzlement lawsuit filed by his former law firm, PMPED.
Thursday, Nov. 18: News breaks that Alex Murdaugh paid Curtis “Eddie” Smith, the man who was arrested in Murdaugh’s botched murder-for-hire suicide attempt, $155,970 in cashier’s checks from October 2020 through May 2021.
Friday, Nov. 19: A state grand jury indicts Alex Murdaugh on 27 counts of new financial crimes, alleging he stole a total of $4.8 million across five counties.
Friday, Dec. 3: The state Attorney General tells S.C. Supreme Court that Alex Murdaugh should stay in jail without bond for the time being.
Thursday, Dec. 9: A state grand jury indicts Alex Murdaugh on 21 more counts of financial crimes, totaling $1.3 million across three counties.
Monday, Dec. 13: Judge Alison Lee sets a $7 million bond for Alex Murdaugh on the 48 charges of financial crimes. The bond must be paid in full, which differs from the typical minimum requirement of a 10% payment. Before the bond was set, Murdaugh told the judge he regretted his actions — although he did not specifically address the financial allegations — and that he hurt people he cares for. He also said he was 98 days sober from his opiate addiction and that his “head is on straighter” than the day of his botched suicide attempt. This was the first time he’s spoken publicly since his son and wife’s murders.
Sunday, Dec. 26: Maggie Murdaugh left all of her property to Alex Murdaugh when she died, according a copy of her last will and testament obtained by The Island Packet. The will, signed Aug. 15, 2005, does not specify what property, but it appears to indicate Alex Murdaugh is entitled to the family’s 1,770-acre property.
2022
Tuesday, Jan. 4: The PMPED law firm, founded by Alex Murdaugh’s great grandfather more than a century ago, scrubbed the name of the influential family and three other partners following dozens of allegations of financial fraud against Murdaugh. Meanwhile, Murdaugh’s attorneys filed a motion asking the asking a judge reduce his $7 million bond, claiming he has less than $10,000 in his bank account.
Thursday, Jan. 6: South Carolina Judge Letitia Verdin is reassigned to preside over the 21 alleged financial crimes Murdaugh was indicted for in December, according to an order signed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Don Beatty. It’s unclear why. The other financial crimes will continue to be heard by State Judge Clifton Newman.
Monday Jan. 10: A virtual court hearing is held after Murdaugh’s attorneys requested his $7 million bond be reduced. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Alison Lee said she would make her decision at a later date. The hearing lasted 90 minutes and gave the public its first look at how much money and assets Murdaugh may have. Murdaugh did not speak but others did, including lawyers representing a number of his alleged victims and a S.C. Highway Patrol trooper who accused Murdaugh of stealing $100,000 in compensation that was due to him after a car crash.
Tuesday, Jan. 18: Judge Alison Lee denies Murdaugh’s request for lower bond. He remains incarcerated in Richland County with a $7 million bond.
Thursday, Jan. 20: A state grand jury indicts Alex Murdaugh on 23 counts of new financial crimes, alleging he stole a total of $2.27 million across two counties. This is the third consecutive month he’s faced a wave of new indictments.
Monday, February 14: Another two passengers aboard the boat that crashed and killed Mallory Beach in 2019, Morgan Doughty and Miley Altman, file separate personal injury lawsuits against Alex Murdaugh and the gas station that sold Paul Murdaugh alcohol before the crash.
Monday, February 28: Attorneys for Alex Murdaugh file a lawsuit against the interim director of Richland County’s Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, where Murdaugh has been jailed since October, over the alleged improper release to the public in January of Murdaugh’s phone calls from jail. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, seeks to prevent the further release to the public of any taped phone conversations between Murdaugh and others, including his family members.
Monday, March 7: Alex Murdaugh gives up his right to accept any interest in the estate of his late wife, Maggie Murdaugh, according to a document filed Monday in Colleton County Probate Court. Maggie’s stake in the Moselle property and an Edisto Beach house would fall to her surviving child, Richard Alexander “Buster” Murdaugh, Jr.
Wednesday, March 9: Court-appointed receivers tasked with managing Alex Murdaugh’s assets allege he is in violation of an order forbidding him from moving money around days after he gave up interest in his wife’s estate.
Wednesday, March 16: Alex Murdaugh is indicted on one new conspiracy charge and three new counts of making a false statement or misrepresentation in connection with an insurance transaction of $50,000 or more. Suspended Beaufort attorney Cory Fleming, Murdaugh’s longtime friend and alleged co-conspirator, was also charged with multiple crimes.
Sunday, March 20: The State newspaper publishes an in-depth look at the factors that may have been in play that aided Alex Murdaugh in allegedly taking money from his family’s law firm bank accounts without raising any red flags.
Sunday, March 27: The Island Packet publishes and exclusive interview with John Marvin Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh’s youngest brother, said he’s embarrassed for what (Alex has) done’ and doesn’t question whether he stole the money but why. Marvin Murdaugh also talks about why he was photographed with investigators at the murder scene.
Wednesday, April 27: News emerges that Alex Murdaugh fronted $110,000 for the purchase of a funeral home in Brunswick, Georgia. The owner of the funeral home said Murdaugh was his attorney.
Tuesday, May 3: The State newspaper reports a federal grand jury has convened to look into Alex Murdaugh’s financial affairs, including Murdaugh’s alleged theft of his deceased housekeeper’s $4 million estate.
Wednesday, May 4: The state Attorney General announces four new criminal charges against Alex Murdaugh handed up from the grand jury on April 14. He is now charged in 15 separate indictments containing 79 charges against him in schemes to steal some $8.4 million from various alleged victims. Murdaugh’s alleged co-conspirators former Hampton banker Russell Laffitte and suspended lawyer Cory Fleming are also charged.
Friday, June 3: The body of Gloria Satterfield is to be exhumed. Satterfield, 57, the longtime Murdaugh housekeeper, died in 2018 after a fall at the Murdaughs’ rural estate. Alex Murdaugh is charged with allegedly diverting money from a life insurance policy on Satterfield to himself.
Tuesday, June 28: Alex Murdaugh and Curtis Smith were hit with new state grand jury indictments, including drug trafficking and running a longtime money laundering scheme involving $2.4 million in stolen money. Smith is Murdaugh’s cousin.
Tuesday, July 12: The same day news reports quoting sources said Alex Murdaugh would soon face charges in the deaths of his wife and son, the South Carolina Supreme Court disbarred him for admitting his responsibility for the 2018 theft of $4.3 million in settlement funds from the estate of Gloria Satterfield.
Thursday, July 14: The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office and the State Law Enforcement Division announced the formal indictment of Alex Murdaugh by a Colleton County grand jury in the June 7, 2021, murders of his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul. He was indicted on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Wednesday, July 20: Alex Murdaugh is denied bond in the June 2021 murders of his wife and son, and pleads not guilty.
Wednesday, July 20: A federal grand jury indicts former Hampton banker Russell Laffitte on various counts of bank and wire fraud in connection with alleged schemes by Alex Murdaugh to misappropriate millions of dollars supposedly under bank supervision.
Friday, Aug. 19: Alex Murdaugh is indicted on new charges that he stole money from his former Hampton law firm and that he illegally cashed a sizable check that should have gone to one of his brothers.
Wednesday, Aug. 24: The State reports about a short cellphone video of the Murdaugh family purportedly taken right before Maggie and Paul were fatally shot at their rural estate in June 2021, depicting a “happy family,” according to a source familiar.
Tuesday, Nov. 22: Former South Carolina bank CEO Russell Laffitte is found guilty on all six counts of conspiracy, bank and wire fraud and misapplication of bank funds, ending a three-week trial that puts Alex Murdaugh in the spotlight.
Wednesday, Nov. 23: Attorneys for Alex Murdaugh ask a state judge to prohibit testimony at trial about “blood spatter patterns” on Murdaugh’s T-shirt and want to get copies of all communications published between the state and one of its scientific witnesses.
Friday, Dec. 16: Alex Murdaugh is indicted on tax evasion, the South Carolina Attorney General’s office announces.
Tuesday, Dec. 20: The S.C. Attorney General’s Office announces it will seek a life sentence, not death, for Alex Murdaugh in the killing of his wife and son. “After carefully reviewing this case and all the surround facts, we have decided to seek life without parole for Alex Murdaugh,” Attorney General Alan Wilson says.
Wednesday, Dec. 28: The much-delayed trial in the wrongful death case of Mallory Beach against disgraced former lawyer Alex Murdaugh and convenience store magnate Gregory Parker will finally proceed but no date has been set.
2023
Monday, Jan. 23, 2023: Murder trial for Alex Murdaugh, accused of killing his wife and son in June 2021, begins in Colleton County with jury selection. The trial is scheduled to run until at least Feb. 10.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Deaths, arrests, lawsuits, jail: A timeline of Alex Murdaugh’s decline since the murders."
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