Murdaugh murders and mysteries timeline: Key events in the South Carolina family’s scandals and deaths
A string of bloody killings and mysteries involving a prominent South Carolina family has been filled with a wild chase full of twists and turns — culminating in a murder conviction against the family’s patriarch.
At the center of it is Alex Murdaugh, 54, a former lawyer who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in South Carolina, where three generations of the family had been state prosecutors in the Hampton County area for more than a century.
The saga began when his younger son, Paul, was involved in a fatal boat crash in 2019. A year and a half later, Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and Paul, 22, were found fatally shot on the family’s rural hunting estate.
Since then, there have been curveballs in the investigation — including Alex Murdaugh’s alleged money misuse that led to his disbarment, an admitted opioid addiction, an assisted-suicide attempt involving an alleged $10 million insurance fraud scheme and a high-profile murder trial.
Here’s a timeline of the key events in the Murdaugh murders and scandals
Feb. 24, 2019: Paul Murdaugh involved in deadly boat crash
Paul Murdaugh, then 19, is alleged to have been boating under the influence when he is involved in a crash that killed a 19-year-old woman, Mallory Beach of South Carolina. The wreck led to some questioning whether his family’s ties to the legal system in the area affected the investigation, local newspaper The Island Packet reported at the time.
Within weeks of the boat crash, Mallory Beach’s mother filed a civil lawsuit against the convenience store where Paul Murdaugh purchased alcohol the night of the crash and against Alex Murdaugh, who owned the boat, and his older brother, Buster Murdaugh, whose I.D. Paul Murdaugh used.
April 18, 2019: Paul Murdaugh charged
Paul Murdaugh was charged with multiple felonies, including boating under the influence, in connection with the boat crash. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges and faced up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
June 7, 2021: Margaret and Paul Murdaugh are found dead
Margaret and Paul Murdaugh were found dead near dog kennels at the family’s home near Islandton, South Carolina, police said. The Colleton County sheriff’s department said both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Their bodies were discovered by Alex Murdaugh, police said. He told authorities he had been out at the time of the shooting and found his wife and son dead when he arrived home, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said in a later news release.
At the time Paul Murdaugh was awaiting trial for the deadly boat crash.
Duffie Stone, the 14th circuit solicitor appointed in 2006, the first non-Murdaugh to hold the position since 1920, recused himself from the case because of personal connections.
