Where is Alex Murdaugh now? Murdaugh Murders suspect explained

Netflix’s new true crime documentary looks at the story of the Murdaugh family, but where is murder suspect Alex Murdaugh now? Here’s everything you need to know.

By Lauren Morris

Published: Friday, 24 February 2023 at 12:00 am

Netflix’s latest true crime offering tells a story of “corruption, power and cover ups” in the Murdaugh family, and retraces the tragic double murder of mother and son Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

Alex Murdaugh, a South Carolina lawyer and patriarch of the prominent family, becomes a large talking point in Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, as he has been charged with and is currently on trial for the murders of his son and wife.

The deaths, which occurred in June 2021, are just the tip of the iceberg of this three-parter however, with the docuseries also exploring the death of teenager Mallory Beach – who died when a boat allegedly driven by Paul crashed in 2019 – as well as the mysterious death of the Murdaugh housekeeper Gloria Satterfield in 2018 and Murdaugh’s many alleged financial crimes.

The Netflix series tells an almost unbelievable true story, so here’s everything you need to know about Alex Murdaugh – including the latest details on his court case.

Who is Alex Murdaugh?

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Alex’s sons, Buster Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh.
Netflix

Alex Murdaugh is a former South Carolina lawyer who is currently on trial for the murders of his son, Paul Murdaugh, and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh.

He belongs to a once influential family, with three members of the Murdaugh clan all taking on the role of solicitor (AKA district attorney) in the 14th circuit solicitor’s office between 1920 and 2006.

Alex Murdaugh had served as volunteer in the office, according to the New Yorker, and “retained close ties to local law enforcement”. He also worked at the family law firm PMPED (Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick), dealing with personal injury claims.

In July 2022, he was charged for the murder of his son and wife, who had been found dead in June 2021 at the kennels of their family’s hunting lodge.

Murdaugh claimed to have discovered the bodies and stated that he had returned to find them after visiting his elderly mother.

Several months after the deaths of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh claimed to have been ambushed in a drive-by shooting in Hampton County. He was treated for a “superficial gunshot wound to the head” and one week later, on 13th September, he confessed to paying an alleged hitman to shoot and kill him.

He is said to have done so as part of an assisted suicide plot, the Independent reports, so that his son Buster would be able to claim life insurance money. Alex Murdaugh later told police that he had paid 62-year-old Curtis Smith, a former client, cousin and alleged drug dealer, to carry out the shooting.

Also according to the Independent, Murdaugh was released on bond on the condition that he enter a rehabilitation facility for his opioid addiction. He had entered rehab one day after the shooting and resigned from PMPED, with his law partners accusing him of stealing millions of dollars from the firm and his clients’ settlements.

He has since been charged with over 100 counts of financial fraud, the Independent reports, alleging that he’s stolen nearly $8.5 million (£7 million) from clients over the course of a decade – including a settlement over the death of the family’s housekeeper Gloria Satterfield. She died in a mysterious trip and fall accident in February 2018 and Satterfield’s sons claimed that they never received the money.

Where is Alex Murdaugh now?

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Alex Murdaugh in court.
Netflix

Murdaugh is currently standing trial for the murder of his son Paul Murdaugh and his wife Maggie Murdaugh.

Meanwhile, in January 2023, a judge approved a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Mallory Beach – a 19-year-old who died when a boat, allegedly driven by Paul Murdaugh, crashed in February 2019 – against the Murdaugh family.

The murder trial began on 23rd January 2023 in Colleton County Courthouse, South Carolina and since it commenced, the prosecution has argued that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from the various scandals around him (via CNN), alleging that mobile phone records place him at the dog kennels minutes before the murders and that his voice features in a video filmed by Paul around the same time, according to the Independent.

However, the defence argued that the mobile phone records were incomplete and that Maggie Murdaugh’s phone was thrown half a mile from the family estate at the same time that Murdaugh was at the property, the Independent also reports.

The publication also reported other claims to come out of the trial so far, including bodycam footage showing Murdaugh in a “clean” white shirt after claiming to have touched his wife and son’s bodies, as well as audio from Murdaugh’s police interview in which he can be heard saying either “I did him so bad” or “They did him so bad” in reference to his son.

Meanwhile, a special agent testified in court on Monday 30th January that the firearms in the Murdaugh home matched those used to kill Maggie and Paul. The defence placed doubt on the preservation of the crime scene by police, while a police officer testified that data was missing from Murdaugh’s call log.

The caregiver for Murdaugh’s mother Libby also testified that Alex Murdaugh was “fidgety” on the night of the murders and alleged that he later told her to tell authorities he had stayed at his parents’ house for longer than he had. Gunshot residue was also found on a blue raincoat that the prosecution argues was hidden by Murdaugh in his parents’ home after the murders.

An FBI electronics engineer testified that Murdaugh did visit his ill mother but only stayed for 21 minutes – shorter than he claimed – before arriving at his family’s dog kennels at 10pm and calling 911 at 10:07pm, the Independent reports.