Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of defrauding clients and attempting a suicide fraud scheme, may soon be indicted on murder charges as well, according to his attorney.
“I am aware that SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) advised the family that they intend to seek murder indictments from a grand jury later this week,” attorney Jim Griffin. “We won’t have any comment until charges are actually brought against Alex.”
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Alex Murdaugh Could Face Murder Charges
When asked for more information, SLED’s official spokesperson Renée Wunderlich released a statement that she flatly refused.
“SLED’s investigation into the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh is still active and ongoing,” Wunderlich said. “Agents are committed to the integrity of the investigation. Thus, no additional information from SLED will be provided at this time.”
When asked about possible charges against Murdaugh, a South Carolina Attorney General’s office representative said they had no comment.
Murdaugh, 64, is the heir to a political dynasty in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. If he were to face indictment, it would be the latest stunning turn in his remarkable fall from grace.
FITSNews.com first reported the potential indictments being presented on Tuesday.
According to SLED, in June of last year, Murdaugh called 911 to report that he had just shot and killed his wife Margaret, 52, and his son Paul, 22.
The investigation into those deaths has resulted in a chain of events with many twists and turns, including the reopening of an investigation into the unsolved death of a 19-year-old in 2015, the resignation of Murdaugh as an attorney for a prominent legal group, the admission that he struggled with opioid abuse, and the filing of dozens of charges accusing him of stealing money from clients.
In a strange turn of events, Murdaugh reported being shot in the head by police in the month of September. He soon confessed to authorities that he had plotted to have him killed with another man so that his son could collect a $10 million life insurance payout.
Indictments totaling 71 counts accuse him of scamming customers out of $8.4 million through a variety of schemes since then.
His longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died in 2018 after a fall at the Murdaugh residence, and several charges stem from her death. Based on the information provided by SLED, Murdaugh allegedly conspired with her family to sue himself and reach an insurance settlement, promising to distribute the money to his victims’ loved ones. Affidavits made public by SLED indicate that he secretly deposited around $3 million of that money into an account he owned.
On the same day, the Supreme Court of South Carolina issued an order disbarring Murdaugh, who had his license to practice law in the state suspended in 2021.
“Respondent concedes that disbarment is warranted in light of his admitted professional misconduct,” the order read. “However, our decision today turns not on Respondent’s concession, but rather derives from our constitutional authority and duty to protect the public from attorneys who are not fit to practice law.”
Murdaugh has been arrested and is currently being held in a South Carolina jail with a $7 million bond.
He insists he had nothing to do with the murders of his wife and child. In a statement released through his attorneys in the previous September, he explained how their passing had made his struggles with opioid addiction even more difficult to handle.
“The murders of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult time in my life,” Murdaugh said at the time. “I have made a lot of decisions that I truly regret.”
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