What to know about Buster Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh’s only surviving son
The beautiful downfall of Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced former South Carolina lawyer and convicted killer, was capped Friday, March 3, when he was sentenced to life in jail for the murders of his spouse and youngest son.
His oldest son, Buster Murdaugh, sat silently behind his father for weeks as dozens of witnesses gave their testimonies, and put his head in his arms when the jury’s verdict was learn on March 2.
Buster not solely made an look on the witness stand, however he’s talked about a number of occasions within the Netflix documentary, “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal,” which charts his father’s fall from grace because the scion of a multi-generational South Carolina authorized dynasty to a person dealing with practically 100 prison fees.
Earlier than Alex Murdaugh was disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court docket in July 2022, he was a private harm legal professional. The South Carolina Lawyer Normal’s Workplace alleges Alex Murdaugh stole practically $8.5 million from his purchasers at his legislation agency over 11 years, accounting for 99 fees throughout greater than a dozen indictments. He acknowledged fraud in throughout his testimony.
Alex Murdaugh’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather all held positions as high prosecutors within the southern a part of the state, giving the household giant energy over a number of counties in South Carolina for nearly a century.
Whereas Buster Murdaugh doesn’t seem within the documentary and declined to remark for the sequence, viewers of the present and the trial could also be curious to know Alex Murdaugh’s solely surviving son.
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Buster was in legislation faculty
Buster Murdaugh graduated from Wofford Faculty in 2018, in keeping with his Instagram bio, and gave the impression to be following in his household’s footsteps by enrolling on the College of South Carolina Faculty of Regulation.
Nonetheless, by spring 2021, he had been kicked out of legislation faculty for plagiarizing, in keeping with courtroom paperwork obtained by the Wall Road Journal.
The Publish and Courier, an area South Carolina newspaper, obtained jailhouse cellphone calls from Alex Murdaugh, during which he stated the Murdaugh household had paid a well-connected lawyer about $60,000 to safe Buster Murdaugh’s re-admittance to the college.
In a cellphone name revealed by The State, Buster Murdaugh speaks to his father concerning the efforts the lawyer, Butch Bowers, had gone to: “He was purported to be getting in contact with (William) Hubbard (Dean of the College of South Carolina Faculty of Regulation), and Hubbard needed to run it by admissions to have the ability to set the document clear.”
“You want to prepare for this legislation faculty, now OK,” Alex Murdaugh informed his son in a later cellphone name recorded from the jail, and revealed by the Publish and Courier. “I imply, you’ve acquired to essentially buckle down. You’ve acquired to deal with it like a job. You’re going to should learn these instances two and thrice should you don’t absolutely perceive them.” He added, “As a result of you already know there’s not going to be one other likelihood.”
However Jim Griffin, an legal professional for Alex Murdaugh, informed the Publish and Courier in September 2022 the college and Buster Murdaugh had come to an settlement that he would not but return to highschool.
“He has put his want to go to legislation faculty on maintain for now,” Griffin stated. “There isn’t any plan for him to start out faculty within the fall or within the spring.”
His connection to 2019 boat crash
As depicted in “Murdaugh Murders,” Buster Murdaugh’s youthful brother Paul Murdaugh was dealing with three felony counts of cruising underneath the affect on the time of his demise stemming from a ship crash on Feb. 23, 2019.
On the night time of the crash, then 19-year-old Paul Murdaugh took his household’s boat out for an evening of partying on the Beaufort River. Earlier than entering into the boat, Paul Murdaugh used his older’s ID to buy alcohol for the night time, as proven in footage performed throughout the first episode of “Murdaugh Murders.”
Survivors of the boat crash stated within the documentary Paul Murdaugh was steering the boat when it crashed right into a bridge, ejecting 19-year-old Mallory Seaside from the vessel.
It took investigators eight days to seek out Seaside’s physique, NBC reported in a 2022 “Dateline” episode.
The costs in opposition to Paul Murdaugh have been dropped in August 2021 after the South Carolina Lawyer Normal’s Workplace acquired his demise certificates, NBC affiliate WSAV reported, and a settlement was reached between Seaside’s mother and father, different survivors of the crash and two of Murdaugh’s relations in January 2023, in keeping with courtroom paperwork revealed by NBC affiliate WTOC.
“Murdaugh Murders” additionally mentions the mysterious 2015 demise of Buster Murdaugh’s good friend from highschool, Stephen Smith, which stays unsolved. Investigators reopened the case into Smith’s demise after the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, S.C. Regulation Enforcement Division spokesperson Tommy Crosby stated in a June 2021 assertion.
His connection to Alex Murdaugh’s botched murder-for-hire plot
Alex Murdaugh made nationwide headlines on Sept. 4, 2021, simply months after the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, when he was discovered with a gunshot wound to the pinnacle in Hampton County, South Carolina, NBC Information reported.
Murdaugh’s legal professional Jim Griffin informed information retailers on the time Murdaugh had pulled over after his car acquired a flat tire, after which an individual inside a pickup truck handed by and opened hearth.
Authorities described Murdaugh‘s harm as a “superficial” head wound on Sept. 5, and stated he was anticipated to get well, NBC Information reported.
However by Sept. 14, authorities had totally different model of occasions: Murdaugh allegedly organized for his former shopper, Curtis Edward Smith, to kill him in order that Buster Murdaugh might acquire on his $10 million life insurance coverage coverage, NBC Information reported.
Dick Harpootlian, one among Murdaugh’s attorneys, stated on TODAY on Sept. 15 his shopper’s habit to opioids led him to create the plot to have a Curtis kill him so Buster Murdaugh might make a declare his life insurance coverage coverage.
Murdaugh turned himself in to authorities on Sept. 16 after he was charged with insurance coverage fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance coverage fraud and submitting a false police report, NBC Information reported.
Buster testified in his father’s protection
Buster Murdaugh was the primary witness the protection referred to as to the stand, and he testified on Feb. 21 his father was barely in a position to converse the primary time he noticed him after the killings.
“He was destroyed, heartbroken,” Buster Murdaugh informed jurors.
He additionally spoke of their loving, “close-knit” household, which induced Alex Murdaugh to interrupt down in tears a number of occasions throughout the testimony.
Alex Murdaugh was convicted of killing Maggie and Paul Murdaugh on March 2, and was sentenced to 2 life phrases to be served consecutively — the utmost penalty — on March 3.
Buster Murdaugh put his head in his arms after the jury’s verdict was learn, and was seen hugging folks within the courtroom after Decide Clifton Newman introduced his father’s sentence of life in jail.
This text was initially revealed on TODAY.com
