Alex Murdaugh: The Epic Fall of a Dynasty Pt. 1

What makes up an epic saga? Lies, deceit, scandal, and murder seem to make a descent recipe. Throw in a family whose power and prestige goes back nearly a century and you have something resembling an HBO period piece. The ongoing saga of the Murdaughs has been described as a Greek tragedy. Almost Shakespearean with all its betrayal, drama, murder, and attempted suicide. One could almost lose themselves in the intrigue, forgetting that this isn’t fiction, but real life, with real people involved and effected. The case, which reads like an upcoming drama series, proves one thing for certain. Truth is much stranger than fiction, and is often much more fascinating.

For this post I read Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt on Amazon Kindle. A fantastic source, the book goes deep into the family’s history as well as the case and the trial. To start, he clarified the much debated point of the pronunciation of Alex Murdaugh’s name, properly pronounced Ellick Murdock.

For eighty-six years the Murdaughs held more power than anyone else in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. They dominated the five-county area of the 14th Judicial Circuit while turning the role of district attorney into a torch that was passed down from father to son for decades. In their own way, the Murdaughs were Lowcountry royalty, with three generations serving as 14th Judicial Circuit solicitors, known as district attorneys everywhere else. Hundreds have been imprisoned by a Murdaugh prosecutor, with more than a dozen sent to the electric chair.

Like many old Southern families, the Murdaughs settled in Hampton County back in the 1700s and have remained there to this day. Local historian Sam Crews III helped a great deal with John Glatt’s book as his family settled in Hampton around the same time. He commented that the family had been sharecroppers and farmers. They were good at what they did, but what they prized above all else was education.

Alex Murdaugh’s great-great grandfather, Josiah Putnam Murdaugh I, was born in Islandton, South Carolina on Christmas Day of 1793. He had two sons once he was married, named Josiah Putnam II and Alonzo. Josiah II would marry Annie Marvin, first cousin to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States. After being appointed Varnville’s official moneylender, Josiah II made his first fortune in phosphate mining and commercial fertilizer. He then branched out and into real estate, buying up land in nearby Almeda. At the end of the Civil War, Josiah II found himself with even more land. He and Annie had five children together, who enjoyed the privilege of private tutors while being raised on the very successful Murdaugh farm. It would be this young generation of Murdaughs that would usher in the legal dynasty still known throughout South Carolina today.

Josiah and Annie’s youngest child was born on February 28, 1887. Randolph Murdaugh would build the foundation of the pillar they stood on for so many years to come. Before he created a dynasty, Randolph attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis upon leaving school. He was fully dedicated to pursuing a career in the Navy until a doctor informed him of a heart ailment that meant he would be unfit for service.

Randolph wasn’t deterred or discouraged. He just moved on to plan B, law school. After returning home, he quickly enrolled in the University of South Carolina. He was even the football team’s captain before graduating in 1908 with his bachelor’s degree. The next two years after graduation was spent at USC’s School of Law, earning his law degree.

By 1910, at just twenty-three years old, Randolph Murdaugh was opening his very own one-man law practice, right across the street from the Hampton County Courthouse. When he got married in 1914 his father had already been dead for two years. Randolph had two children with his wife, the first named Randolph II. Just three weeks after the birth of Randolph II’s younger brother, their mother died from complications caused by influenza. Randolph Sr. took the loss very hard and didn’t remarry for several years after the death of his first wife. He became a mostly absentee father as his sons were raised by their nannies. Though he wasn’t at home with them often, he did bring his sons to court with him regularly.

While still running his own practice, Randolph Sr. entered the race for 14th Judicial Circuit solicitor. The 14th Circuit encompasses Hampton, Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, and Jasper counties. He easily took the seat of solicitor, beginning an eighty-six-year reign of Murdaugh solicitors and assistant solicitors in the 14th Circuit.

Randolph Sr. became a community fixture after winning the position. Featured frequently in the society pages and often reported on for his charity work and legal victories, everyone in the Lowcountry knew who Randolph Murdaugh was as he quickly made a name for himself. He became known for his animated behavior and wild courtroom antics. Half prosecutor, half performer, Randolph Sr.’s dramatic courtroom shows wouldn’t be allowed today.

Randolph II grew up watching his father in the courtroom as he theatrically prosecuted cases for the 14th Circuit and tried personal injury cases for his own firm. During that time it was still perfectly legal to continue running a law firm and trying cases while also working as a prosecutor. The younger Randolph watched in fascination as his father paraded around the courtroom, loudly giving bold arguments in his cases. A desire to practice law grew within and the second generation of Murdaugh attorneys was born at a young age. From childhood on all Randolph II ever wanted to be was a lawyer and he worked hard to follow directly in his father’s footsteps. From there a well worn path was forged for the Murdaugh men to pursue law careers.

After graduating from Varnville High School, Randolph II attended the University of South Carolina just as his father had before him. He also played football for the USC Gamecocks, carrying on the athletic torch. While playing ball, he earned the nickname “Buster” for the way he “busted the opponent” on the football field. For the rest of his life, Randolph II would be known to all as “Buster” Murdaugh.

Buster was still attending USC’s School of Law when he married Gladys Marvin. Gladys had recently graduated from college before the marriage. Settling down in Varnville, Buster joined his father’s ever-growing law firm, which was then renamed Murdaugh and Murdaugh.

He and Gladys had their first child on October 25, 1939. Randolph Murdaugh III wouldn’t become a big brother for ten years. As Buster’s son was growing from an infant to a toddler, he was busy working in his father’s stead. Buster would often be deputized for him while the senior Randolph was hospitalized for various ailments. Though he was struggling with his health, Randolph Sr. still ran unopposed for his sixth term as solicitor in early 1940.

On July 19, 1940, the senior Randolph died while returning home from a friend’s poker party, where he had been drinking heavily. While driving home to Varnville from the party in Yemassee, he stopped by the side of a train track at around one o’clock in the morning. Just a few minutes after he stopped a westbound Charleston and Western Carolina freight train came hurdling down the tracks in his direction. Randolph Sr. started his car and pulled right into the middle of the tracks, stopping dead in front of the oncoming train. There was no time to stop as the train approached the Camp Branch crossing, and the car stopped on the tracks. Engineer W. W. Bartlett would later say that he saw the man behind the wheel smile and wave to him just before impact. Randolph’s body was thrown fifty yards from the crash site while his car was discovered three-hundred yards down the track.

The death was officially ruled an accident, but there was much speculation that he had committed suicide. It was widely known that he had been extremely depressed since the death of his first wife and the mother of his children in 1937. He had been at her side when she drew her final breaths and the emotional toll it had taken was difficult for him to handle. After her death, he started drinking to excess as he threw himself into his work.

Just a month after his father’s unfortunate death, Buster won the 14th Judicial Circuit solicitor’s election, continuing to follow his father’s footsteps exactly. A solicitor’s pay wasn’t much at the time, only $270 a month ($5,400 today), so the bulk of his income was coming from Murdaugh and Murdaugh. The position of solicitor was considered more of a part-time job at the time, but that didn’t bother him in the least. Buster was getting to do exactly what he had wanted to do since childhood. Prosecute cases with the same dramatic flare that Randolph I had been well known for. Buster quickly earned a reputation for being every bit as ostentatious as his father in the courtroom.

Buster’s ninety-five percent conviction rate was no stroke of luck. He wasn’t above cutting corners for a conviction. He also made a point of getting to know every person in the district, knowing well that a case may rest in their hands one day. His equally impressive reputation as a civil attorney also earned him much cache in the Lowcountry. Known as a plaintiff’s attorney, his legal advice was heavily sought after.

Buster began an affair with Philadelphia socialite and heiress Ruth Vaux in 1945. Early on in the year, and their affair, she became pregnant with Buster’s son. Born in November 1945, she named the baby Roberts Vaux. Though Buster was more than willing to step up and provide for his illegitimate child, he would not allow him to carry his name. Eventually, Roberts would be begrudgingly accepted by the Murdaughs, though never acknowledged or allowed to fully join the family. He would never be invited to family gatherings, or thought of on holidays or his birthday. Even when Buster passed away many years later, his good-byes were said in private before the public funeral began.

Around the same time that Roberts Vaux was born, Buster made a new life-long friend in Allendale attorney Barrett Thomas Boulware. The Boulware family became quite close with the Murdaughs for many years to come. It would be rumored many years later that the two families were involved in a drug-smuggling ring together, making millions of dollars in the operation.

As Buster’s career progressed, his reputation for courtroom antics and dramatic reenactments outgrew his father’s. When his booming voice carried through the room it demanded respect and attention. He would theatrically act out violent crimes for the jury, almost guaranteeing a guilty verdict. Randolph III would grow up in the courtroom, watching his father try cases just as Buster and his brother had. The same passion for justice and desire to practice law grew within the youngest Randolph.

Buster was not only friendly with the residents of the five-county area he served, he became close friends with almost every judge on the 14th Circuit as well. He would hold parties for them as well as other politicians and law enforcement officials. Being a 32nd Degree Freemason and a Shriner gave him a certain amount of power, but it was his Democratic Party credentials that he derived real power from in the Columbia Statehouse.

In the early 1950s, the Murdaugh Law Practice expanded and thus changed its name again, but not for the last time. Future 14th Circuit judge Clyde Eltzroth was recruited as a partner along with Robert Peters. The firm was then known throughout South Carolina as Murdaugh, Eltzroth, & Peters.

With Buster approaching middle age quickly, he started grooming his son to take over for him as solicitor one day. He wanted to continue the tradition of Murdaugh men prosecuting for the 14th Circuit. Like many fathers, he held tightly onto the dream that his oldest son would take over both family businesses. He would not be disappointed.

In 1955 the towns of Hampton and Varnville were consolidated into one. On the borders of each the Wade Hampton High School was created. This is where every Murdaugh would attend high school from then on. Randolph III became among the first of school’s intake its first year as well as being the first Murdaugh in a long line to attend. He was fifteen years old at this time and already dating the girl he would go on to marry. The couple enjoyed what many would consider to be the perfect high school experience. While Randolph III lettered in baseball, football, basketball, and track, his future wife ran for homecoming queen.

Randolph III was just about to start his first year at USC when the first fissures of corruption began to appear in the Murdaughs’ carefully constructed facade. By this point Buster had held his seat as 14th Circuit solicitor for 16 years, though it had become an open secret that he was working with local bootleggers. He was being compensated for information on any police activity that might threaten business. When a newly elected South Carolina governor took on the task of uprooting corruption in the state, his crusade threatened to take down all that the Murdaughs were said to be standing on. Under his new laws, any police officer or other officials under a criminal investigation must resign from their office.

In late June 1956 a federal grand jury handed down indictments on Buster Murdaugh, Colleton County Sheriff G. Haskell Thompson, and two local magistrates. The group stood accused of a two-year-long conspiracy to violate the Internal Revenue Service liquor laws. Buster was charged with accepting payoffs for information concerning upcoming police raids as well as attempting to bribe a grand juror.

It was believed that Buster had masterminded what was labeled as the “Colleton Whiskey Conspiracy.” Comprising thirty-two stills, the operation was said to have pumped out 90,000 gallons of liquor in two years. On September 7, 1956, Buster was forced to resign from his position as solicitor under the governor’s new laws. He called it “a conspiracy” that had ousted him from his seat, declaring that he looked forward to the first opportunity to clear his name.

Upon resignation, Buster took up a campaign of intimidation to clear his name that reached as far as the U.S. prosecutor on the case. A report from the Department of Justice revealed that witnesses had been threatened and attempts made at influencing them with the promises of great reward. But his intimidation couldn’t stop the trial, and on September 17 it started with the state’s star witness, Colleton County Deputy Sheriff Riddick Herndon.

Herndon secured a deal for his testimony against Buster and Sheriff Thompson. He told the jury that he had seen the pair split a $500 payoff (worth $6000 today) after arranging a lighter sentence for bootlegger George W. McPeake. His testimony revealed that Buster had suggested performing “friendly raids” on the local bootleggers once the pressure to stop bootlegging had been applied in Hampton. At one point it had even been suggested by Buster that offenders be alerted of raids ahead of time. They could be caught, then fines would be set up that Buster was willing to pay himself.

The tenth day of his trial proved to be even more dramatic than any trial Buster had prosecuted himself. He did the unthinkable that day when he took the stand in his own defense. He and the prosecutor on the case entered what was labeled by reporter Jack Leland as a “tense verbal skirmish.” The exchange became so heated that Judge Walter E. Hoffman offered to get the men boxing gloves so they could fight it out after the hearing. Buster distanced himself from the local bootleggers under cross-examination, saying that they were “not in the same social class.”

Despite a mountain of evidence against him somehow Buster was acquitted of all charges on October 1. Though he managed to skate through fire without getting burned, Sheriff Thompson was convicted and handed a seven-year jail sentence along with a $3000 fine (worth $31,000 today). Judge Hoffman couldn’t have been more infuriated by the verdict. He reprimanded Buster for what he called “unethical practices” during his rant. Buster Murdaugh walked out of the courthouse a free man, ready to run unopposed in the upcoming 14th Judicial Circuit solicitor’s election. On January 1, 1957 he won his seat back after six months of forced resignation. When he retired later in life the six months that he’d been away from his office was erased from his history when his commemorative speeches were given.

Just a week after his trial concluded, Buster’s first cousin, Alex Murdaugh, was indicted on jury tampering charges by a federal grand jury. Facing up to five years imprisonment and a $5000 fine ($53,000 today), Alex vehemently denied the charges against him. He was acquitted in December 1957 and that seemed to end the inquiry into the Murdaugh’s involvement in bootlegging.

Just after graduating from USC with a BS in business administration, Randolph III, known to all as Randy, married Libby Alexander on June 3, 1961. Their wedding was considered the social event of the season and was talked about for years after. After the honeymoon they moved to Columbia so Randy could start his first year of law school at USC. He became the third generation of Murdaugh men to do so. Though his father and grandfather had both been known for loud, boisterous courtroom antics and big personalities, Randy was quieter and much more reserved. He didn’t need a booming voice or a thespian presence to be larger than life.

While Randy was earning his law degree, Buster was busy wooing politicians and other officials in order to hold onto the seat he had just won back. He organized weekly poker nights and hunting weekends at his Green Swamp hunting preserve, lavishing those with the power to keep him in office. It was through these gatherings that he garnered most of his power and prestige.

At the Green Swamp hunting preserve there were cabins prepared for each guest so they could sleep off a night of drinking before a day of hunting either deer, dove, or wild turkeys. Buster’s opulent waterfront home at Chechesse was dubbed Murdaugh Island and would be known for decades as the local party place for top officials. Many drunk nights were hosted at this house for local judges, politicians, and officials of law enforcement.

As every Murdaugh had been before him, Buster was very careful to not flaunt his wealth in the community. He lived as the Everyman, driving the same kinds of cars and trucks as everyone else in their small town. It was important to his position to remain accessible to the people of the five-county area he served.

Randy graduated from USC’s School of Law in January 1964 as his father burst with pride. He and his wife, Libby, moved back to Hampton County, bringing with them their new baby girl, Lynn Elizabeth. They settled in a 3,800 square-foot ranch-style brick palatial house. With five bedrooms and four bathrooms, they had more than enough room for their family to grow. Their neighborhood, which would soon become home to the privileged of the area, was called The Pines.

Randy joined his father at Murdaugh, Eltzroth, & Peters while also becoming the only badge-carrying assistant solicitor on the 14th Judicial Circuit. His position as assistant solicitor was unpaid, but he was making money working at his father’s firm. He and Buster began trying both criminal and personal injury cases together and proved to be an unbeatable team. While constantly campaigning for the next reelection, Buster was also working with the underprivileged of Hampton when needed. Everyone in town also knew that if they were called for jury duty they could count on a generous payout for their time.

During his time as solicitor Buster sent nineteen men to the electric chair. This was a fact that he was quite proud of. He seemed to always be pushing for the death penalty, using his theatrical reenactments to secure the sentences.

On October 1, 1966, Randy and Libby had their first son, Randolph IV, known as Little Randy. Richard Alexander Murdaugh, known as Alex, was born on May 27, 1968, and was followed by his younger brother, John Marvin in October 1970. With their family completed, Randy finally had sons to follow in the Murdaugh path.

By 1973 Buster had earned the nickname “Big Daddy.” During that year he arranged for the South Carolina General Assembly to officially create the paid position of assistant solicitor for the 14th Circuit. “Big Daddy” did this just for his son, Randy. Along with his paycheck came the badge that allotted him many perks in the area, particularly with law enforcement.

Even without his father’s flamboyance, Randy became known as one hell of a trial lawyer. He was a quick study with the benefit of a photographic memory. When he wasn’t in the office or the courtroom, Randy liked to hunt, fish, or go skeet shooting with his older sons.

Randy had grown up in his father’s social circles, learning how to play the game. Taking a page from Buster’s playbook, he started hosting monthly men’s potlucks and Thursday night poker games each week. His potlucks and poker games became an institution in Hampton. A party house was even built behind his home in The Pines just for his weekly poker games. A cook would come out to prepare a spread for the attendees each week. Game wardens, judges, and members of law enforcement would drink liquor, eat delicious food, and play poker well into the early morning hours. Local historian Sam Crews III was also a close friend of the Murdaughs for many years and recalled how “beautifully” they entertained. Taking another page from Buster’s well-worn playbook, Randy also started hosting weekend hunting trips for highway patrolmen.

Randy was also known to hang around at Harold’s County Club in Yemassee. His picture still hangs there to this day, right over the bar. The country club sits by exit 38 on I-95, where the counties of Hampton, Jasper, Beaufort, and Colleton intersect. A perfect place for the 14th Circuit solicitor to hold court.

While Randy’s career was advancing, his wife wasn’t happy with being a stay-at-home mom. She wanted a career of her own and a life outside of the house. She worked full-time as Wade Hampton High School’s English teacher, with several generations of Hampton County students attending her class before she moved on to the Board of Education later in her career.

In 1975 Clyde Eltzroth was elected as a 14th Judicial Circuit judge. He officially resigned from Murdaugh, Eltzroth, & Peters, but his son was now working for the firm. In 1979 they expanded once more and changed their name yet again. The firm was named Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth, & Detrick (PMPED) after Paul Detrick joined the prestigious team.

A change in ethics laws in the early ‘80s threw a monkey wrench into the Murdaughs way of life. New laws prohibited solicitors from running civil law practices while prosecuting criminal cases. By this point PMPED had branched out into a very large and proftiable business. A second office had been opened in Ridgeland with many more to follow after. More than a dozen attorneys were handling quite lucrative personal injury cases as the money rolled in.

Buster was approaching his seventieth birthday and retirement when he decided to hire Roberts Vaux, who had graduated from USC’s School of Law seven years earlier, as an assistant solicitor for the 14th Circuit. From Randolph II to Buster to Big Daddy, at this point in his life his nickname shifted again to “the Old Man.” Even at his elderly age he was still doing things in the courtroom that no prosecutor could get by with today. Always one for a performance, the Old Man was still acting out crimes for juries even as he neared retirement.

By the early ‘80s the Murdaughs had become quite close with the Boulware family. It was only natural that the two prominent families would form such a bond. They were even known for doing many property deals together, jointly owning several small islands.

In February 1983, Barrett Boulware Sr. and his then twenty-seven year old son, Barrett Jr., were both arrested alongside seven other suspects. Their arrest came after a raid of their shrimp boat near the Bahamas, where seventeen tons of weed was seized. The bust had been made by the Florida task force that George H. W. Bush had appointed to snuff out marijuana smuggling operations. A federal grand jury indicted both father and son on two charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute 34,000 pounds of marijuana. Rumors had already abounded that the islands jointly owned by the Murdaughs and the Boulwares were drop points for illegal drugs being smuggled into the country.

Shrimp boat captain Franklin C. Branch was set to be the state’s star witness on the case, but he wouldn’t make it to trial. He died suspiciously just days before it was set to begin. Walking to Wonder Bar in St. Joe Beach, he’s said to have walked right out into oncoming traffic. Just days after his strange death all charges against the Boulwares were dropped, while four co-conspirators were convicted. Their co-conspirators faced twenty years of prison time as well as fines that could’ve totaled up to $140,000 (worth $405,000 today).

Plans to re-indict the Boulwares were announced by the government, but would be shot down by U.S. District Judge Falcon B. Hawkins. He didn’t think it right that Barrett Boulware Sr. and Jr. be left wondering if the next grand jury would finally decide to indict. Many have theorized that Buster Murdaugh pulled strings to help old family friends out of a tight bind.

Hampton County has long been an impoverished area of South Carolina, but to look at the Murdaughs one would never guess it. The area has been riddled with unemployment and fortunes have not changed for those living within the county’s borders. While many families are struggling to make ends meet, the Murdaughs have been living in the lap of luxury. For decades they were smart enough to hide the vast majority of their wealth from the rest of the community while living lavishly behind closed doors. It would be Randy’s middle son, Alex Murdaugh, that would buck these restrictions in his later life.

Alex was raised with the same sense of entitlement that he would raise his own sons with in the future. Growing up in Hampton, he was raised alongside the impoverished children of the area, playing with them, attending school with them, and leading them into trouble as he called all the shots. One would think that this kind of upbringing would give him a sense of empathy towards those less fortunate than himself, but it did not. One of his classmates from Wade Hampton High School recalled Alex as nothing more than a bully, abusing the lower-class as he looked down his nose at them.

Even in childhood Alex displayed no sense of empathy for others and seemed to be unable to relate to anyone aside from himself. His emotional make-up was lacking something substantial, but if his parents ever noticed, they never did a thing about it. Young Alex Murdaugh struggled to concentrate, which led to difficulties in school. Later in life Alex would look back and wonder if he had suffered from an untreated case of ADD.

Randy continued to entertain for the top officials and politicians of the area as his family matured. Alcohol was always flowing at these gatherings and little to no parental supervision meant that Alex and his brothers were free to grab beers and drink all night as well. Alcoholism seemed to be a heavily passed trait in the Murdaugh family, where getting drunk was seen as “a badge of honor” rather than an issue. Under these conditions Alex would become a heavy drinker at a young age before graduating to much stronger vices, like cocaine. He was known to smoke weed as well, but it was his drinking and complete lack of supervision that would cause problems more than once in his youth. Libby’s position at the high school meant that Alex never got into trouble at school, while his father’s and grandfather’s positions kept him out of a cell. Not once was he ever left to face the consequences of his actions as his family continuously swooped in to save him.

Alex was known to go out to the Hilton Head bars to drink while he was still just in high school. One night he got into a fight with a man who had insulted his grandfather. Deputy Sheriff Jared Newman of the Beaufort Police found Alex staggering around a parking lot at around three o’clock that morning. He was covered in bruises and clearly drunk. When the deputy sheriff checked the young man’s ID he was shocked to find that the drunk kid before him was the solicitor’s son. Alex was sent home with charges that seemed to go nowhere and a renewed sense of invincibility. This was far from the last time he would find himself standing in front of an officer.

In 1984 sixteen-year-old Alex stood at six feet, three inches tall with a crown of red hair, the Murdaugh family trademark. Classmates remember his arrogance, entitlement, and the way he believed himself better than everyone else. His name was a ticket out of trouble that he used frequently. As long as he had that ticket, he could do whatever he pleased. With his mother teaching at the high school and the Murdaughs making generous donations to it, he was untouchable within the walls of Wade Hampton High. And as long as his father and grandfather were working for the 14th Circuit, he was invincible across five counties as well. Every perk and privilege that came as a part of being a Murdaugh, he took full advantage of. No matter where he went or what he did all he ever needed to do was call Buster and Randy, and it would all go away.

During his senior year of high school Alex began dating a girl named Susie Seckinger, who would go on to marry Russell Laffitte, son of Palmetto State Bank owner, Charles Laffitte. It wouldn’t be until later in life, and years after their marriage, that Alex would forge a criminal bond with Russell Laffitte. Alex was all over his yearbook in his senior year, pictured many times with Susie. The “Superlatives” page listed him as “Best All Around,” “Most Athletic,” and “Wittiest.” The Wade Hampton Red Devils had boasted Alex among the ranks of their football team as well as their baseball team during his sophomore year.

Buster Murdaugh retired from a long career as solicitor on November 1, 1986. For forty-six years he had prosecuted criminals for the 14th Judicial Circuit, sending scores of rapists and murderers to the electric chair. When asked about this, he stated that his job was done once the conviction was passed and the sentence handed down, stating, “I’ve never had any desire to see anyone electrocuted.” Though he had been forced into resignation for six months of his career in the ‘50s, that bit of history was wiped from the record when he was lauded as the longest-serving prosecutor in U.S. history.

Buster was cunning in his timing, knowing that retiring mid-term meant that his son, Randy, would have to be sworn in until the next election. The date of his retirement came exactly halfway into his four-year term. Randy was officially sworn in by Governor Riley as the third generation of Mardaugh prosecutors on January 1, 1987.

In the fall of 1986 Alex moved to Columbia for his freshman year at the University of South Carolina. His tall stature and fiery red hair earned him the name “Big Red,” which would stick with him throughout his life. From the very day of their orientation he was already earning the same reputation he’d carried in high school for arrogance and self-entitlement. Just his last name was enough to earn him some ill will from some of the other students on campus. He moved into a campus apartment that quickly earned its own reputation as a party house. Though he was supposed to be studying political science, Alex spent more time drinking than studying. His father would chaperone him into the elite Kappa Alpha Order fraternity, where he would go on to become one of the leading members.

Alex was only a few months into his freshman year of college when a Saturday night of bar-hopping led to a police chase on campus. It was after midnight when he and his friends returned to campus in his Jeep, racing it around at high speeds. The chase quickly ensued after 911 was called, in which Alex led police up a flight of stairs and back down a 100-foot ramp. After coming to an abrupt stop in front of a dormitory’s concrete barrier, he leapt from his Jeep and fled, abandoning the car in the night. He was ordered to the police station for questioning first thing the next morning. The moment police realized that he was Randy Murdaugh’s son, he was cut loose with no further action taken in the matter.

During his second year of college Alex met the woman that would change his life, Margaret Kennedy Branstetter, known to all as Maggie. Born on September 15, 1968, she was brought up by a middle-class family, eons away from the opulence of the Murdaughs. Her parents, Terry and Kennedy Branstetter, had eloped to Tennessee as teenagers. After their wedding Terry went to college and received three post-grad job offers when he finished school. IBM, Ford, and DuPont were all vying for him, but he chose DuPont and moved to Nashville with his wife. This is where Maggie would be born and raised until the age of twelve, when her father was transferred to Pennsylvania. She was enrolled in Unionville High School and adopted a preppy sense of style. Growing into a party girl, Maggie took pride in the fact that she could down a six-pack of beer by herself in a night.

Terry would be transferred again in the late ‘80s, this time going to Cooper River, South Carolina. It was at this point that Maggie enrolled at USC, where she would meet Alex at a football game. She’d become a member of the Kappa Delta sorority while in college, fully embracing the campus lifestyle. When Alex first saw Maggie he was immediately attracted to her. She didn’t feel the same way, though. He pursued her openly through her initial disinterest. Eventually she agreed to go with him to his fraternity formal in Savannah. Soon after this first date, they were official.

The prestigious Carolina Lawyer magazine cemented the Murdaughs’ power for all to see in the summer of 1989 when they covered their cover in Murdaughs. Three generations of the family stood outside of the Hampton County Courthouse that had been like a second home and classroom to all of them. Randolph “Buster” Murdaugh posed with his son, Randy Murdaugh, and his grandson, Little Randy, who was already attending his second year of law school. Clearly on his way to blazing the same trail as his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Little Randy represented the next generation of Murdaughs in law.

Alex and Maggie both graduated from USC in 1991 with bachelor’s degrees. With plans of joining the family firm, Alex set his sites on law school. While attending USC’s School of Law he befriended future 14th Circuit judge Carmen Mullen as well as becoming very close with his roommate, Cory Fleming, for many years to come. He became the next generation of Murdaugh men on the Gamecocks’ football field while earning his law degree and would be a longtime supporter of the team.

In August 1991 protesters popped up outside of the Beaufort County Courthouse as they railed against Randy’s “unfair practices.” He stood accused in the court of public opinion of not trying certain homicide cases for political reasons. The angry, grieving loved ones of those slain vowed to oust him in the next election while also promising to follow him to every court appearance in order to humiliate him. When asked how he felt about this negative attention, he commented that his position as solicitor wasn’t always popular. Though the families and friends of those lost to ignored homicides rallied together and spoke out, their attempts at ending Randy’s career were woefully unsuccessful. In 1992 he ran unopposed for the seat of solicitor again, winning his position with hardly any effort at all.

In late February 1993 Alex was twenty-four and in his second year of law school. He went out drinking with a large group of friends one night, hitting up the bars at Hilton Head. During this time Hilton Head was also called Snow Island due to the ease with which one might find cocaine. Alex and his gaggle of miscreants were known to partake in the drug. The rowdy crowd arrived at Cadillacs Strip Club just after midnight, where they were refused service by the bartender. When Alex became irate, he was asked to leave, which only added fuel to his fire. Two bouncers were called over to eject him. In response, Alex riled up his drunken crowd and started a violent brawl with the bouncers.

Someone at the club called 911, prompting Beaufort County deputies to come break up the barroom brawl. Alex and two of his friends were taken into custody. When Alex announced his father’s name, he was driven straight to his parent’s Varnville home, a sixty-mile drive from where he was picked up.

Alex and Maggie were married in a lavish ceremony at the Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina on August 14, 1993. By that point Alex’s law school roommate, Cory Fleming, had become his best friend and served as a groomsman at the wedding. Hundreds attended the ceremony as well as the reception, which was held at Hibernian Hall. They honeymooned in Jamaica before settling down in Columbia while Alex finished school.

He graduated with his juris doctorate degree in the summer of 1994 before being accepted into the South Carolina Bar Association the following November. He graduated alongside his friends, Cory Fleming, Carmen Mullen, and Chris Wilson. After graduation, he and Maggie rented a house on Cat Island, just outside of Beaufort. He took his first job working for James H. Moss’s law firm while also becoming a badge-carrying assistant solicitor for the 14th Circuit. Randy Murdaugh also hired his son’s best friend, Cory, as an assistant solicitor. Alex was mostly handling simple drug possession cases at the time, but he was enjoying the extra privileges his badge earned him.

Maggie and Alex were thrilled to have their first son on April 11, 1996. Born at Beaufort Memorial Hospital, he was given his father’s name, Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr. Though he took his father’s legal name, the boy would always be known by his great-grandfather’s nickname, Buster. When the baby was born Alex could think of no other person he want to appoint as godfather besides his best friend, Cory.

After settling down in Beaufort, Alex jumped into politics headfirst and proved to have a talent for it. He was elected Chairman of the Hampton County Democratic Party in 1996 and held that position for the next ten years. Having learned a thing or two from his father and grandfather, Alex hosted lavish events to raise money for the Democratic candidates favored most by the family. They freely donated money and gave back to the community, putting on fundraisers and lending out their properties for events. He would even be voted onto the board of the Arnold Fields Community Endowment, which was created to honor the many contributions African Americans have made to culture and history.

The dynasty suffered a great loss on February 5, 1998, when Randolph “Buster” Murdaugh Jr. passed away at eighty-four years old. A full profile done on the longest-serving U.S. prosecutor dubbed him as the “second-generation circuit solicitor,” while lauding him for his “wit and flaming oratory.” His former law partner turned 14th Circuit judge Clyde Eltzroth remembered him as “the finest trial lawyer I ever saw.” Buster’s illegitimate son, Roberts Vaux, was fifty-two at the time of his father’s death. He met with the family privately, leaving as soon as the public ceremony began.

Just a few months after his grandfather’s passing, Alex and Maggie moved their small family to the smaller town of Hampton, where Alex started working at the family firm. Starting out as a staff attorney, he quickly rose through the ranks until he made partner. By the time he started his older brother, now known simply as Randy, had been working there for seven years. For the purposes of writing about this confusing family, I will continue to refer to him as Little Randy.

Randy Sr.’s youngest son, John Marvin, decided to forge a path all his own instead of going into the family business of law. With the full support of his family, he started his own successful rental center for construction and residential equipment. He did quite well for himself on the road that he chose and continued to receive the support and pride of his father.

Maggie was quite open about her hatred of living in Hampton. The small, rural area boasts a population of less than 19,000 people. After having lived in such nice areas like Columbia and Beaufort, Maggie looked at the small town of Hampton as a hellhole from which she may never escape. It hadn’t taken the preppy party girl from a middle-class family long to adjust to her new trappings. She felt that she deserved a more sophisticated home in a more affluent area. Having married into such a prominent family, she wasn’t willing to give up all that she had gained. If staying in the golden glow of the Murdaugh’s power meant staying in Hampton, she would make the best of it.

Maggie gave birth to the couple’s second and final son on April 14, 1999. Paul Terry Murdaugh came into the world after a difficult birth, which only foreshadowed the kind of difficult personality he would display throughout his life. Maggie suffered from postpartum depression after the birth. Soon after Paul was born Alex hired a housekeeper that would also help to raise the boys. Gloria Satterfield would take care of the children and the home until her untimely death, and she loved every moment of her job. She considered the Murdaughs family and her sister, Ginger Hadwin, had even gone to high school with Alex. Maggie welcomed her into their home with her arms wide open, always treating Gloria well and even confiding in her from time to time. With Maggie’s maternal instincts being almost nonexistent, Gloria’s presence was essential as young Buster and Paul grew up.

Gloria would always refer to Maggie as “Mrs. Maggie” throughout her years with the family. Though she had two sons of her own, she worked six days a week taking care of the Murdaugh’s every need. She would only take Sundays off for church. Gloria was already thirty-eight years old when she started the job, dedicating the rest of her life to it.

Whether it was due to her postpartum depression or the lack of maternal instinct, no one really knows, but Maggie never could bond with Paul. Many credit their missing maternal bond as the reason for his monstrous behavior later on. Not to say that she didn’t love her youngest son, but they never seemed to establish a very deep connection.

The family packed up and moved into their newly built house in September 2000. At the very heart of Hampton, their new single family home was located at 515 Holly Street. The 6,752 square-foot living space contained four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Maggie wasted no time furnishing her new home with the very best and most expensive trappings she could find. They even had a saltwater pool installed for Buster’s acute eczema.

After nearly twenty years of service as solicitor, Randy Murdaugh Sr. started to contemplate retirement from his office. He wanted to work full-time with his sons at PMPED. By this point his wife, Libby, had left her thirty-one-year career at Wade Hampton High School to join the school board.

As the boys were growing up happily in Hampton, Maggie was miserable in the small town. She would confide in the close friends she had made about how out of place she felt living there. Any opportunity she found to go shopping or out to eat some place more metropolitan she grabbed a hold of, often taking off with her sister, Marian Proctor, for shopping trips in Charleston. After applying much pressure to her husband, Alex finally bought them a house on Edisto Beach for $415,000. The 2,144 square-foot beach house on Big Bay Drive had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, which almost seemed a requirement for their family. Alex loved the beach house for housing his growing collection of boats. Maggie loved its location, right on the beach and in the middle of everything. From then on out she would take her sons to summer there every year.

Maggie was a bit of an anomaly in the family, being the only Murdaugh wife to never hold a job. Though she had a college degree from the University of South Carolina, she never really put it to use. Once she married up, Maggie became a trophy wife and seemed to want no more for herself. During a brief period she opened her own gift shop called “Branches” on Lee Avenue in Hampton. The business didn’t last and was closed soon after opening. While Gloria was taking care of all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and child rearing, Maggie was left with nothing but time on her hands. She often filled that time at a restaurant in the middle of Hampton called Coconuts, having lunch with friends.

The older generations of the Murdaugh family had always been very careful to not flaunt their wealth in the past. They made sure to come off as the common man, no different or better than anyone else in Hampton. They drove the same brands and models of cars that their neighbors drove. They kept their luxurious parties and expensive hunting trips low-key. Those traveling outside of their elevated circles would never know exactly how rich the Murdaughs were. This tradition of downplaying wealth and remaining modest ended with Alex and Maggie. As Alex made partner and started making good money with PMPED, he started accumulating fancy cars and boats. Meanwhile Maggie joined social media and began posting every opulent party, big hunting trip, and luxurious vacation for the world to see.

On December 31, 2005, Randy Murdaugh Sr. officially retired as 14th Circuit solicitor at the age of sixty-six. Everyone fully expected his hand-picked successor to be one of his sons, but instead he appointed a man named Duffie Stone. With Alex’s natural talent for politics everyone figured that he would carry on the family tradition and become the fourth generation of Murdaugh solicitor, but he wasn’t interested in holding the seat. He was making plenty of money working for the law firm and he didn’t want to give that up for a pay cut. The senior Randy went back to the firm his grandfather had founded to work with his boys. His retirement marked the end of a very long era. Eighty-six years of Murdaugh solicitors in the 14th Judicial Circuit. Just as his father and grandfather, Randy had run for the seat unopposed in all five of his elections.

The men of the family had a well-earned reputation for adultery and Maggie was not unaware. Every time her husband hired a new secretary, she would look into the woman’s background to see if she could be trusted with him. Her suspicions weren’t unfounded, but she probably never expected him to be quite as unfaithful as he turned out to be.

Maggie leaned on Gloria like a crutch for all of her household needs as she also left her children’s care to her. By the time Buster was ten and Paul was seven, the ever-loyal housekeeper and nanny was living in a trailer that she didn’t see half as much as the Murdaugh’s houses. As Maggie depended on her more and more, Gloria spent less and less time with her own family. She never seemed to mind, though, thinking of them as her extended family. Even her own sons thought of the Murdaughs as she did. In turn, Maggie absolutely loved Gloria for the way she eased her life and took care of them all.

As though the home’s workload weren’t enough, Gloria was also responsible for reining in Paul, who was proving to be a problem child. He was a troubled boy with a savage temper, often devolving into fits of rage over the slightest of provocations. The younger Murdaugh son displayed signs of instability that were never checked or treated. He was known to regularly snap and cuss at his own family members while Maggie looked on, doing nothing to put a stop to it. She had taught both of her children to cuss as they were learning to talk because she thought it was cute and funny. By the time they had reached the age of four both boys were well known to cuss like sailors. Paul kept Gloria on her toes as he would run outside in underwear and snake boots, cussing at his brother.

She also discovered that Paul was killing small animals, like lizards, frogs, and squirrels. He even approached Gloria and asked for a knife to stab a lizard with on one occasion. As he matured into a teenager, Paul started purposefully running dogs over in the family Jeep, taking their collars as trophies. He was clearly displaying the behavior of a serial killer in the making, but no one did a thing to help him.

Though Maggie did little to actually raise her children, she did make sure to instill the dangerous notion that they were untouchable. They were Murdaughs. The same rules just didn’t apply to them as everyone else. Their name made them important, and that importance meant they could do as they pleased. Paul would take this to heart and live his short life as though he were invincible, often telling people that he could do what he wanted because he was a Murdaugh.

Just as Alex had been, Buster and Paul were raised around a lot of alcohol and partying. There always seemed to be some kind of gathering where the coolers were overflowing with cold beer. All the boys ever needed to do was reach out and grab one. No one ever tried to take it from them. On the contrary, they were allowed to have it as small children. Maggie actually found it funny when Paul would blatantly open the fridge and grab a beer, like a little man barely big enough to reach the shelf. Little did they realize that they were contributing to a life-long problem with alcoholism.

When the boys were still young, Maggie tried enrolling them in a preschool playgroup. Paul would often bring a knife with him. It didn’t take long for Buster and Paul both to earn a reputation for cussing and playing too rough as they referred to each other as “motherfuckers.” Quickly after the boys were enrolled other parents started pulling their children out of the group due to their behavior.

Curtis Edward Smith is a distant cousin of Alex’s from the less fortunate end of the large Murdaugh family. The two hardly knew each other until Curtis, also known as Fast Eddie or Cousin Eddie, was involved in a logging accident while on the job on September 20, 2007. He was working for American Forest Management when he fell into a ditch, injuring his back. Three discs had to be removed. Rods and screws were put in their place and after two surgeries, Cousin Eddie found himself on a cocktail of OxyContin, oxycodone, and Valium for the pain. He spent the next year working as a supervisor for a different logging company while he waited for his workers’ compensation claim to be approved. He hired his cousin to handle the claim and from there the two became friends.

Once his workers’ compensation claim went through, Cousin Eddie quit his job and went on disability. Soon after he started doing odd jobs for Alex under the table. He also became Alex’s drug dealer. A prior knee surgery had left the well-respected attorney with a crippling addiction. Somehow he managed to keep it under wraps, never letting the delicate facade slip for even a second. As time went on his addiction only grew, consuming everything in its path. It was three years after Cousin Eddie’s accident that Alex filed a personal injury suit on his behalf. Soon after American Forest Management settled for an undisclosed amount.

on an otherwise quiet night Alex and Maggie’s home at 515 Holly Street was set on fire as the family slept inside. On July 3, 2009, firefighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the flames. An unknown arsonist had poured an accelerant around the house and lit the fire from the back door. Though Hampton County Police and the State Law Enforcement Division’s (SLED) arson team launched a full investigation, a perpetrator was never found. The house incurred no real damage, but Maggie’s security was shattered nonetheless. She had never wanted to move to Hampton in the first place, a fact that was quickly coming back to haunt her husband. In 2021 Alex would openly admit to his sister-in-law, Liz Murdaugh, that his drug addiction started during this time, fueled by the friction the arson had created in his marriage. Maggie wanted to leave the area as soon as possible, but Alex’s selfish insistence upon staying created much tension between them.

Alex’s addiction only grew out of control from there, and it grew fast. Somehow he still managed to keep a mask on it for twenty years. It didn’t take him long to turn to crime as a means of funding his opioid addiction, bringing old friends into his schemes. His scams would end up bilking his own clients for millions while he also embezzled money from his own family’s firm. At this time his best friend and former college roommate, Cory Fleming, had made partner at Moss, Kuhn, & Fleming in Beaufort. With his name in the letterhead, he had made a good name for himself as an attorney since his graduation years earlier. Another good friend of his, Russell Lucius Laffitte, was the vice president of his family’s bank, Palmetto State Bank. He was also quickly on his way to becoming the CEO.

For years this criminal team would work together as Alex pulled in millions. Alex would file claims for those left either horribly injured or struggling after the accidental death of a loved one. Laffitte would be set up as conservator of their settlements before helping Alex to funnel their money into his own personal accounts. Sometimes he would also employ the help of Cory Fleming, referring clients to him without ever mentioning their close ties.

With the majority of the characters in this epic revealed, it seems a good place to leave off for the second part. In part two we will see Buster and Paul grow into their teenage years, and then young adulthood. We will learn more about Alex’s insurance scams and the kind of life it afforded him and his family. And of course, the other crimes that the Murdaugh name had found itself entangled in will also be examined. This has only been the very start of a long, winding, convoluted story. One that should serve as a cautionary tale to the corrupted elite as well as those heavily addicted to opioids.