Here's Where Buster Murdaugh From 'Murdaugh Murders' Is Now
Netflix's latest true crime docu-series is Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, the story of the Murdaughs, a wealthy South Carolina family. Murdaugh Murders explores the multiple incidents that the family of litigators have been linked to, including a boating accident in which somebody died, and the events that preceded the deaths of matriarch Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh and her son Paul in the summer of 2021.
The series also partially covers the ongoing trial of Alex Murdaugh, Maggie's husband and Paul's father, who was charged with their murders but has maintained his innocence and pled not guilty. A fourth member of the Murdaugh family, Maggie and Alex's other son Buster, is also included in the documentary.
Richard Alex Murdaugh, nicknamed Buster, was previously working at his father's legal practice and attending law school at the University of South Carolina—something of a family tradition—before the murder of his mother and brother. However, he was eventually kicked out over an incident involving plagarism.
According to local paper The Post and Courier, Buster's family paid $60,000 in order to ensure that he would be readmitted to the college in order to complete his law degree. However, he has yet to recommence his studies. "He has put his desire to go to law school on hold for now," the Murdaugh's lawyer, Butch Bowers, said. "There is no plan for him to start school in the fall or in the spring."
Where is Buster Murdaugh now?
Buster currently lives with his girlfriend, lawyer Brooklynn White, in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. It is uncertain what he does for a living. In February of this year, he testified in his father's trial as a first witness for the defense—in other words, he testified on his father's behalf, and said that Alex was "heartbroken" by the deaths of Maggie and Paul.
Buster has attended the entirety of his father's trial, and according to Law & Crime, Buster has been shaken and put his head in his hands throughout the trial as the attorneys go through the grisly details of the double murder. On March 2nd, Buster's father was found guilty for both murders, and on March 3rd, the judge sentenced his father to two consecutive life terms in prison.
Where was Buster during the murders?
On June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh claims that he arrived home to find Maggie and Paul had both been shot dead near the dog kennels on their property. He called 911, and also called Buster.
"He sounded odd, and then he told me that my mom and my brother had been shot," Buster said during the trial. According to his testimony, Buster was over 200 miles away when the murders took place, at his girlfriend's house in Rock Hill, South Carolina. After hearing what had happened, he immediately made the journey to the Murdaugh home.
What was Buster's reaction to the verdict?
On Friday March 3, 2023, a judge sentenced Alex Murdaugh to two consecutive life terms for the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
A source who was present at the Colleton County Courthouse during the sentencing told the New York Post: "Buster held up pretty well until the cameras were off him, but then he collapsed... He was crying uncontrollably. The uncles finally got him into a car."
Buster opened up more about the case in Season 2 of Murdaugh Murders, admitting that while he still believes Alex is innocent of his mother and brother's murders, it might be "fair" to describe his father—who was also indicted of more than 100 financial crimes—as a psychopath.
"I’m not prepared to sit here and say that it encompasses him as a whole, but I certainly think there are characteristics where you look at the manipulation and the lies and the carrying out of that such, and I think that’s a fair assessment," he said.
Buster went on to say that he does not worry that he might be like his father, adding: "No, I do not worry, because I am not a thief. I am not a liar. I’m not a manipulator. In those regards, I am nothing like him, but, in other regards, I believe that I do hold some of his more admirable traits, which I am quite proud of."
Buster has been linked to two other deaths
One of the incidents documented in Murdaugh Murders was the boating accident that resulted in the death of Mallory Beach. The Beach family have claimed that Paul Murdaugh was drunk at the time, but have since agreed to a settlement that removes Buster's name from the case, along with that of his mother.
The documentary also alludes to the unsolved death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, a former friend and classmate of Buster's, whose body was found in the road not too far from the Murdaugh family home. While Smith's death was speculated to be the result of a hit-and-run, authorities at the time deemed his injuries inconsistent with a collision—and suspicion fell on Buster due to rumors that he was involved with Smith, who was openly gay.
Buster denies any involvement in Stephen Smith's death
Following the renewal of public interest in Smith's case following the release of the Murdaugh Murders documentary, a new investigation into his cause of death is being launched. Upon hearing that Smith's body is due to be exhumed, Buster issued a public statement to deny any involvement—his first since his father's sentencing.
"I have tried my best to ignore the vicious rumors about my involvement in Stephen Smith's tragic death that continue to be published in the media as I grieve over the brutal murders of my mother and brother," he said. "I haven't spoken up until now because I want to live in private while I cope with their deaths and my father’s incarceration."
"This has gone on far too long," he continued. "These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false... I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family."
In April 2023, authorities reopened the case and began reinvestigating Smith's death, this time as a homicide. Smith's body was exhumed as part of the investigation, but so far nobody has been charged.
In the second season of Murdaugh Murders, Buster repeated his denial that he had a relationship with Smith. "I never had anything to do with his murder, and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level in any regard,"he said. "I don’t want to be rude here, but have you ever been accused of murdering somebody? Well, let me tell you, this is very, very, very, very, very, it’s a terrible thing to place on somebody with absolutely no fact. I mean, it has harmed my reputation. I mean, people perceive me as a murderer."
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