The Murdaugh family mysteries: a timeline of murders, cryptic deaths, scandals and power
The Murdaughs have dominated headlines for months, a South Carolina family caught up in a string of scandals and secrets.
For nearly a century, the Murdaughs represented a legal dynasty, which translated into wealth, power and prestige.
Now, the family is in disarray, a bloody downfall filled with suspicion, rumors, mysterious deaths and shootings.
Here’s a timeline of how the Murdaughs got here:
1920: Randolph Murdaugh Sr. is elected to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. He served until his death in 1940, then was succeeded by his son, Randolph Murdaugh Jr., until 1986. Randolph Murdaugh III served from 1987 to 2005. Then-Gov. Mark Sanford appointed attorney Duffie Stone in 2006, the first non-Murdaugh in more than 80 years.
July 8, 2015: Stephen Smith, 19, is found dead on Sandy Run Road in Hampton County. Brothers Paul and Buster Murdaugh — the sons of Alex Murdaugh, who is one of the sons of Randolph Murdaugh III — are interviewed, but no arrest is made. The death is written off as a hit-and-run.
Feb. 26, 2018: The Murdaughs’ housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, dies after a “trip and fall” at the family’s home. The Murdaughs’ insurance provider paid the legal family $500,000 for personal liability in the wrongful death and $5,000 for medical payments stemming from the incident, according to court documents. The money was supposed to go to Satterfield’s children.
Feb. 24, 2019: Paul pilots his dad’s boat, carrying five friends, into a bridge near Parris Island. Mallory Beach, 19, is thrown overboard and reported missing.
March 3, 2019: Beach’s body is found near the Broad River boat landing in Beaufort County.
March 21, 2019: Beach’s family files a wrongful death lawsuit against a local bar, a convenience store and Beaufort County homeowners Kristy and James Wood, all of whom the Beaches claimed help get their daughter and her friends drunk, including Paul, before they took the boat out. The lawsuit was later amended to name Alex Murdaugh, Buster and Paul, as well as the convenience store.
April 18, 2019: Paul Murdaugh is charged with boating under the influence causing death and two counts of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury.
May 6, 2019: Paul pleads not guilty.
June 7, 2021: Paul, 22, and his mother Maggie Murdaugh, 52, are found fatally shot on their Hampton County property by her husband Alex as he was returning home from visiting his sick father.
June 10, 2021: Randolph Murdaugh III dies peacefully at his home at 81.
June 14, 2021: The Colleton County Coroner confirms both Paul and Maggie Murdaugh died from multiple gunshot wounds.
June 17, 2021: Alex Murdaugh’s brothers, John Marvin Murdaugh and Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh IV, tell “Good Morning America” that Alex is “distraught” about the murders and deny that he had anything to do with their deaths.
June 22, 2021: The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) reopens the case into Smith’s death, based on information gathered while investigating the deaths of Maggie and Paul. No further details are provided.
June 25, 2021: Alex and Buster Murdaugh announce a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the murder of Maggie and Paul.
Aug. 6, 2021: The boat crash charges are dropped against Paul as a matter of formality, two months after he was killed.
Aug. 15, 2021: Current 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone recuses himself from the investigation into Maggie and Paul’s homicides, citing a personal connection to the Murdaughs.
Sept. 3, 2021: Alex resigns from his law firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED) after being accused of stealing money, though these details were not made public until several days later.
Sept. 4, 2021: Alex is shot in the head on the side of a rural road while fixing a flat tire. He calls 911 and is “conscious and talking” when he is airlifted to Savannah and treated for a “superficial gunshot wound to the head,” according to police.
Sept. 6, 2021: Alex announces his resignation, but fails to mention the allegations. Instead, he says he is entering rehab “after a long battle that has been exacerbated by these murders.” His lawyer specifies that he is being treated for opioid addiction.
Sept. 7, 2021: PMPED says Alex resigned “after the discovery by PMPED that Alex misappropriated funds in violation of PMPED standards and policies.” Local reports put the total at more than $1 million.
Sept. 8, 2021: The South Carolina Supreme Court suspends Alex’s law license in light of the allegations.
Sept. 10, 2021: Alex’s spokesperson, Amanda Loveday, denies that his gunshot was self-inflicted.
Sept. 13, 2021: SLED opens an investigation into allegations that Alex misappropriated funds at PMPED.
Sept. 14, 2021: Curtis Edward Smith, 61, is arrested in connection to the shooting and charged with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Police say Alex admitted to setting up the entire event and giving Smith the gun to shoot him. The plan was to kill Alex and leave his $10 million life insurance policy to his elder son, Buster.
Sept. 14, 2021: An attorney for the sons of the housekeeper, Satterfield, tells WIS10 that her children haven’t received a “dime” from the settlement for her death.
Sept. 15, 2021: Alex’s lawyer, State Senator Dick Harpootlian, tells “Today” that the grieving father acted out of depression in a desperate move “on his part to do something to protect his child.” “That Saturday morning, he was trying to get off the opioids; he was not taking any of them, was in a massive depression, realized things were going to get really, really, bad and decided to end his life,” Harpootlian says.
Sept. 15, 2021: SLED opens an investigation into Satterfield’s death after the Hampton County coroner alerts officials to “inconsistencies.” An autopsy was never performed on the housekeeper and her cause of death, listed as “natural,” does not align with the injuries sustained in her fall, according to the coroner.
