Alex Murdaugh
Richard Alexander Murdaugh got here up in a distinguished household, each within the authorized and social realms of Hampton County, S.C. He attended the College of South Carolina and graduated from its regulation college, identical to his father. Three generations of Murdaugh males served because the circuit solicitor, the South Carolina equal of a district lawyer, for a area spanning 5 counties within the state. Randolph Murdaugh Sr. was the primary within the household to imagine the position in 1920. The household held such energy within the area that many locals referred to as the district “Murdaugh Nation.”
Alex was a revered private damage lawyer earlier than being convicted of the murders of his spouse Maggie and youngest son Paul in 2023. He’ll spend the remainder of his life in jail for the killings however maintains his innocence and is at present interesting his conviction. He additionally admitted to committing a slew of monetary crimes, for which he was cumulatively sentenced to greater than 60 further years in jail.
The household regulation agency he beforehand labored for, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, was renamed the Parker Regulation Group. Alex’s older brother, Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh IV, nonetheless works on the agency.
Maggie Murdaugh
Margaret Kennedy Branstetter Murdaugh, who glided by Maggie, was mom to sons Paul and Buster. She met her husband Alex when she was a pupil on the College of South Carolina in 1991, they usually married in 1993.
She was 52 when she and Paul have been shot and killed in 2021 on the household’s looking property in Colleton County. Alex and Maggie have been reportedly dwelling individually on the time of her demise.
Paul Murdaugh, pictured right here in court docket in a nonetheless from the documentary “Low Nation: The Murdaugh Dynasty,” confronted important jail time for allegedly boating below the affect.
(HBO Max)
Paul Murdaugh
Paul Terry Murdaugh was born on April 14, 1999, to Alex and Maggie. He grew up with a love of the outside and loved looking alongside his father and older brother. He was 22 and in his junior 12 months on the College of South Carolina when he was killed.
Paul reportedly abused alcohol as a young person and younger grownup, and his pals have mentioned they referred to as his intoxicated alter ego “Timmy” as a result of his habits modified considerably when he was ingesting. In February 2019, Paul was accused of being behind the wheel of his household’s boat whereas drunk, crashing the boat right into a bridge within the early hours of the morning. There have been 5 different folks on board with Paul, and one passenger, 19-year-old Mallory Seaside, was killed within the crash.
Paul, who was additionally 19 on the time, had a blood-alcohol stage thrice over the authorized restrict when he was hospitalized after the crash. He was charged with felony boating below the affect two months later. He was murdered alongside his mom in 2021 earlier than the trial for the costs he confronted in reference to the crash might start.
Buster Murdaugh
Born Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr., the eldest Murdaugh son glided by “Buster.” He attended Wofford School for his undergraduate research and went on to check regulation at his dad and mom’ alma mater, the College of South Carolina. By the spring of 2021, Buster had been kicked out of regulation college, reportedly for low grades and plagiarism.
Following the deaths of his mom and brother, Buster surfaced in information studies after elevated curiosity within the household unearthed a free connection between him and a person named Stephen Smith, a former classmate who was killed in 2015. Rumors of an intimate relationship between Smith and Buster, and of the Murdaughs’ involvement in his demise, swirled, however Buster denied the allegations.
When his father was on trial for the murders of Paul and Maggie, Buster testified as a witness for the protection, saying that his father’s habits on the night time of the killings and the next weeks was not irregular. He additionally mentioned Alex was “heartbroken” on the night time they died.
Buster married his longtime girlfriend Brooklynn White in Might 2025. His spouse is an lawyer, however Buster by no means returned to regulation college.
Buster Murdaugh, left, and his then-girlfriend Brooklynn White on the double homicide trial for his father. He testified in his father’s protection.
(Jeff Blake / Related Press)
Randolph Murdaugh III
Randolph Murdaugh III was Alex’s father and one of many males who established the Murdaugh household’s authorized prominence. Like his father and grandfather, Randolph served because the solicitor of the 14th judicial circuit in South Carolina, which serves Allendale, Colleton, Hampton, Beaufort and Jasper counties. Along with Alex, Randolph had three different youngsters with spouse Elizabeth “Libby” Alexander Murdaugh: Lynn Goettee, Randolph Murdaugh IV and John Marvin Murdaugh. The couple had 10 grandchildren.
When Paul bought into the boat crash in 2019, Randolph was his first name. A 12 months earlier, Randolph was honored with the Order of the Palmetto, the very best civilian honor awarded by the governor of South Carolina. A testomony to his affect, the award acknowledges lifetime achievements and contributions to the state.
He died in June 2021 after a protracted interval of well being issues — three days after Paul and Maggie have been murdered.
Mallory Seaside and her household
Seaside was a young person from South Carolina who was described by family and friends as a loving younger lady with desires of turning into an inside designer. She and her boyfriend, Anthony Cook dinner, have been pals with Paul, and in February 2019 the couple boarded the Murdaugh household boat with just a few different pals earlier than it crashed right into a bridge in Beaufort, S.C.
Seaside’s physique was lacking after the crash and was recovered a few week later. Her household introduced a wrongful demise lawsuit in opposition to the Murdaughs, which ultimately cracked open inquiries into Alex’s funds. The household later settled with Maggie’s property and Buster in 2023 for an undisclosed quantity. They have been introduced into the case as a result of Paul used Maggie’s bank card and Buster’s ID to purchase alcohol. The Seaside household additionally reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the comfort retailer chain the place Paul bought the alcohol, and in 2024, Alex’s insurance coverage firm agreed to pay the household $500,000.
Gloria Satterfield
Satterfield was the Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper and nanny, who had a maternal-like relationship with Paul and Buster. She was the widow of David Michael Satterfield and had two sons, Michael “Tony” Satterfield and Brian Harriott.
In February 2018, Satterfield allegedly tripped and fell on the Murdaugh’s house and was hospitalized for weeks earlier than she died at 57. Alex and Maggie have been talked about by title in Satterfield’s obituary as “these she liked as her household.”
When the reason for Satterfield’s demise was being investigated, Murdaugh claimed Satterfield tripped over the household’s canines, inflicting her to fall and hit her head, and he inspired her two sons to carry a wrongful demise declare in opposition to him. Murdaugh launched Satterfield’s sons to Cory Fleming, a fellow lawyer, who represented them within the case and schemed with Murdaugh to gather on his house owner’s insurance coverage insurance policies. The settlement was reportedly greater than $4 million, none of which Satterfield’s sons noticed.
Fleming was sentenced to just about 4 years in jail for his involvement within the scheme and Murdaugh admitted to orchestrating the plot and intercepting the insurance coverage payout meant for Satterfield’s household, depositing the cash instantly into his private account. He was sentenced to 40 years in jail for that crime, plus a slew of different monetary crimes he pleaded responsible to in 2023.
Stephen Smith
Smith was born in Lexington County, S.C., and attended Wade Hampton Excessive Faculty, the place he was classmates with Buster Murdaugh, graduating in 2014. He was discovered useless on a rural highway in Hampton County in July 2015, and his demise was initially dominated as a success and run.
In 2021, South Carolina regulation enforcement reopened Smith’s case primarily based on leads uncovered within the Murdaugh double murder investigation. The Murdaugh title was talked about over 40 occasions all through the course of the investigation, based on a report from FITSNews, an area outlet. Detectives reportedly checked out Buster as a doable individual of curiosity within the case, who was rumored to have been romantically concerned with Smith, however the connection was by no means proved and Buster was by no means named a suspect.
