What Did Alex Murdaugh Do? The Chilling True Story Behind ‘Death In The Family’

Alex Murdaugh stands next to the witness booth during a break in his trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Feb. 23, 2023, in Colleton County, South Carolina. Murdaugh’s attorneys have asked to move his state trial on financial charges out of Beaufort County. (Joshua Boucher/Pool/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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Hulu’s new true-crime series, Murdaugh: Death in the Family, explores the downfall of a powerful coastal South Carolina dynasty, from the fatal boat crash that killed Mallory Beach to the shocking double homicide that followed.

Created by Michael D. Fuller and Erin Lee Carr, the eight-part miniseries is based on the Murdaugh Murders Podcast by Mandy Matney. Matney is an investigative journalist who has been covering the powerful Murdaugh family and their long history of crimes and corruption since the 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

“Maggie and Alex enjoy a lavish life of privilege as members of one of South Carolina’s most powerful legal dynasties. But when their son Paul is involved in a deadly boat crash, the family is faced with a test unlike any they’ve ever encountered,” Hulu’s synopsis reads. “As details come to light and new challenges emerge, the family’s connections to several mysterious deaths raise questions which threaten everything Maggie and Alex hold dear.”

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Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette star as Alex and Maggie Murdaugh, while Johnny Berchtold portrays their troubled younger son, Paul, and Will Harrison plays their eldest son, Buster. The first three episodes focus on the fatal boat crash involving Paul, while the subsequent episodes follow the Murdaughs in the aftermath and how investigators came to conclude that Alex murdered his wife and younger son at the family kennels in Islandton, S.C.

As you’re watching, you might have questions about the real-life case that inspired the Hulu drama, including what Alex Murdaugh did, why he killed his family and what happened at his trial. Here’s everything to know.

What Was Paul Murdaugh’s Involvement In Mallory Beach’s Death?

In 2019, Alex’s son, 19-year-old Paul, was at the center of a fatal boat crash that claimed the life of one of his friends, Mallory Beach. On Feb. 24, 2019, Paul and his friends, all underage, spent the evening drinking before boarding the Murdaugh family’s speedboat. Surveillance footage later captured Paul purchasing alcohol with his older brother Buster’s ID and his mother’s credit card.

As the group made their way back from a party on Paukie Island, a passenger said Paul was visibly intoxicated and erratic behind the wheel. He reportedly drove in circles, ignored pleas from his friends to stop and even left the wheel during an argument with his girlfriend. Around 2:20 a.m., the boat slammed into Archer’s Creek Bridge near Beaufort, South Carolina, throwing Mallory overboard. Her body was discovered eight days later, several miles from the wreck.

Paul’s blood alcohol content was later determined to be three times the legal limit. He was charged with three felony counts, including boating under the influence, causing death and serious bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty and was awaiting trial at the time of his death.

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What Did Alex Murdaugh Do?

On June 7, 2021, Murdaugh called 911 to report that his 52-year-old wife, Margaret (known as Maggie), and his 22-year-old son, Paul, had been shot dead on their property in Islandton, South Carolina. Alex told authorities that he was not at the crime scene and was visiting his sick mother, Almeda. When he returned, he found his wife and son dead, according to CNN.

When police arrived at the crime scene, they found a disturbing sight: blood and biological matter were splattered across the ground and walls. Maggie and Paul’s bodies were found with multiple gunshot wounds at the dog kennels on the family’s property, which had the nickname “Moselle.”

Investigators identified shell casings at the scene and determined the types of guns used to kill Paul and Maggie. According to CBS News, the weapons belonged to the Murdaugh family, though the actual murder weapons were never recovered. Investigators also found that ammunition matching the type used to kill Maggie was present in the home.

“Family weapons were used to commit this crime,” Prosecutor Creighton Waters stated in his closing argument.

In the autopsy reports, Dr. Ellen Riemer testified at trial that Maggie was shot four or five times with a 300 Blackout rifle. Meanwhile, Paul was killed with a shotgun. He was shot first in the chest, then a second shot entered through his shoulder and exited through his head, which ultimately was the fatal blow.

What Was The Evidence Against Alex Murdaugh?

Investigators found numerous clues that linked Alex to the horrific murders of his wife and son. First, when authorities went through Alex’s phone, they didn’t see multiple phone calls that Alex had made to Maggie (which records showed up on Maggie’s phone), according to CBS News.

Maggie’s phone was tracked down using the “Find My iPhone” feature the day after the murder, located along a road near the Moselle property. The GPS data from the phones and Alex’s vehicle revealed that Alex drove past the spot where Maggie’s phone was found. In the trial, the prosecution argued that Alex threw Maggie’s phone out the window of his car.

But perhaps the most damaging piece of evidence linking Alex to the crime was a video recovered from Paul’s phone. Police accessed the phone after his death by entering his birthday as the passcode. The video, taken by Paul shortly before his murder at the kennel that night, captured Alex’s voice in the background — even though Alex claimed he was never there. GPS data from Alex’s car also confirmed he was at the crime scene.

Did Alex Murdaugh Arrange His Own Killing?

In September 2024, a few months after the murder of Paul and Maggie, Alex was injured in a roadside shooting in Hampton County. He told 911 that he was shot in the head while changing a flat tire and that the shooting caused only a “superficial” wound.

A few weeks later, Murdaugh’s attorney, Richard Harpootlian, told NBC’s TODAY show that Alex hired a hitman to kill him for his $10 million life insurance policy for his surviving son, Buster. Harpootlian said that his client was trying to get off opioids in the aftermath of his wife and son’s deaths. He believed that the insurance policy had a suicide clause, so he enlisted a man to kill him during a “fake car breakdown.”

Around the same time, state investigators announced the opening of a criminal investigation into the death of a longtime Murdaugh housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield. She died in 2018 following what has been described as a “trip and fall accident” at the family home. Murdaugh was arrested and charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. He was allowed to return to a drug rehab center.

In October of that year, Murdaugh was arrested again in Florida after his release from the drug rehab facility. He was charged with two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses after an investigation into millions of dollars that went missing from a settlement involving the death of Satterfield. Her heirs said they never received any of the $4.3 million settlement, which they claimed Murdaugh secretly arranged, according to NBC News.

After investigators further honed in on his business dealings, new indictments surfaced against Alex totaling 27 counts, including breach of trust with fraudulent intent, obtaining signature or property by false pretenses, money laundering, computer crimes and forgery. The charges continued to build over the coming months.

Why Did Alex Murdaugh Kill His Family?

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his own corruption and prevent his financial crimes from being uncovered. The disbarred lawyer was accused of stealing nearly $9 million, according to The Washington Post.

Murdaugh admitted on the stand that over the years, he had embezzled money from his law firm, misled his clients and lied to his family about his addiction, per CBS News. On the morning Paul and Maggie were killed, Alex was confronted by his chief financial officer of his law firm, PMPED, about $792,000 in missing funds.

A few months after the murder, Murdaugh resigned from the law firm “after the discovery by PMPED that Alex misappropriated funds in violation of PMPED standards and policies.”

What Was Alex Murdaugh Sentenced To?

After a six-week trial, prosecutors accused Alex Murdaugh of being a “family annihilator” who brutally murdered his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.

On March 2, 2023, after deliberating for about three hours, the jury convicted Murdaugh on two counts of murder and two counts of using a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to NPR. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

“I respect this court, but I’m innocent,” Murdaugh told the judge, according to CBS News. “I would never under any circumstances hurt my wife Maggie, and I would never under any circumstances hurt my son.”

In November 2023, Murdaugh was sentenced to another 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to nearly two dozen state financial crimes, including money laundering, breach of trust, conspiracy, forgery, and tax evasion, as part of a plea deal his defense team negotiated with prosecutors, per CNN.

As for his federal trial, in April 2024, Murdaugh was sentenced to 40 years in prison for 22 federal financial crimes, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Murdaugh is currently serving his time at a maximum-security prison in South Carolina. The prison’s location has not been made public.

The first four episodes of Murdaugh: Death in the Family are streaming on Hulu and Disney+. Watch the official trailer below.