A grand jury is expected to indict embattled South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh on murder charges in last year’s slayings of his wife and son, sources said Tuesday, the latest twist in the sprawling scandal engulfing a local legal dynasty.
According to three sources close to the investigation, the grand jury is expected to indict later this week on double murder charges and will announce the findings of the indictment shortly thereafter. The family has been notified about the indictment, and so has Murdaugh. Part of the indictment is based on new evidence.
Lawyers for Murdaugh could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and the couple’s youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found shot to death on the night of June 7, 2021, at their rural estate and hunting lodge in Colleton County, near Charleston. Murdaugh, 54, called 911 saying he had discovered the bodies of his wife and son.
Murdaugh has also been indicted on dozens of finance-related charges.
In the wake of the deaths, state law enforcement officials said they uncovered a financial scheme involving Murdaugh that began to untangle when, in September, he told authorities that he had been randomly attacked in a roadside shooting near the family’s estate.
He survived, but the claim came under scrutiny, and days later authorities said Murdaugh had arranged for a man to kill him so another son, Buster Murdaugh, the older brother of Paul Murdaugh, could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy.
Maggie Murdaugh left her property to her husband before she and their son were mysteriously killed, according to a copy of her last will and testament.
The state’s highest court indefinitely suspended Alex Murdaugh’s law license last fall.
A state grand jury indicted