Alex Murdaugh, a successful South Carolina attorney, lost his wife of almost 30 years, Maggie, and his 22-year-old son, Paul, from homicide in 2021. The Murdaugh family is one of the most prominent families in South Carolina so the death of two members of their family shocked their community. Moreover, the case shocked people around the world. Many platforms kept up with the case, all of which include: podcasts, blogs, news and two documentary series on Netflix and HBO Max.

The first incident concerning the Murdaugh family occurred on Feb. 23, 2019 when Paul Murdaugh was operating a boat under the influence and crashed, killing one of the passengers on board and hospitalizing four others. Paul Murdaugh was charged with three counts of boating under the influence but he was killed before he could stand trial. Alex Murdaugh tried to tie the boat crash case into the case of his wife and son’s deaths by claiming the person who did it had hate in their hates for Paul’s actions that led to the crash. 

“I kept up with the case through the documentary,” junior Aiden Merritt said. “It showed all the small details of the case rather than the headlines the news [outlets] put out.”

Coincidentally, the evidence that supported the idea that Alex Murdaugh committed the murder of his wife and son was digital as well. Murdaugh’s son, Paul, recorded a video moments before he was shot and killed. The video contained one of the Murdaugh’s dogs near its kennels on their property as well as Alex Murdaugh’s voice. Since Alex Murdaugh was heard in the video, that means he was at the crime scene while the crime was committed which contradicts his alibi.

Before the evidence of Alex Murdaugh being at the scene, he was accused of murdering his wife and son but he denied claims of murder and being near the crime scene. However, while denying these claims he testified in court that he lied about where he was because he has a drug addiction to opioids which led to paranoid thoughts. He also confessed to stealing millions of dollars from his law firm and clients over about two decades. 

Since Alex Murdaugh lied about several parts of his alibi, the video is what set the jurors of the case to their final decision. The video is circumstantial evidence so there’s no direct evidence that Alex Murdaugh committed the crime. However, since he lied to the jurors about his whereabouts, among other key parts of the trial, he looked guilty and caused the court to reach their final decision – life in prison.

“I thought it was very suspicious that he had lied about his whereabouts and definitely that it drew suspicion to him because of it,” junior Parker Lambert said. “I think the case was handled very well and I’m happy with the outcome of him being charged. [The reason he lied] was definitely because he is a psychopath who didn’t care about his wife and son. He was lying to protect himself and I’m not surprised he did it.”

While everyone in the country has been watching this case unfold over the past few years, the case hits close to home for a Maclay community member. English Department chair, Mr. Lee Norment is from the same town as the Murdaugh family and has interesting insight about the family and the country’s perception of his hometown. 

“It’s been the center of attention for everyone in my hometown for several years now starting with the boat crash,” Norment said. “My mom has especially been really into it because she actually taught Alex Murdaugh. Everybody in my part of South Carolina knew that family and knew they were well connected and super powerful. Everybody suspected they were getting away with whatever but nobody ever dreamed it was this elaborate. [Alex Murdaugh] lying is probably the piece of evidence that was the biggest thing that got him convicted so quickly. It’s interesting because he was known in high school as a charismatic, popular guy and now that charisma manifested into being used for evil.”