p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Alex Murdaugh
Richard Alexander Murdaugh came up in a prominent family, both in the legal and social realms of Hampton County, S.C. He attended the University of South Carolina and graduated from its law school, just like his father. Three generations of Murdaugh men served as the circuit solicitor, the South Carolina equivalent of a district attorney, for a region spanning five counties in the state. Randolph Murdaugh Sr. was the first in the family to assume the role in 1920. The family held such power in the region that many locals called the district “Murdaugh Country.”
Alex was a respected personal injury attorney before being convicted of the murders of his wife Maggie and youngest son Paul in 2023. He will spend the rest of his life in prison for the killings but maintains his innocence and is currently appealing his conviction. He also admitted to committing a slew of financial crimes, for which he was cumulatively sentenced to more than 60 additional years in prison.
The family law firm he previously worked for, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, was renamed the Parker Law Group. Alex’s older brother, Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh IV, still works at the firm.
Maggie Murdaugh
Margaret Kennedy Branstetter Murdaugh, who went by Maggie, was mother to sons Paul and Buster. She met her husband Alex when she was a student at the University of South Carolina in 1991, and they married in 1993.
She was 52 when she and Paul were shot and killed in 2021 at the family’s hunting property in Colleton County. Alex and Maggie were reportedly living separately at the time of her death.
Paul Murdaugh, pictured here in court in a still from the documentary “Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty,” faced significant prison time for allegedly boating under the influence.
(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 outdoors and enjoyed hunting alongside his father and older brother. He was 22 and in his junior year at the University of South Carolina when he was killed.
Paul reportedly abused alcohol as a teenager and young adult, and his friends have said they called his intoxicated alter ego “Timmy” because his behavior changed significantly when he was drinking. In February 2019, Paul was accused of being behind the wheel of his family’s boat while drunk, crashing the boat into a bridge in the early hours of the morning. There were five other people on board with Paul, and one passenger, 19-year-old Mallory Beach, was killed in the crash.
Paul, who was also 19 at the time, had a blood-alcohol level three times over the legal limit when he was hospitalized after the crash. He was charged with felony boating under the influence two months later. He was murdered alongside his mother in 2021 before the trial for the charges he faced in connection with the crash could begin.
Buster Murdaugh
Born Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr., the eldest Murdaugh son went by “Buster.” He attended Wofford College for his undergraduate studies and went on to study law at his parents’ alma mater, the University of South Carolina. By the spring of 2021, Buster had been kicked out of law school, reportedly for low grades and plagiarism.
When his father was on trial for the murders of Paul and Maggie, Buster testified as a witness for the defense, saying that his father’s behavior on the night of the killings and the following weeks was not abnormal. He also said Alex was “heartbroken” on the night they died.
Buster married his longtime girlfriend Brooklynn White in May 2025. His wife is an attorney, but Buster never returned to law school.
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 obtained 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 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 teen from South Carolina who was described by family and friends as a loving younger girl with desires of turning into an inside designer. She and her boyfriend, Anthony Cook dinner, have been buddies with Paul, and in February 2019 the couple boarded the Murdaugh household boat with just a few different buddies 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 towards 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 dwelling 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 “those she loved as her family.”
When the reason for Satterfield’s demise was being investigated, Murdaugh claimed Satterfield tripped over the household’s canine, inflicting her to fall and hit her head, and he inspired her two sons to convey a wrongful demise declare towards 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 home-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 straight 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 lifeless on a rural street in Hampton County in July 2015, and his demise was initially dominated as a success and run.
