Paul Murdaugh may have been killer’s target, sources say. Where the case stands

This story first published June 10, 2021.

Among the avenues law enforcement investigators are pursuing in this week’s killings of two members of a prominent Lowcountry legal family is the likelihood that Paul Murdaugh, 22, was targeted, while his mother was killed because she was there by happenstance, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Paul Murdaugh of Hampton was shot in the head and upper body with a shotgun, while Maggie Murdaugh, 52, was killed with what appears to be an assault rifle, sources familiar with the investigation said. Casings were recovered at the scene, they said. Their bodies were found outside and separated from one another, the sources said.

But on Thursday afternoon, three days after the fatal shootings, authorities have said nothing publicly about possible suspects or leads in the case. Police have remained tightlipped as some details have begun to emerge.

The investigation was handed off from the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office to the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), a state agency, due to a conflict of interest. SLED — with its centralized crime lab and numerous investigative specialists — can bring far more resources to working on the crime than the local sheriff’s office.

Meanwhile, prosecutors from the 14th Judicial Circuit’s office declined to say whether they would recuse themselves in the event of an arrest. That circuit prosecutes crimes in a five-county Lowcountry region that includes Hampton and Colleton.

Investigators tightlipped

So far, information released by authorities provides only a rough sketch of what occurred the night of the killings, leading to broad theories over potential suspects, motives — whether the shootings are connected to the fatal 2019 boat crash — and questions over how justice might be served in a town quietly grappling with the tragedy and the looming presence of a powerful family.

The shootings happened at a sprawling rural estate in Colleton County, not far from the Hampton County line.

Maggie Murdaugh was the wife of prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh, a senior member of the South Carolina powerhouse Murdaugh law firm, which is headquartered in Hampton. Paul Murdaugh was Alex and Maggie Murdaugh’s son and a student at the University of South Carolina.

Paul Murdaugh was facing three felony counts of boating under the influence. The charges are tied to a boat crash near Parris Island in February 2019 that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, also of Hampton, and injured others on board.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges in May 2019 and had not spent time in jail. There hadn’t been any movement on the criminal case since July 2019, when his bond was modified to allow him to travel.

The charges will be dropped, but a civil lawsuit filed by Beach’s family against the Murdaugh family will continue.

This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Paul Murdaugh may have been killer’s target, sources say. Where the case stands."

JM

John Monk

The State

803-771-8344

John Monk has covered courts, crime, politics, public corruption, the environment and other issues in the Carolinas for more than 40 years. A U.S. Army veteran who covered the 1989 American invasion of Panama, Monk is a former Washington correspondent for The Charlotte Observer. He has covered numerous death penalty trials, including those of the Charleston church killer, Dylann Roof, serial killer Pee Wee Gaskins and child killer Tim Jones. Monk’s hobbies include hiking, books, languages, music and a lot of other things.

Kacen Bayless

The Island Packet

(843) 560-9167

A reporter for The Island Packet covering projects and investigations, Kacen Bayless is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Missouri with an emphasis in investigative reporting. In the past, he’s worked for St. Louis Magazine, the Columbia Missourian, KBIA and the Columbia Business Times. His work has garnered Missouri and South Carolina Press Association awards for investigative, enterprise, in-depth, health, growth and government reporting. He was awarded South Carolina’s top honor for assertive journalism in 2020.