SLED searched Paul Murdaugh’s Columbia apartment near University of South Carolina

This story first published June 18, 2021.

Investigators from the State Law Enforcement Division searched a Columbia apartment near the University of South Carolina where the slain Paul Murdaugh was living during the university’s spring semester.

The search was carried out this week after SLED obtained a search warrant from a state judge.

A top SLED official declined comment Friday on what investigators were looking for or may have found.

“They carried off at least one computer and likely took fingerprints and DNA samples,” said one person familiar with the search.

Murdaugh, 22, shared the apartment, located in an apartment complex at 612 Whaley St., with another student, sources said. The complex is located in the Olympia section of Columbia, a popular apartment area for USC students.

A USC spokesman Friday confirmed that Murdaugh was a student at the university during the spring semester.

On the afternoon of June 8 — a day after the killings — a property manager of the apartment complex found an open door in a unit in that property complex and notified the Columbia police department, according to city police.

Although Columbia police did not say specifically that the open door belonged to Paul Murdaugh, sources told The State that the unit was in fact Murdaugh’s.

“There were no visible signs of forced entry or anyone found inside the residence. Officers secured the door before leaving the scene,” Columbia police department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said.

Murdaugh, 22, and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, were found fatally shot the night of June 7 at the family’s 1,700-area estate in Colleton County. Their bodies were on the ground more than 100 yards away from the main house, sources familiar with the investigation have said.

Paul Murdaugh was killed by multiple shotgun blasts and his mother was fatally shot with an assault rifle, sources familiar with the investigation have said.

The sources asked not to be identified because they are not officially authorized to make public statements in the case.

SLED has released few details on the case and refused to speculate on suspects or a motive.

At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing charges of boating under the influence in connection with a 2019 nighttime crash on a Beaufort County waterway near Parris Island Marine installation. A young woman, Mallory Beach, 19, died in that crash.

This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 11:38 AM with the headline "SLED searched Paul Murdaugh’s Columbia apartment near University of South Carolina."