Lowcountry legend Pat Conroy described meeting Murdaugh family in 2013 memoir
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Murdaugh murders in Colleton County
Two members of a powerhouse legal family were shot and killed June 7 in Colleton County, SC. Read more of our coverage.
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This story first published July 30, 2021.
For the better part of the last century, the Murdaugh family name has stood for power and justice in South Carolina’s five-county 14th Judicial Circuit.
So much so that one of the state’s most celebrated authors described his interactions with the family in his memoir.
The Murdaughs’ legal power is well known in the area. Three generations served as state prosecutors for 85 years, and the family’s storied law firm has won millions of dollars from civil lawsuits. But in 2019, the family was thrust into the spotlight for another reason: A boat allegedly driven by Paul Murdaugh, then 20, crashed and killed a young woman.
And then early last month, Paul Murdaugh and his mother, Maggie, were found shot to death on their property in Colleton County. Police have made no arrests nor mentioned possible motives.
After the murders, documents from the 2019 boat crash, recently released, raised questions about the Murdaugh family’s attempts to interfere in the investigation. Together, the two tragedies have renewed interest in the family’s status and influence in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.
Pat Conroy, the legendary author whose books about the Lowcountry spawned Oscar-nominated films and numerous awards, recalled in his 2013 memoir the first time he met Randolph “Buster” Murdaugh Jr., Paul’s great-grandfather.
In “The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son,” Conroy describes the conversation he had with his father about hiring Randolph Murdaugh III, Buster’s son and Paul’s grandfather, for his parents’ upcoming divorce trial in the 1970s.
Conroy and Murdaugh III were both recipients of The Order of the Palmetto. The award, the highest civilian honor given by the governor of South Carolina, recognizes a person’s lifetime achievements and contributions to the state.
Below is an excerpt from the book:
“Your lawyer’s name is Randy Murdaugh. He’s Buster’s son.”
“Tell me about Buster Murdaugh.”
I remembered the time I met Buster quite well, and repeated it to my father. “At Hampton, during my trial to get my teaching job back, this older man sat in the jury box and laughed his ass off at several things I said. When the trial was over, Buster called me over and introduced himself. Smoking a cigar, he said, ‘I’m the cock of the walk in this part of South Carolina, and, boy, you really know how to put on a show. You scared the living hell out of those bastards. But you’re going to lose your ass.’ ‘What if I’d had you as a lawyer?’ I asked. Buster took a puff of his cigar and blew a pillow of smoke in my direction before saying, ‘You’d be teaching in that little school of yours tomorrow morning. But you ain’t going to be teaching ever again. Let me send you to law school; then you come back and work for me. I’ll make you the goddamnedest lawyer you’ve ever seen.’ ”
“I’ll take Buster,” Dad said.
I answered, “He’s retired. You’ll take his son Randy.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Lowcountry legend Pat Conroy described meeting Murdaugh family in 2013 memoir."
