A TWENTY-two-year-old and his mother were fatally shot at their family home last week only days after he faced a hearing over a drunken boat crash in which a friend died.
Paul Murdaugh, 22, and his 52-year-old mother Maggie were found lying yards apart near the dog kennels at their hunting lodge in South Carolina just before 10pm last Monday night.
Police have released few details on the murder and have not indicated whether a suspect or a motive has been identified.
They have said there is no danger to the public.
Paul faced three felony charges for boating under the influence for a 2019 crash in which 19-year-old Mallory Beach died.
Days before his death, a lengthy, court-ordered mediation session failed to resolve a civil suit stemming from the crash, the Charlotte Observer reports.
Beach was reportedly ejected from the boat along with five other passengers after Paul Murdaugh crashed into a bridge at around 2.20am on February 24, 2019.
According to The Island Packet, the group of friends were asked by adults earlier in the night not to go boating.
Yet they boarded the 17-foot boat despite "pretty thick" fog.
The crash allegedly happened after Paul drove "full throttle" following an argument among the group.
He pleaded not guilty in May 2019 and was released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond.
The charges against Paul will now be dropped but the civil suit against his family could continue.
At the time of his arrest in 2019, it was revealed that he had previously been accused of an alcohol-related crime by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources in Beaufort County when he was a teenager.
He was charged with "purchase or possession of beer or wine by a minor" in May 2017.
Two friends on the boat with Paul on the night of the crash were also reportedly charged, The Island Packet reported.
Paul's father, Richard Alexander, was his attorney during the case.
The charges were dismissed after Paul completed an alcohol diversion program.
It was also previously reported that Paul allegedly had a drunken alter ego called "Timmy."
A friend reportedly said that the22-year-old behaved so differently when he was drunk, friends decided to give him a different name, court documents state.
Paul and his mother were buried on Friday as father Richard and older brother Buster broke down in tears during the eulogy.
Authorities believe Paul was the main target of the attack while Maggie was killed as she happened to be there.
It is believed that two different firearms were used to kill the mother and son.
It is not clear who discovered the bodies and authorities have refused to release the 911 calls.
Three days after their deaths, Paul's grandfather Randolph Murdaugh III died after an illness and was buried on Sunday.
The Murdaugh family is highly influential in their South Carolina community and was considered a legal powerhouse.
Three generations of the family have served as the 14th Circuit Solicitor in the southern part of the state, InsideEdition reports.
The State Law Enforcement Division is leading the investigation after the Colleton County Sheriff's Office flagged a "conflict of interest" in the case.
They asked for the division to take over the case “due to Alex Murdaugh’s professional involvement with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.”
Friends rushed to defend the Murdaughs during Friday's funeral.
“They are not the monsters the other media outlets are portraying them to be,” Tangie Peeples Ohmer told the Augusta Chronicle.
“My problem with all of this is that, regardless of how anyone feels about Paul's past, a family lost a son, a grandson, a brother, nephew and cousin! And Maggie paid the ultimate price, as well.”
It has not been indicated if cops believe the murders to be linked to Beach's death.
Her family has called on anyone with information on the murder to come forward.
“The Beach family extends its deepest and warmest sympathies to the Murdaughsduring this terrible time," they said in a statement.
"Having suffered the devastating loss of their own daughter, the family prays that the Murdaughs can find some level of peace from this tragic loss.
"It is their most sincere hope that someone will come forward and cooperate with authorities so that the perpetrator of these senseless crimes can be brought to justice.”
Source: Read Full Article
