The breaking news out of the South Carolina Lowcountry on Labor Day weekend was like an impossibly cruel joke: Alex Murdaugh, the moneyed and influential lawyer who discovered the bodies of his wife and son – shot dead in an unsolved murder mystery – outside the family’s hunting lodge on June 7, was a gunshot victim himself. He was ambushed on a rural Hampton County road, “shot in the head while he was changing a tyre,” his attorney Jim Griffin told People magazine on that Saturday, September 4. “He is conscious and talking, which is a very good sign.”
But within days all the signs turned bad. Though Alex survived the gunshot, he announced a two-decade addiction to opioids and entered rehab at an undisclosed location out of state. By the time he was back in South Carolina on September 16 – shackled at the wrists and ankles and sobbing in court – the 53-year-old, nicknamed Big Red as much for his 193cm tall frame as for his domineering influence over the region’s judicial system, was a shell of his former self. He was out of a job, allegedly broke, charged with conspiracy and fraud for a botched suicide attempt and facing new investigations – one into millions of dollars missing from his family law firm and another related to the mysterious 2018 death of his long-time housekeeper. “If you feel a swoosh of wind blow by,” one local resident says, “that’s my head spinning around in circles trying to follow this craziness.”
NEW CHARGES
Just 12 days after Alex’s shooting, he was in court (above, Sep. 16) on charges of conspiracy and fraud for his scheme allegedly abetted by Curtis Smith (far right).
This story is from the February 7, 2022 edition of WHO.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 7, 2022 edition of WHO.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
SLENDER MAN STABBING TOO DANGEROUS TO RELEASE
AFTER COMMITTING A VIOLENT CRIME AS A CHILD, MORGAN GEYSER MAKES A BID FOR FREEDOM
Salma and Penélope FRIENDSHIP AMID FEAR
INSIDE ONE OF HOLLYWOOD'S TRUEST FRIENDSHIPS AND HOW THEY REALLY ARE RIDE OR DIE
LIFE, LOVE & Kylie
THE PRIVATE STAR OPENS UP ABOUT WHAT GOES ON WHEN SHE ISN'T ON CAMERA
A LESSON IN CHEMISTRY
THE ENGLISH ACTOR'S CAREER IS SET TO TAKE OFF
Eva Longoria HOLA SPAIN!
THE ACTRESS AND HER HUSBAND ARE FLEEING THE 'HOLLYWOOD CYCLE' FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR YOUNG SON
Dannielynn Birkhead FAMILY TRADITIONS
THE DAUGHTER OF ANNA NICOLE SMITH IS ENJOYING A QUIET LIFE
Timeless BEAUTIES
IT WAS THE DREAMY NIGHT THAT NO-ONE WANTED TO END
I'll love it until I die'
THE SINGING SUPERSTAR GIVES A RARE UPDATE INTO THE REALITY OF LIFE WITH STIFF PERSON SYNDROME
A restless mind
FILM, FAMILY AND FURIOSA, CHRIS HEMSWORTH HAS A LOT TO THINK ABOUT
MURDER IN MEXICO 'OUR HEARTS ARE SHATTERED
THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME TURNED DEADLY FOR THREE YOUNG MEN