Deaths, shooting, arrests, lawsuits: A timeline of Alex Murdaugh’s spiral since June [The Charlotte Observer]

Alex Murdaugh has become a household name across the country in the nearly five months since his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, were found shot to death at the family’s sprawling Colleton County estate.

And it’s not because the nation is grieving with him.

The prominent lawyer, from a prestigious, powerful family of lawyers who determined justice in South Carolina’s Lowcountry for almost a century, has found himself on the other side of the system, denied bond and sitting in jail.

After the two murders in June, and after he reported he’d been shot on a rural road in early September — an alleged suicide for hire gone wrong — Alex Murdaugh has been at the center of multiple criminal investigations, lawsuits, and ever-changing narratives. Most of the cases remain unsolved.

Here’s a timeline of major events involving Alex Murdaugh since June 2021:

Monday, June 7: Alex Murdaugh calls 911 to report that his younger son, Paul, and wife Maggie have been shot to death outside Moselle, the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre property on Moselle Road in Colleton County.

Tuesday, June 15: SLED releases its first public statement, confirming Alex Murdaugh was the person who called 911.

Friday, June 25:Alex Murdaugh and his surviving son, Buster, announce a $100,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed Paul and Maggie. It expired at the end of September.

Friday, Aug. 27:After Paul Murdaugh’s estate went to probate, his father signs away his right to administer the estate and asks his brother Randy Murdaugh IV to take it over. Randy Murdaugh agreed, but resigned in October.

Friday, Sept. 3: Members of the Murdaugh family’s century-old law firm, Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED), confront partner Alex Murdaugh, accusing him of misappropriating millions from the firm. He says he’ll resign.

Saturday, Sept. 4: Alex Murdaugh is allegedly shot in the head on the side of a rural Hampton road. He survives.

Monday, Sept. 6: Alex Murdaugh releases a statement saying he’s resigning from his law firm and entering a rehab facility. Hours later, PMPED releases a statement about the missing funds and Friday’s confrontation with Murdaugh.

Tuesday, Sept. 7: The 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office announces it will bar Alex Murdaugh, whose family ran the agency for nearly a century, from prosecuting cases on its behalf.

Wednesday, Sept. 8:S.C. Supreme Court suspends Alex Murdaugh from practicing law.

Wednesday, Sept. 15: The sons of the Murdaughs’ former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who died after falling in the Murdaugh home in 2018, sue Alex Murdaugh, another attorney and a banker, alleging that hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance money was never distributed to them. SLED announces it is investigating Satterfield’s death upon request of Hampton County Coroner Angela Topper.

Thursday, Sept. 16:Alex Murdaugh turns himself in to police on charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and falsifying a police report stemming from his botched staged murder attempt. Soon after, a local judge grants him a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.

Monday, Sept. 20: Connor Cook, a passenger aboard the boat that crashed and killed Mallory Beach in 2019 (Paul Murdaugh was awaiting trial on felony drunken-driving charges at the time of his death) files suit against Alex Murdaugh, Buster Murdaugh, and the gas station that sold Paul alcohol the day before the crash. The lawsuit alleges that Alex Murdaugh and “others were orchestrating a campaign” to blame Cook for the crash.

Thursday, Sept. 30: A spokesperson for Alex Murdaugh disputes a People Magazine report that Alex and Maggie Murdaugh’s marriage was in trouble before she was killed on June 7.

Friday, Oct. 1:Gloria Satterfield’s sons reach a settlement with Beaufort lawyer Cory Fleming, accused of working with Alex Murdaugh to withhold death settlement money.

Wednesday, Oct. 6: PMPED files a lawsuit, claiming that Murdaugh, their former partner, funneled stolen money from clients and the law firm into a fake bank account for years.

Thursday, Oct. 14: Alex Murdaugh is taken into police custody in Florida from a rehabilitation facility in Orlando. Earlier in the day, Curtis Edward Smith appears in prerecorded interviews on multiple national news stations, saying he didn’t shoot Alex Murdaugh.

Friday, Oct. 15:Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers, state Sen. Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, release his medical records from the day he says he was shot in the head. The records indicate Murdaugh had entry and exit wounds and a fractured skull.

Saturday, Oct. 16: After waiving extradition, Alex Murdaugh returns to South Carolina and is booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County.

Tuesday, Oct. 19:S.C. Circuit Judge Clifton Newman denies Alex Murdaugh bond on the missing money charges pending a psychiatric evaluation.

Friday, Oct. 22: SLED releases the 911 calls from after Alex Murdaugh was shot on Sept 4. One witness said it “looked like a set up.” Multiple lawyers file coordinated lawsuits against Alex Murdaugh to prevent him or his surviving son from disposing of any financial or property assets without approval by a judge.

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