WSJ, CNN, Nancy Grace: National news outlets once again focusing on SC's Murdaughs [The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, S.C.)]

Sep. 27—The nation has been watching South Carolina, its justice system, and the Murdaugh family's descent for almost four months.

The June 7 murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, still unsolved, first caught everyone's attention.

But since then, the tangled web of investigations, deaths, and allegations of corruption and missing money, plus a staged shooting, have kept everyone wondering, "What's next?"

It's no surprise that national news outlets are swooping in to tell the story that's captivated those near and far. Local news organizations have been following the family since the 2019 fatal boat crash implicating Paul Murdaugh. But recently, The New York Times and the Washington Post have been regularly reporting on the twists and turns related to the family.

Here's the latest national reporting:

Wall Street Journal: "Three-ring circus"

Toward the end of last week, the Wall Street Journal published "The Unraveling of the Murdaugh Dynasty: Unsolved Murders, Insurance Fraud and Missing Millions."

"The dramatic events have made the Murdaugh saga fodder for tabloids and true-crime podcasts," it said.

The article was a typical recap of the case, but the reporter spoke with some South Carolinians tied to the family or involved in one or more of the court cases.

James Smith, who ran for governor in 2018, was a pledge brother with Alex Murdaugh in the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity at the University of South Carolina in the 1980s. Smith told the Wall Street Journal that the Murdaughs hosted multiple fundraisers for his campaign at their hunting lodge, which is where Alex Murdaugh's son Paul and wife, Maggie, were found shot to death.

"Every time I called on Alex, he would always do more than I ever asked," Smith said, adding it is difficult to reconcile the Alex Murdaugh in the news with the one he knows personally. "I love him dearly."

Meanwhile, one lawyer suing Murdaugh was baffled by Alex Murdaugh's lack of visible head injury and told the publication that the Sept. 4 shooting was a ploy for attention.

"With a gunshot, you get powder burns, a huge ball of fire that comes out, you'd think there'd be some evidence of medical attention," said Mark Tinsley, who is representing Mallory Beach's mother in the wrongful death suit stemming from the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory.

Another lawyer representing Gloria Satterfield's sons, suing Alex Murdaugh and two other men in a case where they say they haven't "seen a dime" of an insurance payout after their mother's death, called the family's fall from grace "surreal."

"I feel like I'm in a three-ring circus. Are the elephants coming at me? Are the tigers coming?" Eric Bland said.

CNN: "Few wanted to talk"

CNN published "The roots of the Murdaugh family crime saga run deep through these coastal towns. But no one wants to talk about it" on Sunday, which heavily featured the reporter's trip to the Lowcountry and his struggle to get people to talk about the Murdaughs.

Senior writer Eliott C. McLaughlin wrote that he spent four days driving throughout the region trying to interview locals, but that "few wanted to talk — and if they did, they didn't share names."

He blamed the difficulty of finding sources partly on the "media's focus" on the Murdaugh family rather than on Stephen Smith, Gloria Satterfield and Mallory Beach — stories local media have covered extensively. But he also blamed it on people from the area being tired of the national spotlight on their hometowns. After all, this isn't the story you want your town to be known for.

"Before touching down in the Lowcountry, it was clear from social media residents were fatigued from the constant press inquiries. Perhaps, I thought, they'd talk with a reporter working to amplify the legacies of those lost," the reporter wrote. "Nope. Fatigue is fatigue, and to be fair, many in the international media have not exhibited the best decorum."

Fox's Nancy Grace: "Five dead bodies"

FOX Nation's Nancy Grace, host of "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace," had been telling her viewers about the Murdaugh family since Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were murdered in June. She recently traveled to South Carolina, and an hour-long segment, "Murdaugh Murder Mystery," aired at 10 p.m. Sunday.

Grace interviewed locals in what she called "Murdaugh country" because the Murdaugh name — which she said was either "revered (or) feared depending on who you talk to" — was on many different businesses and signs, likely not all with direct ties to the family at the center of this unraveling story.

Like CNN's report, Grace said what mattered to her was the "five dead bodies" that "we can connect to the Murdaugh family."

"Maggie Murdaugh. Dead."

"Paul Murdaugh. Dead."

"Stephen Smith, a young man, lived in the area. Dead. Presumably by hit and run, his body left on the road." (According to reporting from The Island Packet, the hit-and-run explanation for Smith's death is being investigated.)

"Mallory Beach, a teen girl. Dead."

"And, Ms. Satterfield, a domestic worker within the Murdaugh home. Dead."

That many deaths tied to one family, Grace said, seems to be a lot of coincidence.

Recent local reporting

Want to read more about the Murdaughs? The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette and The State, which have been reporting on these cases since the beginning, have compiled a summary (SC murder mystery captures the nation's attention. What to know about Murdaugh family.) and timeline (What's happened since the Murdaugh double murder in SC? A timeline of recent months).

Have lingering questions about the Murdaugh case or any of the cases related to it? Ask them here (Are you curious about anything related to the Murdaugh case? Tell us your questions.) and we'll try to answer them soon.

This story was originally published September 27, 2021 2:42 PM.

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