Note to readers: This story, originally published in The State on April 5, 2019, tells the story of the four-generation Murdaugh family, their powerhouse law firm and the successive Murdaughs who served as elected chief prosecutors for 85 years for a five-county region in South Carolina’s Low Country. It also tells of the tragic death of Mallory Beach while in a boat Paul Murdaugh allegedly was driving.
The night
19-year-old Mallory Beach died in a boat crash near Beaufort, South Carolina, investigators arrived at the hospital to interview two teens suspected of driving the boat while drunk.
The father and grandfather of one suspect suddenly showed up, telling officers they were lawyers. They stopped all interviews and prevented the teens from taking any sobriety tests.
The father and grandfather weren’t average citizens. They were members of one of the most powerful legal families in South Carolina. They were the Murdaughs.
Alex Murdaugh’s son, 19-year-old Paul Murdaugh, is a possible driver, police reports show. A video posted to social media appears to show him driving at some point that night. Connor Cook, 19, was also named as a possible driver. The case is now being investigated by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Paul Murdaugh’s father and grandfather, former chief prosecutor Randolph Murdaugh III, are the ones who went to the hospital that night and prevented the teens from cooperating with law enforcement, according to DNR Capt. Robert McCullough.
Paul Murdaugh has since retained two high-profile criminal lawyers — Jim Griffin and Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, both of Columbia. Connor Cook has retained attorney Joe McCulloch of Columbia. None of them will comment.
“It has been 38 days since the fatal boat crash and no charges have been filed ...,” said the weekly
Hampton County Guardian in a front page story this week. The Guardian’s stories to date have noted “no one has stepped forward to claim responsibility as the driver of the boat.”
Some kind of action should have been taken, said Laura Hudson, executive director of the S.C. Crime Victims’ Council.
The case would normally be prosecuted by the 14th Circuit, where three generations of Murdaughs were chief prosecutors for 85 years. But Solicitor Duffie Stone has requested that the case be handled by the state Attorney General’s Office or another solicitor because two members of the Murdaugh family — Alex Murdaugh and Murdaugh III — still work for Stone’s office as part-time prosecutors. If DNR decides to bring criminal charges, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson will decide whether his office will prosecute or whether to give the case to another solicitor’s office.
Even so, in rural Hampton County and beyond, people question whether anyone in the boat will be held accountable for Mallory Beach’s death. Many have taken to social media about the incident, pointing to the Murdaugh family’s long history and sharing conspiracy theories about them.
It marks the second time that this small, rural community is left to wonder what really happened to one of its young people and whether justice will be served.
The case of 19-year-old Stephen Smith is often mentioned in the same sentence on social media. In July 2015, the young man’s body was found in the middle of a Hampton County roadway with his head bashed in. Investigators reported he was the victim of a hit-and-run accident, despite police reports showing no evidence that ever took place.
