This timeline may be of help to us. Mid July is when the Beach case was settled.
The twisting case engulfing the scion of a prominent legal dynasty in South Carolina's Lowcountry began when he reported finding his wife and son dead in June 2021.
www.nbcnews.com
Jan. 23
The
double murder trial against Murdaugh opens at the Colleton County Courthouse with jury selection.
Jan. 25
In an opening statement, state prosecutors contend Murdaugh
killed his wife and son at close range with a shotgun and an AR-style rifle, and that forensic evidence would show his culpability. The defense in its opening statement insists there are numerous holes in the prosecution's case, claiming it is built on "theories" and "conjectures."
Feb. 1
Prosecutors
play a previously unseen video taken from the phone of Paul Murdaugh in which three voices can be heard in the background shortly before the murders occur. Witnesses testify the voices are of Alex, Paul and Margaret, which places the patriarch at the scene of the crime and undermines his alibi that he had not seen his wife and son in the moments before their deaths.
Feb. 23
During the fifth week of the trial,
Murdaugh takes the stand in his own defense. He testifies, "I didn't shoot my wife or son," and breaks down multiple times as his attorney asks him to describe the murder scene.
Feb. 24
Murdaugh is on the stand again. During cross-examination, the prosecution grills him on his "new story," arguing that his earlier testimony was fabricated to align with their video evidence that he saw his wife and son minutes before they were found dead.
Murdaugh contends he lied to law enforcement officers about his location before the murders due to his addiction to prescription pain pills and his general paranoia.
March 2
The jury begins deliberations after the prosecution and defense wrap up closing arguments.
A verdict is returned three hours later, and
Murdaugh is found guilty of murder in the deaths of Margaret and Paul. The jury also convicted him of two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, which carries five more years in prison.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters says at a news conference to "let this be a warning: No matter who you are, if you break the law, the truth will come out and you will be brought to justice."
March 3
Murdaugh is
punished with the maximum two consecutive life sentences for the killings. At his hearing, Judge Clifton Newman admonishes him for his apparent lack of awareness and "duplicitous conduct here in the courtroom."
Murdaugh continues to proclaim his innocence. His defense lawyers say they will appeal the conviction.
March 8
A lawyer for the Beach family says a wrongful death lawsuit against Murdaugh will go to trial Aug. 14. The family previously reached a settlement with Margaret's estate and surviving son Buster.
March 9
Murdaugh
files a notice to appeal his double murder convictions. The notice does not include arguments offered by his legal team, who raised several issues at trial, including the admission of Murdaugh's financial misconduct into evidence.
March 31
Murdaugh has been moved into protective custody in a maximum-security prison after completing an initial evaluation, South Carolina corrections officials
announce.
His unit is in an undisclosed location and is separated from the general population for safety reasons. Murdaugh's single 8-by-10 cell includes a bed, toilet and sink, and he is provided "all privileges afforded those in the general population inside this self-contained unit," according to the state.
May 1
Murdaugh's lawyers reveal as part of a lawsuit accusing him of life insurance fraud in the death of Satterfield that
he "invented the critical facts" surrounding her initial "trip and fall accident" in 2018 in order to receive millions of dollars in a settlement. Nautilus Insurance Co. had filed a suit alleging it was defrauded.
"No dogs were involved in the fall of Gloria Satterfield on February 2, 2018," Murdaugh's lawyers said in a legal filing, and that Murdaugh "invented Ms. Satterfield's purported statement that dogs caused her to fall to force his insurers to make a settlement payment."
May 24
The Justice Department announces
a 22-count indictment against Murdaugh on financial fraud and money laundering charges. The charges include allegations that he defrauded Satterfield's estate and homeowner's insurance carriers by directing settlement claims into a fake bank account and using the funds "for his own personal enrichment."
His lawyers say he is cooperating with the investigation and "anticipate that the charges brought today will be quickly resolved without a trial."
July 16
Lawsuits over the 2019 boat crash that killed Beach are
settled ahead of a wrongful death trial involving Murdaugh.
NBC affiliate WSAV reports the settlement cash amounts to $15 million, with most of it going to the Beach family.
Aug. 15
A
federal judge sentences Fleming, one of Murdaugh's alleged co-conspirators, to 46 months and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in May to conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with the Satterfield theft. Fleming still faces a slate of state charges, including breach of trust, money laundering and computer crimes.
Aug. 30
Murdaugh loses his prison phone and canteen privileges after the South Carolina Department of Corrections
says he broke rules about engaging with the media after an investigation found he read his journal entries to his lawyer in a recorded phone call.
An incident report says the recording was for an upcoming Fox Nation documentary, "The Fall of the House of Murdaugh."
Sept. 5
Murdaugh's lawyers
file a motion seeking a new trial after allegedly uncovering evidence of jury tampering.
The motion accuses Rebecca Hill, the Colleton County clerk of court, with tampering with the jury by "advising them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense."
Sept. 14
Murdaugh
appears in court for the first time since his murder trial. Judge Newman sets a Nov. 27 trial date on the state financial fraud charges.
Sept. 21
Murdaugh
pleads guilty to 22 counts of federal financial fraud and money laundering as part of a plea deal. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Nov. 7
Hill denies the jury tampering allegations, according to a filing by state prosecutors.
Nov. 16
A court order reveals that
Newman has asked to be removed from any further proceedings related to the murder case following the defense's request for a new judge.
Nov. 17
Murdaugh reaches a plea deal on state charges of dozens of financial crimes.
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Erik Ortiz
