What’s next after Alex Murdaugh’s guilty verdict? Conviction and case of financial crimes yet to come

Disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh has been found guilty of the brutal murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

The once-powerful lawyer was found guilty of two counts of murder and two weapons charges after a dramatic six-week “trial of the century” at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Jurors took less than three hours to reach their verdict after hearing how he shot and killed his wife Maggie and son Paul at the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre Moselle estate in Islandton, South Carolina on June 7, 2021. He faces life in prison on the charges.

But that’s far from the end of the scandals, criminal cases and unanswered questions surrounding Murdaugh.

Regardless of the verdict in the murder case, Murdaugh has never left court a free man as he is being held on bail on more than 100 counts in cases that include a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. dollars and a failed plot.

Here’s what’s next for the disgraced lawyer:

Conviction

Murdaugh will return to the Colleton County Courthouse for a murder conviction Friday morning, where victim impact statements will be read.

He faces a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of life in prison for each murder.

The weapons charge carries a five-year sentence, which can be served concurrently or consecutively with the murder charges.

700 years for financial crimes

Apart from the murder case, Murdaugh faces a staggering 99 charges on 19 separate indictments for a series of financial fraud schemes.

He is accused of stealing at least $8.7 million in settlements from dozens of legal clients he represented through his law firm PMPED.

Part of the plots involved Murdaugh negotiating wrongful death and other settlements for his clients, then stealing the money for himself, prosecutors say.

The alleged schemes date back to 2011 but were about to come to light at the time of the murders.

During his trial, prosecutors said Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his financial crimes.

Among the multitude of charges are counts of: fraud, attempted tax evasion, money laundering, embezzlement, obtaining signature or property by false pretenses, forgery, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to all charges.

But, in court during his murder trial, he confessed under oath to robbing PMPED and at least 18 law firm clients.

Among the victims are the family of Gloria Satterfield, the housekeeper of the Murdaugh family who died in a mysterious trip and died in 2018.

He faces up to 700 years in prison for these financial fraud charges.

Charges for botched hitman conspiracy

Murdaugh is also facing charges for a bizarre September 2021 failed conspiracy.

On September 4, 2021 – three months after the murders and a day after he was ousted from his law firm for theft of funds – Murdaugh was shot dead at the side of a road in Hampton County.

He survived and called 911, saying he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while changing a tire on his vehicle.

He was treated in a hospital for what police called a “superficial gunshot wound to the head”, but his story soon came to light.

Mr Murdaugh’s version of events quickly crumbled and he confessed to having Curtis Eddie Smith shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot so that his surviving son, Buster, could get a windfall. $12 million life insurance.

Mr Smith, 62, is Mr Murdaugh’s alleged drug dealer, a distant cousin and former client of a law firm.

Both men have been arrested and charged over the incident and are currently awaiting trial on those charges.

They were both later charged with new narcotics and criminal conspiracy charges for an alleged drug and $2.4 million money laundering ring.

Inquest into the death of Gloria Satterfield

An inquest is still ongoing into the death of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh family housekeeper for two decades, who died during a mysterious trip and a fall death at the Moselle estate.

Satterfield had worked for the influential Murdaugh family for over 20 years when she was found at the bottom of the steps leading to the family home. She died weeks later from her injuries.

At the time, his death was considered an accidental fall – although his death certificate listed his manner of death as “natural” and no autopsy was performed.

After his death, Murdaugh made a deal to pay his family $4 million as part of a wrongful death settlement – but they allegedly stole the money as part of his fraudulent scheme.

On September 15, 2021, days after Murdaugh’s criminal schemes came to light, SLED announced it was reopening an investigation into Satterfield’s death.

In early 2022, authorities announced their intention to exhume his body.

It’s unclear what evidence may have led investigators to do so – or where the investigation may be headed.

Inquest into the death of Stephen Smith

SLED has reopened an investigation into another mysterious death linked to the Murdaugh family.

Stephen Smith, 19, was found dead in the middle of a road in Hampton County in 2015.

He had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and his car had been left on the road.

His death was officially ruled a hit-and-run, but the victim’s family – and investigators who worked on the original case – have long doubted this version of events.

There have long been rumors in the community that a “Murdaugh boy” may have been involved and Murdaugh’s name appeared 40 times in documents from the original case, Live5News reported.

Just days after the murders of Maggie and Paul, SLED announced that the investigation into their murders led them to reopen an investigation into Smith’s death.

It is not known what may have motivated the launch of this investigation.

In January 2023, SLED said it had “made progress” on the case, but no further details were released.

Set up lawsuits

Murdaugh is also facing a growing number of lawsuits from victims of his financial fraud schemes as well as survivors of a 2019 boating accident.

In February 2019, Paul was allegedly drunk driving a boat when he ran it over, throwing his friend Mallory Beach to her death.

He was charged with boating under the influence and faced up to 25 years in prison, but was killed before his trial.

Murdaugh was also sued by the Beach family – the trial having come to a head around the time of the murders of Maggie and Paul.

That lawsuit was settled days before the murder trial, but other passengers in that wreck also filed lawsuits accusing him of allowing Paul to drink or interfere with the investigation by law enforcement. order.

Several law firm clients — who were defrauded of the settlement money — are also suing him.