The Murdaugh Murders, Money & Mystery is a podcast detailing the horrific and devious crimes committed by Alex Murdaugh, a hotshot personal injury lawyer and heir to a powerful South Carolina legal dynasty. Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering his own wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in the a sickening culmination to a brazen white-collar fraud scheme run amok.
Prosecutors successfully argued the ruthless killings were Murdaugh's desperate, egregious ploy to avoid impending ruin after stealing over $10 million from his often destitute and disabled clients, along with the partners in his family's namesake law firm.
After a fatal boat crash involving his spoiled son all but assured Murdaugh's treachery would come to light, he concocted a brutal ruse aimed at shielding himself from scrutiny long enough to cover his tracks and preserve his family's legacy — and wealth. In the end, he failed at both.
Join host Anne Emerson, producer Drew Tripp and legal analyst Charlie Condon (former South Carolina Attorney General) as they navigate the complicated legal twists and stunning interpersonal dramas of this saga, which traces back to the turn of the 20th century and continues to develop.
(The Murdaugh Murders, Money & Mystery is a Criminally Obsessed audio original, produced beginning in 2021 in partnership with WCIV-TV ABC News 4 in Charleston.)
Stephen Smith was found dead along a rural Hampton County road in the pre-dawn hours of July 8, 2015. His death came under mysterious circumstances, and remains unsolved.
Stephen Smith's death ultimately was ruled a hit-and-run by a medical examiner, despite law enforcement saying there was no solid evidence to prove that's what actually happened.
Instead, law enforcement treated Stephen's death as a homicide from the start, saying what physical evidence they found indicated a possibly staged accident scene.
Fiery rumors of who was to blame began to burn as the investigation progressed, but the case ultimately went cold. That's until June 2021, weeks after the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
State police announced they were reopening Stephen's case based on new information found related to the Murdaugh murders, tying yet another death to the beleaguered family.
So how exactly do the Murdaughs fit into Stephen's story? Over the next two episodes we'll examine the possible connections revealed through hours of interviews with Stephen's family and friends, as well as other possible suspects.
More on the Murdaugh saga: https://abcnews4.com/murdaugh
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Unsolved South Carolina is a production of ABC News 4 in Charleston, South Carolina.
- Anne Emerson - Host, Producer
- Drew Tripp - Executive Producer, Social Media, Graphic Design
- Daniel Michener - Producer, Audio Engineer
- Maxwell Harrison, KJ Morrison - Music
- Douglas Stewart - Graphic Design
- Alex Caban - Voiceover Contributor
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