Inside the Day Alex Murdaugh Killed His Wife and Son — and How His Alibi Unraveled

With Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family reigniting public fascination, new audiences are revisiting the harrowing June 2021 night when disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh killed his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul — and how digital evidence destroyed his alibi.

On June 7, 2021, police were called to the Murdaugh family’s sprawling hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina. There, they found 22-year-old Paul shot in the chest and head with a shotgun at close range, and 52-year-old Maggie fatally wounded by rounds from an AR-style rifle. She was shot multiple times, including once in the back and again while lying on the ground.

More than a year later, Alex — once a powerful figure in the state’s legal community — was indicted for the murders. Investigators said he killed his wife and son as his financial troubles and personal crises spiraled out of control.

During his six-week trial, prosecutors presented a cellphone video Paul had recorded just minutes before the murders. The clip, captured near the family’s dog kennels, captured the voices of Paul, Maggie, and Alex — placing Alex at the scene, contradicting his earlier claims that he wasn’t there.

Prosecutors argued that the murders occurred around 8:49 p.m., shortly after the video was taken. They said Alex then tried to fabricate an alibi by texting his wife’s phone and calling her after she was already dead.

Alex initially told investigators he left home around 9 p.m. to visit his ailing mother and discovered the bodies when he returned roughly an hour later. On the stand, he admitted lying about his whereabouts but continued to deny any role in the killings.

“I could never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them,” he testified, claiming paranoia fueled by opioid addiction had led him to lie to authorities that night.

Alex’s surviving son, Buster, took the stand in his father’s defense. He acknowledged his father’s drug use but described him as “heartbroken” after the deaths.

At the time of the murders, the family was already under intense scrutiny. Paul faced criminal charges in connection with the 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, and Alex was accused of embezzling millions from clients. Prosecutors said the looming financial exposure — and the potential fallout from Paul’s case — pushed Alex to a breaking point.

In March 2023, a jury convicted Alex of two counts of murder and two counts of possessing a weapon during a violent crime. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole and later received additional state and federal sentences for his financial crimes.

The saga continues to captivate audiences through documentaries and dramatizations — most recently Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family, which premiered on Oct. 15 and delves into the shocking unraveling of a once-powerful Southern dynasty.