Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh just finished one court case and is now gearing up for his next one.
On March 2, the disgraced attorney was found guilty of killing his wife Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and his son Paul Murdaugh, 22, on July 7, 2021, on the grounds of their sprawling hunting lodge in Islandton, S.C.
He was sentenced the next day to life in prison.
Even as Murdaugh took the stand in his own defense during the sensational, 6-week-long double-murder trial, he was facing dozens of charges for alleged financial crimes, including misappropriating money from his law firm, defrauding clients of funds and computer crimes.
Mallory Madison Beach Facebook
Two months after the crash, Paul, then 20, was arrested and later indicted on charges of one count of boating under the influence (BUI) causing death and two counts of causing significant bodily injury, online records show.
In May 2019, Paul pleaded not guilty. He was released on a $50,000 bond. He was killed before the case ever went to trial.
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But now a trial date for the wrongful death lawsuit has been set for Aug. 14.
While the Beach family is glad to be getting closer to having the case adjudicated, “there’s still a long way to go,” their attorney, Mark Tinsley, toldFox News Digital.
“There’s still accountability to be had,” said Tinsley.
He testified at Murdaugh’s murder trial that Murdaugh and his family tried to use their prominence in the legal world in South Carolina Lowcountry to influence the crash investigation.
Tinsley said Murdaugh himself came up to him in a bar and tried to push him “into backing off” the case, he said, Fox News Digital reports.
“We think that there were a number of things that happened there that are worthy of prosecution,” he told Fox Digital News.
Investigators were criticized for how long it took to find Mallory’s body after the crash.
“The Beach family stood on a causeway for eight days while their daughter’s body was in the water,” Tinsley testified. “I don’t think there’s any amount of money someone would be willing to take to go through what they’ve gone through.”
During Murdaugh’s murder trial, prosecutors said they believed the Beach wrongful death lawsuit played a role in the murders of his wife and son.
Three days before the brutal shootings, Murdaugh learned that he had to produce financial records that would reveal that he had been allegedly been stealing millions from his clients, the law firm his family founded — and even people who were close to him, such as his housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.
“Paul got the most vile threats — the stuff that was on social media — you couldn’t believe it,” Murdaugh said during his testimony. “You couldn’t believe it. It was so over the top, truthfully we didn’t think anything about it, it was so crazy. People talking about what he was going to get … We disregarded it. It was so over the top.”
Murdaugh said after discovering Paul and Maggie’s bodies, he went back to the house to retrieve a gun “just in case” he was in danger, too. During the 911 call, Murdaugh told the dispatcher about the threats against his son, but he said he didn’t know who made them.
Murdaugh’s lawyers announced they will appeal the murder conviction.
Mallory’s family was in court for Murdaugh’s sentencing, Tinsley toldWJCL.
“They’re one step closer, in the way they view it, to some closure. You know, they’re never going to have peace. They’re never going to get over this,” Tinsley said.
A trial for Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes will be held at a later date.
source: people.com
