The Murdaughs made headlines after five people connected to the family died within six years — but where are the key players now?
Alex Murdaugh was a powerful civil litigation lawyer before his youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, was involved in the wrongful death of his friend in a boat crash. The drama continued when Alex was accused of misappropriating funds from his law firm, clients, and the government through a scheme involving embezzlement, wire fraud and money laundering. He was indicted in 2022 on double murder charges after his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son Paul were killed.
Alex is currently facing a total of 102 grand jury criminal charges and 19 indictments relating to fraud and drug offenses. He was disbarred, had his assets seized and is serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders of Maggie and Paul.
The family’s saga was the subject of the “Murdaugh Murders” podcast, HBO’s The Murdaugh Dynasty, Investigation Discovery’s The Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty, Netflix’s Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, Lifetime’s Murdaugh Murders: The Movie before Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family premiered in October 2025.
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Keep scrolling to see where members of the family — and key players in the legal case — are now:
Alex Murdaugh
The patriarch resigned in 2021 after accusations of misappropriating funds. He was indicted in 2022 on double murder charges after his wife and son were killed. He was found guilty of murder and has also pleaded guilty to 22 federal charges, including wire fraud and money laundering.
Alex was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murders, plus an additional 40 years for federal financial crimes. He is also serving a 27-year sentence for state-level financial crimes.
Maggie Murdaugh
After getting married to Alex, the pair expanded their family with sons Buster and Paul. Maggie and Paul were found dead in June 2021. Alex was accused of committing the crime, which he has continued to deny.
Buster Murdaugh
Buster is Alex and Maggie’s eldest son. Despite previously planning to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming a lawyer, Buster was not readmitted to law school after his first year due to low grade point average.
Buster was implicated in the death of Paul’s friend Mallory Beach after he loaned his ID to his brother. In January 2023, Buster reached a settlement with Beach’s family and three other passengers involved in the fatal crash.
Buster was also connected to the death case of Stephen Smith after witnesses and investigators claimed they were in a secret relationship. (Buster denied knowing Smith before his death.) Smith was found dead in 2015 on a road near the Murdaugh family’s estate. Officials said he was killed in a hit-and-run accident, which Smith’s family has long disputed. No arrests were ever made in the case.
Buster has continued to deny “false” accusations he had any involvement in Smith’s death.
The eldest Murdaugh sibling, who married Brooklynn White in 2025, sued Netflix, Warner Bros. and more in 2024 for defamation on the grounds that he was falsely accused of murder.
Paul Murdaugh
Paul was under criminal indictment for Beach’s wrongful death before Alex killed him and his mother in 2021. Alex was found guilty on all four counts related to their murders.
Mandy Matney
Matney is a journalist in South Carolina who began looking into the Murdaugh family and their crimes after Beach’s death. Matney created the “Murdaugh Murders” podcast leading up to Alex’s arrest.
Matney and her husband, David Moses, are executive producers on Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family.
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Gloria Satterfield
Satterfield was the Murdaugh’s housekeeper who died in 2018 after a fall at their home. Her death was connected to the Murdaugh family scandals when a large settlement was revealed to have been stolen by Alex. He ultimately admitted to lying about the circumstances of Satterfield’s death, which was previously considered an accident.
Randolph Murdaugh
Alex’s father took on the role of solicitor in 1986. He ran unopposed in every election and held office until he retired in 2006. Randolph was married to Elizabeth Alexander, with whom he shared four children.
Randolph died of natural causes in June 2021, days after Maggie and Paul’s murders.
Mallory Beach
In 2019, Paul crashed his family boat into the Archers Creek Bridge in Beaufort, South Carolina, which caused the death of his friend Beach, who was on board. Paul was charged with three felony counts of boating under the influence, seriously injuring two other passengers along with killing Beach.
Beach’s mother sued several members of the Murdaugh family in a lawsuit which was settled in 2023. The Beach family reached a $15 million settlement with owners of the convenience store which had sold alcohol to Paul before the accident.
