The University of South Carolina student was found shot dead in front of his family's sprawling South Carolina estate alongside his 52-year-old mother, Maggie Murdaugh.
Paul Murdaugh, who was victim to a double-homicide earlier this month, alongside his 52-year-old mother Maggie Murdaugh, had been threatened online ahead of the double-murder, family members said. The two members of a prominent South Carolina family were found dead outside of their sprawling estate in Islandton, and those who knew them are now questioning whether the threats and the brutal slayings might have been related.
John Marvin Murdaugh, uncle to the 22-year-old University of South Carolina student, said that Murdaugh had been receiving online threats after a 2019 boating accident in which 19-year-old Mallory Beach died.
“I didn’t think it was a credible threat,” John Marvin Murdaugh said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “If it was, I would have tried to do something. But I guess maybe I made a mistake.”
Paul’s other uncle, Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh, who works at the family law firm, said in the interview, “I really don’t know of any enemies. You hear all this talk on social media with regard to Paul. But I don’t know anybody who would truly be an enemy, who would truly want to harm them.’
At the time of the murders, Paul Murdaugh was facing three felony counts of boating under the influence resulting in death and bodily injury. The boat crash took place near Parris Island and resulted in the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach. Five others, including Murdaugh, were also ejected from the boat and injured as a result.
Murdaugh was driving his father's 17-foot boat when it crashed into a bridge. Murdaugh was allegedly intoxicated at the time of the crash, according to witness testimonies.
Beach’s body was found a week later.
Murdaugh pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 personal recognizance bond. He spent no time in jail.
A civil lawsuit was later filed by the young girl's mother, Renee Beach. It is still pending against the convenience store that allegedly sold alcohol to the minors that evening. A hearing for the 2019 boat crash was postponed "due to the murders," Beach family attorney Mark Tinsley wrote to Inside Edition Digital.
Tinsley said there has not yet been a rescheduled date for the hearing relating to the boat crash.
Paul and his mother, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh were found dead with multiple gunshot wounds outside of their family hunting lodge in Colleton County on June 7. Authorities said they were shot sometime between 9 and 9:30 p.m.
The Murdaugh family is a prominent legal family in the state’s southern Lowlands. Three generations of Murdaughs have served as elected prosecutors for the state over the span of 87 years.
"I see words like 'dynasty' used, and 'power,'" Randy told “Good Morning America.” "But we're just regular people that are working hard and trying to do right. And I think when you do those things, people respect you. We had great opportunities."
Authorities have released very few details surrounding the investigation, with media outlets like Charleston’s Post and Courier alleging in a lawsuit that Colleton County Sheriff’s Office and State Law Enforcement Division violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Neither SLED nor the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office have responded to the publication’s request for comment regarding the lawsuit.
