From HH Island Packet...
Paul Murdaugh, mother found shot to death outside their Colleton Co. home, sources say
Paul Murdaugh, a Hampton man who was charged in the 2019 boat crash that killed a young woman, and his mother were found dead of gunshot wounds Monday night outside their family’s home in Colleton County, numerous legal sources connected to the family and the investigation confirmed Tuesday.
The sources, who did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to disclose the information, said the bodies were found by Alex Murdaugh, husband of Maggie Murdaugh and father of Paul. He told authorities he had been out at the time of shooting and found them when he arrived at home.
One victim apparently had been shot with a shotgun; the other was killed with what appears to have been an assault rifle, the sources said.
State police are investigating the double homicide. The Murdaugh family, a prominent, well connected South Carolina family, are members of
a storied law firm based in Hampton.
SLED agents responded to the scene after 10 p.m. Monday, and two victims were found shot, S.C. Law Enforcement Division spokesperson Tommy Crosby said Tuesday.
Crosby said he was not aware of anyone arrested or detained related to the crime but, based on the evidence, SLED does not believe there is a danger to the public.
A Murdaugh relative on the porch of a home near the crime scene, between Islandton and Moselle, said his family had recently received the news. “Now’s not a good time, as you can imagine,” he said.
Paul Murdaugh, 21, of Hampton, was facing three felony counts of boating under the influence. The charges are tied to a boat crash near Parris Island in February 2019 that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, also of Hampton, and injured others on board.
He
pleaded not guilty to the charges in May 2019 and has not spent time in jail. There hadn’t been any movement on the criminal case since July 2019, when his bond was modified to allow him to travel.
The Murdaugh family is well known in South Carolina because several members
held the elected position of solicitor for the 14th Judicial Circuit, which serves Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper, Allendale and Colleton counties, from 1920 until 2006. Two of the Murdaughs still work at the Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick law firm in Hampton.
The Murdaugh residence, known to locals as Moselle, is a hunting lodge on Moselle Road in Islandton. The address is on the border of Colleton and Hampton counties along the Salkehatchie River.
More than 1,770 acres of property are under Margaret B. Murdaugh’s name, according to Colleton County property records. The land spans both counties, with about 870 acres in Hampton and just less than 900 acres in Colleton. A 174-acre parcel on the Colleton side has two buildings, one one-story single family home and one two-story single family home.
Neither the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office nor the Colleton County coroner was able to provide additional details about the deaths or investigation Tuesday morning.
