In her book The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty, author Valerie Bauerlein hones in on not just Mark Tinsley's central role in the fall but his full story.
Away from the courtroom, Tinsley's passion is traveling to isolated regions of the world and hunting big game.
He has stalked Dall sheep on the edge of the Arctic Circle, moose in the Yukon, mule deer in the rocky hills of the Mexican border and grizzlies across the remote Alaskan islands.
An excerpt from the book:
Tinsley raised the sight to the ram's chest and steeled himself, doing his best to ignore the ache in his hand and the throbbing in his back. Everything he had endured to reach this moment was its own reward. He took a deep breath, exhaled slightly, then held the exhalation and squeezed the trigger. A half second later, the ram fell. Tinsley stood up and hiked toward his prize. He did not feel triumphant. He felt grateful.
Many trial lawyers are hunters, known in both their personal and professional lives for their willingness to draw blood.
Tinsley joins The Dubcast to recount in detail his decision to take on former friend Alex Murdaugh by representing the family of Mallory Beach.
Initially Murdaugh and plenty of other people in the legal profession believed Tinsley was going to be an ally to Murdaugh in the wrongful death lawsuit -- "a friendly lawsuit," as Murdaugh called it.
Murdaugh soon learned otherwise, and he confronted Tinsley at an annual trial lawyer gathering on Hilton Head.
"Alex saw me and he came straight across the room," Tinsley said. "He wants to know: 'What's this I've been hearing about you saying you want a pound of flesh and I'm going to have to pay?'"
Tinsley's response: "If you don't think I can burn your house down, you're sorely mistaken."
Playing a major role in bringing down the Murdaugh dynasty has made Tinsley a celebrity who's recognized almost everywhere he goes.
But battling Murdaugh while also fighting stage four prostate cancer has made Tinsley better in ways far beyond fame and fortune.
"It helped me really focus on what matters. There are so many times in life we get all wrought up in these little things that at the end of the day don't really matter: 'My daughter's room wasn't clean enough. She left her plate of food on the table,' or whatever it may be. I think the thing I got most out of it was watching the Beaches, helping them what they've gone through, and who they are in spite of what happened to them.
"It made me want to be a better person. It made me want to focus on things like underage drinking and the hazards of it. If we can make the world a better place, a safer place, we ought to do so. So now I focus on things like that. I want to be a better person. I want to do good things. I want to be remembered for something other than Alex Murdaugh."
Tinsley is a Clemson graduate who said he wore an orange backpack when he attended law school in Columbia.
His daughter Emma is a current Clemson student studying Criminal Justice, and she plans to attend law school after graduation.
Mark Tinsley Interview
And here are the previous two in case you missed them:
Valerie Bauerlein
Otis Pickett
