Maggie and Paul’s bodies were first discovered on June 7, 2021, at the Murdaugh family’s hunting residence in Islandton, S.C. A SLED press release stated at the time that the mother-and-son duo died of multiple gunshot wounds.
That September, Murdaugh was shot in the head—though suffering a superficial wound—while changing a flat tire, his legal team initially told NBC News. However, Murdaugh later penned a written statement to the police admitting to orchestrating his own assassination attempt, with a family attorney telling Today that the patriarch was struggling with an opioid addiction and had set up the hit so his surviving son Richard “Buster” Murdaugh Jr. would receive $10 million from his life insurance policy.
Shortly after checking into a rehab facility in Florida, Murdaugh was arrested in October 2021 and charged with two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses in connection to a wrongful death lawsuit involving his late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
Murdaugh has since been extradited back to South Carolina, where he remains in jail.
For a deep dive into the mystery surrounding the Murdaugh family, click here.
