In the summer of 2015, 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of a rural highway in South Carolina. According to law enforcement at the time, his death was the consequence of a hit-and-run. Eight years later, a new investigation alleged otherwise, with Smith as one of the key subjects of the docuseries Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. Smith’s death was the first in a string of fatal tragedies that enveloped a South Carolina community over the last nine years — and the powerful, wealthy Murdaugh family was at the center of it all. You can read more about Murdaugh Murders Season 1 here.
Three years after the concluding events in Season 1, family patriarch and Hampton, South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh stood trial for the double murder of his wife, Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, who were shot and killed on the family’s hunting property on June 7, 2021. In Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal Season 2, the events leading to the trial and the jury’s eventual decision are explored in depth, bringing new light to the case and revealing shocking information about what might have happened the night of Maggie and Paul’s murders.
Below, check out a comprehensive timeline of all the events leading up to Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial, and key moments from Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal season 2.
The body of 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found on July 8, 2015, in the middle of a rural highway in Hampton County, South Carolina, right around the corner from the site where his car was later discovered. His death was ruled a hit-and-run, but in recordings heard in Episode 1 of the docuseries, investigators said it didn’t appear to be a vehicular incident. Alex Murdaugh’s eldest son, Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr., known as Buster, was named in highway patrol tapes.
Alex Murdaugh’s 19-year-old son Paul crashed the family’s boat into the Archer Creek Bridge in Beaufort, South Carolina, in a drunken accident. Multiple people were thrown overboard, including 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who went missing. Paul’s blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit, according to hospital records.
Mallory Beach’s body was recovered approximately five miles away from the accident location. On April 18, 2019, Paul Murdaugh was charged with three felony counts, including one count of boating under the influence causing death, and two counts of boating under the influence causing bodily injury. Beach family attorney Mark Tinsley filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Murdaughs.
Paul Murdaugh was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to three felony charges. He was released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond while awaiting trial.
Alex Murdaugh called 911 and said his wife, Maggie, and his son Paul had been shot at the family’s Moselle property. A video recorded on Paul’s phone less than five minutes before the killings placed Alex at the scene of the crime when they died, according to prosecutors.
Ten days after Maggie and Paul were killed, Alex Murdaugh’s brothers John Marvin Murdaugh and Randolph Murdaugh IV appeared on Good Morning America to talk about their deaths. They said they didn’t believe Alex was involved in the shootings.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) reopened Stephen Smith’s alleged hit-and-run case after agents found evidence relating to that case while investigating the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
Duffie Stone, the region’s top prosecutor who was appointed in 2006 — also the first non-Murdaugh to hold the position since 1920 — recused himself from the June 7 double murder case, due to personal connections.
On Sept. 3, 2021, Alex Murdaugh was forced to resign after partners at the Murdaugh law firm said that he misappropriated millions of dollars of client and firm funds. The next day, Murdaugh called 911 and claimed he had been shot in the head while inspecting a flat tire on the side of the road in Hampton County. Two days later, he entered rehab for opioid addiction, and a few days after that, the South Carolina Supreme Court suspended Murdaugh’s license to practice law in the state while he was being investigated for misuse of funds.
SLED said Murdaugh admitted that he asked a former client, Curtis Edward Smith, to shoot and kill him on Sept. 4 so that his son, Buster, could collect the $10 million life insurance payment. In season one, Smith said he did not conspire with Murdaugh to shoot him. “If I’d have shot him, he’d be dead,” Smith says in the first installment of the docuseries. He was then arrested and charged with assisted suicide, assault, and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
However, he would later recount his claims in Season 2. Scroll to the bottom of this article for the latest from Curtis Edward Smith.
Murdaugh was arrested and charged with fraud and conspiracy in the assisted suicide scheme. He was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report. Although he was allowed to return to rehab, he was ordered to surrender his passport.
Satterfield’s family filed a lawsuit against Murdaugh and others for defrauding them out of settlement money. On Oct. 6, Murdaugh’s former law firm announced it was suing him to recover funds he stole from clients and the firm.
Murdaugh was arrested in Florida following his release from rehab. He was charged with two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses and was jailed in Richland County, where he was denied bond. At the same time, Curtis Edward Smith appeared on NBC’s Today and said he wasn’t a willing accomplice in the suicide scheme. On Dec. 13, a judge set Murdaugh’s bond at $7 million, and he agreed to pay $4.3 million to Satterfield’s family. Murdaugh was indicted on 48 total criminal financial charges.
With permission from her family, police say they will exhume Satterfield’s body. Murdaugh and Curtis Edward Smith were indicted in a money laundering and painkiller ring. Both were charged with possessing, manufacturing or distributing narcotics.
The South Carolina Supreme Court formally disbarred Murdaugh. At this point, Murdaugh faced a total of 84 criminal charges and 11 lawsuits.
On Jan. 21, 2022, a grand jury indicted Murdaugh on 23 new charges, for a total of 71 charges of defrauding victims out of $8.5 million. Two months later, a grand jury indicted him on four new charges of defrauding insurance companies. His friend, attorney Cory Fleming, was also named. In May, Murdaugh faced four new charges related to financial crimes. On July 14, he was charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and his son Paul. Prosecutors alleged that Murdaugh fatally shot Maggie with a rifle and Paul with a shotgun, and that blood spatter found on Murdaugh’s clothing might place him at the crime scene at the time of their deaths. Murdaugh entered a plea of not guilty, but his bond was denied. A month later, a grand jury indicted him on charges of obtaining property under false pretenses, money laundering and computer crimes. Prosecutors said he stole $295,000 from one of his brothers and the family law firm. In December 2022, Murdaugh was indicted on nine counts of tax evasion, totaling more than 100 financial criminal charges.
Murdaugh’s murder trial began on Jan. 23, 2023 with jury selection. On Jan. 25, prosecutors revealed new evidence, including a raincoat covered in gunshot residue that was recovered from Murdaugh’s mother’s home. Bullet casings found at the crime scene were allowed into evidence.
A judge approved a wrongful death lawsuit settlement between members of the Murdaugh family and victims of the 2019 boat crash.
Following a clash between the prosecution and the defense, the judge in Murdaugh’s case ruled to allow the state to present evidence of Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes as a motive in the double murder trial.
On Thursday Mar. 2, Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and younger son. The jury deliberation lasted for three hours.
On Wednesday, Sept. 20, Murdaugh Murders Season 2 premiered with three more episodes, continuing the story of the Southern patriarch’s arrest, trial, and eventual conviction. Through firsthand accounts of people closes to the family, the second installment of the story provides a closer look at the days leading up to the murders of Maggie and Paul, as well as never-before-seen details from the trial.
Perhaps the most shocking moment of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal Season 2 is the revelation by Curtis Edward Smith that despite his earlier claim, Murdaugh allegedly did ask Smith to shoot and kill him because he knew the police would be able to prove he’d murdered his wife and son.
“I said, ‘Why do you want me to shoot you?’” Smith saysin the doc. “‘Because they’re gonna to be able to prove that I was responsible for Maggie and Paul,’” he goes on to claim Murdaugh said.
Click here for more information on Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal Season 2.
