Alex Murdaugh Used Rifle, Shotgun To Murder His Wife And Son, Officials Say

Alex Murdaugh used two different guns — a rifle and a shotgun — to kill his wife and son, according to grand jury indictments unsealed on July 14.

Murdaugh has officially been indicted on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The indictments are the latest in a string of developments involving the once powerful South Carolina family.

In June 2021, Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh were found shot to death at the family’s property in Colleton County, South Carolina.

The indictment stated Alex Murdaugh used a shotgun to shoot his son, Paul, and a rifle to shoot his wife, Maggie. The indictments were handed down this week and obtained by FrontPageDetectives.

No motive was released for the alleged killings.

Murdaugh could face the death penalty in South Carolina if the prosecutors try to seek his execution. If not, murder is punishable by up to life in prison.

“Over the last 13 months, SLED agents and our partners have worked day in and day out to build a case against the person responsible for the murders of Maggie and Paul and to exclude those who were not. At no point did agents lose focus on this investigation. From the beginning I have been clear, the priority was to ensure justice was served. Today is one more step in a long process for justice for Maggie and Paul,” said South Carolina Law Enforcement Chief Mark Keel.

The arrest caps months of investigations, one that some was taking too long. But, it involved many twists and turns. It included other deaths and accusations of financial misconduct.

The family’s public persona started to unravel when Paul Murdaugh was charged in connection to a fatal boat crash in 2019. Investigators say he was behind the wheel of a boat drunk when it hit an embankment.

The boat was filled with college students and Mallory Beach, 19, was tossed from the vessel and killed.

Paul Murdaugh wasn’t immediately arrested, which led some to cry favoritism for the family. The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office filed charges months after the boat crash.

The charges were active when in June 2021, Alex Murdaugh called 911 to say his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul, were shot at the family’s hunting lodge. Paul and Maggie’s deaths were classified as homicides

That double-murder led the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate the killings. Some have wondered if the murders were ties to the boat crash. As police investigated, they unraveled a web of related cases, a trail of dead bodies and just as many questions.

Alex Murdaugh was then charged with faking his own suicide after the murders, according to investigators. He also faces charges of financial misconduct from his time as a lawyer.

State investigators are also looking at the deaths of the family’s former housekeeper and a man found dead near the family’s property years earlier.