are they breathing? No, ma'am, my wife and my son. And what is your name? My name is Alex Murdoch. Please hurry. Either one of them move a prominent lawyer. An unfathomable tragedy, allegations of deceit. He's a very caring person. She was the rock of their family. Do you think they will find who did this? I would certainly hope so. Tonight we'll break down the timeline of events from the decades of power to the multiple investigations. And so it makes you wonder, okay, is this alleged shooting connected in some way to the death of his son and his wife for the beginning to the most recent developments? Obviously on everything is up for question now, including two deaths now being revisited by state investigators. And what's next for alec Murdoch, this is the kind of story that really has no good ending Murdoch, deaf and deceit starts now The mystery into the Murdoch family has a tangled web of characters and events for the next 30 minutes we will unpack it all. Good evening. I'm Riley Miller over the last few months. The stories have only become more complex, but where do you begin for this? We go back decades For almost a century. A member of the Murdoch family held the title of 14 circuit solicitor covering five counties, Alan Dale Beaufort College Hampton and Jasper. The function of a solicitor in South Carolina is the same as the function of people's attorney or prosecuting attorney or a district attorney in other states and that is to prosecute a criminal case. As soon as the position of solicitor became an elected one in 1920 Hampton attorney Randolph Murdoch senior was chosen for the job. He was killed in a train wreck in 1940 was succeeded by his son, Randolph buster Murdoch Who helped position until his retirement in 1986. Buster's son, Randolph Murdoch III was then elected and served until 2005. His influence was not limited to the circuit. Uh as, as solicitors in south Carolina are political animals, they necessarily have a political bonds, um uh that they maintain and I think that used to be a lot more important uh when buster was coming up um than it is now. But the influence of the family extended beyond the role of solicitor. The family's powerful law firm today, known as P M P E. D. Has been in operation for more than a century. That law firm has some really, really fine lawyers who just happened to be very, very skillful. P. M P E. D accused alec Murdoch Randolph, the third son of stealing money from the firm at the beginning of september alec resigned, but his brother Randolph Murdoch the fourth is still listed on the firm's website, despite the tragedies that have recently surrounded the family and put the Murdoch name in the national spotlight. Mccloskey believes that the MPD law firms prominence will survive. You bet those guys are good at what they do and they're going to remain prominent, uh is it something that they're going to have to find ways to quietly overcome you? Bet this is not this is not fun for anybody. This is a kind of story that really has no good ending. As we dive deeper and deeper with every twist and turn it circles back to the big tragedy that sparked all of this. The killing of Maggie and Paul Murdoch. It was June seven when investigators say they were gunned down in Hampton County. The case still unsolved tonight. Here's Dale Julen. I think they believed my wife went down badly. Is he moving at all? Your son? I know you said that she was shot, but what about your son? Nobody's they're not. Either one of them. He's sobbing, he's shouting into the phone. He's begging the dispatcher to send officers and paramedics. Okay. And what is your name? My name is Alex Murdoch. Okay. Did you hear anything or did you come home and find them? I've been gone. Uh just came back. Was anyone else has to be at your house? No, ma'am. As both ambulances and squad cars raced to the scene, the dispatcher sticks to her training, keeping him on the phone knowing she needs his help so the officers can find the scene fast. Okay, can you do me a favor Mr Murdoch And turn on the flashers on your car so that way they can see where the kennels are. Do you have your flashes on for me? Mr Murdoch? Yeah, I don't want you to touch them at all. Okay. I don't I don't know if you've already touched them and I don't I don't want you to touch them just in case they can get any kind of evidence. Okay. I've already touched and trying to get to see if they were breathing. They were not knowing he can no longer help them. He asked the dispatcher for permission to do what he never thought he'd have to do, ma'am. I'm gonna call. I need to call some of my family. Okay. In the months that have followed the double murders, authorities have not publicly released the names of any suspects Murdoch himself remains a person of interest. Dale Julen Wgcl 20 news as dale pointed out, authorities have not named any suspects. In fact, late this week, South Carolina state police say, because of the ongoing investigation into the double murder, agents quote, uncovered other potential crimes that weren't further investigation? They also said the FBI and the United States Attorney's Office are involved. But what other crimes are we talking about? Perhaps the failed suicide fraud plot that put alec Murdoch behind bars, Shannon Oyster picks up the story from there. The botched shooting of South Carolina Attorney alec Murdoch is quickly unraveling around him and playing out like a Hollywood movie back on september 4th Murdoch was shot in the head on south to Hatch the road in Hampton County months after he discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie and son paul shot to death outside their home back in june, are they breathing? No ma'am, Hi wife and my son. And what is your name? My name is Alex Murdoch. Please hurry. You're the one of the next time Murdoch called 911 was for his own emergency. A family spokesperson said Murdoch pulled off to change a tire when a man in a blue pickup truck stop to see if he was having car trouble, they say instead of helping Murdoch was shot, the attorney was airlifted to a hospital in savannah. Police calling his gunshot wounds superficial with no visible injuries. However, Murdoch's lawyer said the police report was incorrect saying he had a skull fracture and entry and exit wounds. Two days later on september six alec Murdoch was released from the hospital and issued a statement saying he regretted decisions he made, he was resigning from his law firm and entering rehab for substance abuse. That same day, his former law firm issued a statement of its own saying alec was stealing money from them. His law license was suspended immediately by the south Carolina Supreme Court and sled opened an investigation into those claims at this point, legal experts, Susan Williams says it's turning into a complicated case how it went from alec Murdoch being shot in the head to rehab too suspension to resigning that that is a whole lot spring forward to september 14th Curtis smith is arrested and charged in connection with the alec Murdoch, roadside shooting. The very next day, news spread of a scheme authorities saying Murdoch admitted to an assisted suicide plan with smith who happened to be a former client. Police say Murdoch gave smith a gun to kill him so a surviving son buster could collect a $10 million insurance policy problem is it didn't play out that way Murdoch survived and is now facing big trouble. Attorneys representing alec Murdoch say he's battled opioid addiction for years and needs help, But first Murdoch agreed to turn himself in appearing in a Hampton County Court on September 16, His lawyers driving home the point of dependency, 20 year addiction. This is not, this is something he's struggling with every day and if anyone Wants to see the face of what opioid addiction does, you're looking at it, Murdoch is facing charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report. His bond set a $20,000 Murdoch has returned to an out of state rehab center. He could face up to 20 years in prison for his role in the assisted suicide insurance fraud plot. The mystery surrounding the murdochs brought national attention to what's typically a quiet and rural community in the low country. It also caught the attention of abc news. Abrams our chief legal analyst joins us now and then we heard Alex Murdoch, he released an interesting statement mentioning decisions, he regrets, what could he be alluding to? Well look, this sort of shifts the focus a little bit up to this point. I think a lot of people were looking at the Sun in particular remember he was shot along with his mother. He had a pending criminal trial, had a pending civil trial. There were questions about whether he was involved in a 2015 case and so there were a lot of questions about was he targeted. But now the dad comes forward and announces that he regrets decisions that he made and he's going to go into rehab. And so it makes you wonder, okay, is this alleged shooting that happened this weekend connected in some way to the death of his son and his wife? And that's something we just don't know the answer to at this point, and this is someone who came from a long line of prominent attorneys in that community and now the allegations that he took money from his law firm work at that lead. I think that's going to lead to this unraveling. I mean, I think for the first time there's something concrete here which is saying there was an issue there was a problem and I think it's going to lead us down the road to at the very least, understanding what happened with his alleged shooting. We'll see if that's connected again to the death of the son and the mother. It this is so big. It is so bizarre. And it's been months since the murder of his murders of his wife and his son. And no arrests have been made. Yeah. What do you think that? Well? And that becomes a question, right? Question A is is that connected to dad? If it's connected to dad? I think we're going to see this solved quickly. If it's not connected to dad in any way, we may be back at at .1 again. But remember when the sun and the wife was shot, the police came out and said to the community, you don't need to work. Um, clearly they knew that this was a targeted shooting. They were telling people in the community, you don't need to be concerned, et cetera. So that right there tells you they knew something about it, at least enough to be convinced that this wasn't some random killing. You said, bizarre. Yeah, yeah. And even I we're just sitting here talking about it back and forth. You know, right before we went on it, both of us were asking each other questions. What do you think? What would happen? Because there are so many questions involved. Still no answers, no concrete answers, dan layers of investigation. All right, thank you so much. He's a very caring person that she was the rock of their family in the days after paul and Maggie were found dead. Other members of the Murdoch family came forward, Murdoch death and deceit continues. Mhm. Mhm. Brothers of the Murdoch spoke out just days after their two relatives, paul and Maggie were found dead. I got a call from L. A. Right monday night and as soon as I had to hold I knew something was wrong. No man. He just told me. He said, come as fast as you can, paul and Maggie have been hurt. His voice to fear. He was just distraught. But the person that did this is out there and there's information, however bigger, however small it is. Did they have any enemies? I really don't know if any enemies you hear all this talk on the, you know, social media with regard to paul, but I don't know if anybody know that would truly, that would truly be an enemy. I truly want to harm them. Paul had been awaiting trial accused of being under the influence while crashing a boat that killed 19 year old passenger Mallory Beach in 2019. He pleaded not guilty in the case and the Hamilton. Now with what happened that night, I never knew what it would be like to go through something like this emergency. Hello, February 24 2019. The night that put the murdochs back in the spotlight and changed the beach family's life forever. Investigators say paul Murdoch was driving a boat under the influence with five other teenagers, including beach when he crashed into a bridge near paris island. All of us. The only thing but we're missing one person. I don't even know. I finally got to the point I grabbed my girlfriend and put it in my lap in the bottom of the boat and was holding on my eyes closed. The next thing I know I'm in workers Beach was gone. Well you smiling like you. 40 sit down girl. Police say paul was quote grossly intoxicated yet. He wasn't issued a field sobriety test. Nor did he ever spend a night in jail? You all know? Helicke Murdoch. Yeah, that's is so that's a good look. Authorities searched. James, friends and family searched for an entire week Until 911. What's your emergency? Think we found our beaches. Body was found on March 3rd 2019 in a marsh near the broad river boat landing. Later that month. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against alec and buster Murdoch plus parker's convenience store who sold paul the alcohol the night of the crash april 18th 2019 Would have been beaches 20th birthday. It is hard. Yes, it's hard. There's moments that we have that things remind us of Mallory and we break down at times. It was also the day that paul was indicted for boating under the influence, causing death and two counts of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury. Paul pleaded not guilty to all charges. The court ordered mediation in the wrongful death lawsuit failed on June 4, 2021 meeting the case would then head to trial three days later, paul and his mother, Maggie are found shot to death at their family's hunting lodge. Obviously everything is up for question now the murdochs maids mysterious fatal fall considered an accident at the time, but now a new investigation, Murdoch death and deceit continues. Yeah. When it comes to weather forecasts, you've told us one thing matters for us to get it right and only one savannah weather team is certified most accurate. Who keeps track. It's called weather eight analysts who compare all forecasts to what actually happened. We got it right more than anyone storms, temperatures, wind And sunshine. Every forecast everyday analyzed for the last three years, Jeremy Jonathan Victoria and Melissa. The storm tracker 22 weather team certified most accurate. Our families, our close friends, the people we surround ourselves with. Our always there when we need them. When the unthinkable happens due to accidents or sickness, compassion funeral service will be there for you. Compassion funeral service will help guide you through your toughest time. 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Get 0% financing for 72 months on a 2021 ford F 1 50 go dogs is your credit score. Getting in the way of the things you want to do. Personal loans through net credit offer fast and flexible lending, borrow up to $10,000 and choose for payment terms that work for you. You may even be able to build your credit history as you repay net credit. A more personal personal loan trust built day by day, story after story. Good evening. And it's great to have you with us. It strengthens with understanding learning what's important to you what you need to know right now. W. J. C. L. 22 news and abc world news tonight with David muir a focus look at local and national news. The news that matters to you in southeast Georgia and the low country. It's a matter of trust. We begin tonight with breaking news, W. J C L 22 news and abc world news tonight. Mm mhm. A criminal investigation into the death of glorious Satterfield is now open as well as the handling of her estate. Satterfield was the Murdoch family housekeeper for more than 20 years who died in a mysterious trip and fall accident inside the murdochs home. All this as Satterfield's sons filed a wrongful death lawsuit, we sat down with their attorneys for a breakdown. Obviously everything is up for question now Attorney for the Satterfield family, Ronnie Richter says Gloria Satterfield, the Murdoch family's housekeeper for more than two decades is practically family to them for her boys. When their mom passed away. It was very natural that they would have entrusted such important matters to Alex who assured them that he was going to take care of them. The newly filed lawsuits states alec Murdoch approach to Satterfield sons saying he would help them get compensation for their mothers wrongful death by filing claims against himself. But Richter says there's a big red flag in this case, the person getting suited picked, the lawyer who is going to sue them and not coincidentally that lawyer happened to be a close personal column in 2018 alec Murdoch's insurance company paid more than $505,000 in a settlement. But according to their attorneys, Satterfield sons didn't find out about this until they read it in the newspaper three years later And there's another major problem for her sons and they have not received the first time as attorney Eric Blanches representing Satterfield's estate believes there's more to all of this and that's why this lawsuit was recently filed in hopes of getting more questions answer. We believe that there wasn't just $500,000. It was recovered in connection with the death of glorious Satterfield. We believe that number is much greater in the millions of dollars. A letter from the Hampton County corner states Satterfield's death was not reported to the corner at the time nor was an autopsy performed. It also says the manner of death on Satterfield's death certificate was ruled natural, which is inconsistent with a trip and fall accident. The housekeeper's death is not the only one to receive fresh scrutiny. In june sled announced they opened an investigation into the death of Stephen smith. A young man found dead on a road about 10 miles from the Murdoch home, Ashley Garrett. Now, with what we know, Oh my gosh, we've been waiting on this forever. Sandy Smith wakes up every morning thinking about her son Steven and her search for answers since his death in 2015 and they said he was shot in the head. And then it turned out it was a hit and run and then he was beat up. And so the story just kept changing Stephen's body was found along Sandy Run Road in Hampton County in July of 2015. According to the coroner's report at the time, his death was likely to to a hit and run. I just couldn't believe it. But he yes, when they told me hit and run, I said that's impossible because steven wouldn't have been walking in the road to start with. He would have cut through the woods. He would not have been in the highway now. Six years later, with no arrest, made that search for answers continues in june, the south Carolina law enforcement division announced that they were reopening the investigation into Stephen's death in a statement. Then they said the decision to look into the death was based on information gathered during the murder investigation into the deaths of paul and Maki Murdoch. But they didn't detail what that information was this week, investigators confirmed that W J. C L 22 news that the new investigation is ongoing, but that they have no additional information for Sandy smith. It could be another step closer to justice or more unanswered questions just like he's a nobody because we were poor people. Ashley Garrett W. J. C L 22 news Murdoch death and deceit continues. Mhm. Over the last 30 minutes, we walked you through the complex history and developments with the Murdoch family. It's a tangled web of secrets, tragedy and mystery. We thank you for watching our special program Murdoch death and deceit. The conversation though, does not end. Here. We continue it online at w j C L dot com, where we have extensive coverage, including a timeline of everything you just saw and more. You don't have to go far. It's right on the homepage for you. Good night. Mhm. Yeah. Mhm, mm. Mhm. Yeah.