tax evasion
US Attorney Alex Murdaugh, convicted of murdering his wife and child, is on trial again
Alex Murdaugh (M.), here with his two lawyers, was sentenced to two life terms after the murder of his wife and son
© Joshua Boucher / DPA
Recently, US Attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to twice life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and child. But the 54-year-old is still confronted with around 100 other lawsuits. Now he has been charged with tax evasion.
The trial of the well-known US lawyer Alex Murdaugh, which was broadcast live, kept the whole country in suspense. The 54-year-old is said to have shot his wife and youngest son in cold blood in June 2021. He is also said to have stolen millions of dollars from his clients and corporate partners over the years. A South Carolina jury indicted him on tax evasion charges.
As reported by the Associated Press, among others, Murdaugh made around $16 million as a lawyer from 2011 to 2021, while according to the indictment he stole around $9 million from his law firm, client settlement funds and other sources. The latest charges stem from Murdaugh’s 2020 and 2021 tax returns, which prosecutors say Murdaugh failed to pay more than $130,000 in taxes over those two years that he should have paid.
Murdaugh lawfully earned $1,147,342 from his previous company in 2020, according to the indictment. He stole an additional $1,112,734 from the company and from customer severance pay for which he should have paid $67,624 in taxes.
Around 100 lawsuits await Alex Murdaugh
In 2021 — the same year he murdered his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22 — he rightfully made $86,069 but reportedly embezzled another $1,000,333. Again, he failed to file a tax return, robbing the state of $64,948, according to the indictment.
The two latest charges are just the beginning of a series of lawsuits Alex Murdaugh is facing. Murdaugh faces about 100 other charges, including tax evasion for his tax returns from 2011 to 2019, as well as charges of stealing customer funds, running a drug and money laundering ring, and attempting to cheat his life insurer out of a $10 million policy payout by having a friend kill him.
The case involving the scion of a powerful and influential South Carolina legal dynasty made waves. Also because Alex Murdaugh’s story offers material for a Hollywood film. The trial against him for the murder of his wife and youngest son began shortly after a documentary was released on Netflix in Germany that dealt with a fatal boat accident and other mysterious deaths surrounding the family.
Alex Murdaugh’s youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, is said to have caused the 2019 accident that killed a 19-year-old. Although charges were brought and Paul pleaded not guilty, the trial was a long time coming – probably also because of the great influence of the family. When Murdaugh’s wife and son were shot dead on the family property in Colleton County near the dog kennels in June 2021, Alex Murdaugh cited the death threats his son had previously received regarding the accident as a possible motive. However, he himself claimed that he was never at the scene of the crime. However, cellphone video taken by his son just minutes before the killings, clearly showing Alex Murdaugh’s voice, convicted him of lying.
During the trial, he admitted he was there but maintained his innocence. However, since long-time friends and business partners, whom he had cheated financially for years, also had their say on the witness stand, the jury did not believe him. Prosecutors came to the conclusion that he killed his wife and son to gain sympathy. He wanted to buy time to cover up financial crimes that were about to be uncovered. He then cleaned up the crime scene, visited his ailing mother to provide an alibi, then called 911 and reported his wife and son dead when he got home, prosecutors said.
Alex Murdaugh appealed the verdict
Murdaugh himself said he was severely addicted to opiates. A few months after the murder of his son and his wife, he is said to have hired a hitman to kill him himself. Murdaugh reportedly wanted his $10 million life insurance policy to be paid out to his other surviving son, Buster. In the course of the investigation, other deaths in the family environment from previous years were brought up again. In February 2018, a housekeeper for the Murdaughs allegedly tripped over the family’s dogs and fell to her death. Murdaugh helped the woman’s sons sue him for damages – which he presumably kept to himself. The death of a classmate of his eldest son Buster is also being investigated. The 19-year-old was found dead on the street in 2015, probably from blunt force trauma. However, his death was classified as a hit-and-run. Although the name Buster Murdaugh, who is rumored to have had an intimate relationship with the victim, kept coming up in connection with the investigation, no one in the family was questioned and the case was closed.
Alex Murdaug was sentenced to two life terms on March 2 this year. He is currently in protective custody at an unspecified maximum-security prison in South Carolina. He appealed against the verdict.
See the video: The mini-series “Murder for God” is based on the true crime bestseller of the same name and is about the investigation into a double murder in 1984. The mini-series has been available on Disney Plus since December 14th, 2022.
Sources: Associated Press, indictment by the prosecutor, Netflix documentary