A prominent attorney in South Carolina, whose wife and son were killed in June, has resigned from the powerhouse law firm his family helped establish and said he is entering rehab.
The announcement comes after Alex Murdaugh was shot in the head on Saturday.
South Carolina state police confirmed he called 911 on Saturday to report being shot in the head and was taken to a hospital with superficial injuries. Media outlets reported Murdaugh was changing a tire on the side of a rural road in Hampton County.
In a statement released Monday through a public relations firm, Murdaugh said he has faced “a long battle that has been exacerbated” by the murders of his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and the couple’s youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, 22.
“The murders of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult time in my life. I have made a lot of decisions that I truly regret,” according to the statement, provided by Amanda Loveday of NP Strategy, a public relations firm in Columbia, South Carolina.
“I’m resigning from my law firm and entering rehab after a long battle that has been exacerbated by these murders,” the statement continued. “I am immensely sorry to everyone I’ve hurt including my family, friends and colleagues. I ask for prayers as I rehabilitate myself and my relationships.”
Timeline:From a fatal boat crash in 2019 to the Murdaugh family killings in 2021
Loveday did not immediately respond to questions about the location of the rehab facility or nature of the program.
The law firm, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick PA (PMPED), released a statement that said Murdaugh resigned Friday and that he “misappropriated funds.” Law enforcement and the South Carolina Bar had been notified, the law firm said.
“He is no longer associated with PMPED in any manner. His resignation came after the discovery by PMPED that Alex misappropriated funds in violation of PMPED standards and policies,” the statement said, in part. “A forensic accounting firm will be retained to conduct a thorough investigation.”
“This is disappointing news for all of us,” the statement continued. “Rest assured that our firm will deal with this in a straightforward manner.””
Meanwhile, no arrests have been made in the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh at their hunting estate in Colleton County on June 7. Both victims were shot multiple times and were discovered by Alex on the ground in front of the family’s dog kennels, Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey said.
The killings have prompted international media coverage and sparked countless social media discussion groups, podcasts, and pending television documentaries.
Murdaugh is the son of the late Randolph Murdaugh III, a former 14th Circuit Solicitor like his father, Randolph Jr., and grandfather, Randolph Sr., before him. For more than 85 years, this trio served as chief prosecutors over the five-county Lowcountry region.
In 1910, Randolph Sr. founded a law firm in Hampton that would grow to become Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick PA, where Alex Murdaugh practiced. Several generations of Murdaughs have practiced law at the personal injury law firm, whose website lists millions in settlements recovered for its clients.
Since the killings, Alex Murdaugh and his surviving son, Buster, have offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or arrests and convictions.
The Murdaugh family was already in the regional spotlight following the February 2019 boat crash in Beaufort County in which Mallory Beach, 19, died. Paul Murdaugh was charged with three felony counts of boating under the influence and was waiting trail when he was killed. He had pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Alex Murdaugh and others are still facing a wrongful death civil suit filed by Beach’s mother, Renee, on behalf of Mallory’s estate.
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