Alex Murdaugh's Brother Expresses Shock Over Embezzlement Scandal As Police Release Report on Roadside Shooting

The brother of Alex Murdaugh, the scion of a South Carolina legal dynasty whose seemingly prosperous life appears to be unraveling further each week, has expressed shock after learning the recent widower had been misappropriating funds from the family law firm. 

For months, Murdaugh has been a central figure in a double murder case after he reported his wife and son had been shot to death on their property in June. Last week, the 53-year-old resigned from his South Carolina law firm, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick PA, amid an ongoing embezzlement scandal and then announced that he will be entering rehab — just after he was hospitalized after being shot in the head while changing a tire on the side of a road in the South Carolina Lowcountry over the weekend. 

“I was shocked, just as the rest of my PMPED family, to learn of my brother, Alex’s, drug addiction and stealing of money,” Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh IV said in a statement on Wednesday, Bluffton Today reported.  “I love my law firm family and also love Alex as my brother. While I will support him in his recovery, I do not support, condone, or excuse his conduct in stealing by manipulating his most trusted relationship.“

Randolph Murdaugh went on to make an assurance that he will remain honest and work with integrity for his own legal clients. In June, 10 days after his nephew and sister-in-law were found shot dead, Randolph appeared on "Good Morning America" alongside his other brother, John Murdaugh, and tearfully defended his brother, Alex, saying that there is "no possible way he could have anything to do with [the murders]. 

On the same day that his brother released this most recent statement, Alex Murdaugh was suspended from practicing law after a ruling by the South Carolina Supreme Court. 

On Thursday, the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office released the 3-page incident report on Murdaugh’s shooting on Saturday afternoon in which he escaped with a superficial gunshot wound to the head. Reports indicated that he was changing a tire on his car along Old Salkehatchie Road in Hampton County when he was shot by unidentified suspects. The police report is scant on information on what happened but says that Murdaugh did not suffer a “visible injury” and was not using alcohol or drugs. It does not indicate anything about suspects. After police arrived at the scene on Saturday, Murdaugh was airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

On Sunday, Murdaugh announced that he would be entering into a drug treatment facility, reportedly for opioid addiction, and he issued an apology to “everyone I’ve hurt, including my family, friends and colleagues.”

On June 7, Margaret Murdaugh, 52, and their son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh were found shot to death at the family’s home by Murdaugh at their hunting compound in Islandton, a remote town an hour’s drive west of Charleston. At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing three felony counts, including boating under the influence, after a February 2019 incident in which 19-year-old Mallory Beach was thrown from the boat he was operating and died. 

 Since the June double murder, details of Alex Murdaugh's alleged past behavior have come to light. 

In August, the 2020 deposition of Connor Cook, Paul Murdaugh's friend who was injured in the crash, was made public. In the deposition, Cook stated that while he was in the hospital being treated for a broken jaw, Alex Murdaugh approached him in a corridor, Cook said, at which point he told him to “keep my mouth shut and tell them I didn't know who was driving” the boat at the time of the accident. 

While being deposed, Cook also indicated that unsubstantiated rumors about the Murdaughs led him to comply with his friend’s father’s request.

Alex Murdaugh had settled a wrongful death claim in the 2019 death of the family's housekeeper, 57-year-old Gloria Satterfield, who died after what court documents call a “trip and fall” in Hampton county. His insurer paid out a sum of $500,000 for personal liability and $5,000 in a medical payment, according to the settlement document. 

No evidence has emerged that links any members of the Murdaugh family to Satterfield’s death. 

You can watch "Alex Mudaugh. Death. Deception. Power." here or on Peacock starting January 6.