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The still-evolving saga of the Murdaugh family in South Carolina has reached a pivotal point: a Netflix true-crime documentary.
Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal” premiered in the United States on February 22 during the trial of Alex Murdaugh, who is currently charged with murder in the fatal shooting death of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. He has protested his innocence.
The three-part series looks at the couple’s murders, as well as other deaths related to the Murdaugh family.
Here are some key takeaways from the program:
Lots of smoke but no convictions
The series links five bodies to the Murdaughs over six years: Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, Mallory Beach, Gloria Satterfield and Stephen Smith. But no one was convicted in any of those deaths.
Maggie and Paul were shot dead on June 7, 2021 on the family’s 1,772-acre hunting property in Islandton, SC. Mallory Beach, 19, died after Paul allegedly rammed a boat into a bridge while intoxicated in 2019. Gloria Satterfield helped maintain the family home for two decades before she reportedly fatally stumbled over the Murdaugh’s hounds and fell down the stairs. Stephen Smith died in 2015 and according to documentaries may have been in a relationship with Alex Murdaugh’s other son, Buster.
A constant throughout the series is the power dynamic at play, and how authorities, whether specifically instructed or not, know that messing with the Murdaughs is complicated. The last three generations of Murdaughs have been elected chief prosecutors in the Lowcountry.
“The Murdaughs kept law and order here in the 14th Precinct,” said Michael Dewitt Jr., editor of the Hampton County Guardian. “You kept both sides of the legal book.”
Prosecutors during the trial showed the jury that the Murdaughs were so close to law enforcement that Alex gave Murdaugh a plaque and installed blue lights in his vehicle.
All individuals shown believe that Alex Murdaugh committed at least one crime
The series, while reaching out to family members who did not comment, did not portray a person who believes Alex Murdaugh is completely innocent.
Murdaugh himself admitted to financial crimes in court and said he stole from clients at his law office.
The trial is ongoing and no verdict has been rendered.
All of this is still expected in the Lowcountry
Directors Julia Willoughby Nason and Jenner Furst — the same minds behind the hit documentaries LuLaRich and Fyre Fraud — quickly and consistently portray the pain and trauma that many in this area of South Carolina are still processing.
Tears flowed as friends and family remembered Beach, the 19-year-old woman who died in a drunken boating accident a few years earlier. The series features many people saying that even in the hospital, Alex Murdaugh tried to blame another person on the boat, Connor Cook, for piloting it.
His father, Marty Cook, said his son was worried the Murdaughs would kill the young man.
“I don’t think the story is anywhere near over, and yes, I’m a little nervous about sitting here doing this,” Marty Cook said to the camera.
People love the true crime genre
True-crime content is nothing new, but a spate of streaming juggernauts all at war to become the next breakout series has created an endless crowd of people to sit down and engage with the most traumatic remember what ever happened to them.
The series receives tremendous attention and has quickly become one of Netflix’s top 10 programs.
With the resumption of the investigation and the possibility of an appeal in the ongoing process, the series certainly does not have to end.
Alex Murdaugh murder trial
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