Alex Murdaugh Gave Up Right to Manage Son’s Estate Days Before Botched Shooting

Another layer of the Murdaugh family debacle in South Carolina has been peeled back. According to The Island Packet, probate records show that Alex Murdaugh turned down his right to take care of the estate of his deceased son, Paul—who was found murdered along with his mother Maggie in June—days before the family patriarch himself was shot in the head as part of a botched insurance-fraud scheme. At the time of his killing, Paul Murdaugh was facing criminal charges over a fatal 2019 accident involving a boat he piloted.

The insurance scheme, meanwhile, was intended to deliver a insurance payout to Murdaugh’s surviving son Buster, according to police. Prior to the fiasco, Alex Murdaugh opted to hand the affairs of Paul’s estate over to his brother, Randolph Murdaugh IV, according to the records. The request was certified in the Colleton County Probate Court on September 2.