Alex Murdaugh Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit That Triggered His Downfall

Alex Murdaugh settled a lawsuit filed by the family of the teen who died in a boat accident involving Murdaugh’s youngest son. Prosecutors said that the incident prompted the disgraced South Carolina lawyer to kill his wife, and the son responsible for the wreckage.

 

The settlement by the insurer that paid the $500,000 policy Alex Murdaugh held on his boat ended the wrongful death lawsuit. This was the case that blew open Murdaugh’s finances, exposing his schemes to steal money from his clients and law firm.

 

Mallory Beach’s family sued the Murdaughs and others in February 2019 after the authorities reported that the boat Paul Murdaugh drove crashed into a Beaufort County Bridge. Beach died and others were injured.

 

Paul Murdaugh was charged with felony boating while under the influence. He was 19 years old at the time. Investigators found that his blood alcohol content was over 0.28%, which is more than three times the legal limit.

 

Beach’s family has already received over $15 million in settlements from Parker’s Kitchen and other convenience store chains, as well as lawsuits against a family who hosted an oyster roast that the group of people on the boat attended. A bar that served Paul Murdaugh alcohol just before the crash. And Paul Murdaugh’s brother Buster, the older brother whose ID was used to purchase the beer.

 

The case was not settled in full last summer due to a snag at Progressive, the insurer for the boat. According to court records, Progressive would not pay until Alex Murdaugh had been dropped from the Beach family’s suit.

 

 

In an order filed on Monday, Judge Daniel Hall stated that Beach’s family settled the case after special receivers had assured them all Murdaugh assets were paid. The insurer also paid the $500,000.

 

According to court records, the other injured passengers of the boat have settled their lawsuits with Murdaugh and those involved in the accident.

 

Alex Murdaugh (56), is currently serving life in prison without parole after being convicted of the murders of his wife Maggie, and son Paul, who were shot to death at their Colleton County residence on June 20, 2021. He denies killing them and has appealed his murder convictions.

 

Even if the murder convictions of his family are overturned, Murdaugh will remain behind bars. Murdaugh admitted to stealing about $12 million from the law firm of his family, from clients such as a man who was quadriplegic following a car crash, and a trust fund for children whose parents died in an accident. He was sentenced to 40 years in federal jail.

 

The Prosecutors stated that one of the final things Murdaugh completed before heading home on the night of his murders was to prepare a financial report he would have to submit at the court hearing scheduled for three days after the killings.

 

Murdaugh was afraid that an investigation of his statement would reveal he had stolen millions from his clients and law firm, according to prosecutors. The killings were part of a sinister plan to buy him time while he sorted out his finances, as well as to derail his wrongful death lawsuit over the boat accident.

 

The “Boat Case” lawsuit, as it became known to true crime fans in the world of true crimes, showed his family’s influence in Hampton County for many decades where they controlled most of the criminal and Civil Courts and the cracks in control of their rural estate.

 

 

The nurses at the hospital, where the teens were treated, said that Paul Murdaugh’s father tried to speak to them individually in the emergency department. One teen claimed that it seemed the family was trying to convince them to claim someone other than Paul Murdaugh drove the boat.

 

Mark Tinsley, Beach’s attorney, testified in Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial. He wanted him to pay $10,000,000. Murdaugh’s lawyer claimed that his client was broke and could only scrape together about $1 million.

 

Tinsley said this didn’t seem to make sense given Murdaugh’s wealth and reputation. She asked for all of Murdaugh’s financial records for the hearing of the lawsuit, which had been postponed after the murders.

 

Authorities said Alex Murdaugh shot his son Paul twice with a shotgun and his wife Maggie, 52, four or five times with a rifle outside their home.

 

Alex Murdaugh called 911 when he found the bodies after a quick visit to his mother’s home.

 

He told the investigators who arrived at the scene of the crime that he was wondering if his anger towards his son for the boat accident led to the deaths.