Disgraced South Carolina attorney Murdaugh to be charged with double murder of wife and son

The once-powerful South Carolina lawyer is already behind bars in connection with dozens of other charges
Police line

Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh will reportedly be charged with the double murder of his wife and son, which allegedly took place just over one year ago on the couple's sprawling property.

A local South Carolina media site that produces the "Murdaugh Murders" podcast reported that charges will be presented to a grand jury Thursday.

Investigators with the state reportedly visited Murdaugh's younger brother, John Murdaugh, on Tuesday to inform him of the news. 

The younger Murdaugh said that officers spoke only of Alex Murdaugh as a suspect in the double homicide. Alex Murdaugh is already behind bars facing over 70 charges that run the gamut of financial crime. He has also been indicted in connection with a plot to stage his own murder, allegedly so that his remaining living son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. 

Murdaugh, 53, was once a member of one of the state's most powerful legal dynasties before his life began to fall apart, beginning with the scandal and legal troubles brought about when his now-deceased elder son Paul allegedly killed a teenage girl in a boat crash that occurred while he was drunkenly manning the helm.

In June 2021, Paul and Murdaugh's wife, Maggie, were found by Alex Murdaugh shot to death outside the family's hunting property in Colleton County. Murdaugh was a person of interest at the time, a status that he never shook, although he reportedly provided the authorities with an "ironclad" alibi at the time.