After months of public scrutiny following the unsolved slaying of his wife and son in June, South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh announced Monday that he will quit his law firm and undergo rehab two days after surviving a highway shooting and being hospitalized.
Murdaugh called 911 on Saturday to report being shot in the head and was brought to the hospital with superficial injuries, according to South Carolina state police. He was reportedly changing a tire on the side of a remote road in Hampton County, according to media reports.
Murdaugh said in a statement issued Monday through a public relations agency that the deaths of his wife, Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and the couple's youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, have worsened a long battle.
Alex Murdaugh resigns from law firm following unprecedented attacks
Loveday did not immediately reply to inquiries regarding the rehab facility's location or the program's nature. Meanwhile, no one has been charged in the June 7 killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh at their Colleton County hunting estate.
Per USA Today, Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey said both fatalities were shot several times and discovered on the ground in front of the family's dog kennels by Alex. The killings have sparked a slew of social media discussion groups, podcasts, and upcoming television programs in response to worldwide media attention.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has withheld several facts, citing a desire not to jeopardize the probe. According to Tommy Crosby, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Murdaugh called 911 Saturday afternoon and reported he was shot while changing a flat tire.
Crosby claimed the prominent attorney was taken to Savannah's Memorial Health University Medical Center for treatment of a "superficial" head wound. Paul Murdaugh was indicted in a boat disaster in 2019 that killed one of the teenage passengers, a 19-year-old woman, putting the family's legal ties in the limelight. The police report claimed the teenagers were grossly intoxicated, as per NBC News.
The South Carolina attorney's son had pleaded not guilty to three counts of felony boating while intoxicated and was awaiting trial. The accusations were dismissed last month as a matter of protocol.
South Carolina attorney allegedly misuses funds
In addition, only days after Paul and Margaret Murdaugh were slain, Alex Murdaugh's father, family patriarch Randolph Murdaugh III, died at the age of 81, bringing further sorrow to an already beleaguered family. Following the murders of his wife and son, Murdaugh issued a $100,000 reward.
Later that day, the Hampton, South Carolina-based firm revealed to The New York Times that Murdaugh had been terminated when it was determined that he had misused corporate funds. Murdaugh told police he was hit while changing a tire on the road on Saturday. The 53-year-old lawyer was a partner at Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth, and Detrick (PMPED), a firm founded more than 100 years ago by his great-grandfather.
The sum of misappropriated cash, according to an anonymous insider within the legal practice, is in the millions. The Murdaugh family has maintained strong links to the Hampton County prosecutor's office for generations. Murdaugh presently works part-time for the 14th Circuit solicitor's office.
According to the outlet, his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather previously controlled the office. Local media reported at the time that Paul was never given a sobriety test at the hospital following the accident because his father and uncle objected. Following his not guilty plea in May 2019, the teen was freed on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond.
In the aftermath of Maggie and Paul's murders, two additional unexplained deaths have been linked to the Murdaugh family. In 2015, the South Carolina Highway Patrol received anonymous information linking the Murdaugh family to Stephen Smith's hit-and-run killing, The Sun reported.
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