Alex Murdaugh

Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina lawyer who has endured a dramatic downfall since his wife and son were shot in an unsolved killing in June 2021, was arrested on Thursday October 14 2021 and charged with swindling millions of dollars from the sons of his former housekeeper. Mr. Murdaugh, 53, was taken into custody at a drug detox center in Orlando, Fla., and charged with two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He was booked into a jail in Orlando. Murdaugh called 911 on June 7 2021 and said he had arrived home to find his wife, Margaret, and son Paul shot dead outside of their home in Islandton, a small community about an hour north of Hilton Head Island. Colleton County Sheriff's deputies determined both had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The case remains unsolved. Alex Murdaugh announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the parties responsible for their deaths. The family has been prominent in the South Carolina legal community for decades: Over 87 consecutive years, three generations of Murdaughs -- including Alex's father, Randolph Murdaugh III -- held the office of Solicitor of the 14th Circuit, which covers Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties. He plans to resign from his law firm and begin an unspecified rehabilitation treatment Richard Alexander "Alex" Murdaugh was born and raised in Hampton County and is a 1986 Graduate of Wade Hampton High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of South Carolina in 1990, a Juris Doctorate Degree in May 1994 from the University of South Carolina School of Law and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in November 1994. Alex represents injured persons in all areas of personal injury law, including trucking cases, products liability and wrongful death. He also serves as a part-time Prosecutor for the 14th Judicial Circuit. The embattled South Carolina lawyer is now facing a wild array of criminal charges, and will have all his cash and assets frozen and controlled by court-appointed overseers amid allegations he has been hiding his money, a judge ruled Tuesday November 2 2021. .