Convicted murderer and disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh will be deposed in connection with his late son Paul’s deadly 2019 boat crash.
The family of Mallory Beach, who died in the wreck, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Murdaugh, claiming he tried to cover up Paul’s actions.
Murdaugh’s legal troubles did not end when he was convicted earlier this year of killing his wife, Maggie, and Paul in the summer of 2021 at their home in Colleton County, South Carolina. He’s also accused of using his power in Lowcountry South Carolina to cover up a series of deaths.
One of those incidents was the boat crash. Paul, who was 19 at the time, was driving a boat near Parris Island, South Carolina, when he steered into a bridge. The teenager was drunk at the time, police said.
After the crash, Murdaugh tried to persuade the passengers on board to blame another young man, Connor Cook, for the crash instead of Paul, according to multiple civil lawsuits.
Cook claimed Murdaugh used a “whisper campaign,” “law enforcement misdirection” and “possible obstruction” to try to deflect blame.
His efforts failed following a lengthy investigation by police, which resulted in Paul being charged with three counts of boating under the influence, including one resulting in death. The case was dismissed after Paul was murdered.
However, the Beach family’s civil lawsuit against the elder Murdaugh has been allowed to proceed. Their attorneys will get a chance to question Murdaugh while he’s behind bars in South Carolina state prison, local NBC affiliate WSAV-TV reported. A civil trial in the case is scheduled for Aug. 13.
The Murdaugh family has also been accused of covering up the death of Stephen Smith, a teenager found dead on a rural road in 2015, and the death of their housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who died at the family estate in 2018.
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