Alex Murdaugh has been ordered to pay nearly half of his remaining $1.8 million fortune to the families of passengers aboard a boat crashed by his murdered son.
Paul, 22, was driving drunk in February 2019 when the boat with six people on board crashed into Archer’s Creek near Parris Island, South Carolina, killing 19-year-old Mallory Beach and injuring four others.
Beach’s family will receive 29 percent of Murdaugh’s remaining money, according to a court order issued Monday and reviewed by The post and courier. The funds were raised after attorneys sold Murdaugh’s remaining land holdings and farm equipment and liquidated his 401(K).
Anthony Cook, Connor Cook, Miley Altman and Paul’s girlfriend Morgan Doughty – all of whom were injured in the fatal crash – will also receive benefits, as will the victims of Murdaugh’s financial crimes.
Murdaugh, a disbarred lawyer, was sentenced to life in prison last year after being found guilty of the 2021 murders of Paul and his wife Maggie, 52.
He has also pleaded guilty to nearly two dozen federal financial crimes, including money laundering and fraud.
Alex Murdaugh, pictured in January, has been ordered to pay nearly half of his remaining $1.8 million fortune to the families of passengers aboard a boat crashed by his murdered son, and to the victims of his financial crimes.
The family of 19-year-old Mallory Beach (pictured) will receive 29 percent of Murdaugh’s remaining money, according to a court ruling issued Monday. Beach was killed in 2019 when a boat piloted by Murdaugh’s drunken son Paul crashed
Paul Murdaugh (pictured) was indicted in April 2019 on three counts of boating under the influence. But while awaiting trial, the 22-year-old was found shot dead in their hunting lodge with his mother Maggie in June 2021.
Paul was ‘highly intoxicated’, ‘drunk’ and ‘belligerent’ when he drove his boat (pictured) into a pile on February 23, 2019, legal documents were revealed. The six youths on board that night, who were under the age of 21, were thrown from the ship – and all, except Beach, made it to shore. Her body was not found for a week
Paul was “highly intoxicated,” “drunk” and “belligerent” on Feb. 23, 2019, when he drove his boat into a pile, according to legal documents.
The six youths on board that night, who were under the age of 21, were thrown from the ship – and all, except Beach, made it to shore. Her body was not found for a week.
Paul was indicted in April 2019 on three counts of boating under the influence. But while awaiting trial, the 22-year-old, along with his mother Maggie, was found shot dead in their hunting lodge in June 2021.
Murdaugh, who has since been convicted of the murders of his wife and son, had tried to convince the jury that someone else had killed Maggie and Paul in revenge for the boat wreck.
Now, five years after the crash, a court has ruled that the victims should receive a share of the Murdaugh fortune.
The Beach family will receive 29 percent of the amount. This payout is in addition to the $15 million settlement they received from the supermarket that Paul sold alcohol to minors before the accident.
Doughty is expected to receive 5 percent of the $1.8 million and Altman 2 percent. WCIV TV reported. It is unclear what percentage of crash victims Anthony Cook and Connor Cook will receive.
Arthur Badger, a client from whom Murdaaugh stole, will receive the second largest share of the funds at 24 percent.
Murdaugh’s law firm, formerly known as Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth & Detrick, will receive 14 percent of the money. The company had sought damages after paying Murdaugh’s former clients back the money he stole from them.
An undisclosed amount of the company’s rebate will also be passed on to some of Murdaugh’s victims.
Johnny Parker, the law firm’s namesake, will receive 15 percent of Murdaugh’s assets. He allegedly lent the disbarred lawyers a series of loans totaling $477,000 in 2021, but these were never repaid.
Walt Tollison, the court-appointed special referee who worked on the case, will also get a share of the money.