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The trial of a prominent US lawyer for the murder of his wife and son has prompted the reopening of investigations into other deaths.

Alex Murdaugh, 54, is accused of shooting dead his wife Margaret, 52, and their youngest son Paul, 22, on their estate in South Carolina.

Prosecutors say the lawyer carried out the killings after he was caught stealing from the family firm.

A jury’s verdict is expected soon.

The Murdaughs feature in a Netflix documentary series called Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. In it, residents in their hometown of Hampton County question the family’s influence, historically, over local law enforcement.

Following the murder charges against Murdaugh, police have begun reinvestigating the death of the family’s housekeeper.

Fresh inquiries are also being made into the 2015 death of a former classmate of Murdaugh’s oldest son.

The Murdaugh story is one anchored among South Carolina’s wealthy and well-heeled.

Before he was disbarred, Murdaugh was a personal injury lawyer – distinguished and high-earning in a powerful legal dynasty founded by his forebears in the Low Country region of South Carolina.

But now the dynasty, and he, will forever be associated with the horrific events of the evening of 7 June 2021.

Read more:
Two murders, a suicide plot and mystery over a housekeeper’s death – the questions swirling around US lawyer
Lawyer accused of arranging own shooting for $10m insurance payout

Alex Murdaugh in a police mugshot
Image:
Alex Murdaugh in a police mugshot. Pic: AP

Murdaugh shot wife five times and son twice, prosecutors say

On the family’s hunting estate, prosecutors say Murdaugh shot his wife five times with an automatic rifle.

His son was shot twice with a different weapon, a shotgun, in the head and chest.

The prosecution claims Murdaugh changed the guns used to create the appearance of an ambush.

It was Murdaugh who made a 911 call, sobbing as he told the dispatcher “my wife and child have been shot badly”.

Subsequently, he told police he had been to visit his mother and had returned to find his wife and son dead by the kennels on the estate.

Alex Murdaugh (far right) with wife Maggie and son Paul. Pic: Facebook
Image:
Alex Murdaugh with wife Maggie and son Paul. Pic: Facebook

The boating tragedy

Officers who first attended the scene found Murdaugh in distress. Upon their arrival, he quickly provided a theory behind the killings, suggesting it was a reaction to a boating tragedy that took place in February 2019.

Murdaugh’s son Paul, then 19, had crashed the family boat whilst three times the legal alcohol limit.

A number of people were thrown overboard, including Mallory Beach, 19, who was killed.

Murdaugh might have been promoting the boating incident as part of his legal defence – in the event, it featured in the prosecution case.

The family of Ms Beach are suing Murdaugh as the owner of the boat involved in their daughter’s death.

The brother of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, Buster,  receives a hug at their funeral service on June 11, 2021. Pic: AP
Image:
Buster Murdaugh receives a hug at the funeral service for his mother and brother on 11 June, 2021. Pic: AP

Murdaugh was defrauding law firm, chief financial officer says

The murder trial has heard from his law firm’s chief financial officer, who gave evidence that Murdaugh had been defrauding the company and putting the money in his wife’s bank account to shield it from the lawsuit brought by the dead girl’s family.

She told the court that she had confronted him about a missing $792,000 (£655,000) on the day of the double shooting.

It plays into the prosecutor’s argument that Murdaugh was driven to murder by a fear that his financial crimes were about to be exposed, and that his wife and son were shot to elicit sympathy and stymie investigations.

Snapchat recording casts doubt over alibi

A Snapchat video recorded by Murdaugh’s son, Paul, has also been played in court to bolster the prosecution case.

It shows footage of a brown labrador at the kennels where the shooting took place.

Paul filmed it approximately five minutes before he was shot dead and witnesses have said one of the voices heard on the video is that of Murdaugh. Prosecutors point out that doesn’t square with his initial alibi that he hadn’t seen his wife or son for 90 minutes before coming across their dead bodies.

In addressing the contradiction in court, Murdaugh admitted in evidence that he had lied. His explanation was that he had an opioid addiction stretching back 20 years which made him paranoid and distrustful of police.

Investigations into other deaths

As the murder trial progresses, so do new investigations into other deaths in Murdaugh’s orbit.

Gloria Satterfield was their long-term housekeeper until her death in 2018. Its cause was originally thought to have been an accidental fall on steps at the front of the Murdaugh home. Suspicion of a different explanation has been given traction by Murdaugh’s subsequent financial dealings.

Following Ms Satterfield’s death, he secured an insurance payout on her sons’ behalf worth more than $4m (£3.3m) but pocketed the cash himself.

Only when they pursued him through the courts, did he agree to a $4.3m (£3.6m) settlement.

Michael Tony Satterfield, son of Gloria Satterfield, points out Alex Murdaugh during the lawyer's double murder trial. Pic: AP
Image:
Michael Tony Satterfield, son of Gloria Satterfield, points out Alex Murdaugh during the lawyer’s double murder trial. Pic: AP

Fresh investigation launched

The murder charges against Murdaugh have also coincided with a fresh investigation into the death of Stephen Smith, 19, who was found dead on a road around 10 miles from Murdaugh home. He had suffered a head injury and, at the time, it was deemed to have been a hit-and-run incident.

The teenager was a classmate of the Murdaughs’ oldest son, Buster. Whilst enquiries are ongoing, law enforcement officials haven’t publicly acknowledged any connection to the Murdaugh family.

99 other charges

As well as putting Mr Murdaugh on trial for murder, the South Carolina Attorney General has laid 99 other charges against him for financial crimes dating back several years. He’s accused of swindling more than $8m (£6.6m) from unsuspecting clients.

Curtis Edward Smith was charged with assisted suicide, insurance fraud and several other counts in the Sept. 4 shooting of Alex Murdaugh. Pic:  Colleton County Detention Center via AP
Image:
Curtis Edward Smith was charged with assisted suicide, insurance fraud and several other counts. Pic: Colleton County Detention Center via AP

The jury at Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, has also heard of a bizarre ‘suicide attempt’ by Murdaugh three months after the death of his wife and son.

Having been picked up by an ambulance crew from the side of the road with a head injury, he told them he had been changing a tyre when someone stopped to help him and then shot him in the head.

He later admitted to investigators that he concocted the episode with a drug dealer in an effort to secure a $10m (£8.3m) life insurance payout for his son Buster. The dealer in question, Curtis Edward Smith, was subsequently charged with a number of offences, including assisting suicide, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

If convicted of the double murder, Murdaugh could face 30 years to life in jail. Prosecutors in South Carolina chose not to pursue the death penalty.

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Benjamin Netanyahu nominates Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize – as Gaza ceasefire talks continue

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Benjamin Netanyahu nominates Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize - as Gaza ceasefire talks continue

Israel’s prime minister has nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement at a White House dinner, handing over the letter for the US president to read.

“Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful,” Mr Trump said.

The Israeli leader said Mr Trump was “forging peace as we speak, and one country and one region after the other”.

Organisers award the prize to the person who does the most for “fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

Benjamin Netanyahu showed President Trump the Nobel nomination letter. Pic: AP
Image:
Benjamin Netanyahu handed Donald Trump the Nobel nomination letter. Pic: AP

Mr Trump took credit for stopping Iran and Israel‘s “12-day war” last month, announcing it with fanfare on Truth Social, and the ceasefire has so far held.

The president has claimed US strikes obliterated Iran’s purported nuclear weapons programme – and that the country now wants to restart negotiations.

“We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to,” Mr Trump told reporters on Monday. “They want to talk.”

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Iran hasn’t confirmed the move, but its president told US broadcaster Tucker Carlson he believes his country can resolve differences with the US through dialogue.

Masoud Pezeshkian also said Iran would be willing to resume cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

However, he said full access to nuclear sites wasn’t yet possible as US strikes had damaged them so badly.

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Netanyahu arrives in US for ceasefire talks

Away from Iran, fighting continues in Gaza and Ukraine.

Mr Trump famously boasted before his second stint in the White House that he could end the Ukraine war in 24 hours.

The reality has been very different – with Ukraine saying last week that Russia unleashed the heaviest aerial attack of the war so far.

Critics have also claimed Vladimir Putin is “playing” his US counterpart and that he has no intention of agreeing a ceasefire.

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Russia bombards Ukraine with drones and missiles

However, Mr Trump could try to take credit for progress in Gaza if – as he’s suggested – an agreement on a 60-day ceasefire is done this week.

Indirect negotiations with Hamas are taking place that could lead to the release of some of the remaining 50 Israeli hostages and a surge in aid to Gaza.

The White House said Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is travelling to Qatar this week to try to seal the agreement.

Read more:
Israeli soldier describes arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza

IDF troops ‘psychologically broken’ after Gaza – UN expert

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‘Some Israeli commanders can decide to do war crimes’

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Whether a temporary pause could open a path to a lasting peace remains uncertain, with the two sides’ criteria for peace still far apart.

Mr Netanyahu has said Hamas must surrender, disarm and leave Gaza – something it refuses to do.

He also told reporters on Monday that the US and Israel were working with other countries who would give Palestinians “a better future” – and indicated those in Gaza could move elsewhere.

“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” he added.

“We’ve had great cooperation from… surrounding countries, great cooperation from every single one of them. So something good will happen,” Mr Trump said.

The president was widely criticised earlier this year when he suggested resettling Gaza’s population to countries such as Jordan and Egypt and turning it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Human rights groups said the plan amounted to ethnic cleansing and most Gazans said they would never consider leaving.

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Texas floods: At least 104 killed – as new images show scale of the destruction

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Texas floods: At least 104 killed - as new images show scale of the destruction

At least 104 people have died in the flash floods that have left a trail of destruction across Texas.

Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said the number of bodies found in the area had risen from 75 to 84 – including 56 adults and 28 children.

The have been seven fatalities in Travis County, six in Kendall County, four in Burnet County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County.

Earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned that “the situation on the ground remains dangerous” and that there “could be additional public safety threats with additional incoming heavy rain”.

Latest updates – Texas floods

A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Image:
A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

The floods that first struck on Friday have wreaked havoc and left people in a state of grief – with 27 of the confirmed deaths having taken place at a girls’ summer camp in Kerr County.

Among those killed at Camp Mystic were Renee Smajstrla and Sarah Marsh, both eight, Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine, and the camp’s director Richard Eastland.

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A photo has now emerged showing the inside of the camp on Saturday after the waters hit.

At least 41 people are still missing in the state – including 10 girls from Camp Mystic.

Renee Smajstrla, 8, died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
Image:
Renee Smajstrla, eight, died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout

Sarah Marsh, 8, died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
Image:
Sarah Marsh, eight, died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout

In her news conference, Ms Leavitt criticised people who have claimed the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) have played a role in the worsening the disaster.

It comes after Texas officials criticised the NWS by claiming it failed to warn the public about the impending danger.

Meanwhile, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer asked the Department of Commerce’s acting inspector general on Monday to probe whether staffing vacancies at the NWS’s San Antonio office contributed to “delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy” in forecasting the flooding.

The NWS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr Schumer’s letter, but earlier defended its forecasting and emergency management.

Flooding near Kerville, Texas. Pic: US Coast Guard/AP
Image:
Flooding near Kerville, Texas. Pic: US Coast Guard/AP

Ms Leavitt has told reporters that claims Mr Trump was responsible for any issues related to the flash floods response were “depraved and despicable”.

“It is not [a political game], it is a national tragedy,” she said.

The press secretary also claimed, in relation to some NWS offices being reportedly understaffed, that one place actually had “too many people”.

“Any person who has deliberately lied about the facts around the catastrophic event, you should be deeply ashamed,” she said.

Rescuers at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River in Texas after a flash flood swept through the area. Pic: AP
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Rescuers at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River in Texas after a flash flood swept through the area. Pic: AP

Members from Texas Game Wardens of the Law Enforcement Division works following flash flooding, in Kerrville, Texas.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Members from Texas Game Wardens of the Law Enforcement Division works following flash flooding, in Kerrville, Texas. Pic: Reuters

She also said that Mr Trump was going to visit Texas “later in the week”.

Previously, Mr Trump said it was likely he would visit on Friday.

Car is wedged in the ground following deadly floods in Texas
Image:
Car is wedged in the ground following deadly floods in Texas

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Washington.
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Karoline Leavitt in the press briefing room

Texas Senator Ted Cruz spoke at a news conference and said: “Texas is grieving right now, the pain, the shock of what has transpired these last few days has broken the heart of our state.

“Those numbers [the number of dead] are continuing to go up… that’s every parent’s nightmare, every mum and dad.”

A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Image:
A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

Damaged vehicles and debris are seen roped off near the banks of the Guadalupe River after flooding in Ingram, Texas. Pic: AP
Image:
Damaged vehicles and debris are seen roped off near the banks of the Guadalupe River after flooding in Ingram, Texas. Pic: AP

He said he had picked up his own daughter from a camp in the area last week.

Mr Cruz added: “You know what I’d do? What I did when this happened? Just go hug your kids.

“Because I’ve got to tell you, I hugged my girls with tears in my eyes.”

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Texas flooding: Aerial footage of rescues

Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville in Kerr County, was asked whether evacuation warnings could have been issued earlier.

He said: “It’s very tough to make those calls because we also don’t want to cry wolf.

“You know, we want to make sure that we activated [it] at the right time.”

He added: “We had first responders getting swept away, responding to the first areas of rainfall. That’s how quick it happened.

“They were driving to these areas and one of them got swept off the road.”

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The ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention centre was built in eight days – but problems are emerging

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The 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention centre was built in eight days - but problems are emerging

Videos and satellite imagery show how quickly Donald Trump’s detention centre in Florida has been constructed – as experts suggest the design of the site is flawed and will compromise the safety of people being held there.

Sky News’ Data and Forensics team has verified footage posted on social media that shows water covering the ground near electricity cables during a storm as the first detainees were due to arrive.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), run by Governor Ron DeSantis, posted on X that detainees were at the site on 3 July just before 1pm local time (6pm UK time).

Donald Trump held a tour of the facility on 1 July that took journalists around “Alligator Alcatraz”. Its name is a reference to both the local reptile population and the former maximum-security Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, California.

The tour showed the rapid construction of the centre, designed to accommodate up to 3,000 detainees. The purpose of the site is to house individuals detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

James Uthmeier, Florida’s attorney general, posted on X: “And in just a week, Alligator Alcatraz was built.”

Political commentator Benny Johnson, who was on the tour, praised the eight-day turnaround. “I don’t think anyone realises how impressive Alligator Alcatraz is,” he said.

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Amid those positive comments, videos emerged highlighting flooding in the centre, with electricity cables covered with water on the day of the tour.

The flooding was said to have been caused by a small storm. However, the state department claims the structures and tents can withstand category two hurricanes, reaching 110mph winds.

FDEM spokesperson Stephanie Hartman wrote in a statement that “vendors had tightened any seams at the base of the structures that allowed water to come in during the storm”. She described the water intrusion as minimal.

The speed of the site development.

Steff Gaulter, a Sky News meteorologist, said: “In the last 10 years, we’ve seen 13 hurricanes that have hit Florida. Seven of them have been category three or higher.

“As well as needing to know how strong these storms are as they come, it’s also very unpredictable, their track can change at the last minute.”

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) have said structures in risk category two – which Alligator Alcatraz falls under – need to withstand 121mph wind gusts.

If the housing tents exceed 300 occupants per tent, the guidelines go up to 167mph.

Ms Gaulter explained: “You don’t necessarily need a hurricane in order to see a gust of wind over 100mph. In the lowest category of hurricane, category one, the range of winds would be between 74mph and 95mph. But even in that category, you can easily get a gust of wind up to 120mph.”

Dr Patrick McSharry, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and former head of catastrophe risk financing at Oxford University, told Sky News that in a hurricane “there’s no way that a tent is going to be in any way something that you would advise someone to be in”.

“It’s more the case of having a plan in place that can be mobilised really fast to get people out of that dangerous situation.”

The site is also located in a hurricane-prone region as defined by ASCE.

Discussing building regulations, Dr McSharry said: “We’re dealing here potentially with human lives so it’s an even more sensitive calculation I think that needs to be made.”

The blue pin marks Alligator Alcatraz. The key shows average wind speeds. Credit: ASCE.
Image:
The blue pin marks Alligator Alcatraz. The key shows average wind speeds. Credit: ASCE.

Sky News put these concerns to Ron DeSantis and the Florida state department, but did not receive responses.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Sky News: “Alligator Alcatraz is a state-of-the-art facility that will play a critical role in fulfilling the president’s promise to get the worst criminal illegal aliens out of America as fast as possible.

“President Trump is grateful to partner with [Homeland] Secretary [Kristi] Noem and Ron DeSantis on this important project.”

Satellite imagery obtained by Sky News shows the rapid construction of the centre, which was formerly Dade-Collier Training Airport.

Five days after the centre was announced by Florida’s attorney general James Uthmeier, more than 60 new trailers can be seen on the right-hand side of the runway.

Satellite imagery obtained by Sky News also shows that from 24 June to the opening date on 1 July, more than seven large housing tents were put up at the site.

Satellite imagery showing the site on 24 June. Credit: Maxar
Image:
Satellite imagery showing the site on 24 June. Credit: Maxar

An aerial photo of the site on 1 July. Credit: AP
Image:
An aerial photo of the site on 1 July. Credit: AP

The site is reportedly set to open with 3,000 beds, expanding to 5,000 by early July.  

It is also reported that the site will cost an estimated $450m (£330m) per year to operate, with a bed costing $245 (£180) per day.

The bill is reported to be covered by the state of Florida, which plans to get money back from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Tessa Petit, director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, told Sky News: “It was constructed too [quickly]. This is a sign that we’re seeing a disaster [waiting to] happen as we look at it.

“Usual detention centres come up with, you know, their bricks and mortar, right? This is not bricks and mortar. This is just tents and mobile homes that are assembled on an airstrip.”

“There’s a detention of immigrants in a place that has been in the past ravaged by hurricanes and we’re getting into hurricane season,” Ms Petit added.

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She is concerned that medical support and sanitary provisions, like a sewage system, will not have been properly installed.

“You can’t build a sewage system that can sustain 3,000 people in eight days. You can’t dig in the Everglades. So, what are going be the additional sanitary conditions?” she said.

There are also sustainability concerns about the site.

The Centre for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit in US District Court to protect the Florida Everglades. They state it is “a reckless plan to build a massive detention centre for people caught in immigration raids”.

Tania Galloni, an attorney working with the Centre for Biological Diversity, stated the proposed plan “has not undergone the environmental review required by federal law, and the public has had no chance to provide feedback”.


The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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