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What is being billed as the definitive national documentary on the ‘Murdaugh Murders‘ crime and corruption saga dropped its long-awaited trailer this week. Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal is set to debut on Netflix next month – coinciding with the anticipated conclusion of Alex Murdaugh‘s murder trial in Colleton County, South Carolina.
News of the documentary’s impending launch was first reported by Daniel Trainor of E! News.
Like previous documentaries focused on this family, the Netflix offering begins by focusing on the February 2019 boat crash that saw the Murdaughs thrust into the statewide limelight.
That crash – which remains focus of an ongoing wrongful death suit – claimed the life of 19-year-old Mallory Beach of Hampton, South Carolina. Beach was flung into the cold, dark waters below the Archer’s Creek Bridge after a boat owned by Alex Murdaugh – and allegedly driven by his younger son – slammed into a bridge piling.
Seconds before the boat crashed, GPS data obtained by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) indicated the vessel was traveling at a speed of approximately 29 miles per hour (or approximately 25 knots).
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Paul Murdaugh was charged with three counts of boating under the influence by the office of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson but was murdered before he could stand trial. His father has since been charged with murder in connection with his death and the death of his mother, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, more than two years later at the family’s hunting property near Islandton, S.C.
“The Murdaughs were one of South Carolina’s most prominent families, but the death of teenager Mallory Beach in a drunken boating accident began the unraveling of their legacy,” a news release announcing the series noted. “When Paul Murdaugh – the alleged driver of the boat – and his mother Maggie are found brutally murdered, a century of corruption, power, and cover-ups in the Low Country is brought to light.”
A three-part series, the Netflix documentary features “first-hand accounts from those on the boat that fateful night, many of whom have not spoken about the crash or double homicide of Maggie and Paul until now.”
Among them? Paul Murdaugh’s girlfriend, Morgan Doughty, as well as Beach’s childhood friends, Miley Altman and Connor Cook; and her boyfriend, Anthony Cook.
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The series also features commentary from journalists covering the case – including Valerie Bauerlein of The Wall Street Journal.
According to E! News, the three-part series will also “address the mysterious deaths” of longtime Murdaugh family housekeeper Gloria Satterfield and Stephen Smith, a Hampton County teenager whose body was found in the middle of a rural road in the summer of 2015.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.
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