Alex Murdaugh: A Southern Legacy of Murder & Mendacity

Killer Psyche

Wondery | Treefort Media

True Crime, Exhibit C

4.6 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Retired FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong speaks with Wall Street Journal national affairs reporter and New York Times bestselling author Valerie Bauerlein to discuss the whirlwind case of Alex Murdaugh. In 2023, Alex – a respected attorney and patriarch of the ultra-powerful Murdaugh family dynasty – was convicted of murder in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul. Candice and Valerie discuss what it was like to be in the courtroom, what Valerie learned about Alex and the Murdaugh family’s influence in South Carolina’s lowcountry, and how her reporting and exclusive access came together in her book, The Devil at his Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Killer Psychey fans, curious what makes a killer tip?
0:04.3	Wondery Plus gets you early access, exclusive episodes with even deeper dives, and zero ads.
0:11.9	Start your free trial of Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:19.0	A listener note, this episode contains adult content and is not suitable for everyone.
0:25.5	Please be advised.
0:31.0	For nearly a century, the Murdoin name was untouchable in South Carolina's low country.
0:42.0	They ran the local prosecutor's office for generations.
0:46.2	They built a powerful law firm and their influence stretch from courtrooms to country clubs,
0:52.5	a true Southern dynasty built on wealth, power,
0:56.7	and control. But in June of 2021, everything unraveled. Maggie Murdaugh and her son Paul were found
1:06.0	shot to death on the family's 1,700-acre estate known as Moselle.
1:13.6	At the center of it all was Alex Murdoch, a respected attorney, the family patriarch, and
1:20.8	eventually a convicted killer. In March of 2003, a South Carolina
1:27.6	jury found Murdoch
1:29.1	guilty of both murders.
1:31.2	He was sentenced to two consecutive
1:33.3	life terms without
1:35.3	the possibility of parole.
1:38.2	This case became a
1:39.5	courtroom drama that gripped
1:41.4	the nation, not just for the
1:43.3	brutality of the crime, but for what it revealed
	...

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