'Murdaugh: Death In The Family', The Haunting True Story Of Lawyer, Alex Who Killed His Wife And Son

Murdaugh: Death in the Family was released on Hulu on October 15, 2025. The story is inspired by the terrifying real story of one of South Carolina's most influential personal injury lawyers, Alex Murdaugh, who was found guilty in 2023 for the murders of his wife, Maggie and son, Paul. The series traces what was going on in the family in the years before Alex committed the horrendous crime. The lawyer was found guilty of two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. At the time of his death, Paul was facing a criminal trial after his boat crashed in Beaufort, S.C., in 2019, killing his classmate, Mallory Beach. 

However, before Paul's case could reach a verdict, the incident left everyone shocked. The first three episodes, released on October 15, 2025, are centred around the fatal boat crash. In the episodes dropping weekly thereafter, viewers will see how the Murdaughs' world comes crashing down, culminating in the creators' interpretation of events. In the series, the audience will get to see how 'Alex Murdaugh' (Jason Clarke) might have murdered his wife, 'Maggie' (Patricia Arquette) and son, 'Paul' (Johnny Berchtold) at the family's kennels in Islandton. The series is said to be based on the Murdaugh Murder Podcast co-created by journalist, Mandy Matney, who also served as an executive producer on the Hulu show.

The fatal boat crash that zoomed in on the cracks with the Murdaugh family

The Murdaugh: Death in the Family showcases 'Paul' as the black sheep of the family, as his older brother jokes about going to law school so he can keep 'Paul' out of trouble. The deceased was known for drinking heavily, and his friends called him 'Timmy' when he was drunk in a joke about how he would basically turn into a different person. While 'Paul' was brutally murdered before he could face trial, Mandy Matney believes that he was the one behind the wheel when the boat crashed in 2019. 

The executive producer of the show shared that one of the passengers had shown Mandy a video. Mandy revealed that, based on her conversation with them and the clip, Paul was steering the boat. She was quoted as saying:

"He was the most drunk on the boat, way more belligerent than anybody else. And second of all, I've talked to a lot of people who have been on Paul's boat, and only Paul drives Paul's boat…Any confusion that was created about whether or not he was driving at that moment, I believe, came from pressure from Alex Murdaugh."

In the show, as in real life, 'Alex Murdaugh' tried pointing fingers at another young man named Connor, who was with 'Paul' on the boat. His father would often play football with 'Alex', and when he got into legal trouble as a young man, he would often reach out to Alex's father, 'Randolph Murdaugh's' help in getting him out of it. In this way, the Murdaughs did favours for people, sometimes even without being asked, to gain their loyalty.

The smoking gun that led to Alex Murdaugh's conviction

As the Netflix documentary series, Mardaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal had previously outlined, enforcements broke into 'Paul's' phone after his demise. The series showed that the victim had set his birthday as his passcode. Upon unlocking the phone, they found a video he took shortly before his murder at a kennel on the family's farm, and 'Alex's' voice could clearly be heard in the background, even though he had claimed he was at his mother's house during that time.

In addition to the video, the GPS information in 'Alex's' car revealed that he was at the crime scene as well. The data showed that 'Alex' had slowed down and then sped away, at the exact place where 'Maggie's' phone was found.

Why did 'Alex Murdaugh' murder his own wife and son?

While the crime was already horrifying enough, it being done by 'Alex Murdaugh' to his own family came as a bigger shock. However, a question often remained in everyone's mind: why would 'Alex' kill his own family? Well, on top of stealing money from his own family's law firm, 'Alex' abused drugs and alcohol. According to Mandy Matney, 'Alex' might have been under the influence when he committed the atrocious crime. Even in Murdaugh: Death in the Family, 'Alex' is constantly taking drugs, hiding pills underneath his bed, and falling asleep on the couch in a drunken state. Michael agreed with Mandy on her theory and stated:

"I think the motive in his mind was, create a distraction, make myself a victim, therefore I have to kill my wife and son to do so."

Mandy Matney also revealed that while what drove 'Alex' to commit the crime is clear, the weapon used was never uncovered. This was because the Murdaughs were avid hunters, and from the casing collected from the crime scene, it was observed that both 'Maggie' and 'Paul' were shot with two different guns. While the case might have reached a verdict, there are questions that still haunt Mandy at times. She was quoted as saying:

"I still to this day want to know if he had help, and I also want to know if he had investigators on the inside helping him tamper with the crime scene and things like that. He had a lot of connections within the agencies that were investigating him."

What are your thoughts on Murdaugh: Death in the Family? Let us know.

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