In a recent development, the family of a teenager who tragically lost her life in a boat accident involving the child of Alex Murdaugh, a disgraced South Carolina lawyer, has settled their lawsuit against him.
The incident is believed to have triggered a series of events that led to Murdaugh allegedly murdering his wife and their youngest son, who was responsible for the boat accident.
As reported by One America News, the resolution of the lawsuit came about when an insurer agreed to pay the $500,000 policy that Murdaugh had on the boat. This settlement marks the end of the wrongful death suit that exposed Murdaugh's financial misdeeds and his schemes to embezzle millions from his clients and his law firm.
The boat accident, which occurred in Beaufort County in February 2019, was caused by Paul Murdaugh, Alex's youngest son. Following the accident, the family of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who died from drowning and blunt force trauma, filed a lawsuit against the Murdaugh family and others. Paul Murdaugh, who was also 19 at the time of the accident, was charged with felony boating under the influence. His blood alcohol content was found to be over 0.28%, more than three times the legal limit.
The Beach family has also filed lawsuits against a bar that served Paul Murdaugh alcohol before the crash, a family that hosted an oyster roast attended by the group on the boat, and Paul Murdaugh's older brother, Buster, who provided the ID used to purchase the beer. The family has already received over $15 million from a settlement with the Parker's Kitchen chain of convenience stores, among others.
The lawsuit could not be settled last summer due to an issue with Progressive, the boat's insurer. Court documents reveal that Progressive refused to pay until Alex Murdaugh was removed from the Beach family's lawsuit as a defendant. However, Judge Daniel Hall stated in an order filed on Monday that the Beach family agreed to the termination of the case and the insurer paid the $500,000 after special receivers ensured that all of Murdaugh's assets had been distributed.
Other passengers injured in the boat accident have also reached settlements in their legal disputes with Murdaugh and other parties involved in the crash. Meanwhile, Alex Murdaugh, 56, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at their Colleton County home in June 2021. He is contesting his murder convictions and has denied killing them.
Despite his contestation, Murdaugh will remain in prison even if his murder convictions are overturned. He admitted to embezzling approximately $12 million from his family's law firm, a trust fund for children whose parents died in a collision, and from clients, including a man who became quadriplegic following a collision. For these crimes, he received a 40-year sentence in federal prison.
Prosecutors argue that Murdaugh orchestrated the murders as part of a calculated scheme to buy more time to sort out his finances and end the wrongful death lawsuit related to the boat accident. They believe he feared that an investigation into his statement would uncover his embezzlement of millions from clients and his law firm.
The lawsuit, known in the true crime community as the "Boat Case," highlighted both the Murdaugh family's long-standing influence over Hampton County, where they dominated the criminal and civil courts for decades, and the cracks in their rural empire. Nurses at the hospital where the injured teenagers were taken reported that Paul Murdaugh and his father tried to speak with one of them alone, suggesting an attempt to convince them that someone other than Paul Murdaugh was responsible for the boat crash.
During Alex Murdaugh's murder trial, Mark Tinsley, Beach's attorney, insisted that Murdaugh should pay at least $10 million. Murdaugh's attorney responded by stating that Murdaugh was now broke and might be able to gather $1 million. Tinsley found this hard to believe, given Murdaugh's local reputation and wealth as a prominent lawyer. He requested all of Murdaugh's financial documents for the lawsuit hearing, which was postponed after the murders.
Investigators claim that Alex Murdaugh killed his wife, Maggie, 52, with "four or five rifle shots" outside their home, and his son, Paul, with "two blasts." Murdaugh told police that he found the bodies after a quick visit to see his sick mother and immediately called 911. Upon the arrival of investigators, Murdaugh suggested that the murders might have been motivated by resentment toward his son over the boat accident, implying that someone else might have committed the crimes.
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