COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. — A South Carolina administrative judge has announced that the murder trial of former attorney Alex Murdaugh, a high-profile case that's gotten national attention, will begin early next year.
Judge Bentley Price, who serves as the chief administrative judge of the Fourteenth Circuit, ordered that the trial of the State of South Carolina vs. Richard Alex Murdaugh will begin on Jan. 30, 2023, and last through Feb. 17, 2023.
The case is set to determine whether Murdaugh is guilty of the murders of both his wife, Margaret "Maggie" Kennedy Branstetter Murdaugh, and his son, Paul Terry Murdaugh.
Indictments provided by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) claim Murdaugh shot his wife Maggie with a rifle and his son Paul with a shotgun.
The alleged crimes also led to two other indictments for possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime against the disgraced South Carolina which will also be tried in the case.
Murdaugh claimed to have found both Maggie and Paul dead on June 7, 2021, at their hunting lodge property near the border of Hampton and Colleton counties.
This is just one of the numerous cases Murdaugh has been named in.
Murdaugh, who was a noted attorney for many years in South Carolina, also faces several financial charges in multiple counties regarding money he's accused of taking from his clients and his past law firm.
Many of the investigation's most public findings followed Murdaugh's own shooting a month-and-a-half after the deaths of his wife and son. The shooting, which occurred on Sept. 4, was reportedly set up by Murdaugh so that his surviving son could collect roughly $10 million in insurance benefits. However, Murdaugh survived and the shooter, Curtis Smith, was arrested.
Later that month, on Sept. 4, SLED announced it was also reopening the investigation into the death of a family employee of Murdaugh, Gloria Satterfield, who died on the family's property in 2018.
As several investigations swirl around Murdaugh, he remains in jail in Columbia at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.