Murdaugh murders – Harrowing 911 call captures moment legal dynasty heir sobs after finding wife and son dead
HARROWING 911 audio has been released capturing the moment a prominent South Carolina attorney discovered his wife and son had been shot dead.
An audibly shaken Alex Murdaugh can be heard crying on the phone to emergency dispatchers after returning to his family’s 1,700-acre hunting home and making the horror find.
The affluent lawyer informed the dispatcher that he came home to find the bullet-riddled bodies of Maggie Murdaugh, 52, their 22-year-old son Paul, lying in one of his kennels.
Both were shot multiple times, authorities confirmed at the time.
“I been up to it now – it’s bad,” a distressed Murdaugh said during the 10:07pm call on June 7 with a Colleton County dispatcher.
The audio was first reported by fitsnews.com who filed for the release of the “digitally redacted” 6 1/2-minute by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Murdaugh is an attorney and heir to Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Derrick – one of South Carolina’s most affluent legal dynasties that was founded by his great-grandfather back in 1910, according to the firm's website.
His biography details that Murdaugh also serves as a "part-time prosecutor for the 14th district" – which includes Colleton County.
The Murdaugh family was already under duress at the time of the double murders as Paul Murdaugh was facing charges he was under the influence in the 2019 boating death of teenager Mallory Beach.
“Okay and are they breathing?” the dispatcher asked Murdaugh.
“No ma’am,” Murdaugh replied.
“And you said it's your wife and your son?” Fraser asked.
“It’s my wife and my son,” Murdaugh answered.
While Murdaugh was early on named as a “person of interest” so far no authorities have made no arrests and there haven’t been any suspects identified, fitsnews.com confirmed.
SLED confirmed the case remains "ongoing."
During the recorded call, when Murdaugh was questioned if the bodies were in a car, he explained: “No ma’am they’re on the ground out at my kennels.”
As the echoes of dog barks can be heard in the distance the dispatcher prompted Murdaugh if he knew whether either his wife or son was still alive.
“No, nobody’s breathing,” he said through tears.
After he gathered some composure, Murdaugh was prompted about what he saw and if anything was out of the ordinary.
“Okay, did you hear anything,” the dispatcher quizzed the man. “Or did you come home and find them?”
“No ma’am I’ve been gone,” he said, again breaking down. “I just came back.”
“Okay and was anyone else supposed to be at your house?” the dispatcher asked him.
“No ma’am,” Murdaugh told her. “Please hurry.”
The dispatcher urges the patriarch to hold off having any contact with his son and wife.
“I don’t want you to touch them at all okay,” the dispatcher tells him. “I don’t know if you’ve already touched them but I don’t want you to touch them just in case they can get any kind of evidence, okay?”
But Murdaugh said he already touched both bodies.
“I already touched them trying to get a – um – trying to see if they were breathing,” he said.
“Okay – well I just don’t want you to move anything just in case they can get any kind of evidence, okay?” he was told by the dispatcher.
Murdaugh then abruptly ends the call telling the dispatcher he had other calls to make.
He said: “Ma’am I need to call some of my family.”
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