Buster Murdaugh under intense scrutiny after Alex Murdaugh's guilty verdict
The complex narrative surrounding Alex Murdaugh's crimes is far from over after his double murder trial ended last week
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Buster Murdaugh is facing intense public scrutiny after his father, Alex Murdaugh, was sentenced to life in prison for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul — Buster's mother and brother.
A South Carolina jury on Thursday found the disgraced 54-year-old lawyer guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of weapons possession during a violent crime in the deaths of 52-year-old Maggie and 22-year-old Paul.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The eldest Murdaugh son and his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, are currently living in Hilton Head, a quiet South Carolina beach town and popular family vacation spot.
The pair attended every day of his father's trial, beginning on Jan. 25, and Buster testified in his father Alex's defense.
Buster Murdaugh and his girlfriend Brooklynn White attend the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Jan. 31, 2023. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
"He was destroyed, heartbroken," Buster told jurors of his father at the elder Murdaugh's double murder trial in Walterboro, South Carolina. "I walked in the door, saw him, gave him a hug. [He was] just broken down."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ALEX MURDAUGH'S BROTHER: CONVICTED KILLER ‘NOT TELLING THE TRUTH’ ABOUT DOUBLE MURDERS
"I was in shock," he said of the moment his father called him and told him that Maggie and Paul had been shot to death on their family's hunting estate in Islandton.
Buster Murdaugh, the son of Alex Murdaugh, testifies during his father's trial on Feb. 21, 2023. (Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)
Prosecutors said Alex killed his wife and son to divert attention away from his alleged financial crimes, which were beginning to come to light in the summer of 2021. Alex is accused of embezzling money from his family's law firm and its clients. He is facing 99 financial crimes stemming from 19 separate indictments and totaling nearly $9 million.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The complex narrative surrounding Alex's crimes — and the Murdaugh family — is far from over, even though the double murder trial ended last week
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"Buster's world will never be the same," Murdaugh family friend Dana Wilson told "Dateline" in an interview, adding that he does have "a very loving family and support group."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I can't imagine… losing everything in your life you've ever known," Wilson continued.
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Since his father's conviction, Buster has come under public scrutiny over the 2015 death of his 19-year-old high school classmate, Stephen Smith, who was killed in what police initially described as hit-and-run, just miles from the Murdaugh family's hunting estate. The case has been reopened.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Buster Murdaugh, left, and Stephen Smith, a high school classmate who was killed in 2015. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital/ Facebook)
Attorney Eric Bland, who represented the children of the Murdaughs' late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield — who died in the Murdaugh home in 2018 — described the Murdaugh family's "long-rumored involvement" in Smith's death on "Fox & Friends" on Sunday.
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"He was found in the middle of a country road in Hampton County, and… the highway department said he was hit by a car, but there was no broken glass, no car parts," Bland told co-host Pete Hegseth. "His clothes were intact, his shoes were on, and he had… a clear head trauma injury that looked like it was done by something other than a car."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An investigation into the 19-year-old's death remains active and ongoing.
Buster Murdaugh stands in the courtroom after his father Alex Murdaugh is found guilty on all counts for the murder of his wife and son on Thursday. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
It is unclear where Buster currently works. He was formerly employed at his family's law firm and attended the University of South Carolina before he was kicked out for plagiarism. Alex paid an attorney $60,000 to try to get Buster readmitted, according to FITS News.
Buster filed a police report after his father's verdict taking issue with the media.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In an October 2022 phone call with his father obtained by FITS News, Buster expressed surprise to find out that he, too, was receiving national media attention after a trip to Las Vegas with his uncle, Alex's brother, John Marvin Murdaugh.
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"The next day, there was an article created about how I’m misusing funds by gambling," Buster said after explaining that he had flown on a redeye Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then drove home. "Someone took a picture of me and John Marvin in the casino."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Buster added: "I guess that, I mean, I’m a national figure."
Fox News' Bailee Hill contributed to this report.