Maggie Murdaugh, the wife of embattled South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, left her property to him in her will before she and their son were mysteriously killed in June, according to a copy of her last will and testament.
Alex Murdaugh, 53, has faced months of public scrutiny since his wife, 52, and son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found shot multiple times on June 7 at the family’s home in rural Islandton, South Carolina, about 65 miles west of Charleston.
Since then, Alex Murdaugh has been at the center of a storm of allegations — including misusing money from his law firm — that led to the suspension of his law license. He also enlisted a hitman to kill him so his surviving son, Buster, could cash in on his $10 million life insurance policy, one of his attorneys said.
The deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh remain unsolved.
Maggie Murdaugh signed the will in August 2005, according to a Sunday report in The Island Packet in South Carolina. The newspaper was the first to report on the document, which was later obtained by NBC News.
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At the time, the couple’s sons were children.
In the will, Maggie Murdaugh listed her sister, Marian Proctor, as the person to handle the estate. Proctor’s name was crossed out in pen and Randolph Murdaugh III, Maggie’s father-in law, was handwritten above it. Randolph Murdaugh III died three days after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s murders after falling ill, his law firm announced at the time.
Jim Griffin, an attorney for Alex Murdaugh, said it’s not clear why Proctor’s name was crossed out and replaced, but told The Island Packet that he didn’t believe the will was motive for Alex Murdaugh to be involved in his wife’s death.
Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
On Dec. 9, Colleton County Probate Judge Ashley Amundson appointed John Marvin Murdaugh, Alex’s brother, as the personal representative for Maggie’s estate, records show. He signed an affidavit accepting the appointment on Dec. 13.
Marian Proctor filed an affidavit, dated Dec. 9, in the Colleton County Probate Court, according to The Island Packet. In the affidavit, Proctor renounced her right to handle her sister’s estate and stated she didn’t receive any money in relinquishing her right to handle it.
Asked about the scratched out name in Maggie Murdaugh’s will, John Marvin Murdaugh told NBC News on Tuesday, “I can’t tell you why she would have done that. I just don’t know.”
He said he was told by some of Maggie Murdaugh’s immediate family members that the writing belongs to her and he believes she made the write-in during her lifetime.
He said that his family and the Proctors are all communicating on good terms.
“Marian was like, ‘No, John, I want you to handle it.’ So I’m going to do whatever the court asked me to do and I’m also going to do what I think is best for Maggie,” John Marvin Murdaugh said.
Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys said in October that authorities were looking at him as a person of interest in the deaths of his wife and son. He has maintained his innocence in the slayings, and his lawyers said he has an alibi as he was caring for his mother, who has dementia, the night of the killings.
Alex Murdaugh is currently in jail on a slew of charges, most of them financial crimes.
He faces charges in connection with a Sept. 4 suicide-for-hire plot. He called police saying he was shot in the head and he suffered a “superficial gunshot wound to the head,” the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, said at the time.
His attorney, Richard Harpootlian, previously said on NBC’s “TODAY” show that Alex Murdaugh arranged for a man to kill him during a “fake car breakdown.” He believed his insurance policy had a suicide clause, which would leave $10 million for his son, according to Harpootlian.
The alleged attempt to fake his own death came one day after he submitted his resignation at his law firm to enter rehab. The law firm later said he only resigned after it was discovered he allegedly misappropriated funds from the firm. South Carolina law officials also announced they were looking into those allegations.
He has been in jail since Oct. 14., then arrested on charges of obtaining property by false pretenses for misappropriating settlement funds from the sons of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaughs’ longtime housekeeper and nanny.
She died in February 2018 in what was initially described as an accidental fall.
Her sons claim they received none of the proceeds from a $4.3 million settlement that was orchestrated secretly by Alex Murdaugh, according to a lawsuit filed against their mother’s employer and others. State investigators allege about $3.4 million was stolen after legal fees were paid.
On Dec. 13. a judge set his bail at $7 million.
At the bond hearing attorneys said they were nearing a resolution with Alex Murdaugh and that he agreed to a $4.3 million judgement in the case, subject to the approval of court-appointed receivers who now control his assets, The Associated Press reported.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
