Two days after he survived a roadside shooting and was hospitalized, South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh on Monday said he will resign from his law firm and enter rehab in the wake of months of public scrutiny following the unsolved slayings of his wife and son in June.
“The murders of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult time in my life,” Murdaugh said in a statement.
“I have made a lot of decisions that I truly regret,” he said, without elaborating, and decided he needs to go to rehab “after a long battle that has been exacerbated by these murders. I am immensely sorry to everyone I’ve hurt including my family, friends and colleagues. I ask for prayers as I rehabilitate myself and my relationships.”
The statement, his first since he was shot along a rural road in Hampton County, is certain to feed the questions swirling around the mysterious circumstances of the fatal shootings of his wife, Margaret, 52, and their son, Paul, 22.
Sept. 5, 202101:07
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has released limited details in connection with the case, saying it does not want to compromise the investigation. The bodies of the mother and son were found on June 7 near dog kennels on the family’s hunting property in Colleton County, west of Charleston. They had been shot to death.
Murdaugh’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather each held the top prosecutor position in the state’s 14th Circuit, which covers a region of South Carolina known as the Lowcountry, and wielded power in the same role for more than eight decades. Murdaugh served as a part-time prosecutor in the same office and also worked for a private law firm.
On Saturday afternoon, he dialed 911 and told authorities that he had been shot while changing a flat tire, Tommy Crosby, a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman, said.
Murdaugh was flown to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia, for treatment of a “superficial” head wound, Crosby said.
Investigators have not indicated a possible motive for the shooting.
Jim Griffin, a family friend and attorney for Murdaugh, said Saturday that a pickup truck passed Murdaugh while he was changing his tire. The truck turned around and someone inside opened fire, Griffin said.
A family spokesperson said Murdaugh was expected to make a full recovery.
The family’s powerful legal connections were in the spotlight after Paul Murdaugh was indicted in a 2019 boat crash that left one of its young passengers dead, a 19-year-old woman. A police report said the teens were “grossly intoxicated.”
Paul Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of boating under the influence and was awaiting trial at the time of his death. As a matter of protocol, the charges were dropped last month.
In addition, Alex Murdaugh’s father, family patriarch Randolph Murdaugh III, died at 81 just days after Paul and Margaret were killed — adding another tragedy to an already reeling family.
Following the death of his wife and son, Alex Murdaugh announced a $100,000 reward in the case.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
