“The SLED investigation into the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdo is still active and ongoing,” Wunderlich said. “Agents are committed to the integrity of the investigation, so no additional information will be provided by SLED at this time.” A spokesperson from the South Carolina Attorney General’s office told CNN they have no comment at this time on possible charges against Murdaugh. The potential charges would lead to a remarkable fall from grace for Murdaugh, the 64-year-old scion of a powerful political family in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. News of the possible charges filed was first reported by FITSNews.com on Tuesday. Last June, Murdaugh called 911 to report that his wife Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22, had been shot outside their Islandton home, according to SLED. The investigation into those deaths led to a series of events full of unexpected twists: the reopening of an investigation into the unsolved death of a 19-year-old in 2015. Murdaugh’s resignation as an attorney for a prominent legal team; an admission that he struggled with opioid abuse; and dozens of charges accusing him of stealing money from clients. In a particularly bizarre incident, Murdaugh in September called police to report a gunshot wound to the head. He soon admitted conspiring with another man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance payout, authorities said. Since then, he has been indicted on a total of 71 counts accusing him of defrauding customers out of nearly $8.5 million in various schemes. Several charges are related to the death of Gloria Satterfield, the family’s longtime housekeeper who died in a fall at Murdaugh’s home in 2018. According to SLED, Murdaugh coordinated with her family to sue himself and get insurance settlement, saying he would give the family the proceeds. But he secretly deposited about $3 million of that money into an account he owned, according to affidavits released by SLED. In another development Tuesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered Murdaugh disbarred after suspending his license to practice law in the state in 2021. “Defendant concedes that discharge is warranted in light of his admitted professional misconduct,” the order read. “However, our decision today is not directed at the Defendant’s concession, but rather flows from our constitutional authority and duty to protect the public from lawyers who are unfit to practice law.” Murdaugh is being held in Columbia, South Carolina on $7 million bail. He has denied any involvement in the death of his wife and son. In a statement through his lawyers last September, he said their deaths had exacerbated his problems with opioid addiction. “The murders of my wife and son caused an incredibly difficult time in my life,” Murdaugh said at the time. “I’ve made a lot of decisions that I really regret.”
