(NewsNation) — As Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial is set to begin, his defense team insists he is innocent.

Jonna Spilbor, criminal defense attorney and legal analyst, discussed the possible finger-pointing strategy Murdaugh’s defense team will take to prove his innocence.

“His defense attorneys have pretty much signaled that they are going to point the finger of the culprit being not Alex Murdock, but instead his cousin Eddie, as he’s known in South Carolina,” Spilbor said. “The same person who Alex Murdock hired to fake his own murder.”

 Curtis “Cousin Eddie” Smith was arrested in connection with an insurance fraud scheme involving Murdaugh.

A few months after the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh was shot in the head while changing a tire on his vehicle.

The wound was superficial and Curtis Smith was arrested. Investigators said Alex Murdaugh provided Curtis Smith with the gun used and hired Curtis Smith to kill him, in an attempt to ensure his son would receive insurance benefits after his death.

“I really think the defense is going to be pointing the finger at this third-party culpability, Spilbor said. “t’s going to make for an interesting defense.”

Spilbor also discussed a possible blood spatter on the shirt that Murdoch was wearing the night his son and wife were murdered and why it is critically important to both sides of the legal argument.

“It’s very big, because on the one hand, the defense is claiming, ‘hey, wait a minute, this shirt is now gone, we did not have an opportunity to forensically test that shirt ourselves,’ which Alex Murdoch should have had the right to do,” Spilbor said. “So we can’t just go by what the prosecution wants to claim could have put Alex Murdock at the scene of the crime.”

Spilbor also said the blood spatter is a critical piece of evidence and “because it was destroyed or disappeared or never was properly tested. That’s going to be big for the defense, in this case.”

A gunman killed 10 people at a ballroom dance hall during a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration late on Saturday near Los Angeles before fleeing the scene and later killing himself when approached by police on Sunday, authorities said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a Sunday afternoon press conference the motive for the shooting was not known. He identified the suspect as Huu Can Tran, 72, who wielded a pistol with a high-capacity magazine.

“We want to know, we want to know how something this awful can happen,” Luna told reporters.

Luna said Tran turned a handgun on himself on Sunday morning as police approached a white van he was driving in Torrance, about 20 miles (34 km) from the site of the shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park.

Five of the victims were male and five were female, Luna said. Their identities have not been made public. Another ten people were shot, and seven of them remain hospitalized, with at least one person in critical condition, authorities said.

The sheriff’s departmentreleased images of the suspect apparently taken from surveillance camera footage showing him wearing spectacles, dressed in a dark jacket and a dark beanie hat with white stripe.

Luna confirmed that Tran was involved in another incident at a dance venue in the neighboring city of Alhambra about 20 minutes after the Saturday night shooting in Monterey Park. At the second venue, witnesses said Tran walked in holding a gun that patrons were able to grab. No one was shot and Tran fled, Luna said.

When police arrived at the Monterey Park ballroom, people were “pouring out of the location screaming,” department captain Andrew Meyer told reporters at a news briefing.

The shooting took place after 10 p.m. PST (0600 GMT on Sunday) around the location of a two-day Chinese Lunar New Year celebration where many downtown streets are closed for festivities that draw thousands of people from across Southern California. Police said the celebrations planned for Sunday were canceled.

Residents stood gazing at the many blocks sealed off with police tape on Sunday in Monterey Park. Chester Chong, chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, described the city of about 60,000 people as a quiet, peaceful, beautiful place where everybody knows each other and helps each other.

About 7 miles (11 km) from downtown Los Angeles, the city has for decades been a destination for immigrants from China. Around 65% of its residents are Asian, according to U.S. Census data, and the city is known for its many Chinese restaurants and groceries.

“People were calling me last night, they were scared this was a hate crime,” Chong said at the scene.

The Star Ballroom Dance Studio opened in 1990, and its website features many photographs of past Lunar New Year celebrations showing patrons smiling and dancing in party clothes in its large, brightly lit ballroom.

Most of its patrons are middle-aged or elderly, though children also attend youth dance classes, according to a teacher at the studio who asked to not be named.

“Those are normal working people,” the teacher said. “Some are retired and just looking for an exercise or social interaction.”

A flyer posted on the website advertised Saturday night’s new year party, running from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

The gunshots were mistaken by some for new year fireworks, according to Tiffany Chiu, 30, who was celebrating at her parents’ home near the ballroom.

“A lot of older people live here, it’s usually really quiet,” she said. “This is not something you expect here.”

Video taken by local news media showed injured people, many of them appearing to be middle aged, being loaded into ambulances on stretchers.

President Joe Biden condemned the killings in a written statement and said he had directed his Homeland Security adviser to mobilize federal support to local authorities.

Mass shootings are recurrent in the United States, and the attack in Monterey Park was the deadliest since May 2022, when a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at a school in Uvalde, Texas. The deadliest shooting in California history was in 1984 when a gunman killed 21 people at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro, near San Diego.

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(NewsNation) — Many point to an exact date on the calendar when the downfall of the Murdaugh dynasty started.

Feb. 24, 2019, more than two years before the double murder: It’s the day a teenager with an ever-present smile lost her young life.

NewsNation senior national correspondent Brian Entin investigated the case and its impact.

It was a chilly, damp night on the coast in South Carolina, one that mixed underage drinking and boating in the fog into a recipe that left deadly consequences —and a family of immense power flexing its muscles.

Mallory Beach, 19, went missing after a night out on the boat with friends.

The recent high school graduate was jettisoned from her boyfriend’s arms when a 17-foot Sea Hunt center console boat plowed into a piling in Beaufort County, South Carolina. More than a dozen first responders and an army of volunteers searched for a week. Prayer chains to find Beach alive turned to an unbearable wave of grief. The store where she worked and modeled clothing posted a public tribute.

But privately, the Murdaugh machine was at work.

It was the Murdaughs’ boat, and the family’s youngest son Paul was at the helm. Or was he?

Paul’s friend Connor Cook was onboard as well that night, and his attorney says it wasn’t long before Alex Murdaugh was telling all five survivors to stay quiet on who the captain was. What was clear immediately, though, is that copious amounts of alcohol were being consumed by the underage boaters.

The police report said all were grossly intoxicated, and yet no one’s blood alcohol levels were checked at the scene.

“Same thing as everybody is standing around a car,” Robert McCullough of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said. “You don’t know who is driving that car. It’s not against the law to be standing around it intoxicated.”

However, Beach’s boyfriend, Anthony Cook, is said to have told authorities immediately that Paul Murdaugh was the captain. Paul left a trail of photos around town and parked his pickup at the pump, but not for gas. His friends say he used his big brother Buster’s ID card to buy beer and malted drinks at the store. The 20-year-old raised his purchases triumphantly before they were loaded into his vehicle. Afterward, while drinking with parents present at an oyster roast, the group continued boating to dodge known DUI roadside checkpoints.

Back in the boat, Paul and Connor did more drinking. One friend testified that Paul was belligerently drunk, slapping his girlfriend, spitting in her face and refusing to give up the wheel – until the deadly crash.

Members of the Murdaugh family served nearly a century consecutively as the area’s solicitor, meaning they prosecuted cases, putting them in close working relationships with officers, deputies, and state agents on this case and others.

It would take nearly two months for Paul Murdaugh to be criminally charged, and he raised eyebrows with his release that same day on a $50,000 bond and surrender of his passport.

His former friend Connor was eventually cleared.

The case also brought an ongoing bevy of civil suits from Beach’s mom, Anthony Cook, Connor Cook and the other young women, demanding Alex Murdaugh’s financials.

Three days before the killing of Paul Murdaugh and Maggie, Alex’s wife, that mediation to end the Beach suit failed – meaning the case would go to trial and the family’s finances would be put on full display.

The criminal case against Paul ended with his death.

Beach’s family, and three of the friends, have reached a settlement in their case against Buster Murdaugh and Maggie Murdaugh’s estate.

It was due to be paid with the sale of the Moselle family house and property.

But Alex Murdaugh’s former partner says he’s owed money first, before anyone from the boat.
In the meantime, Anthony Cook’s civil suits are still ongoing.

(NewsNation) — As Alex Murdaugh heads to trial for the murder of his wife and son, there is another mysterious case that has led investigators back to the Murdaugh family.

In 2015, 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found in the middle of a rural road. Police determined it was a hit and run.

But from day one, his mother said otherwise, believing her son was murdered. Accident investigators agreed. Yet, the case was left classified as a hit and run.

Now, the case is being reexamined, including why some Murdaugh family members were among those first on scene.

Stephen Smith was studying to be a nurse at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, hoping to eventually become a doctor. On July 8, 2015 he was on his way home from school when he ran out of gas. His car was found down a dark rural road in Hampton County, South Carolina with the gas cap off.

Three miles away, Stephen Smith’s body was found, in the middle of the road with no skid marks or other physical evidence that a car had hit him. A special accident investigation team looked at the case and determined it was a homicide, but a pathologist disagreed, saying he likely died from being hit in the face by the mirror of a passing car.

“It definitely was not a hit and run. He had blunt force trauma. And it seemed to be an intentional act, which we consider homicide,” said Michael Duncan, a retired corporal who was part of the accident investigation team.

Eric Bland, an attorney involved in several cases connected to Alex Murdaugh, said the scene didn’t fit with what Smith’s family knew about him.

“We think he was dumped there on the road. He was a very sharp kid; As a young gay man, he was cautious and so he wouldn’t have been walking down the road. He certainly knew the area. He had a cell phone, he could have called somebody for help,” Bland said.

Smith’s mother, Sandy Smith, has been relentless in her quest for answers. She asked the FBI, the governor and others to keep investigating but the case went nowhere until Mallory Beach was killed on the Murdaugh boat four years later. Then people started asking questions about Stephen Smith’s case.

Cpl. Duncan said the Murdaugh family name came up in the initial accident investigation but didn’t go anywhere.

“Personally, I think there was some type of pressure or just lack of investigation upon other agencies to do anything,” he told NewsNation.

But the real break in Smith’s case came after the double murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. During the investigation into their deaths, new information came to light.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, also known as SLED, told NewsNation they have made progress in the death investigation of Stephen Smith, however, the investigation is active and ongoing.

The oldest Murdaugh son, Buster, was the same age as Stephen Smith and his twin sister. In a small town, the went to school together and would have known one another.

Reporter Will Folks with FitsNews told NewsNation Buster Murdaugh’s name often came up in connection with the Stephen Smith case.

“There was clearly a Murdaugh tie into the death of Stephen Smith, because if you read the investigatory reports from his death back in 2015, the Murdaugh name is mentioned dozens of times. In fact, it was one of the first files I ever received related to this story,” Folks said.

As the multiple Murdaugh cases have played out in the small community, rumors have spread. After news of Stephen Smith’s death came out, some speculated that Buster Murdaugh and Stephen Smith had some sort of relationship.

“They graduated high school together. They had friends in common and they didn’t move in the same circles. But certainly, like Buster and Stephen had played ball together when they were younger, so you can’t say there’s no connection. Nobody knows. What Stephen’s life was like, what I will say, is know of no evidence that would support any kind of relationship between Stephen and Buster,” said Michael Hemlepp, attorney for the Smith family.

What is known is that Alex Murdaugh and his brother Randy came to the scene of Stephen Smith’s death, going through the crime tape. No one is sure why the brothers were there. But inconsistencies in the initial investigation have left many wondering why his death was never investigated as a homicide.

According to Sandy Smith, Randy Murdaugh called the family following Stephen Smith’s death, offering to help however he could. However, his law firm has since disputed that, putting out a statement denying it ever happened.

“It was clear that this case was not handled correctly. Why? I can’t tell you. Maybe it was simply incompetence. Maybe it was purposeful. But I do believe that the truth is going to come out. I do believe that we’re going to get answers. I have faith in that, I’m optimistic in that. Sandy Smith, Stephanie Smith and myself, we have said all along, we would like to have justice for Stephen,” the law firm said.

Stephen Smith’s father died three months after his son. Sandy Smith said her ex-husband died of a broken heart. She said since the case has been reopened, there have been offers of a book deal and a Netflix movie but all she’s interested in is justice.

(NewsNation) — The death of a woman who served as a housekeeper and nanny for the Murdaugh family helped unravel one of the biggest pieces of the Alex Murdaugh moneymaking scheme.

Gloria Satterfield was an integral part of the Murdaugh family. She was their housekeeper, nanny and cook but also much more than that. As is the custom in some rich southern families, she helped raise the Murdaugh sons, Buster and Paul. She went on vacations with the family, celebrated Christmas with them and her own children. She was seemingly part of the family.

But Gloria Satterfield’s death was one of the first of several mysterious deaths linked to the Murdaugh family.

According to the family, Gloria Satterfield came by to get her check at the family’s hunting lodge in 2018. A family dog jumped at on her at the top of a flight of stairs, causing her to fall.

Recordings of a 911 call made after Gloria Satterfield’s death include reports that she had hit her head and was bleeding out of her left ear.

The 57-year-old woman died at the hospital. Her family said Alex Murdaugh, a prominent lawyer, approached them at the funeral and suggested Gloria Satterfield’s sons, Tony and Brian Satterfield, sue him for insurance money.

The Satterfield family thought he was looking out for them, helping them out after Gloria Satterfield worked for the Murdaughs for more than 20 years.

“For her it was a badge of honor. She did not consider it to be just the job. She considered herself to be part of their family and she was proud of what she did. She never spoke about her tie in the house with the family, she wouldn’t reveal those secrets,” said attorney Eric Bland.

The family was set to get more than $4 million from her fall. But Tony and Bruce Satterfield say they never saw a cent of that money.

“We got a confession of judgement from Alex Murdaugh for the entire $4.3 million. That confession of judgement has been a very valuable tool for a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons. Once we got that confession of judgement, Alex was disbarred the next day by the South Carolina bar,” Bland said.

That was when Alex Murdaugh’s web of lies began to unravel. Prosecutors say his money schemes began as early as October 2015.

They believe Alex Murdaugh’s MO was to defraud victims out of settlement money. So far, prosecutors say he took $8.5 million and that number could keep growing.

It’s unclear what Alex Murdaugh was using the money for. His lawyers have suggested he was spending it on opioids.

“We’re really not going to know where the money went. We do know that based of the charges a couple of weeks ago for income tax evasion that Alex made a lot of money from 2010 to 2019, some years as much as $2.5 million,” Bland said.

Alex Murdaugh allegedly diverted money intended for victims, laundering it for his own use. One of the alleged victims was a state police officer injured on the job.

Alex Murdaugh is facing charges in a number of cases, all of which have been moved until after the murder trial for his wife and son, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

The Murdaughs’ umbrella insurance policy and family assets will help pay future judgements and a conservatorship was appointed to protect any source of money for potential victims.

The family’s assets were substantial, according to local estimates. Maggie Murdaugh’s estate was valued at $5 million, with Alex Murdaugh as the beneficiary. Alex Murdaugh’s retirement fund was estimated at $2 million and his father’s will, still in probate, was valued around $1 million. Once again, Alex Murdaugh was the beneficiary.

While the Satterfield case is one of the few already settled, a criminal investigation into her death has been opened.

Bland said after Gloria Satterfield’s death, her son Brian Satterfield was living in a mobile home financed by the bank. Alex Murdaugh was aware of the proceedings when the bank foreclosed on Brian Satterfield’s home.

“He sat back and watched Brian lose a mobile home and get pushed out onto the street, to have to go live with family members while he was sitting on $3.5 million of their money,” Bland said.

Alex Murdaugh settled with the Satterfield family for $4.3 million. The family has set up a foundation, Gloria’s Gift, with some of the funds. In honor of Gloria Satterfield’s favorite holiday, Christmas, the foundation helps families that can’t afford gifts during the holidays.

(NewsNation) — South Carolina’s Lowcountry, known for its coastal waterways and salt marshes, and part of the Deep South a century ago, is now a bustling spot for tourists attracted to the historic cities of Charleston and Savannah.

In the southeast corner of the state, we find Hampton County, home to fewer than 3,000 people. It’s a small community, where everyone knows everyone — which means everyone knows Alex Murdaugh.

Murdaugh’s family has legal roots as old as the county itself. It is even known by some as “Murdaugh County.”

This is where Randolph Murdaugh Sr. became a solicitor, a role similar to a district attorney.

He was succeeded by his son, Randolph “Buster” Murdaugh Jr. in 1940, and then his grandson Randolph Murdaugh III.

What is the reputation of this family, this dynasty? Ruthless, and not afraid to use the power they have amassed, some say.

And then … there’s Alex.

He didn’t have quite the same reputation as some of his predecessors and he was known to be a little bit lazy, but he was the patriarch of a picture-perfect family. He was, that is, until first responders went to the family’s Moselle estate — a 1,700-acre hunting property — tucked away in a rural area.

Alex Murdaugh called 911 at 10:07 p.m. June 7, 2021, saying “My wife and my son have been shot badly!”

According to court documents, Alex’s wife, Maggie Murdaugh, was shot multiple times with a high-powered rifle, including in the back of the head while she was lying facedown on the ground.
Their 22-year-old son Paul was killed with a shotgun, struck in the head and chest.

Authorities reportedly thought Alex was a person of interest from the very beginning.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) was tasked with investigating the murders.

FILE – Alex Murdaugh, center, talks with his defense attorney Dick Harpootlian after a hearing in Colleton County on Monday, Aug. 29, 2022. (Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP, File)

Around that time, the rest of Alex Murdaugh’s world started to unravel.

On Sept. 4, 2021, he called 911, saying he had a flat tire.

“Someone stopped to help me, and then they tried to shoot me,” Alex Murdaugh said.

The initial report was that a vehicle passing by saw him changing one of his tires and took a shot at him.
Alex was taken to the hospital with a superficial gun wound. Days later, there was another bombshell connected to that roadside call: Authorities say Alex Murdaugh hired a former client named Curtis Smith to kill him. With Murdaugh dead, they say, it would clear the way for his son Buster to collect on a $10 million insurance policy.

It’s just another one of the crazy components of this Southern gothic drama that just continues to unfold in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Not only did Alex Murdaugh not get the insurance payment, but he is accused of embezzlement and fraud.

There are nearly 100 counts of financial criminal activity, totaling nearly $10 million over the period of about a decade. Accused of stealing from clients in his legal practice, Alex Murdaugh resigned from the firm, then days later, a 20-year addiction to opioids was disclosed and he went into rehab.

Then, in July 2022, more than a year after his wife and son were killed, Alex Murdaugh was arrested and charged in their deaths.

Forensic evidence was really what drew investigators to Alex Murdaugh as the top suspect in these killings. That evidence, however, has come into question over the last few weeks.

Prosecutors say it took Alex more than an hour to call 911. They point to blood spatter on his clothing.

Some are questioning, though, whether the spatter or the article of clothing where they were reportedly found had been damaged, or if they even exist anymore.

One theory for Alex Murdaugh’s motive is that he allegedly committed the two killings to try to buy time to fend off his financial downfall.

Alex Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty. His defense attorneys say there is no DNA.

Now, it’s all going to come down to a jury Monday, and a battle of some of the best legal minds in the region.