CBS News
Alex Murdaugh settles boat crash wrongful death lawsuit with Mallory Beach’s family
Alex Murdaugh has settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a teen killed in a boat crash involving Murdaugh’s youngest son that prosecutors said provoked the disgraced South Carolina attorney to later kill his wife and their son who wrecked the boat.
The agreement by an insurer to pay the $500,000 policy Alex Murdaugh had on the boat ends the wrongful death suit that ultimately pried open Murdaugh’s finances and laid bare his schemes to steal millions from his clients and his law firm.
The family of 19-year-old Mallory Beach sued the Murdaugh family and others after authorities said the boat Paul Murdaugh was driving crashed into a Beaufort County bridge in February 2019. Beach was killed and several others were injured.
Lynn Reavis
Paul Murdaugh, who was 19 at the time of the crash, was charged with felony boating under the influence. Investigators said he had a blood alcohol level over 0.28% — more than three times the legal limit.
Beach’s family already received more than $15 million from a settlement with the Parker’s Kitchen chain of convenience stores and others, as well as lawsuits with a family that held an oyster roast the group on the boat attended, a bar that served Paul Murdaugh liquor just before the crash, and Paul Murdaugh’s older brother, Buster, whose ID he used to buy the beer.
A snag with the insurer of the boat, Progressive, prevented the entire case from being settled last summer. Progressive wouldn’t pay until Alex Murdaugh was dropped as a defendant in the Beach family’s lawsuit, according to court records.
Once special receivers assured all Murdaugh’s assets were paid out, Beach’s family agreed to end the case and the insurer paid the $500,000, Judge Daniel Hall wrote in an order filed Monday.
Court records indicate the other passengers on the boat who were injured have also settled their lawsuits against Murdaugh and others involved in the crash.
Alex Murdaugh, 56, is serving life without parole for the June 2021 shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at their Colleton County home. He has denied killing them and is appealing his murder convictions.
But even if his murder convictions are overturned, he will remain in prison. Murdaugh admitted stealing around $12 million from his family’s law firm and from clients including a man who became a quadriplegic after a crash and from a trust fund intended for children whose parents were killed in a wreck. He was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.
Prosecutors said one of the last things Murdaugh did before heading home the night of the killings was work on a financial statement he would likely have to present at a court hearing for the Beach lawsuit scheduled three days later.
Murdaugh feared an investigation into his statement would show he stole millions from clients and his law firm, prosecutors said, and the killings were a sinister, methodical plan to buy time to straighten out his finances and derail the wrongful death suit over the boat crash.
The lawsuit, which became known in the true crime world as the “Boat Case,” showed both his family’s longtime influence over Hampton County where for decades they controlled much of the criminal and civil courts and cracks in their control of their rural empire.
Nurses at the hospital where the injured teens were taken said Paul Murdaugh and his father tried to talk to them alone in the emergency room. One teen said it appeared the family was trying to convince them to say someone other than Paul Murdaugh was driving the boat.
Beach’s lawyer Mark Tinsley testified at Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial that he wanted him to pay $10 million, and Murdaugh’s lawyer said he was broke and might be able to scrape together $1 million.
Tinsley said that didn’t make sense with Murdaugh’s reputation and outward signs of wealth and asked for records of all of Murdaugh’s finances for the lawsuit hearing, which was postponed following the killings.
Alex Murdaugh killed his son Paul with two shotgun blasts and his 52-year-old wife, Maggie, with four or five rifle shots outside their home, authorities said.
Alex Murdaugh said he called 911 after finding the bodies following a brief visit to see his ailing mother.
He told investigators who arrived that he wondered if the anger toward his son over the boat crash led to the killings.
President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal conviction in state court remains on the books Monday, after a New York judge rejected an effort by Trump to have the case tossed based on a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
Justice Juan Merchan found that a July Supreme Court ruling granting Trump presidential immunity for official acts did not preclude a jury from finding him guilty after a criminal trial this spring.
Merchan wrote that evidence shown at trial pertained “entirely to unofficial conduct.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
As unexplained drone sightings along the East Coast trigger investigations and demands from officials for more information, a wave of online speculation has filled the void as amateur sleuths seek to solve the mystery themselves.
One Facebook group called “New Jersey Mystery Drones – let’s solve it” has surged to over 73,000 members in recent days, becoming a hub for users to share their drone sightings and speculate on the source of the mysterious activity.
George Gary, a New Jersey resident who joined the Facebook group, told CBS News that he was sitting in his car in Moorestown when he saw what he said were “multiple drones” in the sky. “I’m honestly not sure what’s behind them,” he said, speculating that it could be connected to government activity. “I’m really curious to find out.”
New Jersey resident Vanessa Grierson, who also said she has seen drones, told CBS News she joined the Facebook group to find out what others were seeing. “It’s alarming that there are still no answers,” she said.
Across social media, users have shared theories that range from foreign interference to UFOs to hobbyist activity.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint statement last week saying there is “no evidence at this time” that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or public safety, or have any foreign connection.
But state and local leaders have been pushing for more information and a stronger response.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday he is urging federal authorities to allocate more resources to investigate the sightings, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that a drone detection system is being deployed in the state.
In some cases, people mistake planes for drones
The number of drones flying over the East Coast and the identity of those behind the activity remain unclear. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that the FBI has received about 5,000 tips of reported drone sightings in the last few weeks, “about 100 of which they felt needed to be followed up on.”
Authorities say many of the reported drone sightings could be aircraft or helicopters operating from the region’s numerous airports, as residents increasingly turn their attention to the skies in search of answers.
New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim said he went on patrol with police on Thursday night to find out more about the drones. In a lengthy X thread, Kim said he “concluded that most of the possible drone sightings that were pointed out to me were almost certainly planes.”
Kirby said many other reports were determined to be “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones.”
In addition, unrelated videos have sparked confusion. On Friday, a video was widely shared and said to show a mysterious drone seemingly “shooting” at the ground. However, CBS News traced the footage to a military training exercise at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
People have also shared old videos from different contexts. One widely shared clip, allegedly showing drones over New York, is at least four years old.
Officials respond
Rep. Mike Waltz, a Republican from Florida who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the lack of information highlights lapses in authority between local law enforcement and federal agencies like the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.
“I think Americans are finding it hard to believe we can’t figure out where these are coming from,” Waltz said. “It’s pointing to gaps in our capabilities and in our ability to clamp down on what’s going on here. And we need to get to the bottom of it.”
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said there is a “growing sense of uncertainty and urgency across the state” despite statements from federal investigators assuring residents that the drones do not pose public safety threats.
“As such, I urge you to share any relevant information about these drone sightings with the public,” Booker said. “Without transparency, I believe that rumors, fear, and misinformation will continue to spread.”
Shooting down drones?
Some social media users have suggested that they plan to shoot down the drones if they veer too close to their homes. President-elect Trump also suggested shooting down the drones, though he did not clarify who should take such action.
However, shooting down a drone is a federal crime.
The Federal Aviation Administration classifies drones as aircraft, meaning damaging or destroying them is a violation of the Aircraft Sabotage Act.
Beyond legal risks, firing at drones poses a serious safety hazard and could lead to injuries.
Washington — President-elect Trump is meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Chew on Monday at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
The news was first reported by CNN.
A spokesperson for TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference earlier Monday, Trump had warm words about TikTok and its near-term future.
“We’ll take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that,” Trump said when asked about how he would stop a ban. Harris won 54% of voters under 30, but Trump made inroads.
During his first term in the White House, Trump tried to ban the app.
President Biden earlier this year signed into law a bill passed by Congress requiring TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, face a Jan. 19 deadline to cut ties or be banned in the U.S. The companies have tried to delay the deadline pending a Supreme Court review, but a federal appeals court, which upheld the law, denied the request last week. The companies asked the Supreme Court on Monday to temporarily pause the law.
“A modest delay in enforcing the Act will create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review and the new Administration to evaluate this matter — before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed,” the emergency application said.
The filing asked the Supreme Court to make a decision on the request by Jan. 6 so ByteDance and TikTok can “coordinate with their service providers to perform the complex task of shutting down the TikTok platform only in the United States” if the justices decline.
A 90-day extension could be granted if a sale is in process by the deadline. But TikTok has argued that a sale is unfeasible and the Chinese government opposes the sale of the algorithm which powers the app.
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