Murdaugh son’s dead classmate to receive autopsy after found dead near Murdaugh property in 2015
Fox News senior correspondent Laura Ingle reports on the family of the deceased Stephen Smith, a classmate of Buster Murdaugh, raising enough money to receive an independent autopsy after he was found dead near the Murdaugh estate in 2015.
Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh is accused of swindling his former law firm out of more than $2 million then failing to report the illegally earned income, according to a new indictment from a South Carolina grand jury.
The 54-year-old is charged with two fresh counts of willful attempt to evade or defeat a tax.
In 2020, Murdaugh legitimately earned $1,147,342 from his former firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Elzroth & Detrick (PMPED)t hen stole another $1,112,734 from the firm and clients' settlement funds but never filed a tax return, the indictment alleges.
ALEX MURDAUGH CHARGED WITH TAX EVASION AHEAD OF SC MURDER TRIAL
Alex Murdaugh is taken to the Colleton County Courthouse for sentencing on Friday, March 3, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
He owes the state $67,624 for that year, the filing says.
In 2021 – the same year he murdered his wife, Maggie, 52, and his son Paul, 22 – he earned $86,069 from PMPED and allegedly embezzled another $1,000,333.
Again, he failed to file a tax return, allegedly robbing the government of $64,948.
A generic view of Alex Murdaugh's former employer, the Parker Law Group, in Hampton, South Carolina. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital )
The latest criminal indictment comes nearly two months after Murdaugh was found guilty of fatally shooting his wife and son to prevent his alleged financial crimes from coming to light.
He was sentenced to two life terms, which he is serving at McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina.
ALEX MURDAUGH'S LIFE IN LOCKUP: LAWYER REVEALS EXCLUSIVE DETAILS
But his legal troubles are far from over. Before the latest criminal indictment, the disbarred attorney was facing 99 counts of financial crimes across 19 indictments.
Alex Murdaugh has been transferred to the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina. (South Carolina Department of Corrections/Google maps)
He is accused of stealing nearly $9 million from vulnerable clients and his former law firm, which was forced to change its name to Parker Law Group after his perpetual scandals left the company's reputation in tatters.
The storied firm was founded by Murdaugh's great-grandfather, Randolph Murdaugh Sr. who was also the first family member to become the top prosecutor of the Lowcountry region.
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Murdaugh is expected to go to trial on the financial crimes cases in the coming months.
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