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.
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.