Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh ‘disturbed’ by portrayal of family in Hulu show
Alex Murdaugh, South Carolina’s most infamous killer, doesn’t like how he’s being portrayed.
In a rare statement relayed through his attorneys, the former lawyer and convicted double murderer said that he was “deeply disappointed and disturbed” by the presentation of his family on Hulu’s new show, Murdaugh: A Death in the Family.
The five episode true crime limited series, which premiered in October, dramatizes the prominent legal and political family’s excess and unravelling, culminating in the murders of Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the family’s dog kennels on the night of June 7, 2021. Murdaugh is currently serving life in prison for their murders.
At trial, prosecutors say that Murdaugh was driven to kill his wife and son to distract attention from the looming discovery of the theft of millions of dollars from clients and his own law firm. This exposure came following lawsuits over Paul’s involvement in a boat crash that killed a teenage girl, Mallory Beach.
But Murdaugh’s lawyers, Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian, said that the show “contains numerous inaccuracies and misleading portrayals that distort the truth of their lives.”
“We urge viewers to approach this dramatization with the knowledge that it is not an accurate portrayal of Alex, his family, or the tragic events that it sensationalizes,” wrote Murdaugh’s attorneys.
The show is based on the Murdaugh Murders Podcast by journalist Mandy Matney. The show features a star-studded cast, including Jason Clark as Murdaugh, Patricia Arquette as Maggie and Brittany Snow as Matney.
Despite his family’s connections and initial success as a personal injury attorney, Murdaugh struggled with drug addiction, financial problems and infidelity, which threw his family into turmoil, according to evidence presented at trial.
But his attorneys argue that the show’s depiction of Murdaugh’s relations with his family “is particularly troubling, as it totally mischaracterizes Alex’s relationships with his wife Maggie and his son Paul, both of whom Alex loves so dearly. Alex was always extremely proud of Paul. Any other portrayal of his feelings toward Paul and Maggie are baseless and false.”
Murdaugh’s attorneys also said that they were concerned about the “lack of engagement by the producers or actors to understand the individuals portrayed.”
“No one from Hulu ever reached out to Alex, his son Buster, anyone in the Murdaugh family, or Alex’s attorneys to hear their perspective or verify the facts. Instead, the program appears to rely heavily on sensationalized accounts from secondary sources with no direct knowledge or relationship with him or his family,” the attorneys wrote.