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After the March 3 sentencing of Alex Murdaugh, the focus has shifted to the disgraced South Carolina lawyer's son, Buster Murdaugh, 26, who has his own sordid history.
Trigger warning: This article includes mentions of gun violence.
According to Fox News, while Buster Murdaugh hails from a once-prominent clan of Lowcountry lawyers, he was reportedly expelled from the South Carolina Law School for plagiarism in 2019.
While The Wall Street Journal confirmed that Buster had worked for Alex Murdaugh's law firm for a period of time, it has been speculated that his father's imprisonment may mark the end of any career for Buster in the legal world.
As of now, it remains unknown how Buster Murdaugh will sustain himself. He was last in the public spotlight when he testified at the trial of his father, who was recently found guilty of murdering Buster's brother, Paul, and mother, Maggie.
Buster Murdaugh's family reportedly paid $60,000 to have him readmitted to law school
Distractify noted that the allegations of Buster Murdaugh's plagiarism surfaced during his second semester at the South Carolina School of Law in 2019. The Post and Courier reported that after he was expelled from the university, his family paid $60,000 to have him readmitted.
Butch Bowers, the Murdaugh family lawyer, said that due to the family's troubled circumstances, Buster has not indicated that he has any plans to enter law school in the near future.
Bowers said:
"He has put his desire to go to law school on hold for now. There is no plan for him to start school in the fall or in the spring."
Men's Health reported that Buster is presently residing in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, with his girlfriend, Lexington County lawyer Brooklynn White.
The disturbing history of the Murdaugh scion
In addition to the allegations of plagiarism, Buster Murdaugh is also implicated in at least two other deaths. In 2015, he emerged as a suspect in the supposed murder of his alleged former lover, 19-year-old Stephen Smith.
According to the Greenville News, authorities suspected that Buster had murdered Smith in order to conceal the supposed same-sex relationship from his family. While the case was reopened after Alex Murdaugh's arrest, no indictments have been officially disclosed by South Carolina authorities.
In 2019, his brother Paul Murdaugh was accused of drunkenly operating a boat, leading to a fatal crash that killed 19-year-old college student Mallory Beach. While Buster was not present at the scene of the crash, he was accused by the Beach family of having provided a fake ID for his then-underage brother to purchase alcohol.
In the wake of the boating incident, Paul Murdaugh was charged with three felonies, including boating under the influence. However, the charges against him were dropped after he was murdered alongside his mother on June 7, 2021.
While a lawsuit naming Buster Murdaugh was filed by the Beach family, The Independent stated that it was settled in January 2023.
