Lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who killed wife and son, faces tax evasion charges

A disgraced lawyer accused of killing his wife and son has also been charged with tax evasion.

South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, 54, faces nine new counts of attempted tax evasion. Friday’s indictments allege he tried to avoid nearly $487,000 in state income taxes. They increase the count against him to over 100.

Murdaugh allegedly shot his wife Maggie and son Paul at their home in Colleton County last year to cover up financial crimes. Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to the murders. His trial is scheduled to begin in late January 2023, with prosecutors saying they are seeking a life sentence.

The latest charges concern Murdaugh’s 2011-2019 tax returns, which show he made nearly $14 million as an attorney at Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick. The attorney general’s office argues that Murdaugh also stole nearly $7 million that should go to her law firm.

If convicted, Murdaugh faces up to five years in prison on each count of tax evasion.

Previous charges against Murdaugh primarily concern allegedly stealing $8.8 million in settlement funds from injured clients and families of victims killed on the job, or a drug and money laundering scheme. Murdaugh has been hit by nearly two dozen charges since September 2021.

Last week, prosecutors argued that Murdaugh’s financial woes prompted him to murder his wife and son over fears his plans would soon be exposed. Prosecutors believe Murdaugh thought the deaths of his family members would draw attention and give him more time to hide his crimes.

“This is an economic case that has culminated in murders,” Creighton Waters, chief prosecutor of the state grand jury, told Circuit Judge Clifton Newman.

But Murdaugh’s defense attorney has argued that he knew better than to draw attention to his personal life and family.

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