No persons of interest, suspects named so far in Colleton County double homicide

ISLANDTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Agents with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division are not confirming whether they have any persons of interest or suspects in the Monday night shooting that left a mother and her son dead.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office responded Monday night to a 911 call at a property in the 4100 block of Moselle Road in the Islandton area. There, they found the bodies of Maggie Murdaugh, 52; and Paul Murdaugh, 22.

Both had been shot to death, according to Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey.

Since Monday night, investigators have released few details on what might have led up to the killings.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office called SLED in to assist with the investigation and has referred requests for information to them.

SLED spokesman Tommy Crosby provided this statement Wednesday afternoon when asked about any specific persons of interest:

SLED and the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office is committed to conducting a complete and thorough investigation into the shooting deaths of the Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. No additional information is available as we are conducting this active investigation.

The Murdaugh family is well-known in the Lowcountry. Three generations of the family served as consecutive 14th Circuit Solicitors from 1920 through 2005. The 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office serves Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper Counties.

Paul Murdaugh was charged in 2019 in the death of 19-year-old University of South Carolina student Mallory Beach, who died in a boat crash near Parris Island in late February of that year.

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office said the charges against Murdaugh would be dropped in light of his death.

Several members of the Murdaugh family were named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Beach’s family. The lawsuit names a restaurant and several people the Beach family alleged played a role in providing alcohol to the minors on the boat. The lawsuit named members from three generations of Paul Murdaugh’s relatives.

As for the death investigation, Harvey said forensic autopsies on the two victims are scheduled for Thursday.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office at 843-549-2211 or Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at 888-CRIME-SC.