Buster Murdaugh Was Never The Same After His Brother Paul's Death

Long before the Murdaugh family became a worldwide phenomenon due to its connection to a series of untimely and/or mysterious deaths, the clan was veritable royalty in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The family had maintained a century-long presence in the region as circuit solicitors and respected attorneys, beginning with the election of Randolph Murdaugh Sr. as solicitor to the 14th judicial circuit in 1920.

Flash forward 100-plus years and his great-grandson, then-attorney Alex Murdaugh, was convicted for the 2021 murder of his youngest son, Paul Murdaugh (who, himself, was the driver in the 2019 boating accident that resulted in the death of his friend, Mallory Beach) and his wife, Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, at the family's Colleton County lodge, "Moselle." The violent murders — both mother and son were shot to death near the dog kennels on the property — and subsequent trial were the subjects of international curiosity, drawing press from every corner of the globe and inspiring a myriad of television specials, including the Netflix documentary, "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal."

In the wake of the deaths and Alex's double life sentence, only one member of the immediate family continued to live freely: Alex and Maggie's eldest — and sole surviving — son, Richard Alexander "Buster" Murdaugh, Jr. In the years prior to, during, and since the trial, Buster's name has been bandied about at a breakneck pace in connection with the tragedies that plagued his family. Here are the ways his life has changed following the deaths of his brother, Paul, and mother, Maggie.

Buster Murdaugh's world officially came crashing down on June 7, 2021, when his father, Alex Murdaugh, contacted the police to report that he had found his youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, dead. What followed were major questions about who killed Buster's brother and mother, his father's arrest on suspicion of the double murder, and a litany of financial charges being levied at Alex.

One such charge was the accusation that Alex defrauded the family of their longtime housekeeper, who died in a slip-and-fall accident on the Murdaugh's property. The housekeeper's family never received the $4.3 million insurance settlement, with it allegedly going straight into Alex's pocket upon payout.

As reported by People, that series of tragic events was too much for the remaining Murdaugh son to bear, according to two family friends. Buster reportedly cleared out his belongings the month after Paul and Maggie died, even before his father's arrest, skipped town, and became virtually unavailable to those who knew him. "He's not doing well at all," a former college classmate claimed to People in 2022. "He really withdrew after everything happened. Before, he'd text immediately ... Now, he doesn't respond to most texts, or if he does, it's one or two words. He has really closed off and built walls around himself."

In February 2023, Buster Murdaugh — a regular attendee of the court proceedings to that point — was called to the witness stand by the defense team of his father, Alex Murdaugh. During his testimony, Buster shared the details of how his father broke it to him that his brother and mother had been killed.

"My dad called me — I can't remember the exact time," Buster recalled, via Oxygen. "But it was later. And he called me on the phone. He asked me if I was sitting down. And I was like, 'Yeah.' And then he, you know, he sounded odd and then he told me that my mom and brother had been shot." Later arriving at Moselle on the night of the murders, Buster described his father's emotional state in the aftermath, saying, "He was heartbroken. I walked in the door and saw him and gave him a hug."

When the prosecution — as reported by CNN — suggested that Alex said, "I did him so bad," in reference to Paul Murdaugh during an interview with police in the weeks after the murders, Buster stated his belief that his father actually said, "They did him so bad." Regarding the assertion by prosecutors that his father had intentionally left his cellphone behind during the killings, Buster testified that service at Moselle was spotty, and his father sometimes misplaced his phone.

In March 2023, Alex Murdaugh was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of his youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh. The disgraced attorney was later ordered to serve two life sentences by Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman. As the guilty verdict was read in court, many were curious to see how Buster Murdaugh would react. With the conviction, Buster — who maintained that Alex was innocent throughout the trial — would now face the prospect of life without his father after having already lost the rest of his family.

Buster initially appeared stoic, keeping his emotions hidden, as the jury's decision was revealed. His father turned to him and reportedly mouthed "it's okay" afterward, as reported by The Independent. Buster was then seen rubbing his eyes momentarily, but kept his composure.

However, a source claimed to the New York Post that Buster reportedly broke down after leaving the courthouse. "Buster held up pretty well until the cameras were off him — but then he collapsed," the source told the publication. He was reportedly inconsolable until his uncles, John Marvin Murdaugh and Randy Murdaugh, got him into a car. Still, Buster's initial reaction to the verdict was worlds apart from what you'd think.

As Alex Murdaugh was being tried for the murder of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, his sole surviving heir, Buster Murdaugh, contended with speculation regarding the death of one of his former high school classmates, Stephen Smith. The 19-year-old was tragically found dead on a South Carolina roadside in July 2015. After finding his body, police later located his car 3 miles away with its gas cap dangling.

Smith's death was initially determined to be the result of a hit-and-run accident, despite a lack of evidence at the scene. However, the case was reopened amid Alex's trial due to the Murdaugh name having come up during interviews with investigators after the mysterious death.

According to CBS News, Buster's name showed up "dozens of times" in the original Smith case file. Buster denied involvement in the situation, issuing a statement (via CBS News), saying, "These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false. I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family." Buster has never been charged in relation to Smith's death. But that hasn't stopped people online, or even media outlets, from speculating about a connection between the two.

In the immediate aftermath of his brother and mother being found dead at Moselle, Buster Murdaugh and his longtime girlfriend, Brooklynn White, made the trek to the Colleton County lodge to be with Alex Murdaugh. During his 2023 testimony, Buster told the court that he hadn't been back to the property since that night.

Buster ultimately never returned to Moselle, nor has he visited his family's Edisto Island, South Carolina beach house, where his mother was staying before her untimely death. Buster also avoids his hometown of Hampton, and it's not difficult to see why. "I get stopped and yelled at all the time. I got cussed at in the gas station the other day," he told Alex in a recorded phone call (via The State).

In 2023, Murdaugh and White — who was regularly at Buster's side as his father was on trial — purchased a home with in Bluffton, South Carolina. The couple reportedly bought the $450,000 home, which included three bedrooms and three bathrooms over 1,652-square-feet.

Two years before Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were shot dead, the Murdaugh family was thrust into the spotlight as a result of a tragic boating accident. In February 2019, Paul and several of his close friends, including 19-year-old Mallory Beach, were traveling on the Murdaughs' boat when the vessel crashed into the Archers Creek Bridge in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Paul, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time, was driving the boat when the accident occurred, and the crash resulted in Beach's death. Although Paul was never criminally charged in the matter prior to his own death, the Beach family eventually filed a wrongful death suit, with Buster Murdaugh being listed among the multitude of defendants in the case.

Buster was accused of providing his younger brother with his identification to purchase the alcohol he consumed on the night of the crash. However, Buster, along with his mother's estate, were ultimately dropped from the lawsuit, as reported by The State, after a settlement was reached in the case. "The Beach family feels like Buster had suffered enough, and it was important to get Buster out of the lawsuit," the Beach's attorney, Mark Tinsley, told the outlet.

The settlement in the Mallory Beach wrongful death lawsuit hinged upon the sale of the very property where Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were tragically killed: the Murdaugh family's lodge in Colleton County, Moselle. In March 2023, the 1,770-acre property was eventually sold for a whopping $3.9 million, with local farmers James Ayer and Jeffrey Godley responsible for paying for eight tracts worth $2.66 million.

Buster received a payout of $530,000 as a result of the sale. However, he wasn't the only one who collected money after the property officially changed hands. Approximately $2.68 million from the sale was earmarked for clients of attorney Mark Tinsley, including Beach's mother, Renee Beach (representing her late daughter's estate), Morgan Doughty and Miley Altman (who were among the survivors of the 2019 boat crash), and others involved in civil suits against the Murdaughs.

While he testified in support of Alex Murdaugh during his father's murder trial, Buster Murdaugh didn't open up about Alex's conviction until a fall 2023 sit-down interview with Fox Nation's Martha MacCallum for the docu-series, "The Fall of the House of Murdaugh." During the interview, Buster said that he still believed his father was innocent, despite having received a guilty verdict for the murder of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.

"I do not think that he could be affiliated with endangering my mother and brother," Buster said at the time. "We have been here for a while now, and that's been my stance." However, Buster did confess that his father may have some psychopathic tendencies, saying, "I think there are characteristics where you look at the manipulation and the lies and the carrying out of that such, and I think that's a fair assessment."

Buster also addressed his alleged connection to Stephen Smith, denying that he was involved in Smith's 2015 death and rebuffing the rumors that the pair had been in a relationship. "I did not have any personal intimate relations with Stephen. And that obviously cannot be proven because it is baseless. I never had anything to do with his murder, and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level of any regard. The night Stephen was killed, I was at our at our Edisto Beach house," Buster said.

To say the documentaries that cover a number of bizarre details about the Murdaughs don't paint the family in a positive light would be a massive understatement. Of course, when your family is known for the unexplained death of a local teen, the accidental death of its longtime housekeeper, a drunken boating accident also resulting in death, and, finally, the double murder of a mother and a son, that probably stands to reason.

However, Buster Murdaugh had a big-time problem with his own portrayal in these documentaries in particular. Specifically, Buster took issue with a perceived insinuation by the filmmakers that he had something to do with Stephen Smith's 2015 death. Consequently, Alex Murdaugh's surviving son has sought restitution in the matter, filing suit against Netflix — and others who have reported on the case — for defamation.

As reported by The Guardian, the claim — which was filed in Hampton County in 2024 — seeks actual and punitive damages for "irreparably" damaging his reputation and causing "mental anguish." Other parties named in the lawsuit include Blackfin, Warner Bros. Discovery, Campfire Studios, The Cinemart, Gannett — publisher of the local newspaper, The Hampton County Guardian — as well as the outlet's editor, Michael DeWitt, Jr., who spoke to the rumors about Buster and Smith in the documentary.

Buster Murdaugh's life since his brother and mother were killed has been rife with chaos. In addition to going through a murder trial and seeing his father, Alex Murdaugh, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, he has essentially lost his childhood home, started over in a new part of South Carolina, been accused by some of having a hand in Stephen Smith's death, and has felt so harassed by the media and others that his partner, Brooklynn White, has filed multiple police reports, citing an ongoing intrusion into their life, as reported by The Independent.

Through it all, though, Buster has been able to lean on White as his rock. So, it should come as no surprise that the two finally became husband and wife in 2025. The couple got married in front of family and friends in Beaufort, South Carolina. While Buster decided to put his dreams of becoming an attorney on hold after getting kicked out of law school for plagiarism, White graduated from the University of South Carolina Law School and eventually took a job with the Olivetti, McCray & Withrow law firm in 2021.