‘Murdaugh Murders’: Where was Buster Murdaugh during the shooting?

The Murdaugh family of South Carolina has ties to numerous controversial and suspicious events, from murders to seemingly accidental deaths and financial crimes. They’re a legacy family of attorneys and solicitors, whose reputation crashed and burned following the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh in June 2021.

Alex Murdaugh, Maggie’s husband and Paul’s father, was found guilty of the two homicides in March 2023, and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole. Maggie and Alex have another son, however, Buster Murdaugh, who maintains his father’s innocence and stood by him during court proceedings. But where was he in the evening of the gruesome crimes and how did he become the only surviving family member?

Who is Buster Murdaugh?

Buster Murdaugh, 29, shares the same name as his father, Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr., but was given the nickname Buster after his great-grandfather, former South Carolina Fourteenth Circuit solicitor Randolph “Buster” Murdaugh Jr.. Before the 2021 murders, Buster was a law student at the University of South Carolina and worked for his father’s legal firm. According to The Wall Street Journal, Buster didn’t make it very far in college, however, as he was expelled in 2019 during his second semester for plagiarism. It’s widely reported that his dad then paid an attorney $60,000 to plead his case with the university and get him readmitted.

Following the renewed media attention his family has received over the last couple of years, a cold case that could be traced back to Buster has been reopened and is currently being investigated. Stephen Smith, an old classmate of the former law student, with whom he is rumored to have had an affair, was found dead in 2015 on a country road not far from the Murdaugh family estate. His death was ruled a hit-and-run, but no one was ever charged. Buster was also responsible for providing his brother Paul with a fake ID so he could buy alcohol, which ultimately led to the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach during a boating accident.

Where was Buster when his father killed his mother and brother?

Buster’s absence from the crime scene was naturally a big talking point at the time, as the only family member with no involvement in the shooting. Local South Carolina news agency FITSNews reported that Buster was in York County, South Carolina that evening, with Buster later testifying to being in Rock Hill, at his girlfriend Brooklynn White’s house. They then received a phone call from Alex Murdaugh telling Buster that his mother and brother had been shot and immediately drove roughly 200 miles to Moselle Road where the family Islandton estate was situated and where Maggie and Paul were killed.

According to his testimony, Alex started by asking Buster, over the phone, if he was sitting down, before telling him what had happened. “He sounded odd, and then he told me that my mom and my brother had been shot,” Buster revealed in court. He also said his father was “heartbroken” and “destroyed” when he arrived at Moselle.

A FOX Nation documentary which aired Aug. 31, 2023, contains Buster’s first interview since the trial, where he says the “love” he witnessed in his family is the reason why he still believes Alex did not kill his mother and brother. He also accuses the case against his dad of being “tilted,” “not fair,” and presenting “a crappy motive.” Despite all this, Buster thinks calling his father a “psychopath” is a “fair assessment” given his “lies,” stealing, and “manipulation,” particularly pertaining to the mammoth number of financial crimes he pleaded guilty to on Sept. 22, 2023. Alex said he pleaded guilty so his son could “see [him] take responsibility.” In the documentary, Buster also denies any involvement with Stephen Smith.