The couch where Alex Murdaugh had “the shortest nap in the history of the south” has sold for a staggering $30,000 as the once-powerful family’s clothes, furniture and other items were auctioned off this week.
Hundreds of items from the Murdaugh family’s Moselle hunting estate were put up for sale at Liberty Auction on Thursday, just weeks after the disgraced attorne was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul on the grounds of the property.
True crime enthusiasts packed out the auction house, looking to get their hands on items that once belonged to the prominent family – before murders, thefts and mysteries dramaticallty changed their fortunes.
A set of longhorns set one bidder back $10,000 for the privilege of adorning a Murdaugh family hunting trophy on their walls.
Dozens of other antlers were also sold to the highest bidders, along with boxes of shotgun shells – similar to those Murdaugh used to murder his son Paul.
Then there was the family-of-four’s clothing, with rails of camo gear lining the auction floor. Some of Maggie’s dresses were also available to buy.
Chillingly, much of the clothing was labelled with the name of which of the four the garment belonged to.
An eerie decorative skull was also on offer for the right price along with a framed poem which – based on what happened to the family – has taken on a whole new meaning.
It reads: “You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years, And get pats on your back as you pass, But your final reward will be heartache and tears, If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.”
Other home decor included a pair of lamps made from turtle shells – selling for $2,000 – and a whole collection of lifesized duck ornaments.
At the very top end of the scale was the family’s brown leather sofa and set of chairs where one bidder forked out a whopping $30,000 to take the set home.
The couch became somewhat infamous at the high-profile murder trial last month, making a major appearance in the alibi Murdaugh gave for where he claimed he was when Maggie and Paul were shot dead at the dog kennels on the estate.
Murdaugh had long claimed that he was napping on the couch at the time of the murders.
After being confronted with footage which placed him at the kennels minutes before the murders took place, he changed his story at trial, claiming he did go to the kennels after all – before returning and possibly dozing off for a moment on the couch and driving to his mother’s house.
Given only a few minutes passed between the damning kennel video and his car driving off from the house, prosecutor Creighton Waters tore into the killer’s story saying he had “the shortest nap in the history of the south”.
Jurors didn’t buy his alibi either and, on 2 March, he was convicted of murder – and sentenced to life in prison the next day.
After the high-profile trial, some auction-goers were hoping to get a piece of true crime history for either their own murderabilia collections or for commercial purposes.
One bidder opted for Maggie’s bicycle – telling Fox32 that he will put it on display in a “murder mystery museum” he plans to set up in Walterboro, not far from the courthouse where Murdaugh was on trial.
Another attendee revealed they had travelled to the auction to get “Christmas presents for the rest of the family”.
“Trying to get them something from the Murdaugh trial. Everybody found it very interesting, so we’d like to get them a little… something to remember the lowcountry events,” they told Fox News.
The items were auctioned off after the 1,700-acre Moselle estate sold this week for $3.9m.
Murdaugh’s only surviving son Buster Murdaugh will get $530,000 from the sale of the estate and the family’s auctioned items.
The rest of the funds will go to the claimants of a lawsuit over the 2019 fatal boat crash.
One night in February 2019, Paul was allegedly drunk driving the Murdaugh boat when it crashed, killing his friend Mallory Beach.
Paul was awaiting trial on charges over her death when he was murdered.
