A newly-released jailhouse phone call has offered a glimpse into the state of Alex Murdaugh’s relationship with his surviving son following his conviction for the murders of his wife and second son.
In the call dated 16 May, Murdaugh is heard ringing 26-year-old Buster Murdaugh from the maximum security prison in South Carolina where he will see out the rest of his days.
During the awkward and brief conversation, Murdaugh says he has been trying to call his son and tells him he “loves” him and is “proud” of him.
Meanwhile, Buster says he is busy and has few words for his father.
The call begins with Murdaugh saying: “Hey buddy.”
Buster quickly replies that he doesn’t have much time to speak.
“Hey I don’t have a whole of time I just boarded a ferry to go back to Hilton Head Island from Daufuskie [Island],” he says flatly.
“Yeah I know, I been trying to call. I was supposed to call you while you were with Jim, um, about this meeting,” Murdaugh says, in an apparent reference to his attorney Jim Griffin.
“But anyway. How about text him and let him know I’m trying to call him?”
Buster simply replies: “Mm-kay.”
Murdaugh continues with the conversation, asking: “Did he talk to you about that – about the thing that I told him?”
“No, I can’t really understand you either,” says Buster as the line crackles.
“Alright, alright… I’m gone – I’m going to leave word with Jim and he’ll be in touch with you,” Murdaugh says, before telling his son: “Love you.”
Alex Murdaugh’s new mugshot after he was sentenced to life in prison— (South Carolina Department of Corrections)
Following a brief pause, Buster mumbles: “Alright, love you, too.”
“Proud of you,” Murdaugh replies.
Buster quickly responds “thanks” and then disconnects the call.
In total, the call between father and son lasted just 42 seconds.
It was one of a trove of records of Murdaugh’s communications behind bars released to local outlet FITS News via a Freedom of Information Act request. The outlet reports that the “thing” referenced in the call could have been referring to Buster’s interview for an upcoming Fox Nation documentary on the Murdaughs.
The awkward conversation suggests that the father and son’s relationship may have become strained in the wake of Murdaugh’s conviction for the brutal 7 June 2021 murders of Buster’s mother Maggie and brother Paul.
Buster, the eldest and now only living son of Maggie and Alex, stood by his father throughout his murder trial – attending each day of the court’s proceedings with his family members in a show of support.
He sat through brutal testimony revealing that Paul was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun while he stood in the feed room of the dog kennels on the affluent family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate. The second shot to his head blew his brain almost entirely out of his skull.
After killing Paul, prosecutors said Murdaugh then grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fire on Maggie as she tried to flee from her husband.
Buster Murdaugh in court at his father’s murder trial— (AP)
She was shot five times including twice in the head after she had fallen to her knees.
Buster also testified in his father’s defence saying that Murdaugh had been “destroyed” and “heartbroken” in the aftermath of the deaths of his mother and brother.
Following a dramatic and high-profile trial – in which Murdaugh confessed to lying about his alibi on the night of the murders – the disgraced legal scion was convicted in March of the murders.
As well as the murders, Murdaugh is also facing more than 100 charges over a vast financial fraud scheme where he stole millions of dollars from law firm clients going back years.
He is also awaiting trial over a botched hitman plot where he allegedly paid an accomplice to shoot him by a Hampton County roadside.
