Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty

• June 17, 2022 (US)
• ID

The story of Alex Murdaugh and his now notorious family.

In case you’ve been living under a rock or sealed in a cave or even in a coma for the past two years or so, you should be unaware of Alex Murdaugh and that he stands accused (and now convicted) of murder. Most people have at least heard the name in passing and are aware that the man went on trial and was recently convicted of murdering his wife and son.

Based on that alone it doesn’t seem like the case is really anything worthy of national attention. There are any number of murder shows out there that profile cases like this on a regular basis. Each has a unique cast of characters, but the stories are repetitive. Father kills one or more members of his own family for any number of reasons. Usually petty and the people are not THAT big of a deal locally.

Up until I saw this documentary I really felt it was a local story much like you would find on any of those shows that somehow made its way into the national consciousness for no justifiable reason like the Runaway Bride story. What was the big deal about that? However, after watching Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty I have come to realize that there is just so much here that makes it worthy of national and even international attention but those elements are often underreported if reported at all.

The Murdaugh Family is a South Carolina legal dynasty going back over 100 years. And in that time they have made a name for themselves and garnered the kind of unelected power that made them a force equal to if not greater than they local law. They could certainly twist and bend the legal system to their own desires, creating favorable conditions for them as well as any clients they represented. You said their name and it struck figurative, if not literal fear into the opposing side.

This documentary focuses not only on the two well-known murders but touches upon other deaths connected to the family. I believe the total is something around five deaths all linked and/or connected to the Murdaugh Family in some way. There is there a long-time housekeeper. There is a potential gay lover of the deceased son among others.

Suspicious death after suspicious death is connected to one member or another. They highlight them but proof is thin as serious investigations appear to only now to be just starting. They do a good job of illustrating how someone from the family could’ve been involved either in covering up the truth or simply in the act of death itself.

Their longtime housekeeper reportedly fell and hit her head, but the evidence shown here implies she could have been struck by an object instead. What makes it suspicious though is the dispassionate response of the Murdaughs to the death of there housekeeper of 30 years. Oh, and the housekeeper’s death also connected to financial crimes which had started to culminate around the time of the final murders. Alex Murdaugh was stealing not only from her estate but from his law office and various other clients.

Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty alludes to how those financial crimes of Alex Murdaugh may have led to the murders of his wife and son, as well as a boat crash that his son was involved in which was beginning to get looked at by the local police. You are left with the impression that it was perhaps one too many scandals and that this murder would’ve given Murdaugh an out of some type. Or at least that’s what he believed.

But it also delves into the family who are all a bunch of terrible or just odd people. At least the ones they discuss here. There is the grandfather referred to as ‘Handsome Murdaugh’. Yep. They didn’t refer to him as ‘Granddad’ or ‘Pop Pop’ but rather ‘Handsome’. That’s, well, really weird.

There was a sense of entitlement and invincibility that permeated the family’s thinking. After the aforementioned boating accident his son stood there with a smirk according to police audio tapes. Later Alex Murdaugh engaged in clearly inappropriate acts afterward to not only change stories but to pin the blame on someone other than his son.

This is just an engrossing and salacious story brought to vivid life through interviews and clips. There’s just so much going on here and they engross you in all of it. What we get is so much more fascinating than what the media has generally spoken about. Some outlets are only just now going deeper in order to extend the life of the story.

Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty is an easy binge. It moves swiftly and goes down fast. You will not believe you spent as much time watching it as you did. It’s engrossing and hypnotic and you can’t look away. It’s also interesting that this one creep has managed to destroy an entire family’s long built legacy. His sense of invulnerability and entitlement or a simple lack of caring have destroyed everything. It exposed every secret and so many questionable acts. It reframed a once well-regarded name into something unspeakable. In that this documentary series tells how one boob cam destroy everything.

Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty is a fantastic deep dive into the issues that led directly to Alex Murdaugh’s current situation. It will enlighten you as to why this deserves the attention that it gets. A must see!