What Buster Murdaugh Did That Even Alex's Defense Team Didn't Expect

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is History's Hidden Killers. Here now, Tony Brueski.

**Tony Brueski** (0:08)
Buster Murdaugh named his first born child after his father. His father is Alec Murdaugh. The disgraced South Carolina attorney convicted of murdering Buster's mother, Maggie, and Buster's younger brother, Paul, at the family's hunting estate in June of 21 A jury found Alec guilty. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms and that's been erased now, as we all know. A second trial is coming. But at the time, Buster, the surviving son, the man whose mother and brother were taken from him, looked at the man, the state said, did it, and gave his baby that man's name. This is the fifth episode in a series about families that stand behind the accused. And the Murdaugh case contains something none of the others do. A son who is not choosing his father over evidence, over strangers, or over an abstract concept of justice. Buster is choosing his father over the murder of his own mother and his own brother. The psychological weight of that is in a category by itself. This is not a piece I want to say to insult Buster or to challenge Buster or to say he has anything to do with any sort of crime, because I do not believe he does. It is an interesting look, though, at family members who stand by the accused despite overwhelming evidence. And you can also argue this, and we have been too. The SC Supreme Court said a do-over is needed in that trial. Not necessarily because of the evidence, but because of jury tampering.
But this whole story is a rabbit hole. If you want to know more about the Murdaugh case, I'll leave it at this. Look at our feed, there's a gazillion stories in the last week or two, as this new saga begins to unfold, leading to a new trial involving investigators, poor investigative work, so many missteps, so many screw-ups, oh my God.
It matters that you cross your t's and dot your i's, kids.
Love to get your thoughts in the comment section and sub stack on YouTube as we go through this. Alex Murdaugh, he was convicted in March of 23 after a six-week trial that transfixed the country. The evidence was extensive, forensic, digital, and testimonial beyond the Murdaugh's. Alex separately pled guilty to dozens of state and federal financial crimes, admitting to stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable clients at the family's law firm over a period of decades. He staged a boxed suicide attempt so Buster could collect a $10 million life insurance payout, asking his alleged drug dealer to shoot him in the head. The shot only grazed his scalp. The Murdaugh name, which once carried nearly a century of prosecutorial authority across the South Carolina Low Country, was destroyed in front of the entire country.
And Buster watched it happen from the front row. He attended every day of the murder trial. He sat in the courtroom while witnesses described how his mother and brother were shot to death near the dog kennels on the family's property. He testified for the defense describing his father as destroyed, heartbroken on the night of the murders. He called Alec a doting parent who coached every little league team I played on. He was reportedly moved further back from the defense table after allegedly making a gesture towards a prosecution witness. When the guilty verdict was read, Buster put his head in his hands. His girlfriend Brooklyn White was beside him through all of it. After the conviction, Buster continued visiting his father in prison and calling him regularly. Defense attorney Dick Harpudelin described the relationship as strong. They're very affable. They have a great relationship, Harpudelin said. Buster married Brooklyn White in a ceremony in Buford, South Carolina. In 25, he had a child and he gave that child his father's name. Lucky him.
In a Fox Nation docu-series, Buster was asked directly about his position. He said, I don't think that he could be affiliated with endangering my mother and brother. We've been here for a while now and that's been my stance. He expressed fear that the real killer might still be out there, that he himself might still be at risk. His tone was not defiant. It was steady. It sounded like a conclusion he had arrived through deliberation and committed to. And far be it from me to tell him he's wrong. Far be it from anybody to tell him he's wrong. This Buster knows his father better than any of us do. Buster saw a side of Alec that none of us have seen. We've heard about, but never seen. And he saw it in action, in patterns, consistently throughout his life. And this is the conclusion he's come to. Not because Buster is delusional, but because Alec presented that side to his family for the duration of their lives. It is quite a deviation for someone like that to suddenly go awry and harm the people he loves the most in such a way as he's alleged to have done.