COLUMBIA, SC — Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced attorney accused of killing his wife and son, was indicted Friday by a grand jury in South Carolina on nine counts of tax evasion, adding to the slew of charges he faces in the aftermath of their deaths more than a year ago.
Prosecutors said Murdaugh, 54, made nearly $14 million as a lawyer over nine years, but also stole nearly $7 million from his law firm at the same time.
Through tax returns from 2011 to 2019, the grand jury indictments shed a light on a man who made millions at the law firm his family founded a century ago, but who also had large swings in income and stole about half as much money as he made from Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick.
The latest indictments bring the total number of charges against the disgraced attorney to more than 100.
Murdaugh will be tried in murdaugh-murder-trial-date-set/”late January on murder charges in the June 2021 shooting deaths of his wife Maggie and their son Paul at the family’s home in Colleton County. Prosecutors have said they will seek life in prison if he is convicted.
Murdaugh’s lawyers adamantly deny he had any role in the killings, but they have acknowledged his role in taking money from clients.
Nine counts of willful attempts to evade or defeat a tax were added to Murdaugh’s charges Friday. Prosecutors said he dodged nearly $487,000 in state income taxes. He faces up to five years in prison on each count if convicted.
Most of the other charges against Murdaugh deal with either stealing $8.8 million in lawsuit settlement money from badly injured clients, or families of people killed in wrecks or on the job, as well as a drug ring and money laundering scheme,