Murdered South Carolina scion had a ‘drunk alter ego Timmy’ and stripped before fatal boat crash

The heir to a legal dynasty, who was shot dead along with his mother, is said to have had a drunk alter ego named ‘Timmy’ and stripped down to his underwear before allegedly causing a boat crash which claimed the life of a 19-year-old in 2019, according to court documents released last week. 

Paul Murdaugh, 22, and his mom Margaret, 52, were found shot dead at their hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina around 10pm on Monday. 

A law enforcement source told The Island Packet since that Paul was the intended target.

Paul was awaiting trial on criminal charges relating to the 2019 death of Mallory Beach, who was thrown from a boat that Paul was allegedly driving drunk when he crashed it. 

Beach’s family also sued Paul in civil court, where depositions released last week revealed Paul would get drunk and become a different person.  

The nickname ‘Timmy’ started three or four years before the boat crash, testified Anthony Cook, who is Paul’s cousin and was Mallory’s boyfriend at the time. 

‘It’s a different name because he turns into a completely – totally different person. So somebody will say, ‘All right. Here comes Timmy. We got to go.”‘

Cook also testified that Paul slapped or pushed his girlfriend and stripped down to his underwear in 40 degree weather on the night of the crash.

‘Paul for some reason acted like he was on drugs or something. He started taking his clothes off during one of the arguments, and it is 40 degrees outside,’ Cook sad in his testimony. 

‘I’ve seen him do it a few times when gets drinks. I don’t know why he does that.’  

Cook’s testimony painted a chaotic picture of alcohol-fueled arguments among the group of six because Paul drove the boat in circles while people said they wanted to go home. 

Cook said Mallory ‘said he was stupid’ and ‘it was time to go home.’ 

‘He turned and pointed at her, and I could tell he was going to say something, and I told him not to make that mistake, and he stared at me for a second went back to steering the boat,’ Cook said in his testimony.

‘And I believe that’s when the boat took off.’ 

He said the throttle was hit, but wasn’t how or by who. 

‘We went from a 2mph idle to the bow of the boat sticking up in the air,’ he said. 

Fast forward to Monday, Paul was found with shotgun wounds to his head and upper body, and his mom was found dead with gunshot wounds from an assault rifle, the law enforcement source told The Island Packet. 

Their bodies were found several yards apart from one another, shell casings were discovered at the scene and two firearms were recovered. Their deaths have been ruled a double murder. 

Three days after Monday’s murders, Paul’s grandfather Richard Murdaugh III died at the age of 81, although his death is believed to have been the result of natural causes. 

Paul was awaiting criminal trial on three felony charges of facing one count of boating under the influence causing death and two counts of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury over the death of Mallory in 2019. 

Paul pleaded not guilty and was due to stand trial before his murder. 

The charges will now be dropped against Paul but the civil lawsuit will continue.  

Gossip over the shocking killings of two members of a family spawning multiple generations of local prosecutors has reached fever pitch, with cops yet to officially reveal a motive, suspect, or any further information about the case. 

The Murdaugh family has ruled the county’s legal system for decades, prosecuting nearly every criminal case in the southern part of the state.

Several family members have served as county elected prosecutors going back almost 87 years. The local community felt Paul was receiving special treatment in the boating death case due to his family’s power. 

Questions are now mounting about the murders, as authorities have fallen silent and are refusing to release almost any information about the investigation.

A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) spokesman also stonewalled DailyMail.com when contacted Saturday night, saying only: ‘No additional information is available at this time while we are conducting an active investigation.’ 

South Carolina state law requires police to provide some records on cases in the days following an incident.  

And yet the only report released to date is a one-line statement from Colleton County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday.

It reads: ‘On June 7, 2021 at approximately 2226 hours I responded to 4147 Moselle Rd in Colleton County in reference to two gunshot victims found by the caller.’

A spokesperson for Colleton County Sheriff’s Office told DailyMail.com Saturday they could not release any information about the case and that SLED is leading the investigation.

There are growing concerns the family’s powerful role in the county’s legal system could jeopardize the investigation and the search for the killer or killers. 

The sheriff’s office handed the case to SLED due to the Murdaugh family ties to the 14th Circuit solicitor’s office, according to The Post and Courier.  

Richard Alex Murdaugh – Margaret’s husband and Paul’s dad - works as a part time prosecutor for the 14th Circuit solicitor’s office. 

Three generations of the family – Richard Alex’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather - ran the office consecutively from 1920 through 2005. 

There was a brief gap in 1995 when Buster Murdaugh was accused of helping moonshiners evade authorities.

It is now headed up by non-family member Duffie Stone. 

It was Richard Alex who reportedly found the bodies of his wife and son around 10pm Monday night. Sources said he told cops he had been out shooting and returned to the grim scene.   

However, the 14th Circuit solicitor’s office is still involved with the investigation and has not handed off the case, reported The Post and Courier. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to the solicitor’s office asking if it plans to remove itself from the case due to potential conflict of interest.  

Former University of South Carolina law dean Robert Wilcox told the Post and Courier the solicitor’s office’s involvement does not pose ethical issues yet.

Conflicts of interest could however arise depending on where the investigation leads and who is identified as a suspect, he said.  

‘That mere fact that the Murdaugh name is closely associated with the solicitor’s office doesn’t cause me any concerns at this point,’ Wilcox said.  

‘We have no idea who the solicitor will ultimately be engaged in prosecuting.’   

The civil lawsuit filed last year by Beach’s family also named Parker’s convenience store, saying a store clerk sold alcohol to two of the underage teens that night after one of them flashed a fake ID. 

Both Mallory and Paul were underage at the time.  

The first two judges it was assigned to each recused themselves from the suit and it was eventually handed to a judge from another county in the state.   

The Beach family released a statement after the murders saying they hoped the killer would be brought to justice. 

‘The Beach Family extends its deepest and warmest sympathies to the Murdaugh family during this terrible time.

‘Having suffered the devastating loss of their own daughter, the family prays that the Murdaughs can find some level of peace from this tragic loss. 

‘They would like the family and the community to know that their thoughts and continued prayers are with the Murdaughs. 

‘It is their most sincere hope that someone will come forward and cooperate with authorities so that the perpetrator of these senseless crimes can be brought to justice.’  

Funerals were held Friday for Paul and Margaret. 

Hundreds including public officials gathered for the service as they were laid to rest in Hampton Cemetery. 

Richard Alex and Margaret also had another son named Buster. 

As well as dominating the 14th Circuit solicitor’s office, Randolph Murdaugh also founded law firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick in 1910.

The Murdaugh family’s power has helped them accrue vast amounts of wealth in the county, including owning more than 1,700 acres of land including the hunting lodge where the double murders took place. 

They have been struck by other tragedy in the past with Randolph killed when a freight train hit his car.