The only surviving son of murderer and con man Alex Murdaugh plans to sue Netflix and Warner Brothers over documentaries connecting him to the murder of his former classmate.
Alex Murdaugh, 55, is now in prison for the murders of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their youngest son, Paul, 22, as well as a series of financial crimes.
Son Buster, 30, unmistakable for the distinctive red hair he and his brother inherited from their father, is suing several media outlets, as well as the two big studios, for damaging his reputation.
Murdaugh claims that several films and stories written about the case have linked him to the murder of 19-year-old Stephen Smith.
An attorney for Smith’s family warns Murdaugh that attempting to suppress information will only have the opposite effect.
The only surviving son of murderer and con man Alex Murdaugh plans to sue Netflix and Warner Brothers over documentaries connecting him to the murder of his former classmate.
Smith died in 2015 near the Murdaugh estate in South Carolina and was initially ruled an accident.
Smith, who was openly gay, was initially ruled to have died in a hit-and-run. But following widespread interest in the Murdaugh case and rumors that Smith and Buster Murduagh had a sexual relationship, Smith’s case was reopened in June 2021.
On March 23, 2023, his death was declared a homicide and his mother Sandy launched a GoFundMe to pay for the exhumation of his body.
Buster Murdaugh last year called any reports linking him to Smith’s death “vicious rumors” and the lawsuit claims there are no formal allegations against him.
The films Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal on Netflix, Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty, distributed by Warner Bros., and Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty, on Discovery+ are named in the lawsuit, along with Gannett Publishing.
He is also suing Michael DeWitt Jr., publisher of The Hampton County Guardian, a local newspaper.
The lawsuit cites several scenes that Murdaugh’s lawyers say link him to Smith’s death.
“The false statements were published to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of viewers who watched the program,” the document adds.
Alex Murdaugh, 55, is now in prison for the murders of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their youngest son, Paul, 22, as well as a series of financial crimes.
Son Buster, 30, unmistakable for the distinctive red hair he and his brother inherited from their father, is suing several media outlets, as well as the two big studios, for damaging his reputation. Murdaugh claims that several films and stories written about the Murdaugh case have linked him to the murder of 19-year-old Stephen Smith (pictured right).
Eric Bland, an attorney for the Smith family, believes this will only be good for those Murdaugh is suing.
“I think the defendants will love this lawsuit because it will constitute the third part of any documentary,” Bland said. The daily beast.
‘Buster was never asked if he had any knowledge of (Smith’s) death. ‘He simply said that he did not kill (Smith) and that he did not have a sexual relationship with him.’
Bland also represented the victims of the various fraud schemes carried out by Alex Murdaugh, who sentenced him to an additional 40 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from clients of his law firm, a punishment he will serve at the same time as his 27-year sentence for state fraud convictions.
The lawyer says Buster is “exposing himself” and is “very interested” in what information he can get about Murdaugh.
“I think this lawsuit will be counterproductive,” he said. ‘I spoke to several lawyers who were asked to take on his claim and they approved. This will only serve to highlight Stephen’s research.
Murdaugh wants actual damages and punitive damages due to the defendants’ “reckless conduct in falsely accusing him of being involved in the murder of Stephen Smith,” according to ABC News 4.
Alex Murdaugh is already serving a life sentence without parole in state prison after a jury found him guilty of murder for shooting his wife and young son.
Many have tried to connect Buster (pictured left), a former high school classmate of Smith’s, to the murder, given how close Smith’s death occurred to the hunting ranch.
An attorney says Buster is “exposing himself” and is “very interested” in what information he can get about Murdaugh.
Investigators said that as Murdaugh’s financial plans were about to be exposed in June 2021, he decided to kill his wife and son in hopes of turning him into a sympathetic figure and diverting attention from the missing money.
Paul Murdaugh was shot several times with a shotgun and Maggie Murdaugh was shot several times with a rifle outside the family’s home in Colleton County.
Murdaugh has strenuously denied killing them, and has even testified in his own defense against the advice of his lawyers.
Federal prosecutors said Murdaugh appeared to be telling the truth about the roles banker Russell Laffitte and lawyer and old college friend Cory Fleming played in helping him steal.
Laffitte was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison, while Fleming is serving nearly four years behind bars after pleading guilty.