Maggie Murdaugh was “fun, witty” and devoted to her husband Alex and their children, friends said Thursday, speaking for the first time after Alex was convicted of her murder.
The 52-year-old mother of two was found dead on June 7, 2021 on the family property in South Carolina. Alex was convicted on March 2 of the murder of her and her youngest son, Paul, 22.
Another element of the sprawling case came to light on Thursday, when a GoFundMe to exhume another young man connected to the family reached its goal.
Maggie Murdaugh is seen with her husband Alex and their sons Buster (right) and Paul (left). Paul was shot dead alongside her in June 2021
A GoFundMe for Stephen Smith, who died in 2015, has exceeded its goal. Buster Murdaugh’s name has long been associated with Smith’s.
Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old nursing student, died in July 2015 under mysterious circumstances. The death was ruled a hit and run, but the coroner told the state police investigator that he disagreed with the autopsy findings. Smith’s family believes that he was murdered.
Buster Murdaugh, Alex and Maggie’s eldest son, now 26, was long believed to be somehow connected to Smith’s death. More than half of the people interviewed during the investigation mentioned hearing rumors about Buster Murdaugh’s possible involvement in Smith’s death. However, Buster was never questioned.
Smith’s family now hopes to re-evaluate the case and seek “a fresh and unbiased look at her body and an accurate determination of her cause of death based on the facts,” her mother, Sandy, wrote on the GoFundMe site.
As of Thursday night, he had raised $40,000, far exceeding the $15,000 goal.
Maggie’s friends said they felt she had been lost in the scandalous saga.
Caroline Price said she was concerned that Maggie’s story had been drowned out in the noise around the case.
Shellie West lived with Maggie Murdaugh after graduating from the University of South Carolina
shellie west said CBS News she wanted people to know ‘that she was funny’.
West added: ‘She had a personality, which was witty. She loved things. She loved her family.
He said that Maggie was a calm and strong person.
“She wasn’t the type of person that would stand out in a crowd, but she was always there, you know, to have everyone’s back,” he said.
Caroline Price said she “absolutely” felt Maggie’s personality was drowned in the coverage.
The three had been friends since they were together at the University of South Carolina.
Price was Murdaugh’s ‘big sister’ in the Kappa Delta sorority; Murdaugh and West lived together after graduation.
Both women were at the Murdaughs’ wedding.
Price said that Alex was “larger than life”, while Maggie Murdaugh was “not flashy at all”.
The Murdaugh family is seen on vacation. Price and West said Maggie “loved her family”
Price continued: “She loved her family. I mean, her children. She was also very close to her parents and her sister.
She was a dutiful wife, you know, who supported Alex.
West added: “She was a person, she was a mother, she was a sister, she was a friend, she was a daughter.”
‘You know, she’s not ‘the wife who was killed’. I mean, we don’t want to be remembered that way.
Alex Murdaugh was sentenced on March 3 to two consecutive life terms.
On March 9, his lawyers filed a notice to appeal the conviction.
