The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty

For over 100 years, the Murdaugh family held sway over Hampton County due to the far-reaching power of their legal influence. Bauerlein investigates how this power corrupted generations of Murdaugh men and examines the ways in which their power decayed the county’s ability to progress. Each generation of Murdaughs intensified the power of the generation before, leading the newer generations—Alex and Paul—to feel entitled to the access and respect that their ancestors had built. As solicitors, the Murdaughs felt like they were not just above the law, but that they “were the law” (147), and they repeatedly abused and exploited the law for their own personal gain. For example, Alex frequently used his grandfather’s solicitor’s badge and had “convinced himself that it was all he needed” (20) to reap advantageous treatment from law enforcement, even though he never held the position of solicitor himself. Alex had an honorary badge, which Bauerlein highlights was simply a signifier of power, not something that Alex worked to achieve. As an extreme example of this entitlement, Paul wasn’t even interested in pursuing a career in law, but he regularly weaponized his grandfather’s position to get out of trouble.

Once the Murdaughs achieved this level of power, Bauerlein illustrates that their behaviors quickly became criminal.