ByWTOC Staff
Published:Sep. 8, 2021 at 9:38 AM EDT
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WTOC) - The Supreme Court of South Carolina has suspended Alex Murdaugh’s law license until further notice.
The court issued the order on Wednesday, Sept. 8.
Murdaugh resigned from his family law firm after being accused of diverting lawyer fees, his own attorney says.
The resignation comes after Murdaugh was grazed in the head in a shooting along a rural road in Hampton County over the weekend.
One of Murdaugh’s lawyers, Jim Griffin said the allegations of financial impropriety have prompted Murdaugh to confront his substance dependency and voluntarily check into an in-patient substance abuse rehab facility. Griffin said Murdaugh checked into the facility after being discharged from the hospital Monday.
The Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth & Detrick law firm said Murdaugh is no longer associated with them. The firm also said that a forensic accounting firm would conduct a thorough investigation of claims that Murdaugh misappropriated funds. Law enforcement and the SC Bar have been notified by the firm.
Murdaugh’s wife and son, Margaret and Paul, were found shot to death at a family home in Colleton County in early June. No arrests have been made in this case.
Prior to his death in June, Paul Murdaugh was charged in the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach after he crashed his father’s boat into a bridge near Parris Island in February 2019. Those charges were dropped last month.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has reopened an investigation into the death of a 19-year-old man in Hampton County in 2015. SLED reopened the probe into Stephen Smith’s death in Hampton County based on information agents gathered as they continue to investigate the shooting deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, SLED spokesman Tommy Crosby confirmed.
Members of the Murdaugh family served in the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office for about 87 years, which covers Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper Counties in South Carolina. Last week, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone recused himself from prosecuting any cases related to the shooting deaths of Paul and Margaret Murdaugh.
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