Here's a Timeline of All the Deaths on Netflix's Murdaugh Murders: A ...

23 Feb 2023

Content warning: This article contains references to murder some may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised.

The bulk of Netflix's newest true crime series, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, focuses on both a deadly boating accident that injured five teenagers and killed one of them, as well as on a double murder of a mother and son. However, there are more deaths involved with the wealthy and somewhat notorious Murdaugh family from South Carolina.

Whether you're about to dive in and want a preview of what's to come, or you've just finished binging the series and need a refresher, check out our timeline of this chilling true crime case.

July 8, 2015

Stephen Smith's body was found in the middle of the road in Hampton County, South Carolina, his car parked a few miles away. The 19-year-old had severe head trauma and, as one of the troopers there that night said in the documentary, "Nothing at the scene appeared that it was a vehicular accident." The incident happened not too far away from where classmate Mallory Beach (more on her later) lived.

Stephen was an openly gay teenager, who, as his friend Olivia said, "did not give a sh*t about what people thought about him."

Stephen's case went cold, and when a private investigator hired by Stephen's mother dug into the murder, he spoke with many people who all said they had heard Buster Murdaugh — Alex Murdaugh's eldest son — allegedly committed the crime. There were rumors Stephen and Buster were secretly intimate together, which would have "damaged" the Murdaugh family name.

One theory went, according to Olivia, that Stephen ran out of gas and called Buster for help. Buster, and possibly one or two other people, who happened to be in the area, pulled up and offered him a ride. But not long after, "that's when it all started to unravel."

Once the Murdaugh's name entered the chat, the investigation into Stephen's death "just fade[d] away," according to private investigator Steve Peterson. His murder has never been solved and, per People, how Stephen died "remains a mystery to this day."

February 2, 2018

Three years after Stephen died, the Murdaugh housekeeper (who was a second mother to Alex Murdaugh's youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, according to Paul's ex-girlfriend, Morgan Doughty), Gloria Satterfield, was injured while working at the Murdaugh house and later died. Maggie Murdaugh, Paul and Buster's mother, called 911, saying Gloria had "fallen," and had done so "going up the [brick] steps" to the Murdaugh house.

According to Valerie Bauerlein from The Wall Street Journal, who investigated the murders and was interviewed for the docuseries, Gloria's family members were told Gloria "tripped over the [Murdaugh] family dogs on the stairs, and fell backward, and hit her head violently and died."

Gloria's death wasn't immediate; she died on February 26. But, as her brother Eric put it, his sister "really wasn't responsive to [her family] the whole time she was in the hospital."

Morgan Doughty, Paul's girlfriend, shared that Alex Murdaugh was addicted to painkillers and Gloria had allegedly found drugs taped underneath Alex's bed. According to Morgan, Gloria told Paul what she had found because she was "scared" to go to Maggie, Alex's wife, about the situation.

According to the docuseries, some people felt Gloria knew too much and that knowledge got her killed.

In June 2022, news broke that Gloria's body was going to be exhumed, since, as reported by WJCL, "her death was never reported to the coroner. And no autopsy was performed [at the time]." (However, there does not appear to be any new updates about the exhumation at this time.)

February 23-24, 2019

murdaugh murders a southern scandal l to r mallory beach and morgan doughty in murdaugh murders a southern scandal cr netflix © 2023

Courtesy of Netflix

After a night of drinking and partying at an oyster roast, a group of six friends — three sets of couples — headed home on Paul Murdaugh's boat. However, Paul, who was reportedly driving the boat while intoxicated, accidentally crashed it into a piling, according to both the docuseries and The Post and Courier. Five of the teens were thrown from the boat and suffered serious to mild injuries, but the sixth person on the vehicle, 19-year-old Mallory Beach (pictured left in the above photo), never surfaced. No one could find her.

Seven days after the crash, Mallory's body was recovered. According to the docuseries, she had blunt-force trauma to her head and, after that, she drowned.

Two months after Mallory's death, Paul was charged with boating under the influence causing death and two counts of boating under the influence with great bodily injury. Paul pled not guilty. Unfortunately, he was murdered before he could stand trial.

June 7, 2021

murdaugh murders a southern scandal

Courtesy of Netflix

Paul Murdaugh, then 22 years old, and Maggie Murdaugh were murdered at their home, near the dog kennels, which, as The Wall Street Journal's Valerie Bauerlein put it, "were a short drive away from the main house."

Alex Murdaugh allegedly came home from checking on this ailing parents to find his wife and younger son had been shot and called 911.

Maggie had been shot several times in the chest and back. Paul was shot once in the chest and then shot a second time at the neck and head.

As of this writing, Alex is currently on trail for the double homicide of Maggie and Paul.

Headshot of Stacey Grant

Stacey Grant

Senior Editor

Stacey Grant is a senior editor at Seventeen who runs the brand's Snapchat Discover channel. She also covers entertainment topics specializing in nostalgia, such as classic '90s and '00s Disney Channel and Nickelodeon content.

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