Alex Murdaugh Spends a Lot of Time Playing Chess in Prison — Here Is the Latest Update

The mystifying rise and fall of once-renowned attorney Alex Murdaugh and his family captured the nation's attention. Murdaugh's list of crimes involve everything from murder to embezzlement.

Over a century ago, his great-grandfather founded a law firm that employed dozens of lawyers in Hampton, S.C. Alex joined the firm as a staff attorney and went on to make partner before his world was completely shattered.

On June 7, 2021, Alex's wife, Maggie, and their youngest son, Paul were shot and killed at the family's sprawling estate in Hampton. No one was arrested for the heinous crime, which brought major scrutiny into every nook of Alex's life.

In the months that followed, Alex was reportedly shot by a former client. However, Yahoo News reported that the shooting was just an alleged ploy so his remaining son Buster Murdaugh would receive $10 million from his life insurance policy.

From there, Alex Murdaugh's controversies would continue to pile up. He was released from jail on $20,000 bail and was sent to rehab for an opioid addiction. According to a 2021 New York Post report, he would later be arrested in connection to the mysterious death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, back in 2018. This, combined with an investigation into his multimillion-dollar embezzlement allegations, created a veritable laundry list of criminal charges. Where is he now? Here's what we know.

Alex is serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders of his wife and younger son. According to NBC News, he is working as a wardkeeper’s assistant in a state prison protective unit in South Carolina. His defense attorney, Jim Griffin, told the outlet that Alex spends a lot of time playing chess. "He said there are really good chess players in there." Griffin went on to say, "Alex is an affable guy. I am sure he has made friends."

Life isn't all fun and games for the disgraced lawyer who spends most of his time separated from the prison's general population. From Friday to Monday, he is "totally locked in his cell with no freedom of movement," explained Griffin. There were rumors that Alex was running some sort of gambling hustle, but Griffin denied they were true.

In April 2024, Alex was sentenced to 40 years in prison for 22 federal financial crimes, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, per the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina. Alex confessed that from July 2011 until at least October 2021, he asked banker Russell Laffitte to serve as personal representative or conservator for numerous personal injury clients.

Laffitte collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from them.

Alex then had law firm employees make settlement checks payable to "Palmetto State Bank," which were drawn on Alex's law firm’s trust account and identified the personal injury clients on the memo lines. The checks were then distributed to Alex, who used them to pay off personal loans and for personal expenses. From September 2005 to September 2021, Alex used false pretenses to obtain money from his law firm as well as his own clients.