Lawsuits: Murdaugh used attorney friend to manipulate

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two lawsuits say a South Carolina lawyer charged with trying to arrange his own death steered people who needed legal help to an attorney who was a family friend who didn’t have their best interests in mind. In one lawsuit, the sons of Alex Murdaugh’s housekeeper who was killed in a fall says Murdaugh told him his attorney friend could handle a settlement. The new lawyer for the sons says more than $4 million might have been kept from them. In the second lawsuit, a teen involved in a boat crash with Murdaugh’s son says Murdaugh told him to hire the same lawyer who then told the teen to not tell investigators Paul Murdaugh was driving the boat.