Alex Murdaugh was ‘authorized’ as a volunteer for the Solicitor’s Office, letter says

Alex Murdaugh, a prominent Hampton lawyer who told police he discovered the bodies of his wife and son on June 7, was “authorized as a volunteer” for the 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, according to a letter obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

Almost two weeks after the killings of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, Duffie Stone, 14th Circuit Solicitor, still refuses to say what role his office is playing in the investigation.

The solicitor’s silence raises questions about how involved his office is in the ongoing investigation and why he hasn’t recused his office. After the 2019 boat crash, Stone almost immediately stepped away from the investigation due to his office’s ties to the Murdaugh family and other occupants of the boat.

“It would be unethical for our office to be involved in prosecuting or sorting out the facts of any case in which material witnesses, potential defendants or victims have a familial relationship with someone in our office,” Jeff Kidd, spokesperson for the 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, wrote in 2019.

The Solicitor’s Office’s spokesperson did not return another call Friday.

Alex Murdaugh, according to the letter obtained by the newspapers through a Freedom of Information Act request, assisted his father, Randolph Murdaugh III, who served as solicitor from 1987 to 2005, in prosecuting cases out of retirement.

Murdaugh is a personal injury lawyer with Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth Detrick, based in Hampton.

He was “never” an employee in the Solicitor’s Office and has not been paid, the letter said.

The short letter is the first time Stone’s office has answered questions since the homicides of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.

Alex Murdaugh’s attorney profile describes him as “a part-time Prosecutor for the 14th Judicial Circuit.”