Alex Murdaugh, a convicted murderer, once formed a bond with a lifelong offender in prison who became his mentor.
The assertion was made in John Glatt’s most recent book, “Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege and the Murdaugh Family Murders.” It examines the illustrious family’s ascent to power and the double homicide that shook the nation, according to the best-selling true-crime novelist. A request for comment over the publication of the book from Fox News Digital was not immediately answered by a lawyer for Murdaugh.
The case was recently the focus of the true-crime Netflix documentary “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.”
“A lot of people did not want to talk on the record about things,” Glatt told Fox News Digital. “The Murdaughs are known by everybody… in every other way. And a lot of people did not want to comment on what was going on. But I did manage to find some close friends of the Murdaughs. They opened up to me… I spent three weeks in South Carolina talking to people, finding out things… I’ve written 25 true-crime books and this is one of the most memorable.”
When the attorney was given two life sentences in March for killing his wife and son in an effort to hide his alleged financial misdeeds, the once-dominant legal dynasty of South Carolina came to an end.
Murdaugh spent time in the Richland County Detention Centre in South Carolina between 2021 and the beginning of this year. The New York Times said that he had previously been detained in a Florida drug detox facility and accused of stealing millions of dollars from Gloria Satterfield’s son. The matriarch spent roughly 25 years caring for the Murdaugh family as a nanny and housekeeper, the source claims. At age 57, she passed away in 2018.
In his book, Glatt claimed that the patriarch befriended a “hardened” criminal who had spent most of his life in prison. The unnamed lawbreaker became “a mentor for the former attorney and assistant solicitor.”
“We really hit it off, and I liked him,” Murdaugh was quoted as saying to his sister-in-law in 2022. “He was always in trouble with guns but laid-back and very jail-smart. He taught me a lot about being in here that helped me.”
According to Glatt, a different reporter had previously filed a Freedom of Information Act request to access the jailhouse calls.
“I listened to every one of those 200 calls,” Glatt explained. “… He didn’t talk a lot about what happened, but he would talk about his life in prison. And it was amazing how he’d settled in. He was a gambler. He loved all the basketball games, especially the Gamecocks. He was a sports enthusiast. And that didn’t change behind bars.”
“He’d be betting on sports games with other prisoners,” Glatt claimed. “Instead of big money, he’d be betting for commissary, like candy and things like that. He also mentioned meeting hardened criminals. They’re not named, but he mentioned how impressed he was with them and how they handled themselves in jail, and how he was learning from them… tips on how to survive. It’s amazing how he survived in jail and in fact, even flourished in a way.”
The slain patriarch, according to Glatt, knew how to make jail life work for him.
“He assimilated very easily into the jail system,” he explained. “… He was a master manipulator, which you could hear from the jailhouse calls.”
The book claims that Murdaugh established friends through chess and poker but was constantly on guard “against a possible snitch.” He talked about making friends with one confidante who performed him favours in exchange for tiny bribes during one of the calls.
“He’s an old guy in a wheelchair,” Murdaugh is quoted as saying. “He moves himself with his one leg. He’s like the guards’ little pet… and does all the running around. He does a lot for me. Twenty bucks mean all the world to him.”
“It would amaze you, the trade system in here,” he told his brother. “And how innovative these folks are and resourceful with so little. I’ll have to tell you about it later and not on the phone because I know they listen to every single phone call I make.”
Inmates were only permitted to deposit $60 a week into their commissary accounts, according to Glatt’s account in his book. Murdaugh allegedly instructed a family member to deposit an extra $60 each week into the account of another prisoner. Murdaugh would give that prisoner a $15 commission and pocket the rest.
Glatt also highlighted that Murdaugh never brought up his late wife or son during his cell calls, despite being aware that they were being taped. He would instead instruct his other son, Buster Murdaugh, to “make sure there were always flowers on their graves.”
The most influential law company in Hampton County was established by Murdaugh’s family a century ago. For many years, this meant that almost everyone who found themselves in court—regardless of whatever side of the law they were on—would have a Murdaugh either guarding their back or staring them down.
Murdaugh, according to the prosecution, stole millions of dollars and ended himself in a precarious financial situation. On June 7, 2021, he shot Paul, 22, and Maggie, 52, in their Colleton County house as a result. According to the police, Paul was awaiting trial in relation to a boat crash in 2019 that claimed the life of a 19-year-old lady.
Murdaugh maintained his innocence throughout the sentence process.
“As I tell you again, I respect this court,” he told Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman. “But I am innocent. I would never under any circumstances hurt my wife Maggie and I would never under any circumstances hurt my son Paul-Paul.”
“And it might not have been you,” Newman said. “It might have been the monster you become.”
Glatt insists that Murdaugh has no regrets at all.
“I don’t think there is any remorse at all,” he said. “During the trial, he always had a handkerchief totally at the ready to wipe his eyes when something gruesome or emotional came out. It was like he was playing to the jurors… He knows how to play the game in closing arguments and civil cases… He [thought] he could do that with this jury. And it rebounded on him… Of course, Alex has never admitted to killing them, and I’m sure he never will.”
Murdaugh currently resides in McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina. He is housed in the maximum security prison’s protective custody wing, along with roughly 28 other convicts who are thought to be potential targets, such as child abusers and ex-police officers.
Murdaugh’s attorney Jim Griffin told Fox News Digital in April that he “has a small group he interacts with regularly,” but avoids the “significant number” of inmates who were “convicted of some pretty horrendous sex crimes.”
Gryphon claims that from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the convicts are permitted in the communal section of the pod, where they pass the time by playing checkers, and cards, and watching TV. They each have a tablet computer with limited internet access, a tiny patio for fresh air, and a phone for making calls and sending emails.
Additionally, Murdaugh seems to have a large following outside. Gryphon added that strangers have given his commissary over $1,000 and that he has gotten over 90 letters from 28 states and several other countries, most of which have expressed support.
Murdaugh has “stayed positive” and even remarked that the guards have been “courteous and professional.”
Gryphon mentioned that Murdaugh no longer makes phone calls because of concern that the press will obtain the recordings. Instead, he writes letters to Buster and his other loved ones.
In his book, Glatt aims to present “a much fuller picture of the Murdaugh story.”
“[People] have just been reading things in newspapers and magazines, but I went a lot further,” he explained. “… And I think there are a lot of new things that I’ve brought out in this book that have never been heard, never been seen before. I hope they get a much fuller, three-dimensional picture of what really happened.”
“On paper, this was a very close and loving family,” he reflected. “But obviously they weren’t. There was a demon there that tore it all apart.”
Gryphon claims that from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the convicts are permitted in the communal section of the pod, where they pass the time by playing checkers, cards, and watching TV. They each have a tablet computer with limited internet access, a tiny patio for fresh air, and a phone for making calls and sending emails.
Additionally, Murdaugh seems to have a large following outside. Gryphon added that strangers have given his commissary over $1,000 and that he has gotten over 90 letters from 28 states and several other countries, the most of which have expressed support.
Gryphon claims that from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the convicts are permitted in the communal section of the pod, where they pass the time by playing checkers, cards, and watching TV. They each have a tablet computer with limited internet access, a tiny patio for fresh air, and a phone for making calls and sending emails.
Additionally, Murdaugh seems to have a large following outside. Gryphon added that strangers have given his commissary over $1,000 and that he has gotten over 90 letters from 28 states and several other countries, the most of which have expressed support.
