Why didn’t Alex Murdaugh kill Buster? The theories detailed

Alex Murdaugh

Buster Murdaugh testified on Alex Murdaugh’s behalf during his trial for the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. “He sounded odd, and then he told me that my mom and my brother had been shot,” Buster described the moment Alex informed him of his mom’s and brother’s deaths. 

“He [Alex] was heartbroken,” Buster said. “I walked in the door and saw him, gave him a hug.” The teary testimony proved insignificant against a strong prosecution case. The jury delivered a guilty verdict after deliberating for less than three hours. 

In light of the verdict, netizens wonder how Buster survived his father’s murderous rampage. 

Alex reportedly didn’t kill Buster because he loved his first-born son deeply

Alex reportedly loved Buster more than he loved Paul. Before the Murdaugh empire crumbled, Buster was his father’s heir – he’d enrolled in law school and looked set to take over Alex’s practice. 

Morgan, Paul’s ex-girlfriend, says in Netflix’s Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Council that Alex and Maggie saw Buster as the model child. She suggested that Alex was neglected by his parents because he didn’t harbor Buster’s ambitions. 

“He [Buster] went to law school and she [Maggie] was over the freaking moon. Buster wanted the life that his father had. He wanted to be a big-name lawyer. He wanted to have the wealth and the power. He was following his father’s footsteps.”

Alex likely didn’t want to kill Buster as he viewed Buster as the person to continue the Murdaugh legacy. Alex probably knew he would be imprisoned for numerous financial crimes, leaving Buster to carry the Murdaugh name. 

The Murdaugh patriarch reportedly paid a Columbia lawyer $60,000 to ‘secure Buster’s readmittance’ into the University of South Carolina, The Post and Courier reports. Per the Wall Street Journal, Buster was expelled over a plagiarism incident. 

Alex’s love for Buster was on full display when he reportedly hired someone to shoot him in the head so Buster could receive millions in insurance money. Alex’s attorney, Dick Harpootlian, said Alex mistakenly believed Buster wouldn’t receive the funds if Alex committed suicide. 

“He called this guy [Mr Smith] who met him on the side of the road and agreed to shoot him in the head,” Harpootlian told NBC. “It was an attempt, on his part, to do something to protect his child.”

Buster will inherit $530k from his mother’s estate. 

A persistent rumor claims Buster was complicit in Alex and Maggie’s murders

Buster Murdaugh in court during his father’s six-week murder trial | AP

Some netizens claim that Buster is complicit in Alex and Maggie’s murder. Buster said that at the time of the murders, he was at his girlfriend’s house, over 200 miles away, in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He said he drove home after Alex informed him of the shootings. 

A report by the New York Post suggests Alex and Buster didn’t grieve Paul and Maggie’s deaths for long. A source told the outlet that Alex and Buster got very drunk at the annual South Carolina Association for Justice Convention two months after the murders. The source said:

“It was kind of surprising to see. Your whole family has just been slaughtered and you should be worried about assassins lurking around every corner but instead you’re whooping it up and drinking.”

Buster showed no emotion as Alex was convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. The nonchalance has fueled rumors that Buster knew Alex was guilty. 

“Buster is next… your son is next, Alex!” an onlooker yelled as officers escorted Alex to a police car after sentencing. Reports suggest that Buster was involved in the death of Stephen Smith, who was found dead on a remote road in Hampton County in 2015. 

Buster reportedly killed Stephen to prevent him from exposing their relationship. Authorities are reinvestigating Stephen’s death.  

Buster lives with his girlfriend, Brooklyn White, in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He’s allegedly struggling to accept the situation and hasn’t decided on his future. 

“No person with a heart and soul cannot feel sympathy for that young man,” attorney Joseph M. McCulloch Jr. told The New York Post. “It’s just been tragedy on top of tragedy for him. I don’t know how anyone can withstand that. I’m glad he has a girlfriend who seems so supportive.”