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On Sunday, March 5, Buster Murdaugh filed a police complaint against reporters for supposedly following him. The incident came just days after the March 2 guilty verdict of his father, Alex Murdaugh, who received two life sentences for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul.
According to ABC News 4, Buster Murdaugh told the authorities that they reviewed their surveillance footage after he and his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, saw that the media had released an intrusive photo of him in his Hilton Head home.
The footage revealed a gray Dodge Challenger outside their Hilton Head Island home on Saturday, March 4. Based on the angle of the photo, they told officials that the vehicle's occupant was most likely responsible for having snapped the shot.
After the incident, authorities allegedly spotted the gray Dodge Challenger near Buster Murdaugh's home. AOL noted that while warning the occupant of the vehicle of an improper lane change, they noted that the suspected photographer had a camera bag in their seat. He was released soon after.
Trigger warning: This article refers to murder and gun violence.
Why is the media scrutinizing Buster Murdaugh?
Besides being the last surviving son of disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, Buster Murdaugh is under the public spotlight due to his own troubled history.
As per NBC, the Murdaugh family scion first came under suspicion by authorities after he was identified as a person of interest in the death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, an openly gay South Carolina teen allegedly in a relationship with Buster.
The Island Packet newspaper claimed that while investigators believe Buster Murdaugh may have been involved in the killing, his father's influence may have prevented them from further probing the case. In June 2021, Carolina authorities reopened the Stephen Smith case after Alex Murdaugh became wanted for the double homicide, and his wealth and power declined.
Buster has also been linked to the death of Mallory Beach in February 2019. According to Legacy, 19-year-old Mallory Beach died in a boating accident after the late Paul Murdaugh was reportedly operating the vehicle in an inebriated state. While Buster was not at the crime scene, he was accused of providing his ID to the then-underaged Paul.
On September 4, 2021, Alex Murdaugh made the news, just months after the death of Maggie and Paul, when he was accused of attempting to arrange his own murder to allegedly secure insurance money for Buster.
According to Yahoo, an accomplice of Alex Murdaugh shot him in the head, but the incident left him with a 'superficial' wound. While Buster was not linked to the conspiracy, it is believed that Alex Murdaugh's death would have led to him receiving $10 million in life insurance.
As of March 2023, Buster Murdaugh reportedly resides on Hilton Head Island with his girlfriend, lawyer Brooklynn White. It remains unknown whether or not he is employed at this time.
