By KATIE McLAUGHLIN
HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (Court TV) – Court TV has obtained the audio of a May 16 phone call between Alex Murdaugh and his surviving son, Buster Murdaugh. It is the first time the public has heard Alex’s voice since he spoke at his sentencing back in March.
Alex Murdaugh smiles while listening to his son Buster Murdaugh testify during his trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (Jeff Blake/The State via AP, Pool)
Alex placed the call from the McCormick Correctional Institution, the maximum security men’s prison in South Carolina where the elder Murdaugh is serving two life sentences for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and his youngest son, Paul.
The 42-second conversation went as follows:
ALEX: “Hey buddy.”
BUSTER: “Hey I don’t have a whole of time I just boarded a ferry to go back to Hilton Head Island from Daufuskie (Island).”
ALEX: “Yeah I know, I — I been trying to call — I was supposed to call you while you were with Jim, um, about this meeting,” Murdaugh said. “But anyway. How about text him and let him know I’m trying to call him?”
BUSTER: “Mm-kay.”
ALEX: “Did he talk to you about that — about the thing (line crackles) that I told him?”
BUSTER: “No, I can’t really understand you either.”
Buster Murdaugh, right, the son of Alex Murdaugh, listens to a question from defense attorney Jim Griffin while testifying during his father’s trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (Jeff Blake/The State via AP, Pool)
ALEX: “Alright, alright. I’m gone, um, I’m going to leave word with Jim and he’ll be in touch with you.”
BRIEF PAUSE.
ALEX: “Love you.”
BRIEF PAUSE.
BUSTER: “Alright, love you, too.”
ALEX: “Proud of you.”
BUSTER: “Thanks.”
BUSTER HANGS UP THE PHONE.
The “Jim” whom Alex refers to is most likely his defense attorney, Jim Griffin. The “meeting” with Jim that Alex mentions, and the “thing” Alex told Jim is likely in connection with a new documentary on the Murdaughs that’s set to air on Fox Nation; as the date of the phone call coincides with the timeframe during which Buster sat down for interviews.
The three-episode Fox Nation docuseries “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh” is set to premiere in September, and will feature exclusive interviews with Buster.
