Maggie Murdaugh made headlines in death. But the loss of the woman called “Magnolia” by her sister was quickly overshadowed by the high-profile tribulations of her husband, Alex — charged with murdering Maggie and their son, Paul, accused of nearly 100 financial crimes involving millions of dollars, fired from the law firm his great-grandfather founded, disbarred and embroiled in several scandals simultaneously. A jury convicted him on March 2 of both murders.
A key piece of evidence in the weekslong South Carolina trial — during which 76 witnesses, including Alex Murdaugh himself and the couple’s surviving son, Buster, took the stand — was a video of Paul’s. Prosecutor Creighton Waters described that video as Paul’s testimony from beyond the grave.
But Caroline Price and Shellie West want to make sure they remember their longtime friend for the good times — “the way she was, and not what happened,” as West put it.
Price and West told CBS News’ Nikki Battiste their friend doted on her sons and was a dutiful wife to her husband, whom Price said was “larger than life” while Maggie Murdaugh “wasn’t flashy at all.”
“She was a person, she was a mother, she was a sister, she was a friend, she was a daughter,” said West. “You know, she’s not ‘the wife that was murdered.’ I mean, we don’t want her to be remembered that way.”
The three had been friends since they were at the University of South Carolina together. Price was Murdaugh’s “big sister” in the Kappa Delta sorority; Murdaugh and West lived together after graduation. Both women were in the Murdaughs’ wedding.
They want people to know “that she was fun. She had a personality, that she was witty,” said West. “She loved things. She loved her family.”
They want to keep her memory alive.
“Do you feel that Maggie has been lost in all of this?” asked Battiste.
“Absolutely,” Price said.
Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for more features.
