EXCLUSIVE: Richard “Buster” Murdaugh Jr., the only surviving son of disgraced South Carolina lawyer and accused murderer Alex Murdaugh, lives a quiet life with his long-time girlfriend in a resort town ahead of the highly anticipated murder trial of its parent, Fox News Digital has learned.
“They are a very nice couple,” said a neighbor, who was unaware of Buster’s identity or the tragic family circumstances. “They always smile and say hello.”
Buster and Brooklynn White, both 26, live with their beloved golden retriever, Miller, in a modest one-bedroom condo on Hilton Head Island, a far cry from the sprawling 1,700-acre game farm known as the Moselle where they grew up. Islandton, South Carolina.
Alex, 54, is accused of fatally shooting Buster’s only brother, Paul Murdaugh, 22, and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, on June 7, 2021, near the property’s kennels.
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A combination of photos showing Richard “Buster” Murdaugh Jr. and his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, walking their golden retriever, Miller, outside their apartment on Hilton Head, Georgia.
(Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
The fallen patriarch is scheduled to go on trial on January 23 for the shocking double homicide. Buster has continued to support his disbarred and jailed father.
On Tuesday morning, Buster, with a downcast expression, pulled up in his gray GMC Yukon in front of Georgia’s apartment, then lugged a basket of laundry inside before driving off.
The house, which features a blue Marlin decoration on the front porch, is located in a complex with a communal pool, tennis court and gym.
Brooklynn White and Buster Murdaugh’s home on Hilton Head Island off the Georgia coast.
(Sims Brands for Fox News Digital)
It’s unclear when Buster and White started dating, but she accompanied him to Paul and Maggie’s joint funeral, according to a source.
She was seen comforting her boyfriend as he cried at the service, and she lovingly interacted with her father, the source added.
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More than 17 months after the murders, the graves of the slain mother and son in Hampton Cemetery still have no headstones and are marked with small plastic plaques.
Brooklynn White, girlfriend of Buster Murdaugh, works at the Olivetti, McCray and Withrow law firm on Hilton Head Island in Georgia.
(Mark Sims for Fox News Digital/Facebook)
White, who is from Rock Hill, South Carolina, bought the Hilton Head condominium for $180,000 in July 2021 after landing her first job out of law school at Olivetti McCray & Withrow, where she specializes in probate and estate planning. , according to the firm’s website.
She declined to answer questions Wednesday morning about her boyfriend’s status or the case against her father, politely responding to several requests for comment with a simple “No, ma’am.”
The apartment in Hilton Head, a vacation destination known for its pristine beaches and golf courses, is about 70 miles from Buster’s childhood home.
From left to right, Buster Murdaugh, 26, his mother Maggie Murdaugh, his brother Paul Murdaugh and his father Alex Murdaugh. Alex is accused of fatally shooting Maggie, 52, and her son, Paul, 22, on June 7, 2021.
(Facebook)
White attended the University of South Carolina School of Law along with Buster, who was allegedly expelled in his second semester for plagiarism, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Alex paid a lawyer $60,000 to try to get Buster reinstated, according to FitsNews.
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The news site also reported that Buster attended the South Carolina Association for Justice annual convention in Hilton Head in August with his lawyer uncle, Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh IV.
Buster Murdaugh, the only surviving son of disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, has been living with his girlfriend Brooklynn White, pictured, in their Hilton Head Island apartment.
(Facebook)
Buster has kept a low profile since igniting a firestorm in October 2021 when he was photographed in public with his uncle, John Marvin Murdaugh, gambling and drinking at The Venetian in Las Vegas.
Buster’s latest sighting comes the same week the federal trial of banker Russell Laffitte began, the first criminal case stemming from the spectacular collapse of the Murdaugh dynasty to go before a jury.
Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank, is charged with bank fraud, wire fraud and other crimes for allegedly helping Murdaugh fleece his personal injury clients of the settlement money.
The South Carolina graves of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh in Hampton Cemetery marked with temporary plastic plaques in November 2022, 17 months after their bodies were buried.
(Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Although he is a central figure in that federal case, Alex has not been charged. But he has been indicted on more than 80 counts of financial crimes in state court in connection with the alleged theft of $8.5 million of his client’s settlements.
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Prosecutors revealed Tuesday at Laffitte’s trial that Alex was first confronted with financial improprieties at the family’s once-illustrious personal injury law firm the same day his wife and son were murdered.
The firm, formerly known as Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Derrick, PA, accused Alex of embezzlement and forced him to retire.
The temporary plastic plaque marking the grave of Maggie Murdaugh at the Hampton Cemetery in South Carolina, 17 months after her husband, Alex Murdaugh, allegedly shot her and their 22-year-old son, Paul to death.
(Sims Brands for Fox News Digital)
Days after losing his job, Alex was shot in the head in a failed assisted suicide plot supposedly designed to leave Buster with a $10 million life insurance policy.
The Murdaughs, a prominent Democratic family, had wielded enormous judicial and political power for more than a century. Four generations served as the local prosecutor, known as the lawyer, who oversees the five counties in the far south of the state.
But his dominance began to wane in 2019 after Paul was accused of driving his father’s boat into a Beaufort bridge pilings while intoxicated, killing 19-year-old Mallory Beach, injuring four others and triggering a series of lawsuits that highlighted Alex’s alleged corrupt financial dealings.
Clockwise from left Anthony Cook, Connor, Cook, Miley Altman and Mallory Beach. The friends were on a boat with a drunken Paul Murdaugh when he crashed into a bridge, killing 19-year-old Beach and injuring the other three.
(Facebook)
Buster was also named as a defendant in Beach’s lawsuit for allegedly allowing Paul, who was a minor, to use his identification to purchase alcohol for the doomed boat trip. The civil case is scheduled to go to trial in January.
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Since the double murder, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has reopened investigations into the mysterious 2015 death of Buster’s classmate Stephen Smith, with whom he was rumored to be having a secret affair.
Authorities have also launched a new investigation into the 2018 death of Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper.
A stock photo of Alex Murdaugh, 54, embedded in an image of the Colleton County courthouse, where Alex Murdaugh will stand trial on charges of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, early next year .
(Mark Sims for Fox News Digital/Colleton County Detention Center)
A new HBO documentary series “Low Country: the Murdaugh Dynasty” that aired earlier this month features a series of jail calls between Alex and his son, which were recorded at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
On a recording, Alex asks Buster if “Brooklynn” got his letter. In several of the calls, which the series did not air, Alex speaks directly to White, who addresses him as “sir” and speaks warmly.
In another call, Alex encourages Buster to return to the Murdaugh mansion where his brother and mother were shot to death.
From left to right, Buster Murdaugh, 26, his mother, Maggie, 52, his brother, Paul, 22, and their father, Alex Murdaugh, 54. Alex Murdaugh is accused of fatally shooting Maggie and Paul on June 7, 2021, in the extended south of the family. Carolina Estate.
(FoxNews)
“I think the dam feeders were full on the Moselle,” says Alex. “If you felt like going back there, I bet it’s okay, I bet there are deer everywhere.”
Buster, who seems uneasy about the proposal, replies, “I’m not going out hunting.”
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One of Alex’s attorneys, Dick Harpootlian, and the family’s spokeswoman, Amanda Loveday, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
