South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh resigned from his law firm after he learned he was being investigated for the misappropriation of millions of dollars the day before he was allegedly shot in the head on a rural road, the New York Times first reported.
Murdaugh’s law firm, PMPED, founded by his grandfather over 100 years ago, confirmed to the paper Monday that it had hired a forensic accounting firm to investigate the missing funds, which a member, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claims is in the millions, and had also informed police and the South Carolina Bar Association.
Murdaugh’s attorney, Jim Griffin, confirmed to NYT that he had left the firm for the financial accusations. Griffin told the paper his client had expressed his “regret and sorrow.”
Murdaugh, whose wife and younger son were slain in an unsolved double-murder, said Monday that he was stepping down from his law firm to enter rehab after a strange shooting over the weekend left him with a head injury. He made no mention of the financial investigation.
“The murders of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult time in my life. I have made a lot of decisions that I truly regret,” Murdaugh said in a statement through another lawyer, Dick Harpootlian, to Live5News
.
“I’m resigning from my law firm and entering rehab after a long battle that has been exacerbated these murders. I am immensely sorry to everyone I’ve hurt including my family, friends and colleagues. I ask for prayers as I rehabilitate myself and my relationships.”
Murdaugh, 54, and his family were the subject of national headlines when his wife, Maggie, 52, was shot to death near the dog kennels on the grounds of the family’s hunting lodge on June 7. Also gunned down was her and Alex’s troubled 22-year-old son, Paul.
Murdaugh was allegedly shot in the head while experiencing car trouble near Varnville, South Carolina around 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Griffin said that shots were fired from a truck that had passed Murdaugh on the road and circled back as he was working on his car.
Murdaugh was airlifted to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia, where he was treated for a “superficial” gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.
By Monday Murdaugh was discharged from the hospital, after which he immediately met with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating both the murders of his wife and son as well as the shooting, his attorney told NYT.
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