The father of a 19-year-old girl killed in a boat crash driven by Paul Murdaugh has broken his silence after Alex Murdaugh's murder conviction was overturned. Phillip Harley Beach, 60, the father of Mallory Beach, told the Daily Mail that he was sure Murdaugh would still face justice following news that he will face a new trial for the murders of his wife and son.
'The same prayers that put him there will keep him there,' Beach said. 'It's in God's hands.' His daughter Mallory lost her life in a speedboat crash in February 2019, which was driven by Alex Murdaugh's son Paul while he was over three times the legal drink-driving limit. The family's connections came under scrutiny at the time as Paul was never given a field sobriety test or booked in jail, and he was only ever charged with boating under the influence.
Paul was under indictment for the incident at the time that he was murdered alongside his mother Maggie in 2021, adding to the list of twisted, mysterious deaths linked to the disgraced South Carolina family. Mallory's death has often been cited as the catalyst for exposing Alex Murdaugh's financial crimes, which prosecutors say led him to murder his wife and son to stop his family discovering his criminal enterprise.
Philip told the Daily Mail that his family's 'prayers have carried us through this ordeal' in the six years since his daughter's tragic death. 'We put our faith in God.' Questions have mounted over the years over several deaths linked to the family, also including that of Steven Smith, 19, a friend of Paul's brother Buster who was found dead in an apparent hit-and-run near the Murdaugh estate in 2015.
The Murdaugh family housekeeper Gloria Satterfield also died in 2018 after she suffered a severe head injury on the estate, and Alex was later convicted of stealing her family's life insurance and covering up her death as 'natural causes.' Mallory Beach, 19, was killed in a speedboat crash in February 2019 after Paul Murdaugh crashed the boat while drunk. On June 7, 2021, Maggie and Paul were shot dead at the family estate — at the time that Paul was under indictment over Mallory Beach's death.
Alex Murdaugh has been granted a new trial after he was found guilty of two murders in 2023. It comes after the South Carolina Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it was overturning Alex Murdaugh's conviction for the murders of his wife and son, and said that he will be given a new trial. The court said five justices voted unanimously to overturn Murdaugh's conviction for the June 2021 slayings after the trial was marred by jury tampering at the hands of the court clerk Becky Hill.
'Although we are aware of the time, money, and effort expended for this lengthy trial, we have no choice but to reverse the denial of Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial due to Hill’s improper external influences on the jury and remand for a new trial,' the justices wrote in a 5-0 vote. Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of the June 7, 2021 slayings of Maggie, 52, and younger son, Paul, 22, in a high-profile trial watched gavel-to-gavel across the country.
The mother and son had been shot dead at the dog kennels on the powerful legal family’s sprawling 17,000-acre Moselle estate in Islandton, South Carolina. Mallory Beach's father Phillip told the Daily Mail following news that Alex Murdaugh was getting a new trial: 'The same prayers that put him there will keep him there.' The Murdaugh family housekeeper Gloria Satterfield also died in 2018 after she suffered a severe head injury on the estate, and Alex was later convicted of stealing her family's life insurance and covering up her death as 'natural causes.'
Questions have mounted over the years over several deaths linked to the family, also including that of Steven Smith, 19, a friend of Paul's brother Buster who was found dead in an apparent hit-and-run near the Murdaugh estate in 2015. Murdaugh maintained his innocence of the murders and continued to fight his conviction ever since. The tale of Murdaugh's spectacular fall from grace was one that has captivated the public for years. This was a man who had it all, born into a powerful, wealthy family that had dominated the justice system in South Carolina’s Lowcountry for more than a century.
When Maggie and Paul were murdered, his life and reputation began to unravel. Other mysterious deaths tied to the prominent family entered the conversation, and his multi-million-dollar fraud schemes came to light. Murdaugh even allegedly tried to hire a hitman and stage his own shooting months after the family killings. The double life of the prominent attorney was finally laid bare, culminating in his arrest and conviction for his wife and son's murders. Murdaugh has maintained his innocence of the murders and continued to fight his conviction ever since.
