Attorney Mark Tinsley has alleged that Alex Murdaugh may have planned to murder his wife and son over six months due to mounting pressure to cover up his financial crimes.
Tinsley represents the family of Mallory Beach, who were killed in a notorious boating accident in 2019, allegedly caused by Murdaugh’s son Paul when he was 19 years old – an event that Tinsley says may have fueled the former lawyer’s motive.
The lawyer, who testified at the disgraced legal scion’s trial, said he became suspicious that Murdaugh’s plan to slaughter his family was months in the making after the discovery process for his civil suit against the patriarch.
After finding photos that “documented Maggie knowing about Paul’s drinking,” an issue blamed for the boating accident, Tinsley requested that the images be included in his lawsuit against Alex Murdaugh for the incident — which Maggie would have protected her own lawsuit. .
However, Murdaugh refused the request, forcing Tinsley to sue Maggie to take the photos. which he told The interview room“Was shocking to me… the refusal of those pleas to admit indicated that he was already thinking about (murder).”
Attorney Alex Tinsley, pictured, represents the Mallory Beach family and testified at the Murdaugh murder trial
Alex Murdaugh, center, may have planned six months to kill his son Paul (left) and wife Maggie (right), according to Tinsley
The February 2019 boating accident involving Paul became a central event in Alex Murdaugh’s high-profile murder trial, with prosecutors alleging that the accident may have fueled his decision to kill as a way to avoid detection of his financial crimes.
Paul, who was a minor at the time, allegedly drunk drove his parents’ boat at high speed before crashing into a bridge, killing Beach and injuring others on board. Tinsley then filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Murdaugh and others.
Tinsley said that after he began representing the Mallory Beach family, he first visited Maggie’s Facebook page, “which had photo and video after photo and video of Paul having alcohol.”
‘Paul in the boat with alcohol. Paul loads the coolers. Paul sitting on the sandbar with beer between his legs… Those pictures clearly showed that Maggie was aware of Paul’s drinking.’
Tinsley said he sent the images to Murdaugh’s attorney, and in November 2020 requested that the images be included in the civil suit to “admit that Maggie knew that all the things that had been purged from her FB account at the time , were attributed to (Alex) for liability purposes.”
But his “olive branch” to Murdaugh was quickly denied, a decision that shocked Tinsley. “So here’s a way to protect your wife, this person you love more than anything, to avoid being sued,” he added.
The refusal forced Tinsley to sue Maggie to admit the evidence in the lawsuit. Since Maggie was killed in June 2021, before he could sue her, he sued her estate, as Alex was the beneficiary.
“It was shocking to me,” he added. “And it wasn’t until after the murders that I really put two and two together as to why he would do that.”
Alex Murdaugh is photographed during his February 2023 murder trial. He is currently serving two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son
The Murdaughs were a notable South Carolina legal family for decades
Tinsley said his suspicions that Murdaugh was planning to kill his wife were bolstered by a “disturbing” conversation the disgraced ex-lawyer had with Maggie’s sister, Marion Proctor.
Proctor testified at Murdaugh’s trial that she had asked him if Maggie had suffered after she was shot, to which Alex said no, adding “whoever did this has been planning for a long time”.
“I think he was telling the truth then,” Tinsley said.
The wrongful death trial is set to take place in August, but Murdaugh, who is serving two life sentences, is not expected to take a position.
Convenience store Parker’s Kitchen, which allegedly sold Paul alcohol the night of the crash, is also being charged.
After Alex Murdaugh was convicted of the murders of Maggie and Paul in March, Mallory Beach’s father refused to shake hands with the Murdaugh family, claiming that “justice has been done.”
And earlier this year, the Mallory Beach family reached a tentative settlement with Murdaugh’s surviving son Buster Murdaugh in a $50 million lawsuit after she was killed during the fatal night boat ride on Feb. 23, 2019.
It is believed Paul was driving drunk when the boat carrying six people crashed into Archer’s Creek near Parris Island, and Buster was accused of lending his younger brother his ID so he could buy the alcohol.
According to legal documents seen by DailyMail.com, Paul was “highly intoxicated,” “drunk,” and “combatant” the night he drove his boat into a pole.
The six youths on board that night, who were under the age of 21, were ejected from the ship—and all but Beach made it to shore. Her body was not found for a week.
Paul was charged in April 2019 with three counts of driving while intoxicated.
But while awaiting trial, the 22-year-old was found shot dead in their hunting lodge along with his mother Maggie in June 2021.
Paul’s father Alex Murdaugh, now convicted of the murders of his wife and son, had tried to convince the jury that someone else killed Maggie and Paul in revenge for the boat wreck.
The victims of the boating accident and their families recently appeared in a new Netflix docuseries called Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.
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