A MOTHER AND HER SON KILLED IN A DOUBLE HOMICIDE, A YOUNG WOMAN DEAD IN A BOATING CRASH, AND TWO OTHER MYSTERIOUS DEATHS - ALL WITH A CONNECTION TO ONE FAMILY

"48 Hours" Investigates in "The Murdaugh Mysteries"

Broadcast Features First Television Interviews with Aunt of the Young Woman Killed in the Boat Accident and One of the First Responders at the Scene

Saturday, Oct. 30

A mother and son dead, a young woman killed in a boating crash and two other mysterious deaths all with a connection to the family of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh. It's a bizarre, tragic story that has unraveled under a national spotlight. 48 HOURS and correspondent Nikki Battiste take viewers inside the investigation into Murdaugh and the unusual tragedies with a connection to his family in "The Murdaugh Mysteries," to be broadcast Saturday, Oct. 30 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.

The hour-long broadcast unpacks what has been a legal thriller with more twists and turns than a Hollywood blockbuster, with Alex Murdaugh, a wealthy, once prominent attorney, at the center of the storyline. 48 HOURS features the first television interviews with Lynn Reavis, the aunt of Mallory Beach, who was killed in the boat crash, and who believes Murdaugh's son, Paul, was responsible, and Stephen Domino, who was a deputy sheriff and one of the investigators at the scene of the crash.

"With this story, anything can happen," says Michael DeWitt, editor at The Hampton County Guardian, who has been covering the case since it began.

Alex Murdaugh is at the heart of this mysterious southern whodunit, after he called 911 in June 2021 to report he found his wife Maggie and son Paul shot to death at the family's hunting lodge. The investigation is ongoing.

About two-and-a-half years earlier, Paul had been charged in the boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

Mallory was one of six friends on board the Murdaugh family boat the night of the crash. All were underage, and all drinking alcohol, say investigators. At about 2:20 AM, on Feb. 24, 2019, the boat crashed into a bridge and Beach disappeared in the dark water. Her body was recovered a week later.

A month after the crash - and afraid they may never learn what really happened - the Beach family filed a wrongful death suit against members of the Murdaugh family.

"Paul was allegedly acting rash and reckless," says DeWitt.

"He didn't want anybody else driving the boat," Reavis says of Paul Murdaugh. "But all those children say that they begged for him to stop and they begged ... 'Just let us out.' And he refused. ... And that hurts my heart that she was so terrified."

Stephen Domino, who was a deputy sheriff at the time, and one of the first responders at the scene, tells 48 HOURS one of the other passengers allegedly saw Paul Murdaugh smiling after the crash. At the time, Domino was with Anthony Cook, Beach's distraught boyfriend, when Cook saw Murdaugh approaching and Cook tried to go after him.

"He actually tried to rush through me to get to Paul because I guess he saw him smiling," Domino tells Battiste.

Anthony Cook identified Paul as the boat's driver at the time of the crash. A dash camera video recorded the following conversation: "Do you all know Alex Murdaugh?" Cook asks. "That's his son." Domino asks, "That's the one driving the boat?" Cook responds: "Good luck!"

"That's when he indicated that he couldn't be touched," Domino tells 48 HOURS.

The death of Paul Murdaugh also means Mallory's family may never know what really happened that night of the crash.

"With Paul not being here now, I don't think my niece, Mallory, will get justice. Because with both of them being deceased, it just ended," Reavis says. "The case ended. All I ever wanted was for him to get on the stand and say, 'I'm sorry.' That's all I ever wanted to hear."

48 HOURS reports how Murdaugh in September 2021 resigned from his law firm and a day later reported he was shot, later naming a man named Curtis Smith as the gunman. Smith tells 48 HOURS he did not shoot Murdaugh, who he says wanted his help to make the incident look like a suicide. "That ain't happening," Smith said.

Today, Alex Murdaugh faces charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report, in addition to two felonies related to a different alleged insurance fraud case involving his former housekeeper's death. Investigators also continue to look into all of his business dealings.

48 HOURS also reports how evidence gathered by investigators looking into the shooting of Maggie and Paul led to the reopening of the investigation into the unsolved death of Stephen Smith, who was 19 years old when he was found dead in a road in 2015.

"This is like a whodunit playing out in real time on the internet in the age of social media," says Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina. "There's no way to track all of these threads."

48 HOURS: "The Murdaugh Mysteries" is produced by Judy Rybak, Liza Finley and Claire St. Amant. Richard Barber is the producer editor. Ryan Smith is the development producer. Emily Wichick is the field producer. Kat Teurfs is the associate producer. Michael Loftus and Julianna Dunphy are the broadcast associates. Jud Johnston, Michelle Harris, Diana Modica, Marcus Balsam and Kevin Dean are the editors. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is executive producer.

48 HOURS is broadcast Saturdays at 10:00 PM, ET/PT, on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Follow 48 HOURS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Listen to podcasts at CBSAudio. Stream 48 HOURS on Paramount+.