If Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family made you want the nonfiction account, Netflix’s Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal is the essential follow-up. The TV-MA documentary series covers the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, the June 2021 murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh’s roadside shooting and alleged murder-for-hire plot, and the 2023 trial that made the case a national spectacle.
It is also important to watch with the current legal record in mind: Alex Murdaugh’s 2023 murder convictions were overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court in May 2026 because of jury-interference issues involving former court clerk Becky Hill. A tentative retrial date has been set for April 5, 2027. He remains imprisoned on separate financial-crime convictions.
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What is Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal about?
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal is Netflix’s two-season nonfiction documentary about the Murdaugh family and the cases surrounding its collapse in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. Netflix describes the story as a series of tragedies in a close-knit community that expose the secrets of a powerful family.
Unlike Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family, which is a scripted limited series with actors portraying the people involved, the Netflix production is documentary filmmaking. It relies on interviews, courtroom material, body-camera footage, evidence imagery, and reporting about the cases. Netflix’s official listing identifies it as a 2023, TV-MA documentary series with two seasons.
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Watch Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal on Netflix if you want the documented case history rather than a dramatized interpretation. Availability and plan requirements can vary by country and can change over time.
How the two seasons tell the story
Season 1: The boat crash, the murders, and the family’s unraveling
The first season begins with the February 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. The case placed Paul Murdaugh, who was connected to the boat and identified in Netflix’s synopsis as the troubled driver, at the center of public scrutiny. It also introduced viewers to the influence, relationships, and legal history surrounding the Murdaugh family.
From there, the season moves to June 7, 2021, when Maggie Murdaugh and her son Paul were killed at the family’s Moselle property. The documentary examines the immediate response, the family’s attempts to manage the public crisis, and the investigation into what happened that night.
Season 1 also covers Alex Murdaugh’s September 2021 roadside shooting. Prosecutors later characterized the incident as part of an alleged murder-for-hire scheme in which Murdaugh sought to have himself killed so his surviving son could receive an insurance payout. The series presents the allegations and the surrounding evidence as part of the broader collapse, alongside the family’s mounting financial problems.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallSeason 2: The trial and the circumstantial-evidence case
The second season concentrates on the 2023 murder trial of Alex Murdaugh while expanding the background surrounding the family, earlier deaths, financial allegations, and the investigation. Netflix Tudum says the season includes firsthand accounts from people such as former Colleton County clerk of court Becky Hill, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, prosecutor Creighton Waters, witnesses, jurors, former friends, and others connected to the case.
It also includes body-camera footage from June 7, 2021, evidence photographs related to the boat crash, and discussion of the circumstantial evidence presented to the jury. That makes Season 2 less a general family biography than an examination of how prosecutors assembled their case and how the defense challenged it.
The season’s original narrative culminated in the jury’s March 2, 2023 verdict: murder convictions for Alex Murdaugh in the deaths of Maggie and Paul, plus two weapons convictions, followed by consecutive life sentences. Those events remain part of the documentary’s historical coverage. They are not, however, the final current legal position.
The legal update viewers need before discussing the ending
On May 13, 2026, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions after finding serious jury-interference issues involving Becky Hill. The later legal development changes how the trial conclusion should be described, but it does not erase the fact that the documentary follows the investigation and the 2023 trial as they occurred.
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That means the most accurate summary is: Season 2 follows the 2023 trial that produced murder convictions later overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court in May 2026. It would be misleading to say, without a date qualifier, that the documentary shows a final murder conviction that still stands.
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Who is featured in the case?
The series is built around several central figures:
- Alex Murdaugh, also known as Richard Alexander Murdaugh: the former South Carolina lawyer at the center of the murder and financial-crime cases. His murder convictions were overturned in 2026, while his separate financial convictions remain in force.
- Maggie Murdaugh: Alex’s wife, who was killed at Moselle on June 7, 2021.
- Paul Murdaugh: Alex and Maggie’s son, who was also killed at Moselle and was connected to the 2019 boat-crash case.
- Mallory Beach: the teenager killed in the 2019 boat crash that opens the documentary’s story.
- Becky Hill: the former Colleton County clerk of court whose conduct during the 2023 trial became central to the later appeal.
- Creighton Waters: the prosecutor whose trial presentation and explanation of the evidence are included in Season 2.
- Alan Wilson: South Carolina’s attorney general, whose office has said it will seek a retrial.
Netflix identifies Michael Gasparro as the director of Season 2 and Julia Willoughby Nason as an executive producer.
What makes the documentary different from the Hulu drama?
| Murdaugh: Death in the Family | Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Scripted limited series | Nonfiction documentary series |
| Method | Actors and dramatized scenes | Interviews, official footage, trial material, and evidence imagery |
| Coverage | A dramatic interpretation of the Murdaugh saga | Case chronology from the boat crash through the 2023 trial |
| Best for | Viewers seeking character-driven storytelling | Viewers seeking documented reporting and courtroom context |
The formats answer different questions. A scripted series can compress events, create scenes, and focus on emotional or character perspectives. The Netflix documentary is more useful for understanding the sequence of cases, the public record, the competing accounts, and the evidence discussed at trial. Neither should be treated as a substitute for a court record, and interview claims in a documentary are not automatically adjudicated facts.
What the documentary does—and does not—establish
The series gives viewers a broad account of how the boat-crash case, the Moselle killings, the roadside shooting, and the financial allegations became linked in the public imagination and in the legal proceedings. Its value is the accumulation of chronology, testimony, visual evidence, and perspectives from people close to the investigation and trial.
But the documentary’s inclusion of an allegation or interview does not independently prove that allegation. Claims involving other people’s participation, earlier deaths, purported cover-ups, drug use, or corruption should be understood in their legal and evidentiary context. The safest approach is to distinguish among established events, allegations made by investigators or prosecutors, testimony from a particular witness, and findings that have survived final appellate review.
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The 2026 reversal makes that distinction especially important. The documentary remains a record of the case as it developed through the 2023 trial, but its original ending should not be presented as a final resolution of the murder charges.
What to read after watching
Viewers who want a longer chronology and more reporting context may want to continue with The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty by Valerie Bauerlein. Penguin Random House lists the Ballantine Books title as a 496-page nonfiction account published June 3, 2025, covering Murdaugh’s downfall, the murders, the investigation, and the trial. Because it predates the 2026 appellate development, readers should consult current court and government sources for the murder case’s present status.
Two other relevant nonfiction options are Blood on Their Hands: Murder, Corruption, and the Fall of the Murdaugh Dynasty by journalist Mandy Matney, whose author site describes the book as an investigative account of the saga, the reporting process, and the victims’ cases, and The Murdaugh Murders Case by Arthur Cerf, translated by Lynn E. Palermo. Simon & Schuster lists Cerf’s 192-page Crime Ink paperback as published October 7, 2025, with a focus on the trial and wider allegations involving financial crime, corruption, drug abuse, and related deaths.
These books can add chronology and reporting detail, but they should also be dated against later legal developments. The most current information about a retrial should come from the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office and court reporting, not from a book published before the 2026 reversal.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is it worth watching after the Hulu series?
Yes—especially if the Hulu drama left you wondering which events were documented, how the cases connected, and what evidence was actually discussed in court. The two Netflix seasons provide the fuller nonfiction framework, moving from Mallory Beach’s death to the Moselle killings and then to the prosecution’s 2023 trial presentation.
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Go in expecting a complicated and unresolved legal story rather than a tidy true-crime conclusion. The documentary’s trial endpoint is historically significant, but the murder convictions were overturned in 2026 and a retrial is tentatively scheduled for 2027. That combination—substantial documentary record, contested evidence, and an active legal process—is precisely why the series is best viewed as a detailed account of the case up to a particular point in time, not as the last word.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal a true story?
Yes. It is a nonfiction documentary series about the Murdaugh cases, using interviews, official footage, trial-related material, and evidence imagery. It is different from Hulu’s scripted dramatization, Murdaugh: Death in the Family.
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How many seasons of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal are on Netflix?
Netflix lists two seasons. Season 1 covers the boat crash, the Moselle killings, and Alex Murdaugh’s roadside shooting and alleged murder-for-hire scheme. Season 2 focuses heavily on the 2023 murder trial.
Was Alex Murdaugh convicted of murdering Maggie and Paul?
A jury convicted him on two murder counts in March 2023, but the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned those murder convictions on May 13, 2026, citing serious jury-interference issues involving former clerk Becky Hill. A tentative retrial date is April 5, 2027. He remains imprisoned on separate financial-crime convictions.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Does the Netflix documentary include the retrial?
No. Season 2 covers the case through the 2023 trial and its original conviction. The 2026 reversal and planned retrial are later legal developments that viewers need to consult current sources to follow.
The Bottom Line
The best nonfiction follow-up to Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family is Netflix’s Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. Its two seasons trace the case from the Mallory Beach boat crash through the 2023 murder trial, using interviews and case footage rather than dramatized scenes. Watch with one essential update in mind: the 2023 murder convictions were overturned in May 2026, and the case is headed toward a tentative 2027 retrial.
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