An aerial drone image of Moselle. (Via Law&Crime Network)
Moselle, the 1,770-acre site of the Murdaugh family murders was sold last week for $3.9 million, according to reports and records.
The proceeds of the infamous hunting lodge will largely benefit the survivors and victims of a 2019 drunken boat crash caused by the youngest member of the fallen-from-grace legal dynasty.
Margaret “Maggie” Kennedy Branstetter Murdaugh, 52, was killed along with her youngest son, Paul Terry Murdaugh, 22, at Moselle on June 7, 2021. The pair were repeatedly shot to death near the dog kennels, several yards away from the main house, by Richard Alexander “Alex” Murdaugh, 54, using at least two long guns.
Last week, the property, which was held in Maggie Murdaugh’s name at the time she was killed, was sold by The Crosby Land Company, according to a listing. The buyers are reportedly “two men,” according to Savannah, Georgia-based ABC affiliate WJCL.
The buyers have not been publicly named.
According to the Greenville News, a settlement agreement was filed by attorneys for Maggie Murdaugh on Jan. 10 outlining how the money from the sale of the hunting lodge will be dispersed.
An amount just shy of $2.7 million will be paid out to clients of attorney Mark Tinsley, who represents the family of Mallory Beach, according to the paper. Beach died on Feb. 24, 2019, in a boating accident off the waters of Parris Island. She was thrown off the boat from the impact when the vessel, piloted by a heavily-intoxicated Paul Murdaugh, hit a bridge piling around 2:00 a.m. The young woman was missing for almost seven days following the crash.
Two other survivors of the crash, Morgan Doughty and Miley Altman, filed claims against the Murdaugh family over the crash in January 2022 and, as Tinsley’s clients, will be entitled to some of the Moselle proceeds as well, according to the Greenville News.
Connor Cook, yet another survivor of the boat crash, had previously sued Buster Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh’s older son. His attorney Joseph McCulloch will be given $100,000 to release the wrongful death claim he filed on behalf of Cook against the convicted murderer‘s son, the paper reports.
Several claims have been filed against Alex Murdaugh over myriad financial crimes. Some of those claimants have been deemed co-receivers and will split some $275,000 out of a general fund arising from the sale of Moselle, according to the Greenville News.
But the Murdaugh family will not be coming away empty-handed.
Since the property was sold for $3.9 million, the agreed-upon calculations mean that Buster Murdaugh will receive $530,000 as the devisee of the estate. An additional $290,00 will be used to pay off the estate’s legal fees and expenses. The final Murdaugh receiving a payout is John Marvin Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh’s younger brother, for funds he previously advanced on the estate’s behalf. As a creditor, he will receive at least $12,000, according to the paper.
The settlement was approved by Lexington County Judge Daniel D. Hall on Jan. 24 over the objections of numerous interested parties, including one of Alex Murdaugh’s former law partners.
There is also more money yet to come in and be added to the Moselle estate, which will inflate many of the above amounts.
Also last week, buyers from across the country descended upon an auction house in Georgia where personal property from Moselle was sold. According to a representative for Liberty Auction, three times the normal crowd showed up to bid on the macabre remnants of the Murdaugh family’s life at their once idyllic country home, CBS News reported.
The total amount from the auction has yet to be made public.
More Law&Crime coverage: Items allegedly from Murdaugh estate pop up on eBay
The Moselle estate is so named for its location at 4147 Moselle Road in Colleton County, South Carolina–which itself is named after a river that flows through France, Germany, and Luxembourg.
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