Hecklers shout ‘Buster is next’ after Murdaugh sentencing

WALTERBORO, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - After Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul, hecklers had a message for him about his surviving son.

When Murdaugh, shackled and clad in a beige jumpsuit, was escorted by law enforcement from the Colleton County Courthouse to a police van on Friday, a bystander shouted at him: “Buster is next.”

“Justice for Stephen Smith, Alex,” the heckler shouted. “Buster is next. Your son is next, Alex.”

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division opened an investigation into the death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old whose body was found in the road in Hampton County in 2015, based on information uncovered during the investigation into Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s murders.

Smith was a classmate of Murdaugh’s oldest son, Buster, who has been under intense public scrutiny since his father’s conviction. The Murdaugh family name came up multiple times during the course of Smith’s death investigation as noted in the case file from the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

When Buster Murdaugh walked out of court following his father’s sentencing, someone could also be heard shouting “you’re next” to him as well.

Buster testified in his father’s defense during the double murder trial.

On Sunday, Buster contacted the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office after a photo of him inside his house was reportedly published by the New York Post. According to the incident report, a suspicious vehicle was recorded on surveillance video outside Buster Murdaugh’s house.

Buster and his girlfriend later contacted the sheriff’s office again, saying they were being followed by a member of “the media” in a gray SUV. The driver was issued a warning.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is performing extra patrols around his home in Hilton Head.

For full coverage, visit the Murdaugh Trial section.

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