SOUTH CAROLINA

Inspired by Murdaugh crime saga, Gannett editor pens dark histories of Hampton County, Murdaugh dynasty

Staff Report
The cover of Wicked Hampton County by Michael DeWitt Jr.

In the wake of the Alex Murdaugh crime saga which has gripped the nation and much of the English-speaking world, a Gannett editor and journalist has penned a dark history of his hometown Hampton County and followed it with an epic history of the Murdaugh legal and political dynasty.

Michael M. DeWitt Jr., award-winning editor of the 144-year-old The Hampton County Guardian and a journalist for USA Today Network – South Carolina, has authored Wicked Hampton County, which released May 29, 2023, and then completed The Fall of the House of Murdaugh, which was released in December.

The cover of Michael DeWitt Jr.'s historical, true-crime epic, The Fall of the House of Murdaugh.

Hampton County, a tiny, rural county of roughly 18,500 people located in the South Carolina Lowcountry, became the focus of an uncomfortable spotlight and international headlines as the epicenter for a sprawling crime saga surrounding the family of disgraced attorney Richard “Alex” Murdaugh, the fourth generation of a storied family dynasty.

Murdaugh’s family, prominent and sometimes notorious in the 14th Judicial Circuit, where his ancestors served as solicitors and personal injury lawyers for more than a century, became the talk of the Palmetto State in February 2019 when Murdaugh’s younger son, Paul, was involved in a drunken boat crash that left beautiful blond teen, Mallory Beach, dead at 19.

Michael M. DeWitt Jr.

The Murdaugh story then exploded into a national and international media frenzy when Paul, before he could stand trial on felony boating under the influence charges, was gunned down at his home in June 2021, along with his mother, Maggie. Alex Murdaugh was later charged with the killings, along with a plethora of financial and drug-related crimes, and was convicted on both murders on March 2 and sentenced to life without parole before pleading guilty to the fraud charges.

During this time, DeWitt, who grew up in Hampton County and knows both the local landscape and the Murdaugh family well, worked to transform his role from that of a small-town, weekly editor to a nationally followed journalist reporting on a major story, and his work in covering the Murdaugh cases from beginning to the present attracted millions of page views and numerous new readers for his company — as well as additional S.C. Press Association awards.

DeWitt’s boots-on-the-ground coverage of the Murdaugh crime saga has been published in print and online around Gannett’s nationwide USA Today network. In addition to copious other media appearances, he has appeared on ABC’s 20/20, CBS’s 48 Hours, Dateline NBC and Netflix documentaries streamed in more than 190 countries to discuss the case and the Murdaugh famiy's fascinating history, and has talked about the cases to podcast and radio audiences as far away as New Zealand and Australia.

“From the beginning, I just wanted to tell this difficult and controversial story the right way, with honesty and fairness, and represent my company and my community well, and I think I have succeeded in those goals thanks to the support of other great Gannett journalists and editors,” DeWitt said. “Tackling such a major story, for me, would not have been possible without the support and guidance of my Gannett and USA Today - SC team.”

Now, even as the current events surrounding Murdaugh continue to ebb and flow — he was recently denied a retrial after unsuccessfully arguing that a court official tampered with the jury — DeWitt continues turning his pen toward recording this saga as a part of our literary history. He has more book and writing projects in the works, and is a co-host of The Wicked South Podcast, inspired by the dark Murdaugh family history.

Three generations of Murdaughs: From left are Randolph "Buster" Murdaugh Jr., Randolph IV and Randolph III. Randolph IV is Alex's brother.

The Fall of the House of Murdaugh is a historical, true-crime epic

While reporting on the latest current events of the Murdaugh cases, as a historian DeWitt decided to begin looking into the family’s past and reveal what created the characters and setting in this ongoing story. His historical flashback stories for the USA Today Network have been referenced by other media around the world, from The Washington Post to People magazine.

While working on Wicked Hampton County, the Hampton author decided to write two books simultaneously with the same research effort. Wicked H.C. is much like a "prequel," setting the historical landscape of the Murdaugh clan, while The Fall of the House of Murdaugh will take the reader on an even deeper dive into the history of the Murdaugh dynasty, dating back four generations to the days of the fallen Confederacy and to historic courtrooms all over the 14th Circuit and Palmetto State.

Then the author moves the narrative forward to the shocking criminal accusations against Alex Murdaugh and the internationally followed, six-week double murder trial in Walterboro, S.C., and its aftermath and ongoing fallout. DeWitt was inside the Colleton County Courthouse almost every day of that marathon trial and lends his unique insight and perspective from the courtroom to Fall of the House of Murdaugh.

Wicked Hampton County paints the backdrop of the Lowcountry and the Murdaugh dynasty

Before the Murdaugh saga, Hampton County’s only claim to fame was its historic annual Watermelon Festival, dubbed as the oldest continuing festival in the state. But Murdaugh’s misdeeds put the county on the map for other, less celebratory reasons. Wicked Hampton County takes the reader back in time to paint the historical landscape in which the Murdaughs came to power – and often allegedly misused that power.

The book is filled with tales of lynch mobs, civil rights struggles and victories, murder, moonshine and mayhem, but puts a sharp focus on the Murdaugh legal and political dynasty dating back to the Civil War and Reconstruction, including many of the fascinating criminal cases the Murdaughs prosecuted, as well as the many allegations against Randolph “Buster” Murdaugh Jr. and the Great Colleton County Whiskey Conspiracy that engulfed him.

Even as DeWitt writes about the dark, wicked side of his hometown’s history, he reminds people that Hampton County is not a wicked place, but a normally quiet corner of small-town America where good people are trying to overcome the bad. “This is a collection of stories of great misdeeds and how one small town in America overcame them,” he writes.

“There is history here in Hampton County, and indeed, much of it was wicked. But there is also hope here, and brotherly love and a desire to grow and change, and that should be the story of our children’s future,” he adds.

Randolph Murdaugh III speaks from the balcony of the Hampton County Courthouse during a rededication ceremony for the renovated courthouse.

DeWitt planning second book tour in Southeast

DeWitt recently completed his "I Love My Local Library" Book Tour, and is now embarking on a second book adventure around the Southeast, the "Moonshine and Mayhem" Book Tour.

DeWitt is also the author of Hampton County (Images of America series, Arcadia Publishing/The History Press, May 2015), a photo history of the place his family has called home for close to three hundred years, and an indie Southern Humor collection playfully entitled Saying Grace Over Edible Underwear.

About Arcadia Publishing

Wicked Hampton County is published by The History Press, an imprint of the international publishing house Arcadia Publishing. As the nation’s leading publisher of books of local nonfiction and rarely explored pockets of history, Arcadia’s mission is to connect people with their past, with their communities and with one another. Arcadia has an extraordinary catalog of 17,000 titles exploring the story of America one city, state, or county at a time, including titles from Arcadia Children’s Books and the 100-year-old stalwart publisher, Pelican Publishing.

About Evening Post Books

The Fall of the House of Murdaugh is being published by Evening Post Books. Evening Post Books is the award-winning book publishing division of Evening Post Publishing, proud owners of The Post and Courier. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, EPS specializes in books written by authors hailing from and writing about the South, including high-quality fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and other specialty publications. Like a true port city, we strive to share these Southern voices with the world.

Order The Fall of the House of Murdaugh at https://evepostbooks.com/product/fall-of-the-house-of-murdaugh/