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Alex Murdaugh to offer $100,000 reward for information leading to killers of son, wife

Alex Murdaugh is working to post a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, a Columbia lawyer said Thursday.

“We are close to finalizing the procedure in which tips would be processed,” said attorney Jim Griffin, who is working with Alex Murdaugh to set up procedures to handle and distribute any reward money paid out.

Griffin did not specify a day on which the reward would formally be made public but said it would be “soon.”

“There were a lot of issues that had to be thought through and addressed,” Griffin said.

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For one thing, Crimestoppers — which normally gives out rewards to anonymous tipsters who help solve crimes — caps its payments at $10,000, Griffin said.

For another, the State Law Enforcement Division — the state’s lead crime-fighting agency, known as SLED — does not normally participate in rewards, Griffin said.

But in this case, “SLED has agreed to provide us — with the consent of the person giving the tip — the identity to us so that we can make the reward,” Griffin said.

SLED will not hold the money, which will be in a private escrow account, Griffin said.

SLED Chief Mark Keel said Thursday that his agency can assist on a limited basis in the reward effort, but he made it clear his agency will maintain its investigative independence.

“What we’ve authorized, through their attorneys, is that they can use our tip line. We are not participating in any way, shape or fashion in the administration of that reward,” Keel said in an interview.

“We have told them that if we receive a tip on our tip line that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the murders of Paul and Maggie, that we will provide that information to them. But it will be totally up to them to determine — as to whatever guidelines they set up — as to whether they pay it or not,” Keel said.

“But we are allowing them, and we have put it in writing, for them to use our tip line for their effort,” Keel said.

Law enforcement officers will not be eligible to receive the reward. That is normal procedure when rewards for crimes are offered since the goal is to attract information from citizens who might not otherwise step forward without a reward. Also, solving crimes is what police get paid to do.

Another issue that is being addressed is how to designate the proper recipient and also maintain the confidentiality of anyone receiving the reward , Griffin said.

Griffin, along with attorney and State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, previously represented Paul Murdaugh in his 2019 boating incident case. Griffin is now assisting Alex Murdaugh and his son, Buster, in the reward matter.

On the night of June 7, Alex Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, 52, and his younger son, Paul, 22, were found fatally shot on the grounds of the Murdaughs’ 1,700-acre estate in Colleton County.

Since then, the case has attracted statewide and national attention because of the brutal nature of the crime, the lack of known suspects and the prominence of the Murdaugh family in South Carolina legal and political circles.

SLED has thrown substantial resources in the case, but it is not known when the agency will be close to making an arrest or arrests in the case.