crime

54-year-old Alex Murdaugh stands trial in Colleton County beginning Monday charged with the shooting deaths of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

Authorities say a man shot and killed five people in a South Carolina home while he was using drugs and hadn't slept in four days. Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright says 24-year-old James Douglas Drayton was arrested in Burke County, Georgia, on Monday. He crashed during a police chase, after he tried to rob a convenience store and kidnap an employee. The sheriff says Drayton confessed to the killings, and handed over the gun he said he used. The sheriff said he doesn't have a possible motive.

Charleston County's Sheriff has started an education program at its detention center as people waiting for cases to be heard are detained longer due to a court backlog because of the pandemic.

he mayor of a South Carolina city says ending violence in her community will require people to work with police after a weekend which saw four people killed in shootings in the area. Investigators say the victims included an 11-year-old boy in Florence County and a man shot and killed in the city of Florence after refusing to give someone a ride. Florence Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin says police can intervene to help stop shootings if people reach out to talk to them before trouble turns deadly. The Florence police chief promised to protect anyone who is scared of retaliation for talking with investigators.

The influential Murdaugh family is at the center of an unfolding drama in the tiny South Carolina town of Hampton. For a century, the Murdaughs have quietly steered much of the legal world in this corner of the state, by running the prosecutor’s office and a large civil law firm. Then, in June, Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were killed at home. Alex Murdaugh found his wife and son's bodies. State police have since opened six investigations into Murdaugh. Police say he tried to arrange his death to get a life-insurance payout for his surviving son. Most of Hampton's 2,600 residents know Alex Murdaugh, but won't speak publicly about him now. Quietly, many wonder whether the family is wielding power as investigations play out.

State police say a prominent South Carolina lawyer tried to arrange his own death earlier this month so his son would get a $10 million life insurance payment. But authorities say the planned fatal shot only grazed Alex Murdaugh's head on Sept. 4. The State Law Enforcement Division says it charged the shooter, 61-year-old Curtis Edward Smith, with assisted suicide, insurance fraud and several other counts. Murdaugh was not charged Tuesday night, but agents said more charges were expected. Agents say Murdaugh gave Smith the gun to kill him and he followed Mudaugh to a lonely Hampton County road. But the bullet only grazed Murdaugh, who survived and called 911 after Smith left.

A lawyer from a prominent South Carolina legal family who found his wife and son shot to death at their home three months ago and was injured when a bullet grazed his head as he changed a tire over the weekend says he is going to rehab. Alex Murdaugh's statement Monday also said he "made a lot of decisions that I truly regret" but did not go into details. Hours later, Murdaugh's law firm said he took money from the business. PMPED law firm says Murdaugh is no longer associated with them. Murdaugh's 52-year-old wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul were killed June 7. No arrests have been made.

A noncommissioned Army officer depicted in a viral video accosting and shoving a man in a South Carolina neighborhood has been convicted of third-degree assault. A judge found Fort Jackson Army Sgt. Jonathan Pentland guilty of the misdemeanor Monday after a two-day trial. He will have to choose between 30 days in jail or a fine of $1,087. Pentland is white and the man shoved is Black.

A South Carolina newspaper is suing the police agencies investigating the shooting deaths of a mother and son from one of South Carolina's prominent legal families. The Post and Courier in Charleston reports that it filed the lawsuit Thursday against the State Law Enforcement Division and the Colleton County Sheriff's Office. The newspaper argues that authorities violated public records law by refusing to release 911 calls and police reports.