Alex Murdaugh has been handed an extraordinary lifeline after judges overturned his convictions for murdering wife Maggie and son Paul.
But while the disgraced legal scion now has another opportunity to fight for his freedom, the Daily Mail has learned even his surviving son is furious at the prospect of revisiting the family nightmare.
A source close to Buster Murdaugh said: 'He's not happy. This is going to put him through all of this again. He has to relive the hardest years of his life all over again.'
Murdaugh's legal team successfully argued that he did not receive a fair trial because a court clerk who oversaw jurors attempted to influence them toward a guilty verdict.
The development now makes a retrial highly likely.
The source continued: 'Buster needs some time to process this. But he's not happy at all.' Referring to Murdaugh's push for a retrial, they added: 'Selfish, selfish old man.'
Buster, 30, famously supported his father during his 2023 murder trial in South Carolina but began to distance himself following the guilty verdict.
Since then, the father and son have shared only 'a couple of phone calls,' with their relationship understood to have grown increasingly strained. The source said Buster would not be visiting his father in jail despite the new ruling.
The Murdaugh family were a legal dynasty in South Carolina whose lives were torn apart following patriarch Alex's conviction for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul. From left, Buster, Paul, Maggie and Alex
Buster (pictured in 2023) stood by his father following his murder convictions but their relationship has grown increasingly strained
After years of legal wrangling and appeals by Murdaugh's attorneys, the South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously voted on Wednesday to throw out his murder convictions.
Its five justices ruled there had been 'shocking jury interference' by Becky Hill, a court clerk who oversaw jurors and who was writing a book about the trial at the same time.
Murdaugh, 57, will remain behind bars because he is serving decades-long sentences for various other financial crimes involving stealing millions of dollars from his former law firm and clients.
While Murdaugh has admitted to those charges, he has always maintained his innocence in the murders of his wife and son.
Prosecutors are expected to pursue those convictions again, laying the groundwork for another blockbuster trial.
The source said: 'This is a nightmare. How is Buster supposed to move forward to have this happen again?'
'It's more poking at a wound that's not even healed yet. What happens if the whole thing happens [again] and he's convicted again? It'll put us all through this s**t again.'
Since the murders, Buster has largely kept his head down and lives about an hour south of the family estate with his wife Brooklynn, who he tied the knot with in May 2025.
Alex's surviving son attended the trial and publicly supported his dad
But they rarely talk now and Buster is said to be furious about the prospect of a retrial
The couple reside in an unassuming $445,000 home, which boasts three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The property is located in a leafy, upper middle class neighborhood populated by young professionals.
Last year, Buster held a corporate counsel job at a restaurant chain, according to the source, who added he tries to stay active.
'He's a beach guy, goes to Hilton Head Island a lot,' the source said. 'He loves to hunt and fish to stay busy.'
The murders of Maggie, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, captivated the country in large part due to the extraordinary influence once wielded by the Murdaugh family in South Carolina's rural Lowcountry.
The legal dynasty dominated the region's courts for generations and amassed immense prosecutorial power and political reach.
Maggie and Paul were shot dead at the dog kennels on the family's sprawling 1,700-acre Moselle estate in Islandton, South Carolina, on the night of June 7, 2021. Murdaugh called 911 claiming he had discovered their bodies.
In the aftermath of the killings, a string of other mysterious deaths linked to the family came under renewed scrutiny, while Murdaugh's multi-million-dollar fraud schemes and drug habits were also exposed, unraveling what prosecutors described as a double life.
Since the murders, Buster has kept a low profile and currently lives with his wife Brooklynn (pictured together in 2023) at an unassuming home in a quiet South Carolina town
Maggie and Paul were shot dead at the dog kennels on the family's sprawling 17,000-acre Moselle estate in Islandton
Their murders shattered the family's picture-perfect image and exposed Alex's secret world of fraud, coercion and drugs
The Daily Mail previously exclusively revealed what life has been like for Murdaugh behind bars.
South Carolina Corrections Department records show that Murdaugh passes the time working as a ward keeper’s assistant, a role he has had since August 2023.
According to his attorney, Dick Harpootlian, the convicted felon also spent significant time reviewing the details of his cases and planning for his retrial.
Murdaugh also has access to a prison-issued tablet.
His fight for a retrial was chiefly based on allegations that Hill, the Colleton County Clerk of Court during his high-profile trial, tampered with the jury.
Hill, who managed the jury and read out the guilty verdict in court, pleaded guilty pleaded guilty in December to four charges connected to the case: obstruction of justice, perjury and two counts of misconduct in office.
The 58-year-old admitted to showing sealed court exhibits, including graphic crime scene photographs, to a reporter during the trial and later lying about it.
She also admitted taking bonuses and promoting a tell-all book about the proceedings through her public office.
Hill, who resigned in disgrace in 2024, was sentenced to three years’ probation.
In their appeal, Murdaugh’s legal team argued that Hill’s conduct created an improper influence over jurors and tainted the integrity of the verdict, asserting that her actions were driven in part by her intention to publish a book about the trial.