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NC native & WSJ reporter debuts book covering Murdaugh case.
The case that gripped the nation is back. You know the one: Former Lowcountry lawyer Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and younger grown son—revealing plenty of unexpected twists and dark family secrets along the way.
Having reported on the trial from the courthouse every day for three years—and from South Carolina—Raleigh-based award-winning The Wall Street Journal Southern correspondent Valerie Bauerlein has a story to tell. Just released, The Devil at His Elbow takes the reader through Murdaugh’s life, the murder case and the investigation.
“I really wanted to take a step back and tell the story from beginning to middle to end,” says Bauerlein, also a former N&O reporter, of her first book. “Some of the early readers have said they liked seeing the story a year after the verdict, and it being told like, ‘Once upon a time, there was a man named Murdaugh, and here’s how it all went down.’” … Here, we chat with Bauerlein on the Murdaugh saga.
What drew you to the case? I’ve covered the South my whole career and spent a lot of time in SC. One thing I found is there’s sort of this phenomenon of rural barons—one family in a small town really having this outsize influence, and I was very interested in that. Fast-forward after the homicides June 7, 2021, in Hampton County—I became interested in how the power dynamic worked [there].
How’d you prep? I first went to [SC] summer 2021 right after the homicides to do a story for The Wall Street Journal. I had a lot of interest in writing a book about it… and started it before Alex Murdaugh was even charged with any of the financial crimes. I spent the first year researching the history, talking to people who knew the family and spending time down there. I had a lot of time before he was charged with a homicide to try to really understand the story.
The book’s approach? I really tried to put Alex in the context that created him. He’s the fourth generation of a family that’s been very powerful in a very specific place for a very long time. I tried to go back to the beginning when they established this law practice in this very poor place—and how they became the prosecutors—and explain what that meant in the early 20th century.
Biggest challenge? I’d say it was a challenge to work on a book not knowing the ending, even during the trial… to keep your eyes on getting the research done, talking to people, but also keeping your mind open to the possible outcomes you might end up with.
*Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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