Alex Murdaugh's Slain Son Paul Allegedly Strangled Ex-Girlfriend in 2017, She Says in Netflix Documentary (2024)

The former girlfriend of Alex Murdaugh's slain son Paul Murdaugh reveals in an explosive new Netflix documentary that he allegedly abused her during the course of their relationship.

Speaking publicly for the first time in the Netflix documentary, "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal," Morgan Doughty, 23, described how Paul, who was 22 at the time of his death, allegedly punched and kicked her and tried to choke her.

Doughty, who started dating Paul when they were in high school, also alleges in the series that Paul was verbally abusive to her.

The three-part documentary premiered Wednesday, during the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, which is in its fifth week.

Alex is accused of killing his wife, Maggie, 52, and Paul, on the night of June 7, 2021.

While the two were dating, Paul was allegedly driving his family's boat while intoxicated in 2019 when he crashed into a bridge piling, which killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach and injured four others on board, including Doughty.

She had said previously that Paul spat on her and slapped her in a fit of rage before the crash.

Paul was arrested and charged with three counts of boating under the influence. He was awaiting trial when he was killed.

In the documentary, Doughty details other incidents when Paul allegedly physically abused her.

One such incident took place when the two were in their hotel room on the night of Buster's graduation.

Describing Paul as "so intoxicated," she says, "We had finally gotten to bed and for some reason Paul kept, like, kicking me.

"I yelled at him, and then he got on top of me, and I just remember him screaming, 'I told you to shut up!' just holding down my throat.

"I just remember then he, like, punched me really hard in the knee right here."

Among the photos shown in the documentary are a bruise on her body, allegedly from Paul.

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This wasn't the first time she says he was abusive toward her.

In 2017, she was driving him home in his truck after a party on Christmas Day when he "aggressively" told her that he wanted to drive even though he was drunk, she says.

The car careened off the road and into a ditch.

When she tried to call 911, she says he grabbed the phone out of her hand and ended the call.

Instead, he called his father and grandfather, longtime solicitor Randolph Murdaugh III, who died three days after the June 7, 2021, double shooting.

His father, grandfather and mother rushed to the scene and hid beer and guns that were in the truck before police got there, she claims.

They told her she shouldn't have called 911, which could have gotten Paul in trouble with the law, she says.

'It Was Very Normal for them to Be Drinking'

Paul consumed a lot of alcohol and was often drunk, Doughty says throughout the documentary.

She says that Paul's parents seemed to allow him to drink.

"Whenever I came around the Murdaughs', it was very normal for them to be drinking and have a lot of alcohol always stocked in the house," Doughty says.

She says that Gloria Satterfield, the family's longtime housekeeper, allegedly knew about how abusive Paul was to her and gave her some advice about their tumultuous relationship.

"Gloria was like, 'You know how he is, and you're just either going to have to learn how to deal with his temper, or you need to get out,'" Doughty says in the documentary.

Satterfield died in 2018 after an alleged slip-and-fall accident at Moselle, the Murdaugh's hunting lodge in Islandton, where Paul and Maggie were shot and killed. However, authorities have now re-opened the investigation into Satterfield's death.

After the murders, Satterfield's sons learned that Alex Murdaugh had bilked them out of a $4.3 million insurance settlement they were supposed to receive.

Murdaugh later admitted to stealing the money that was intended for Satterfield's sons.