James Lasdun’s ‘The Family Man’ Searches for Answers In Murdaugh Murders

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by JENN WOOD

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As prosecutors, defense attorneys and court officials in South Carolina prepare for a second Alex Murdaugh murder trial, a new book is exploring the fundamental question that has lingered over this crime and corruption saga from the very beginning.

Why?

In his new book, ‘The Family Man: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh‘, author James Lasdun steps away from the familiar chronology of the crime and instead focuses on the psychology of the man at its center. The book launched at a particularly notable and opportune moment in the case’s evolution — just days before the S.C. supreme court vacated Murdaugh’s murder convictions and ordered a new trial.

While many books about the Murdaugh saga have focused on the sprawling corruption, financial crimes and courtroom drama, Lasdun’s work takes a different approach.

“Here’s a very perplexing character whose apparent behavior seems to force you to kind of reconsider your ideas about what is humanly possible,” Lasdun told FITSNews. “It is so extreme, this idea of him stealing up on his apparently beloved son.”

Lasdun said his fascination with the case began long before Murdaugh became the primary suspect in the murders of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and younger son, Paul Murdaugh.

“I was actually drawn to the case right after the murders,” he said. “At that point I had no idea that he was going to be a suspect.”

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‘FAMILY ANNIHILATOR’

One of the central themes explored in ‘The Family Man‘ stems from a phrase uttered by lead prosecutor Creighton Waters during Murdaugh’s 2023 murder trial.

“Are you a family annihilator?” Waters asked the accused killer during his time on the stand.

Lasdun said the question sent him down an unexpected path.

“I had never heard that phrase, family annihilator, before Creighton Waters uttered it there in the courtroom,” he said.

Researching the criminological category revealed several similarities between Murdaugh and other family annihilators.

“There are ways in which he fits very comfortably into the category,” Lasdun said, noting that many family annihilators are “outwardly prosperous, outwardly successful, functional, middle-aged men” whose public success is built on “a life of lies.”

Yet Murdaugh would also differ from the typical profile. Most family annihilators kill themselves after murdering their families. Assuming Murdaugh committed these crimes, he obviously failed to do that. Then there’s the matter of his surviving son, Buster Murdaugh.

For Lasdun, that distinction is part of what makes the case so difficult to understand.

“It still for me didn’t quite get me across that gap in itself,” he said. “That was to me the big challenge of writing this book.”

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Lasdun spent considerable time researching the Lowcountry communities where the Murdaugh family built and maintained power for generations.

While he rejects the notion that South Carolina is somehow uniquely corrupt, he believes the environment surrounding Murdaugh helps explain aspects of his behavior.

“It explains some of Alex’s behavior, some of his sense of impunity and entitlement,” Lasdun said.

He pointed specifically to a lack of oversight within institutions connected to the saga — from the former Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED) law firm to Palmetto State Bank (PSB) and eventually even the Colleton County courthouse.

“This was a culture that didn’t seem to have any oversight,” he said.

Looking back on the financial crimes, Lasdun said one of the most startling aspects of the case was how many warning signs appeared to go unaddressed.

“There’s supposed to be state and federal oversight of banks,” he said. “Even small privately owned banks.”

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RELATED | MURDAUGH CONVICTIONS STRUCK DOWN

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‘ALMOST UNIMAGINABLE’

Perhaps the most difficult question Lasdun wrestles with in the book is one that many observers of the case continue to struggle with.

How could a man who appeared to love his family commit such a violent crime against them?

“That was always hard,” Lasdun said.

While Murdaugh’s admitted financial crimes helped paint a picture of deception, Lasdun said they never fully explained the murders.

“Those crimes are, to me, in a completely different category, morally, even sort of physically, practically, from cold-bloodedly, apparently plotting in advance that you are going to blow your own son’s brains out,” he said.

Even after years spent researching the case, Lasdun said he still finds the crime difficult to comprehend.

“It’s almost unimaginable,” he said.

What makes the case particularly unsettling, according to Lasdun, is that few people who knew Murdaugh described him as outwardly sinister.

“You didn’t get anyone saying, looking back I see that there was something kind of psycho about him or awful or even just weird,” he said.

Instead, witness after witness described a man who appeared likable, generous and devoted to his family.

“It is very hard to put your finger on what is outwardly monstrous about him,” Lasdun said.

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THE JURY TAMPERING FALLOUT

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Lasdun’s interest in the Murdaugh saga did not end when he finished ‘The Family Man‘.

Just days after speaking with FITSNews, he published a lengthy article in The New Yorker examining the jury tampering allegations that ultimately led the S.C. supreme court to vacate Murdaugh’s murder convictions and order a new trial. In the piece, Lasdun explored not only former Colleton County clerk of court Rebecca “Becky” Hill‘s conduct during the trial, but the broader questions that continue to surround the removal of former juror Myra Crosby — better known to many followers of the case as the “egg juror.”

The article asks a question many observers of the case continue to debate: Was Hill acting alone?

During his interview with FITSNews, Lasdun made clear that while Hill’s conduct was serious enough to warrant the supreme court’s intervention, he remains interested in understanding exactly how events unfolded.

“We know there was something bad going on,” he said.

The court ultimately described Hill’s actions as a “breathtaking and disgraceful effort” to undermine the jury process and unanimously ordered a new trial. In his reporting, Lasdun noted that the court’s ruling focused heavily on Hill’s improper communications with jurors, but also highlighted lingering questions surrounding the removal of Crosby — the lone juror who reportedly harbored significant doubts about Murdaugh’s guilt.

Lasdun said his interest in those questions is not about advancing a particular theory, but about understanding what happened and why.

“I do think the truth does serve everybody,” he said. “So we’ve just got to get there one way or another.”

That pursuit of answers has become a recurring theme in Lasdun’s work on the Murdaugh saga. In both The Family Man and his recent reporting, he returns repeatedly to the same idea: institutions function only when the public can trust them.

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QUESTIONS THAT STILL REMAIN

For all the time Lasdun spent immersed in the Murdaugh saga, he is quick to acknowledge many of the case’s biggest mysteries remain unresolved.

“I have a lot of questions,” he said.

Some involve logistical details — cellphone evidence, timeline discrepancies and communications that were never fully explored during trial. Others strike closer to the heart of the case itself.

“There may be reasonable answers to them,” Lasdun said. “But to leave those things hanging is very unsatisfying.”

Those unanswered questions are one reason Lasdun believes a second trial could look dramatically different from the first. A retrial would unfold with years of additional scrutiny, a defense team armed with the state’s original playbook and a public that knows far more about the case than it did in early 2023.

Yet even after years of reporting, research and writing, Lasdun remains focused on the same question that drew him into the story in the first place: why?

Why would a seemingly successful attorney risk everything to maintain a web of lies? Why did so many institutions fail to detect misconduct that, in hindsight, appears riddled with warning signs? And perhaps most importantly, what could drive a man who appeared devoted to his family to commit such an unimaginable act?

Whether readers ultimately agree with Lasdun’s conclusions or not, ‘The Family Man‘ succeeds because it wrestles with those questions rather than pretending to answer them completely.

After spending years examining one of America’s most infamous murder cases, Lasdun is still searching.

“It’s very chilling to me,” he said.

To order your copy of the book, click here.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.

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