COLUMBIA, S.C. — Four corporations that produced internet “documentaries” concerning the Murdaugh crime saga are nearing a settlement in a defamation case brought against them by Buster Murdaugh, the oldest son of ex-lawyer Alex Murdaugh now serving life sentences for murder in a double murder case, according to a court filing.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in 2024 and amended last year, Buster Murdaugh had accused the corporations, who were involved in making and distributing the documentaries, of falsely implying that in 2015 he murdered a Hampton County teen, Stephen Smith, and falsely implied Buster Murdaugh had a gay relationship with Smith.

Murdaugh, who is married and has a child, asserted in his lawsuit that both implications — that he killed Smith and that he had been in a gay relationship — were false and made without evidence. One of the more sensational assertions in one documentary implied without evidence that Buster Murdaugh killed Smith with a baseball bat.

Federal Judge Richard M. Gergel issued a document Wednesday saying the court has been advised that the lawsuit has been resolved through mediation. It also said the parties would finalize the settlement within 10 days.

The settlement amount is confidential.

Corporations involved in the lawsuit are Blackfin Inc., Warner Brothers Discovery Inc., Warner Media Entertainment Pages Inc. and Campfire Studios Inc., according to the court filing.

If a settlement is finalized, the corporations will avoid a public trial that would possibly have exposed various shoddy journalistic practices alleged in Buster Murdaugh’s lawsuit — practices such as “purposefully” ignoring and omitting crucial information that would undercut the documentaries’ alleged false narratives.

The documentaries were aired “with reckless indifference to the truth and with knowledge of information that would have cast serious doubts on the intended defamatory meaning of the (documentaries),” Murdaugh’s lawsuit said. They were viewed by possibly “millions” of people, the lawsuit said.

Law enforcement notes on the case indicated there were “at least four other suspects” than Murdaugh in Smith’s death, that there was evidence that the death was hit-and-run and not a homicide, and the “only sources of information tying (Buster) to Mr. Smith were based on unfounded speculation, rumor, and hearsay,” Murdaugh’s lawsuit says.

“Defendants had no reliable or credible information indicating that Mr. Smith’s death was the result of his sexual orientation or connected to (Buster Murdaugh),” Murdaugh’s lawsuit said.

Reputable mainstream news organizations, such as The State, have investigated the Smith killing and found no evidence to link Buster Murdaugh to his death.

Murdaugh’s lawsuit said because of the false implications in the documentaries, his “reputation has been irreparably damaged, and he has suffered mental anguish.” Once the documentaries aired, “social media and online forums have become rife with posts” repeating the false allegations, the lawsuit said.

His lawsuit sought actual and punitive damages.

Smith’s death

Late at night on July 8, 2015, Smith was walking along a rural Hampton County two-lane because his car had given out of gas. All available evidence indicates he was struck by some part of a car and killed, Buster Murdaugh’s lawsuit alleged.

For years rumors existed in Hampton County that the well-known and prominent Murdaugh family may have been involved, there was no solid evidence to prove such an allegation.

However, as the years passed, the Murdaughs were caught up in other violent deaths.

In 2018, Gloria Satterfield, a longtime housekeeper for Alex Murdaugh’s family at the family estate called Moselle, died of injuries she received in a fall on the house’s front steps.

In 2019, Mallory Beach, 19, was drowned when a boat piloted by Paul Murdaugh, Buster’s younger brother, crashed into bridge pilings in a creek near the Marine base in Beaufort. Blood alcohol tests and numerous witnesses said Paul was drunk at the time. Paul was indicted for boating under the influence causing a fatality.

In 2021, Buster’s mother Maggie and Paul were shot to death at Moselle. Thirteen months later, Alex Murdaugh was indicted for their murders and convicted in a 2023 trial.

As news media and others became interested in the Murdaugh family, its law firm and 100-year history as a Lowcountry political and legal dynasty, some podcasters and documentary film makers began mentioning Smith’s violent death, implying that Buster killed Smith. They began to insert content to that effect in stories about the Murdaughs, lumping in Smith’s unsolved killing to the deaths of Satterfield, Beach and Maggie and Paul, despite a lack of evidence.

In March 2023, weeks after his father’s murder trial, Buster Murdaugh released a public statement about the frenzied rumors.

“I have tried my best to ignore the vicious rumors about my involvement in Stephen Smith’s tragic death that continue to be published in the media as I grieve over the brutal murders of my mother and brother. I love them so much and miss them terribly,” the statement said.

He went on to say the baseless rumors of his involvement in Smith’s death are false.

“I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family.”

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