English: Faculty Publications

Depicting a 21st-Century Crime Family

Document Type

Contribution to Book

Publication Date

6-30-2026

Publication Title

Televising True Crime in the Digital Age: Critical Feminist Perspectives

DOI

10.4324/9781003475781-10

ISBN

9781032758206

Abstract

In February 2023, the day before Alex Murdaugh took the stand in his own defense in the trial for the 2021 murders of his wife and son, Netflix released a docuseries on the family, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. This docuseries is one of many media investigations of the powerful Murdaugh family contributing to what this chapter names “the Murdaugh multiverse.” This chapter analyzes the melodramatic themes that appear across texts in the Murdaugh multiverse to argue that this saga appeals to audiences because it dramatizes how the justice system gives “little people” the power to convict a local power player. Within a cultural context where white-collar crime is rarely punished, Murdaugh's schemes have publicly unraveled and the justice system has held him accountable. The true crime explorations of the family dynasty and its downfall within the melodramatic Murdaugh multiverse shore up the fantasy that ordinary citizens can testify against wealthy and powerful criminals and see results, that technological surveillance can be used for good, and that justice is ultimately served.

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https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003475781-10

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