MURDAUGH

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Three years later, the family would be connected to a second death after their housekeeper and nanny, Gloria Satterfield, was found dead from blunt force trauma in the Murdaugh family home. Maggie Murdaugh reported to the police that Satterfield died from tripping over the family’s dogs and falling backwards down the stairs.

Before this tragedy, Satterfield had discovered that Alex Murdaugh had been recreationally using opioids, and she told Paul about his father’s drug use. According to Paul’s girlfriend, Morgan Doughty, Paul had been forcing his father to detox. It is speculated that Alex and Maggie found out that Satterfield told Paul this information, and then they murdered Satterfield.

Though Satterfield was taken to the hospital before her death, there is no recorded autopsy, and Maggie and Paul Murdaugh are the only witnesses.

A year later, the Murdaugh family was at the center of another death. In February 2019, Paul Murdaugh was driving a boat while severely intoxicated, and he crashed into a bridge, resulting in the injury of four passengers and the death of Mallory Beach.

The Murdaugh family claimed Connor Cook, another passenger on the boat, was actually the person driving the boat at the time of the accident. Through an investigation, this claim was de- termined to be false. Paul was charged and put on trial for Beach’s death, but he was found not guilty.

The Netflix documentary shows footage of Anthony Cook, a survivor of the crash and Beach’s boyfriend, making a statement that emphasizes the power that this family had.

“You know who that is?” Cook said. “That is Alex Murdaugh’s son. Good luck.”

After the trial, the family went to live on their hunting estate that they called “Moselle.” Life for the Murdaughs seemingly went on as normal for a few years until yet another murder occurred, but this time was different. The Murdaughs were now the victims.

In June 2021, Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were found shot to death at the dog kennels at Moselle.

When investigating their murders, it was found that Alex had taken out life-insurance policies on both of them, and both weapons used in their murders were owned by the Murdaughs.

Three months after the murders, on Sep. 4, 2021, Alex Murdaugh made a 911 call claiming that he had been shot in the head. However, it has been confirmed that Murdaugh hired Curtis Smith, a former law firm client, to shoot him, in the hopes that this would make Smith look responsible for the murders. However, this scheme did not go according to plan. Alex Murdaugh was charged for the murders of his wife and son, and he turned himself into the

Hampton County Detention Center on Sept. 16.

Murdaugh claimed that he was not home at the time of the murder, and he found the victims after he returned home. This was proven to be false when a video surfaced of Paul and his dad at the kennels right before the murdered occurred. When this evidence was presented at the trial, Murdaugh admitted that he lied to the police.

“All those things, coupled together after finding them, coupled with my distrust for (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division), caused me to have paranoid thoughts,” Murdaugh said. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I don’t think I was capable of reason. And I lied about being there, and I’m so sorry that I did.”

Ronald Dahl’s boooks are being rewritten to remove offensive language

Shaw Coggin Staff Writer

Classic books written by famed author Ronald Dahl are being rewritten to include more gender-neutral language and remove offensive language, such as “fat,” “ugly” and “enormous.” These changes will affect pieces of work such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “James and the Giant Peach” and “Matilda.”

These changes are being implemented by both Puffin, the publisher of Dahl’s works, as well as the now-Netflix-owned Roald Dahl Story Company. The streaming giant announced they are creating a unique universe of Dahl’s work that will include both live-action and animated story projects.

With these new projects creating a resurgence in popularity, Puffin hired sensitivity readers to go through the original text and change the language to ensure these stories could still be enjoyed by everyone.

“I think it’s a good thing,” said Essie Kyle, sophomore special education major. “I think, at that time, it was probably not considered offensive, but in this day

“When I am gone, if that happens, then I’ll wish mighty Thor knocks very hard on their heads with his Mjolnir, or I will send along the ‘enormous crocodile’ to gobble them up” Dahl said.

The Five, a popu- not want his words changed, some argue that these changes are beneficial in adapting with a changing society.

“I don’t think that there’s a problem with it at all,” said Moriah Hamlin, early childhood ed-

Dahl’s books are often used in the classroom because they are entertaining yet teach students a positive lesson. For instance, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” teaches children about the effects

The Netflix documentary has been very popular since its release.

Liliann Pittman, a senior biology major, watched the documentary because the town of Hampton is less than 100 miles from where she grew up.

“The town being so small with old families in power reminds me of the dynamic of my town,” Pittman said. “It added a sense of uneasiness to hear about the case and realize that could very easily be people I knew.” story about someone’s experience, they can take anything from it.” and age, that thing of tearing people down is not as necessary.” lar conservative talk show on Fox News, said that the changes were “woke” and “absurd.” They argued that this was censorship and that children will have a difficult time picturing what they are reading if the descriptions of characters are changed.

This case has intrigued the nation with all of its controversies, unexpected developments and surprising turns of events.

Murdaugh will serve two consecutive life-sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders of his wife and son.

Ensuring that young students feel represented in the classroom helps them create a positive self image.

“As a teacher, when looking at books, you want to make sure that they’re positive books and that they’re building all kids up,” Kyle said.

Hamlin, who hopes to teach fourth graders, also let it be clear that she would teach the book in class no matter what and that it is important to establish positive thought in the minds of children.

This announcement caused a debate on the ethics of changing classic literature to reflect modern times.

Before Dahl passed away in 1990, he stated that he did not want any of his work to be changed.

Although Dahl did ucation major. “I think that making changes to make things less problematic is a good thing. It’s waking people up to things that people didn’t consider before and taking into consideration other people’s feelings more than they used to, but I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing either.”

Director

of greed and selfishness. Therefore, some argue that the offensive language could distract from those messages.

“What is in the books has a lot of impact on what students learn,” said Danielle Mathis, senior early childhood education major. “If students can listen to a

“I think that there’s not a lot of material for kids that make them feel represented or good about themselves in general,” Hamlin said. “So, making more that they can see themselves in in a positive way is important. I, personally, wouldn’t put any books with negative language about children, and people in general, in my own classroom.”