COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. — The site of the Murdaugh family murders took place-- the infamous South Carolina crime that ended with a high profile trial this year--has now been sold.
Court records show the sale for the Moselle property, as it's known, went through on Wednesday. The land will now be owned by a pair of buyers: James Ayer and Jeffery Godley.
Online records show Godley already owned a piece of property not far from Moselle. The asking price for the land was $3.9 million but the selling document said it sold for $2.6 million.
The Moselle estate, located at 4740 Moselle Road in Colleton County, is a sprawling 1,700 acre tract of land that includes a home, hunting land, woods, a dog kennel, and other structures. Records showed it was owned by Maggie Murdaugh, who lived there with her husband, Alex Murdaugh, who had been a prominent attorney in the area.
That all changed on June 7, 2021 with the murders of Maggie and her adult son, Paul Murdaugh. The pair were found shot to death near the dog kennels on the property, both killed by high-powered weapons.
Ultimately, Alex Murdaugh was charged with their killings. In a six-week long trial that ended earlier this month, a jury found Murdaugh guilty of murdering the two after just three hours of deliberation. A judge then sentenced Alex Murduagh to consecutive life sentences. He is appealing his conviction.
During the trial, there was extensive testimony about where the shooting took place, the weapons that were stored on the property, and the layout of the land and the victims and killer's movements that night. A key piece of evidence was a short video shot on Paul's phone of the three at the dog kennels on the night of the killing. Alex's voice could be heard in the recording, a fact that shattered his alibi that he hadn't been near the murder scene that evening.
Before deliberations in the case began, the defense team asked for the jury to tour the property. During and after the trial, the property has attracted sightseers who had been following the trial and wanted to see the land for themselves.
Items from the Murdaugh estate were set to be sold at an auction in Georgia Thursday night.