This article contains mentions of intimate partner abuse; please take care while reading.
Recommended VideosThe first time we heard the Murdaugh name, there’s no way we could have been prepared for the rabbit hole we’d soon travel down. A high societal family in South Carolina, the Murdaughs lived a life at a status that was considered untouchable to many — including themselves. They could do no wrong, or rather, if wrong was done, it would quickly be swept under the rug. The prominent legal family had served the Lowcountry region since 1920, and it was impossible to live in the area and not know their story.
Of course, there are pieces of their story that certain members of the family would have loved to have never seen the light of day, but secrets don’t stay secrets forever; the sun always rises, and when it began illuminating the Murdaugh family, they were in for a rude awakening. The Netflix special Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal highlights the ups and downs of the family and how everyone from Buster to Alex Murdaugh lived a life of somewhat reckless abandon until things were finally taken too far.
One of the most talked about circumstances that the Murdaughs were involved in was the tragic boating accident of 2019 that claimed the life of Mallory Beach. The 19-year-old was last seen on Paul’s boat before a crash, after which she never surfaced. Her body would eventually wash to shore a little over a week later, and everyone involved felt that one person was to blame for the crash: Paul Murdaugh. He was charged with boating under the influence, causing death, and two counts of boating under the influence with significant bodily injury. As those who follow the Murdaugh family story know, he was killed before he could ever stand trial.
At the time, Paul was dating a woman named Morgan Doughty, and many wonder where she is now amid all the happenings in the Murdaugh family. Having lost her ex-boyfriend and a friend within a short window of time, we can only hope that she’s found a place of solace to heal in, so let’s take a look.
How long did Morgan know the Murdaughs, and where is she now?
Originally from New York, Doughty didn’t grow up in the realm of the Murdaughs ruling the realm as those in the Lowcountry area of South Carolina did. After the boating accident and subsequent deaths of Paul and Margaret/Maggie, Doughty has kept a very low profile, with social media profiles often set to private.
Doughty did appear in the documentary we mentioned above and has worked on other platforms in which she can tell her story, allowing others to learn from what she experienced and giving solace to those who might be experiencing intimate partner abuse as she did.
Speaking to Netflix in the Murdaugh Murders documentary, Doughty acknowledges that her relationship with Paul was full of ups and downs, and as they met in high school, it was something she held on to for many reasons:
“I think that our relationship is just something that I really clung to just because when it was good, it was really good, but when it was bad, it was really bad.”
During their time together, Doughty was on the subject of physical and verbal abuse from Paul, and as she openly speaks about their time together, you can tell that it changed the trajectory of her life forever. A lot of Paul’s abuse came from times when he’d been drinking, which Doughty said the Murdaugh family often did, but his anger was the most volatile.
Anyone in an abusive relationship knows it’s not easy to walk away from partners with violent tendencies, and it goes without saying that she had a difficult time freeing herself from him, but once she did, she gave herself a chance at a better future. Doughty has been dating her boyfriend, Batten, since 2019, and she surrounds herself with best friends in good times and bad. As her social media proves, she’s found a way to step into a life she deserves and free herself from a painful past, but those pieces of her story will always be with her.
If you are experiencing domestic abuse or believe someone you know is being abused, contact The National Domestic Violence Hotline. The hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE or spoken with online via the hotline’s website. Mobile phone owners can also text “START” to the number 88788.
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