Auction of items from Murdaugh family's Moselle estate draws an estimated 3,000 people
An estimated 3,000 people showed up to an auction of items from the Murdaugh family's Moselle estate on Thursday. Liberty Auctions in Pembroke, Georgia, facilitated the auction, which drew about three times the normal crowd they would get, said Emily McGarry, who works for the auction house.
McGarry told CBS News someone referred the Murdaugh family, who live in South Carolina, to their auction house. She said she was "shocked" by the massive turnout. "Honestly, it went very smoothly. We didn't have any issues form anybody. Everyone was calm and patient, and it was a great night," she said, declining to reveal how much money was made.
Alex Murdaugh, a prominent lawyer in South Carolina's Lowcountry, was convicted earlier this month of killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, in 2021. Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison and is appealing his murder conviction.
Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were found dead from gunshot wounds on the property of the family's hunting lodge, called Moselle, in Colleton County, South Carolina.
Liberty Auction opened its doors at 12 p.m. on Thursday and the auction of items from Moselle started at around 4 p.m. and lasted until 11 p.m., said McGarry, whose parents own Liberty Auctions.
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"I think some people were nosy and just wanted to look at things," McGarry said. "We had a lot of people who just wanted to have some sort of a token."
"We had a Yeti cup – just a regular Yeti cup – that sold for $400," she said. Yeti's line of stainless steel water tumblers starts at around $35.
Still, many people were serious bidders. "The sofa set, for instance, collectively sold for $30,000," she said of the set that came with two sofas, two recliners and two ottomans.
The auction items were varied, including furniture, dishes, home decor and hunting clothes, among others. "We had a pair of longhorns hanging on the wall, those sold for $10,000," McGarry said.
The Moselle property was also sold this week, according to deeds records from Colleton County. James Ayer and Jeffrey Godley bought the property for $3.9 million, according to the documents.
The Murdaugh family gained widespread media attention after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were killed, and Alex Murdaugh was found with a gunshot wound to his head three months later. His trial earlier this month drew even more attention to the family and the rumors and incidents that have tarnished their reputation.
In 2018, the family's longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died on their property after allegedly falling down stairs. In 2019, a teenage girl, Mallory Beach, died in an accident with the family's boat, which his son, Paul, was allegedly driving while drunk. And rumors have swirled in the small town that his son, Buster, was involved in the 2015 death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, who was found dead on a road near their property. Buster Murdaugh has denied any connection to Smith's death.