Where Is Marian Proctor Now? All About Her Life 2 Years After Testifying Against Brother-in-Law Alex Murdaugh By Emily Blackwood

In the aftermath of his wife and son’s murders, Alex Murdaugh’s sister-in-law said the once-prominent South Carolina attorney didn’t seem concerned with finding their killer.

“We never talked about finding the person who could have done it,” Marian Proctor, Maggie Murdaugh’s older sister, testified during his 2023 trial, The State reported. “It was just odd. We were sort of living in fear because we thought this horrible person was out there, but we didn’t know the motive behind the killings.”

Though Alex initially claimed he was visiting his elderly mother and arrived home to find Maggie and their 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh, dead, cell phone video evidence placed him at the estate at the time of the murders.

In March 2023, Alex was found guilty of Maggie and Paul’s murders based on mounting evidence and key testimony from family members like Marian. The former lawyer was given two consecutive life sentences.

So where is Marian Proctor now? Here’s everything to know about Maggie Murdaugh’s sister and the “strange” conversation she had with Alex Murdaugh after he killed his wife and son.

Marian’s sister was shot and killed in 2021

On June 7, 2021, Alex called police to report that he had found his wife and son dead at the family’s sprawling, 1,770-acre hunting estate in Islandton, S.C. Paul had been shot in the chest and head with a shotgun, while Maggie was shot in the back with an assault rifle. She was hit with several more rounds when she was already on the ground.

While on the stand, Marian described her sister’s marriage as “happy” and said the family “had a comfortable life,” per The State. However, police later learned that Alex had been involved in illegal drug distribution and money laundering — and had a severe opioid addiction that cost him about $50,000 a week.

In September 2021, the Murdaugh patriarch was arrested and charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report. He was later charged with a total of 22 financial crimes as well as two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

Marian spoke to Maggie hours before the murder

In the late afternoon hours of June 7, 2021, Marian told jurors that Maggie had called her from the family’s beach home in Edisto, S.C., South Carolina Public Radio reported. Though she hadn’t planned to see Alex that night, Marian said she encouraged her sister to “be with him” as his father was dying. That was the last time they ever spoke.

She testified that she was surprised to hear of Alex’s claim that he had been at his parents’ house and not with Maggie at the time of her murder, as being with him was “the whole reason she went home that night.”

Marian was a key witness during Alex’s trial 

While serving as a key witness in Alex’s trial, Marian testified about an unsettling conversation she had with her brother-in-law after the murders — and how they “never” discussed finding the killer.

“He said that his number one goal was clearing Paul’s name,” Marian said, referring to his late son’s alleged role in a boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach in 2019. Paul had been charged with three felony counts, including boating under the influence, and was awaiting trial when he was murdered. He pleaded not guilty.

Regarding Alex’s preoccupation with exonerating Paul, Marian added, “And I thought that was so strange, because my number one goal was to find out who killed my sister and Paul.”

Maggie’s sister noted that she also thought the murders “had something to do with the boat case … up until that September,” South Carolina Public Radio reported. Although prosecutors attempted to follow up on the events of September 2021 that had changed her mind, the defense objected.

Alex allegedly told her Maggie hadn’t suffered during the murders

Marian testified that when she saw Alex days after the murder, she had asked him if he thought Maggie “had suffered,” The State reported. “He assured me that she had not,” she said on the stand. “Now I don’t know that I think that was true.”

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In that same conversation, Marian also alleged that Alex speculated on the murderer’s motives. Though he claimed not to know who did it, he allegedly said that the killer must have “thought about it for a really long time.”

When the lead prosecutor asked if she thought that was odd, she responded, “I just didn’t know what that meant.”

Where is Marian Proctor now?

Since Alex’s 2023 trial and conviction, Marian has remained out of the public eye. However, Succession‘s J. Smith-Cameron brought Maggie’s sister to life in the 2025 Hulu miniseries Murdaugh: Death in the Family.

Though Marian has not commented on the scripted series about her family’s case, Alex’s attorneys said in a statement to PEOPLE that he was “deeply disappointed and disturbed.”

The statement added, “The program contains numerous inaccuracies and misleading portrayals that distort the truth of their lives.”