NEED TO KNOW
- Morgan Doughty Bostick and Paul Murdaugh started dating when they attended the same South Carolina high school in 2015
- Their relationship ended shortly after Paul was allegedly drunkenly driving a boat that killed their friend Mallory Beach in 2019
- After Paul’s 2021 murder, Morgan claimed that he was verbally and physically abusive
Morgan Doughty Bostick was in a relationship with Paul Murdaugh before he was killed by his father, Alex Murdaugh, in June 2021.
Morgan and Paul began dating in high school and were still in a relationship at the time that Paul was allegedly drunkenly driving a boat, resulting in a crash that killed their friend, Mallory Beach, in 2019. Morgan was also on the boat and later received an over $1 million settlement as a result of the crash, per WCIV.
The accident took a toll on their relationship, and by the time that Alex fatally shot Paul and his mother, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, in June 2021, the couple had broken up. Morgan later shared her side of the story in the 2023 Netflix docuseries Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, in which she alleged that Paul physically and verbally abused her.
Three years after Paul’s murder, Morgan married Batten Bostick in October 2024. The couple became parents when they welcomed their daughter, Briar, in 2025.
In the Hulu limited series, Murdaugh: Death in the Family, which premiered its finale on Nov. 19, actor Jessi Case portrayed Morgan and told the story of her complicated relationship with Paul (played by Johnny Berchtold).
So, where is Morgan Doughty Bostick now? Here’s everything to know about her life after her ex-boyfriend, Paul Murdaugh, was murdered by his dad, Alex Murdaugh.
Who is Morgan Doughty Bostick?
Morgan explained in the 2023 Netflix docuseries Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, that she was originally from Long Island, N.Y., but moved to South Carolina for high school. She attended Thomas Heyward Academy with Paul in Ridgeland, S.C.
Her parents, Diane and Bill, also appeared in the docuseries and shared their own insight into the tight-knit community in South Carolina.
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When did she date Paul Murdaugh?
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While Paul and Morgan were still in high school, they began dating in 2015, she shared in the docuseries. The two went to high school dances together, mingled with both their families and spent time with their friends.
Morgan and Paul were still dating at the time of the boat crash in February 2019, but they broke up shortly afterward. By June of that year, she had started dating her now-husband.
“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,” she said in Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.
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What allegations did she make against Paul?
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Although Paul and Morgan dated for around four years, their relationship suffered from alleged physical and verbal abuse. In the Netflix docuseries, Morgan claimed that Paul had issues with alcoholism that often contributed to his alleged temper and abuse.
Morgan recalled one incident where Paul allegedly kicked, choked and punched her while he was “so intoxicated” on the night of his older brother Buster Murdaugh’s graduation.
“We had finally gotten to bed and for some reason Paul kept, like, kicking me,” she claimed in the docuseries. “I yelled at him, and then he got on top of me, and I just remember him screaming, ‘I told you to shut up!’ just holding down my throat. I just remember then he, like, punched me really hard in the knee right here.”
Prior to that moment, she shared another time when Paul was allegedly acting “aggressively” toward her while he was drunk and she was driving them home from a party. The tension caused Morgan to accidentally drive off the road and crash.
Morgan alleged that she tried to call 911, but Paul took the phone out of her hand and insisted that they call his dad and grandfather, Randolph Murdaugh III, instead. Both Alex and Randolph were prominent attorneys in South Carolina at the time.
She recalled how Paul’s parents and grandfather arrived at the scene of the crash and claimed that they hid all the beer and guns before the police arrived.
How was Morgan Doughty Bostick connected to Mallory Beach’s death?
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In the early hours of Feb. 24, 2019, Paul, Morgan and four of their friends — including Mallory Beach — were coming back from a party on the Murdaugh family boat. Paul, Morgan and Mallory were joined by Mallory’s boyfriend, Anthony Cook, Anthony’s cousin, Connor Cook, and Connor’s girlfriend, Miley Altman.
After spending hours at a party across town, the group of six friends ventured back to their parked boat. However, several of the friends allegedly urged Paul not to drive the boat, as he appeared intoxicated.
Around 2 a.m., the boat crashed into Archer’s Creek Bridge while Paul, who had a blood-alcohol level of three times the legal limit, was allegedly driving the boat, per CBS News. Mallory was ejected from the boat and was later found dead over a week after the crash on March 3. Her cause of death was later determined to be blunt force trauma, WTOC reported in 2021.
Morgan later told police that she was one of the friends who confronted Paul ahead of the crash, but he allegedly spat on her and slapped her in a fit of rage while driving. Paul was subsequently charged with three felony counts — including boating under the influence, causing death — and was awaiting trial at the time of his death.
Where is Morgan Doughty Bostick now?
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Although Morgan has kept a mostly private life since the crash, in the Netflix series, she spoke about the emotional toll the boat accident took on her and the PTSD she faced as a result. She also revealed that both she and Miley got “M” tattoos in memory of Mallory.
Shortly after Mallory’s tragic death, her family and the families of the other people on board the boat filed lawsuits. In July 2023, the Beach family settled a lawsuit with the owner of Parker’s Convenience Store in which they alleged that the store sold underage Paul alcohol the night of the crash, ABC News 4 reported at the time.
While the Beach family received an estimated $15 million from the lawsuit, it also included additional money to be divvied among the four survivors of the crash — including Morgan. The news outlet reported that Morgan received $1.1 million from the settlement.
Years earlier, in June 2019, Morgan began dating Batten. After four years of dating, Morgan announced in April 2023 that they had gotten engaged. The couple tied the knot on Oct. 14, 2024, she shared on Facebook at the time.
The couple became parents when they welcomed daughter Briar Faye in late 2025. She shared a sweet photo of the three of them smiling during a photoshoot in October 2025.
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