The Murdaugh murders may be the most infamous high-society crimes to have emerged out of the American South in a generation or more.  When paterfamilias Alex Murdaugh shot his wife Maggie and son Paul on June 21, 2021, the world became captivated by a case that seemed to have it all: wealth, sex, ambition, dark family secrets and intergenerational trauma.  The case so fascinated journalist Mandy Matney that she devoted nearly 100 episodes of her “Murdaugh Murders” podcast to investigating the case.

It was inevitable that Hollywood came calling.  A fortuitous meeting with producers Erin Lee Carr and Michael D. Fuller convinced Matney that this was the team to fashion a docudrama properly.

“I’ll be honest, a lot of [producing teams] gave me ‘the ick,’ like they wanted to focus on the gross parts of the story.  [Fuller and Carr] didn’t,” Matney explained via Zoom.  “Michael and Erin were so genuine and sincere, and they really cared about the victims.  We bonded on wanting to approach the story in the same way.

“I chose the best partners in the world, because they got us here.”

The series, “Murdaugh: Death in the Family,” streaming on Hulu and Disney+, stars Jason Clarke (“Oppenheimer,” “Terminator Genisys”) as Alex Murdaugh, a career attorney and well-known member of the Murdaugh (pronounced “Murr-DOCK”) dynasty.  Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette is his wife, Maggie.

Much of what appears in the episodes comes directly from Matney’s podcast and subsequent book, “Blood on Their Hands: Murder, Corruption, and the Fall of the Murdaugh Dynasty.”

“Since they opened the writer’s room until almost until after production, pretty much we were peppered with random questions: What kind of cigarettes would Paul smoke?  Mandy, is this true to reality?” Matney said.  “I’ve been a big fan of TV and film my entire life.  So watching a story that I’ve…cared so much about for so many years come to life on set was incredible.”

Matney may have been the in-house expert on all things related to the South Carolinian Murdaughs (Matney, originally from Kansas, now lives in South Carolina), but she also had the professional wherewithal to know when it was time to step back and let the showrunners bring “Death in the Family” across the finish line.

“I’m the girl that you go to for whatever happened in reality, but I’m not the one to tell you what goes into a TV series because I don’t know how to do that,” she said.  “[But] when I saw the show for the first time, everything clicked into place in this amazing, awesome way.  And I [thought], oh, I understand why they made this decision and that decision.  I was watching it again last night and was…just in awe.”

In addition to the various tawdry bits of the Murdaugh saga, Matney says that audiences are in for a wild ride with a top-notch cast that will surprise even those who are very familiar with the specific details of the case.

“I think the series explores a lot of things that we did not cover in 90 [podcast] episodes of who Maggie and Paul really were—and what challenges they faced at home and their family dynamics,” Matney said.  “And what can we do to prevent something like this from happening again?”

As a Palmetto State resident, Matney is keenly aware that South Carolina’s entrenched aristocracy offers a breeding ground for greed and crimes undertaken in self-protection—or far worse (she described South Carolina as “extra bad,” even compared to other states notoriously hospitable to corruption).  Additionally, the Murdaugh clan has many powerful friends and allies who are unhappy to see the family depicted in an unflattering light.  Several even harassed Matney online.

Author and journalist Mandy Matney

“When you mess with people in power, that’s what happens,” she said, adding that the experience of being on the receiving end of serious online trolling has given her rather thick skin.  “I’m not afraid of much anymore.”

Not even trusting a famous actor to play a “character” on the show called Mandy Matney.  Indeed, in the series, Brittany Snow (“Pitch Perfect,” “The Hunting Wives”) portrays an inquisitive and fearless fictional version of the real Matney—whose tenacity may be precisely what is needed to solve the case in the hermetic environment of privilege surrounding Alex, Maggie, and their children.

“She was brilliant from Day 1 in the fact that…she [had] consumed the entire podcast years before,” Matney said of Snow.  “She read my book very thoroughly and pointed out details from my book that I forgot I even included.

“I feel like I learned more about myself through this experience.  Like, there would be times on set when I would look over and Brittany would be standing in the way that I stand when I’m talking to sources.”

After having spent so much time devoted to the Murdaughs, Matney and her husband, David Moses, are now set to dig deep into other true crime via their True Sunlight and Cup of Justice podcasts, both under their Lunashark Media umbrella.   The couple’s shared goal, she said, is the ongoing pursuit of truth and, she hopes, some measure of justice for the victims.  (And if another Hulu show comes from one of those podcasts, Matney says she would be on board).

When asked how she hopes “Murdaugh: Death in the Family,” and its depiction of citizen journalism, might help the craft of investigative reporting at a time when the free press is under continued attacks, Matney said that her obsession devotion to uncovering the truth about the Murdaugh murders might even cause others to speak truth to power even in the face of overwhelming odds.

“I think a big problem with media is that so many of them are owned by the same giant companies and they’re all wanting to put out the exact same things over and over,” she said.  “And I hope that this story inspires journalists to go outside the lines, do what they tell you not to do, and follow the truth.”

“Murdaugh: Death in the Family” is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.