Paul Murdaugh’s Friends: Testimony, Settlements, and Where They Are Now

Paul Murdaugh’s friends fell into two overlapping circles that shaped the public record of the Murdaugh case: the five young people who were on the family boat the night 19-year-old Mallory Beach was killed in February 2019, and the childhood buddies whose testimony helped convict Paul’s father, Alex Murdaugh, of murdering Paul and his mother, Maggie, in June 2021. Their names — Morgan Doughty, Connor Cook, Miley Altman, Anthony Cook, Mallory Beach, Rogan Gibson, Will Loving, and Nathan Tuten — recur across affidavits, depositions, and the murder trial transcript.

Who Was on the Boat

Six young people boarded a 17-foot Sea Hunt center console owned by the Murdaugh family on the night of February 23, 2019. They were three couples: Paul and his girlfriend Morgan Doughty; Connor Cook and Miley Altman; and Anthony Cook and Mallory Beach. Anthony and Connor Cook were cousins.¹

Earlier in the evening the group attended an oyster roast on Paukie Island hosted by Kristy and James Wood. Wood, a local school principal, later said no underage guests were seen drinking; Doughty contradicted that, telling investigators the underage passengers “all drank alcohol and ate food” at the roast.² The group then went to a bar, where Altman told investigators Paul was “very persistent about going up and getting a shot.”¹ Before the outing, Paul had bought alcohol at a Parker’s convenience store using his older brother Buster’s driver’s license.³

Once back on the water, Paul was visibly intoxicated. Altman said he was “doing donuts” with the boat. Connor Cook tried to take the wheel and Paul stopped him, insisting it was his boat. Doughty confronted Paul about his condition, and he spat on her and slapped her.⁴ Shortly after midnight the boat slammed into a bridge piling near Parris Island. Paul, Anthony Cook, and Mallory Beach were ejected. Paul and Anthony surfaced; Mallory did not. Anthony later wrote on Facebook that he had to “swim against that current for 15 minutes in a panic screaming her name begging her to answer me” before swimming to shore without her.⁵ Mallory’s body was recovered a week later. Connor Cook suffered a fractured jaw.⁶

“Timmy” and What Friends Said About Paul’s Drinking

Paul’s friends had a name for who he became when he drank heavily. They called him “Timmy.” One passenger from the boat testified, “When they can tell he’s drunk, somebody will say, ‘All right. Here comes Timmy. We got to go.'”⁷

Morgan Doughty, who dated Paul from 2015 to 2019, gave the most detailed account. In a sworn 2022 affidavit filed as part of the Beach family’s wrongful death lawsuit, she stated that Paul consumed alcohol “on an almost daily basis” and “regularly drank to the point of becoming grossly intoxicated.”⁸ She submitted 22 videos and screenshots as evidence, including footage of Paul shotgunning beers and using Buster’s ID to buy alcohol at a restaurant while his parents were present and paying the bill.⁹

In the 2023 Netflix docuseries Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, Doughty said she “clung to” the relationship because “when it was good, it was really good. But when it was bad, it was really bad.” She recounted a night around Buster Murdaugh’s graduation when Paul kicked, choked, and punched her while screaming “I told you to shut up!” She described another episode in which an intoxicated Paul acted so aggressively while she was driving that she crashed the car; when she tried to call 911, she said, Paul took her phone and insisted they call his father and grandfather instead, and she alleged the family arrived and “hid all the beer and guns before the police arrived.”⁴

Doughty’s affidavit also alleged that Alex and Maggie Murdaugh “funded and allowed” Paul’s underage drinking and provided him with alcohol on specific occasions. On New Year’s Eve 2018, she said, Paul became intoxicated on alcohol provided by his father and then wrecked a truck; Alex allegedly paid cash to repair the vehicle.⁸

The Alleged Pressure on Connor Cook After the Crash

Within hours of the crash, Connor Cook alleged in a lawsuit, Alex Murdaugh began working to shift blame onto him. Cook said that while he was in a wheelchair at the hospital awaiting treatment for his fractured jaw, Alex Murdaugh stopped him and told him he “didn’t need to tell anyone who was driving” the boat.¹⁰ Court records alleged Alex visited each teenager’s hospital room that night and instructed them to stay quiet with investigators.

Paul had already “falsely stated that Connor was the driver” to authorities, and Cook’s lawsuit alleged that Alex orchestrated a “whisper campaign in the Hampton County community” to make Connor look responsible.⁶ Alex recommended Cook hire attorney Cory Fleming, describing him as the “best” choice, without disclosing that Fleming was his college roommate, best friend, and Paul’s godfather. Fleming then advised Cook not to speak with law enforcement.¹¹

In a January 2020 deposition, Cook explained why the pressure worked: “Just anything they get in they get out of. I’ve always been told that.”¹¹ Court filings noted that at least one boat passenger reported being “scared of Murdaugh family’s influence.”⁸ The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division opened a criminal probe into whether Alex Murdaugh obstructed justice; Alex denied the allegations in a legal filing.¹⁰ Paul was charged with felony boating under the influence causing death in Beaufort County. The charges were still pending when he was killed on June 7, 2021.¹²

The Friends Who Testified at the Murder Trial

Three of Paul’s closest friends became central witnesses against Alex Murdaugh. Their testimony turned on a 50-second video recorded on Paul’s phone at the family’s dog kennels at 8:44 p.m. on the night of the killings — video that placed Alex at the scene shortly before the estimated time of death, contradicting his claim that he had been napping in the house.

Rogan Gibson

Rogan Gibson was a childhood friend who called the Murdaughs his “second family.” He had known them since he was 11 or 12, called Maggie “Ms. Maggie,” and referred to Alex as “Big Red.”¹³ Gibson was the reason the kennel video existed. He had boarded his chocolate Labrador, Cash, at the Murdaugh kennels and asked Paul to send a video that evening because he was worried about a possible tail injury.¹⁴

Gibson had spoken with Paul by phone around 8:40 p.m. He told investigators he was “99% sure” he heard Alex’s voice in the background. When shown the kennel video recorded four minutes later, Gibson identified the voice as Alex’s with “100%” certainty, testifying that Alex could be heard telling the family dog, Bubba, to “drop a chicken.”¹⁵ Prosecutors estimated Paul and Maggie were killed just over three minutes after the video was recorded.¹³

Under cross-examination, Gibson said he could not think of a reason Alex would want to hurt his wife and son, and described Alex as an “affectionate and loving father” who appeared “distraught, sad, just tore up” in the aftermath.¹⁵

Will Loving

Will Loving met Paul when Loving was 15 and Paul was 13. By 2021 they were living together in an apartment in Columbia, South Carolina, and hunting together often. On the day of the murders, Loving received a Snapchat video from Paul around 7:00 p.m. showing Paul and Alex “riding around, laughing, having a good time.”¹⁶

At trial, Loving testified with “100% confidence” that the voices on the kennel video belonged to Paul, Maggie, and Alex. He also identified Paul’s firearms, describing a .300 Blackout rifle and a Benelli shotgun Paul favored with a distinctive blue and purple camouflage pattern. Loving visited Moselle the day after the killings and said Alex was “emotional, crying, and could hardly talk.” He wasn’t initially afraid for his own safety, but grew nervous after talking to others and moved out of the apartment he had shared with Paul.¹⁶

Nathan Tuten

Nathan Tuten, a Walterboro police officer, testified that he had been a longtime friend of Paul’s and spoke with him “almost every day.” He confirmed Paul “was always on his phone,” a detail that mattered to the digital timeline prosecutors built.¹⁷ Shown a .300 Blackout rifle and a Benelli shotgun in court, Tuten confirmed both belonged to Paul and said he had fired them himself “multiple times.”

Tuten had a separate tie to Alex Murdaugh. He had worked as a courier for Alex’s former law firm, cashing checks on Alex’s behalf at Palmetto State Bank. Tuten testified that Alex stopped asking him to perform that task roughly a week before the murders.¹⁸

How the Friend Group Fractured

The crash and its aftermath broke the group apart. The sharpest rupture was between Connor Cook and the Murdaughs. Cook testified in a deposition that Alex told him, “I didn’t need to tell anyone who was driving… I just needed to keep my mouth shut and tell them I didn’t know who was driving and that he’s got me.”⁶ Morgan Doughty’s decision to give an extensive sworn affidavit about Paul’s drinking marked her own break from the Murdaugh orbit. She and Miley Altman got matching “M” tattoos in memory of Mallory Beach.⁴

Settlements the Survivors Received

The survivors and the Beach family sued Alex Murdaugh, Buster Murdaugh, Parker’s convenience stores and clerk Tajeeha Cohen, the family that hosted the oyster roast, and a bar that served Paul. Anthony Cook filed his suit in December 2021 in Hampton County, alleging that Alex knew Paul was using his brother’s ID and was “unfit” and “incompetent” to operate the boat.¹⁹

In July 2023, a comprehensive settlement resolved the claims. Parker’s agreed to pay $18 million, and Alex Murdaugh’s boat insurer, Progressive, contributed $500,000. The Beach family received approximately $15 million. Morgan Doughty received $1.1 million; Connor Cook and Anthony Cook each received $1 million; Miley Altman received $400,000.²⁰ An earlier settlement with Maggie Murdaugh’s estate, approved in January 2023, added $517,892 plus a 2021 Mercedes SUV valued at $85,000, with the proceeds from the SUV’s sale directed to Mal’s Palz, an animal rescue charity created in Mallory Beach’s memory. Parker’s attorney said the company settled because being “tethered to a convicted murderer” in a courtroom made a fair trial impossible under South Carolina’s joint and several liability rules.²¹ In October 2024, a judge signed off on Progressive’s $500,000 payment to the Beach family in exchange for dropping Alex Murdaugh as a defendant.²²

Where the Survivors Are Now

Connor Cook lives in Estill, South Carolina, where he runs a forestry company called C.M. Cook Construction. He and Miley Altman remain together and have one child. Cook has not spoken publicly about the Murdaughs recently; his attorney said in 2023 that Cook hoped to “close the door to some of this publicity and resume their kind of anonymous life in Hampton County.”⁶

Morgan Doughty married Batten Bostick on October 14, 2024, and the couple welcomed a daughter, Briar Faye, in 2025. She has spoken about lasting effects of the crash, including PTSD, and shared her account in the Netflix docuseries.⁴

Mallory Beach’s family channeled their loss into Mal’s Palz, an animal rescue foundation led by Mallory’s sister Savannah Beach Tuten and her mother Renee Beach. The organization is raising funds to build a new animal shelter in Hampton County, supported by a $130,000 donation from the Beach family’s attorneys and fundraising that had reached over $50,000 by 2023.²³

1
CBS News. Mallory Beach Death, Alex Murdaugh Boating Crash
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The Island Packet. Paul Murdaugh Boat Crash Oyster Roast Details
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WJCL. Connor Cook Alex Murdaugh Lawsuit
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People. Where Is Morgan Doughty Bostick Now
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Seventeen. Anthony Cook Murdaugh Murders Now
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People. Where Is Connor Cook Now
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The New Yorker. The Corrupt World Behind the Murdaugh Murders
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The Island Packet. Morgan Doughty Affidavit Paul Murdaugh
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WSAV. Paul Murdaughs Girlfriend Offers Testimony Videos
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ABC7 News. Murdaugh Murders Mallory Beach Boat Accident
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WSAV. Connor Cook Lawsuit Against Murdaugh Family and Parkers
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CBS News. Alex Murdaugh Mallory Beach Boat Accident Lawsuit Settled
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The State. Rogan Gibson Testimony Alex Murdaugh Trial
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Courthouse News Service. Alex Murdaughs Voice Heard in Cellphone Video
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ABC11. Alex Murdaugh Trial Family Murders
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Count on 2. Witness Testimony Continues in Alex Murdaugh Murder Trial
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Fox Carolina. Murdaugh Trial Recap New Testimony Causes Heated Debate
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The State. Nathan Tuten Testimony Alex Murdaugh Trial
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Bluffton Today. Murdaugh Case Update Mallory Beach Boyfriend Files Civil Lawsuit
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ABC News 4. Judge Approves Parkers Settlement in Mallory Beach Boat Death Case
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WSAV. Settlement Reached in Mallory Beach Boat Crash
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Live 5 News. Alex Murdaugh Settles Lawsuit Teens Boating Death
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Greenville Online. Hampton County to Partner With Mallory Beach Inspired Mals Palz Animal Shelter