Wall Street Journal reporter Valerie Bauerlein, who covered the Alex Murdaugh murder trial gavel to gavel, explains why the most revealing part of the Murdaugh saga isn’t Alex at all. It’s the 100-year legal dynasty that made him possible.
We go back to Hampton County, South Carolina, a post–Civil War “burned county” built to enforce White Rule, and follow ... Show More
Feb 2026
Stand Your Ground on Camp Swamp Road: The Scott Spivey Shooting
On September 9, 2023, a road-rage encounter in South Carolina turns into a nine-mile chase and ends with 33-year-old Scott Spivey dead on a rural back road. Police quickly call it self-defense under Stand Your Ground. But Scott’s sister, Jennifer Foley, doesn’t buy it. As the cas ... Show More
33m 2s
Mar 2026
Goat Castle: Murder, Myth, and Jim Crow Justice in Natchez
In 2012, historian Karen Cox is digging through the Mississippi State Archives when an archivist tells her, “If you want to know about Natchez, you need to look at Goat Castle.” Cox expects a ghost story. What she finds is stranger and darker: a 1932 murder that turned into a nat ... Show More
32m 55s