HAMPTON, S.C. (AP) — Ask any of the 2,600 residents in this South Carolina town whether they know Alex Murdaugh, and you'll probably get a quick nod. Nearly everyone does in Hampton, a tiny place where every road in has just two lanes.

Ask them to tell you about Murdaugh, though, and you'll get a firm head shake, followed by: "You're not going to quote me, are you?" No one wants to talk about the influential lawyer whose wife and son were killed and who's now accused in a string of controversies — at least, not in the open.

For the past century, the Murdaughs have steered much of the legal wor...