Every mysterious death in the dizzying Murdaugh investigation

Alex Murdaugh faces more charges after rehab, a former Boeing employee is accused of lying to regulators, and Jonah Hill opens up about body image

OCTOBER 15, 2021 THE BIG STORY   South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh is facing new charges related to the death of his housekeeper Alex Murdaugh walks into his bond hearing on Sept. 16, 2021, in Varnville, South Carolina. Mic Smith / AP Following his release from a drug rehabilitation facility, Alex Murdaugh was charged with two felony counts related to allegations that he misappropriated funds intended for the sons of his late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield. His arrest is unrelated to the mysterious killings of Murdaugh's wife and son in June.   Previously, Murdaugh was arrested in September and charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report after he allegedly orchestrated his own botched killing so that his surviving son, Buster, would receive a $10 million insurance payout. Investigators are also probing the Murdaugh family's connections to the 2015 death of Buster's classmate, Stephen Smith, who was found dead on a highway but with little evidence to suggest he had been hit by a car.   If you're behind on the Murdaugh saga (and who could blame you, this is a whirlwind), these stories can help you get up to speed: Paul Murdaugh — who was charged for drunk driving a boat that crashed and killed a teenage girl in 2019 — was shot and killed along with his mother at their family hunting lodge. Alex Murdaugh was arrested for planning his own killing in an alleged insurance fraud scheme. STAYING ON TOP OF THIS   A former Boeing employee is accused of lying to regulators about the 737 Max before the deadly crashes that killed hundreds Ted S. Warren / AP US government officials allege that former chief technical pilot Mark A. Forkner gave federal regulators false information about part of the Boeing 737 Max's flight controls. This software reportedly pushed the nose of the plane downward, forcing pilots to struggle for control of the plane.   The Boeing 737 Max made its debut in 2017, and the new plane came under scrutiny on Oct. 29, 2018, when Lion Air Flight 610 crashed shortly after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all of its 189 passengers. Five months later, on March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 also went down after takeoff, killing 157 people. Federal prosecutors allege Forkner deceived officials to save Boeing money. He faces two counts of fraud involving aircraft parts and interstate commerce, as well as four counts of wire fraud. SNAPSHOTS   Robert Durst will spend the rest of his life in prison for murdering his friend. The multimillionaire real estate heir seemed to confess to three murders in an HBO documentary. He's officially heading to prison after decades of suspicion.   Actor Lili Bernard has filed a lawsuit against Bill Cosby for allegedly drugging and raping her in 1990. "I have waited a long time to be able to pursue my case in court and I look forward to being heard and to hold Cosby accountable for what he did to me," she said in a statement.   Jonah Hill asked fans not to post "good or bad" comments about his body because it "doesn't feel good," months after opening up about his childhood insecurities. "This isn't a 'good for me' post. And it's definitely not a 'feel bad for me post,'" the actor wrote. "It's for the kids who don't take their shirt off at the pool." Ben Affleck and Matt Damon explained how writing Good Will Hunting nearly ruined their friendship. The duo's new film comes out Friday, and is the first time that Matt and Ben have written a script together in 25 years.   ANOTHER TRUMP-ERA POLICY WINDS DOWN   The Biden administration has suspended a Trump-era policy that put immigrants at risk of being deported without due process A policy that allows ICE officers to arrest and rapidly deport certain undocumented immigrants without access to a judge was suspended by the Biden administration on Thursday, after BuzzFeed News obtained government data that showed it had been used several times this year.   "Expedited removal" is most commonly used within 100 miles of the border and for those who have been in the country for up to two weeks. But in July 2019, Trump expanded the policy so that expedited removal could be used anywhere in the country and for anyone who could not prove that they had lived in the US for longer than two years. From Jan. 20 to late August, ICE officials said they deported four immigrants under expedited removal. The data provided to BuzzFeed News comes months after President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Homeland Security to review the policy and decide whether to modify or revoke it. It was expected that the Biden administration would move to undo the policy. WHAT TO WATCH   New TV shows we can't get enough of A totally normal priest from Midnight Mass. Eike Schroter / Netflix Midnight Mass After a mysterious priest named Father Paul (Hamish Linklater) suddenly arrives to lead a struggling fishing town's Catholic church, strange "miracles" start happening, breathing new life into the community. But soon, the townspeople bear witness to a sinister, deadly plan for control.   The Problem With Jon Stewart The Problem begins as you'd imagine a Stewart show to begin: with a monologue peppered with jokes. Then it pivots. For years, Stewart would remind audiences that he's not a journalist, but rather a comedian asking questions. In The Problem, he reluctantly steps into a journalist's shoes, publicly reckoning with a role he'd been given but was reluctant to embrace.   The Other Two (Season 2) Two exploits the indignities of the Dubek siblings Cary (Drew Tarver) and Brooke (Heléne Yorke) as they struggle in the lower rungs of entertainment. Meanwhile, their young brother finds viral fame as the Bieber-like star Chase Dreams. For those looking for witty writing with old-school sitcom-y appeal, the show will fill a niche you might not even know you had been missing.   Our full list of TV recs can be found here. CHEERS TO THE WEEKEND   Spend some time with these inquisitive longreads Ted Lasso is still good At its core, Ted Lasso is about empathy: its abundance, its dearth, the ways it can transform a person or a group, and what happens when you can't access it. It's a thesis that holds together through all of the episodes. All except for, well...spoiler alert. But in the end, it's clear that Lasso never forgot its own assignment: to take sizable risks in story and in character, and make a complicated show about forgiveness.   Her best friend was murdered. Twenty years later, she said her dad did it. In January 1989, 29-year-old Eileen Franklin-Lipsker was playing at home with her daughter when her mind was suddenly flooded with violent memories, she later recalled. In these memories, she said she saw her father, George Franklin, molesting and attacking her childhood best friend, Susan Nason, who had been murdered 20 years before.   Franklin-Lipsker's trial became a flashpoint in the '90s media obsession with "recovered" or "repressed" memories. The new docuseries Buried recounts the story vividly, but falls short of clarifying its complicated cultural impact.   My family moved to the US for a better life. But what does that really mean? "Like many second-­generation immigrants, I learned about our country from Black people," writes Albert Samaha.   "From those stories in childhood—warning marks etched on the road by travelers long before us—I picked up on the fact that my family and our fellow immigrants were new arrivals not only to a nation but to a long-standing system of racial oppression, suspended somewhere between those who conquered the land by blood and those whose blood built the empire. We had come by choice but in peace, with neither the privileges of whiteness nor the weight of Blackness. Where did that leave us?" Hey. Today's Incoming had a lot of grim news. Be sure to give yourself space to process heaviness without turning your back on the world, Alexa 📝  This letter was edited and brought to you by Alexa Lee and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.     👉 Your support of BuzzFeed's journalism does not constitute a charitable donation, and your contribution is not eligible for a tax-deduction. 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