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Alex Murdaugh murder conviction overturned by South Carolina Supreme Court
The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned the murder conviction and life sentence for Alex Murdaugh.
The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned the murder conviction and life sentence for Alex Murdaugh.
Murdaugh, a once-prominent lawyer whose family established a legal dynasty, was convicted in 2023 for killing his wife and younger son.
Alex Murdaugh murder conviction
FILE - In this file pool photograph, Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife and youngest son, listens as his attorneys Dick Harpootlian, left, and Phil Barber speak during a judicial hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, S …
The backstory:
Murdaugh's father, grandfather and great-grandfather were the area’s elected prosecutors for more than 80 years and his family law firm grew to dozens of lawyers by suing railroads, corporations and other big businesses.
Murdaugh's 52-year-old wife, Maggie, was shot four or five times with a rifle and their 22-year-old son Paul was shot twice with a shotgun at the kennels near their rural Colleton County home on June 7, 2021.
Murdaugh has admitted to stealing money and insurance fraud but adamantly denied the killings. He was found guilty after a six-week trial and less than three hours of jury deliberations in 2023, and given consecutive life sentences without parole.
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Alex Murdaugh's attorney explains why he thinks the disgraced lawyer is innocent, will get a new trial
South Carolina Supreme Court decision
What they're saying:
The high court ruled unanimously Wednesday that conduct by a court clerk "egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility" by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted. They also said the trial judge went too far in allowing evidence of Murdaugh’s financial crimes into his murder trial.
Dig deeper:
The justices ruled Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, influenced jurors to find Murdaugh guilty. She hoped to improve sales of a book she was writing about the case. She has since pleaded guilty to lying about what she said and did to a different judge.
His lawyers detailed the lack of physical evidence — no DNA or blood was found splattered on Murdaugh or any of his clothes, even though the killings were at close range with powerful weapons that were never found.
What's next:
Murdaugh won’t be getting out of prison. The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and is concurrently serving a federal sentence for that.
The Source: Information in this article was taken from a Supreme Court order, obtained and reported by The Associated Press. Background information was also taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Detroit.