Alex Murdaugh: Disgraced South Carolina lawyer handed life sentence for murdering wife and son | US News
Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina lawyer who killed his wife and son, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours on Thursday before accused him of shooting people his wife, Margaret, 52, with a rifle outside a dog kennel at their country estate in Colleton County, South Carolina on June 7, 2021.
On the same day, he fired two shotgun shots at his 22-year-old son Paul.
Prosecutors say the lawyer carried out the killings to distract from the fact that he stole millions of dollars from the family company and clients to feed his drug addiction.
During the trial, the jury heard more than 75 witnesses present and presented nearly 800 pieces of evidence.
The court was informed of the clients, friends and family members he had betrayed, as well as his failed attempt to fake his death as part of an insurance fraud case.
The Murdaugh family appeared in a popular Netflix documentary – Murdaugh’s Murder: Southern Scandal – which detailed some of the controversies involving them.
Before being charged with murder, he was in prison awaiting more than 100 other charges, ranging from fraud to tax evasion.
In sentencing, the judge said: “You have gone from lawyer to witness, and now have the opportunity to make a final appeal as a former attorney.”
Murdaugh, as he did throughout the trial, asserted his innocence, saying he “would never” hurt his wife and son under any circumstances.
Alex Murdaugh in the same court where his father and grandfather served as prosecutors
Read more:
Trial of lawyer convicted of murder of wife and son prompts reopening of investigation into other deaths
Two murders, a suicide plot and the mystery of the housekeeper’s death – questions surrounding Murdaugh
The judge said: “Maybe it’s not you, it could be the monster you become when you take… opioids.”
Prosecutor Creighton Waters said: “The depravity, callousness, selfishness of these crimes is astounding.
“The fact that he has no regrets and no effort, even here, sitting right over there in this witness stand – Your Honor, a man like that, a man like this man, no was never allowed to be in freedom, the law-citizens obey.”
A family photo of Buster, Paul, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh is shown in court during the trial. Photo: AP
The Murdaugh family has been part of the state’s legal scene for more than a century, with his brother running the company that was founded more than 100 years ago.
Murdaugh was convicted in the same courtroom that his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather tried cases as elected prosecutors for more than 80 years.
The portrait of his grandfather that hung at the back of the building was removed.
