Alex Murdaugh, a lawyer in South Carolina, was found guilty of the double homicide of his wife and son on Friday and was given two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The jury deliberated for only three hours on Thursday, the final day of the trial, and then announced their decision on the same day that they heard the attorneys’ closing arguments. The trial had begun on January 25, and it was quickly wrapped up. In the proceedings leading up to the sentencing, the prosecutors referred to Murdaugh as a “cunning manipulator who placed himself above all others, including his family,” and they advocated for the maximum possible sentence of two life sentences consecutively to be imposed on him. During the course of the trial, Judge Clifton Newman of the Circuit Court stated that Murdaugh engaged in “duplicitous conduct.”
The bodies of Murdaugh, 54, his wife Maggie, and their son Paul were discovered in June 2021 on the hunting estate that the family-owned in Colleton County. The two were allegedly shot to loss by Murdaugh. The disgraced attorney was found guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of weapon possession in connection with the case.
In a few brief remarks on Friday, Murdaugh stated, “I’m innocent,” and added that he would never hurt either his wife or his son.
Clifton questioned the liars by asking, “Where will [the lies] end?” “It’s already over for many people who have heard you and come to the conclusion that it’ll never end, but within your own soul you have to deal with that, and I know you have to see Paul and Maggie in the middle of the night when you’re trying to go to sleep. “It’s already over for many people who have heard you and come to the conclusion that it’ll never end. I have no doubt in my mind that they will pay you a visit. I have no doubt.
Murdaugh testified in his own defense the previous week, claiming that he did not kill his wife and son in what the prosecution claimed was a botched attempt to cover up financial fraud. He took the stand in his own defense the previous week.
It was “especially heartbreaking to see you go in the media from being a grieving father who lost a wife and son to the person indicted and convicted of killing them,” Newman said to Murdaugh after he was convicted of killing his wife and son. Newman called the case “particularly troubling” because Murdaugh had practiced law in front of him. Newman also stated that it was “absolutely expected” for there to be appeals.
In the Low Country of South Carolina, the name of the Murdaugh family was practically a byword for those who worked in the legal field prior to the trial. Members of the family served as solicitors, also known as local prosecutors, in a five-county district known as “Murdaugh Country” from 1920 until 2006. During that time period, they were responsible for prosecuting all criminal cases in the district. A well-known law firm that focuses on representing clients in cases involving personal injuries was also established by the family. On Friday, Newman mentioned that members of Murdaugh’s family had served as prosecutors for individuals who were sentenced to a loss for crimes that were not as severe.
But the image of power and influence that surrounded the Murdaugh clan started to fall apart in February 2019, when a boat that was allegedly driven by Paul Murdaugh, who was then 19 years old and Alex Murdaugh’s son, crashed near Parris Island, South Carolina, with five passengers on board. Mallory Beach, who was also 19 years old, was a passenger and passed away. According to the records kept by the hospital, four of the five survivors were taken there for treatment, and Paul Murdaugh’s blood alcohol level was found to be three times higher than the permissible limit. After that, he was charged with three felony counts of boating while under the influence and pleaded not guilty. However, his father put an end to his life before he could go to trial for those charges.
Following the incident, the Beach family filed a wrongful loss suit, which prosecutors believe played a role in the motivation for the eventual killings of Paul and Maggie. Alex Murdaugh is accused of carrying out a failed plan to cover up his own financial fraud by shooting and killing Maggie, who was 52 years old, and Paul, who was 22 years old at the time.
The investigation into the murder of Murdaugh has prompted authorities to look into two other losses that seem suspicious in the area. Gloria Satterfield, who had previously worked as the housekeeper for the Murdaugh family, was found passed in 2018 after a fall that reportedly occurred on the job. She reportedly hit her head after tripping over the Murdaugh family’s dogs, according to the family.
Alex Murdaugh allegedly admitted to Satterfield’s sons that he was to blame for their mother’s passing and promised that he would “take care of the boys” by bringing a claim against himself in order to cash in on his personal liability insurance policy, as stated by the attorneys for the Satterfield family. However, the family claimed that they had never received any money from Murdaugh, and in 2021 they brought legal action against him. In January, it was reported in The New Yorker that Murdaugh had stolen the money from the settlement, which amounted to more than $400,000 total. After Murdaugh was taken into custody, the police launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Satterfield’s passing.
Stephen Smith, who was 19 years old at the time, was discovered passed in the middle of a rural highway in Hampton County, South Carolina, in the month of July 2015. The cause of his loss was initially determined to be a hit-and-run, but after the losses of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, the investigation into his loss was reopened by the police.
People who were interviewed for the documentary series “The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal” on Netflix link Alex Murdaugh’s older son, Buster, to Smith. Additionally, Buster is named in reports on the case that investigators filed with the highway patrol.
