Alex Murdaugh’s convictions for murder of wife, son overturned by South Carolina court
Jeffrey Collins
Updated ,first published
Colombia: Prosecutors plan to retry disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh on murder charges in the shooting deaths of his wife and young son after the South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned his convictions and life sentence.
State’s Attorney Alan Wilson said his office respects the court’s decision, but no one is above the law.
In a unanimous decision Wednesday, the Supreme Court said the court clerk’s conduct “seriously assaulted Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors that his testimony could not be trusted. They also said the trial judge went too far in allowing evidence of Murdaugh’s financial crimes to be included in the murder trial.
Murdaugh won’t be released from prison. The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to stealing nearly US$12 million ($165 million) from his customers and is currently serving a 40-year federal prison sentence.
Still, the verdict is a victory for Murdaugh, who has admitted to being a thief, a liar, an insurance fraudster and a bad lawyer but has stubbornly refused to kill his wife Maggie and young son Paul since finding their bodies outside their home in 2021.
The judges ruled that Colleton County Court Clerk Becky Hill, who was assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, influenced jurors to find Murdaugh guilty. He hoped to increase sales of the book he was writing about the case.
The name of the book was Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders. It was removed from publication after allegations of plagiarism were made.
“As the title of his book suggests, Hill has been quite busy behind the doors of justice, subverting the integrity of the justice system he has sworn to protect and support,” the judges wrote in the unsigned 27-page decision.
Hill has since admitted to lying about the things he said and did.
Murdaugh’s lawyers also argued before the high court that the judge at his 2023 trial made decisions that impeded a fair trial, such as allowing jurors to be biased against him when evidence of Murdaugh stealing from his clients had nothing to do with the murders.
They detailed the lack of physical evidence: No DNA or blood was found splattered on Murdaugh or his clothing, although the murders were committed at close range with powerful weapons that were never found.
Prosecutors argued that the clerk’s comments were tentative and that the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming. His lawyer said that didn’t matter because comments made by one juror — urging jurors to watch Murdaugh’s body language and listen carefully to his testimony — eliminated his presumption of innocence before the jury even deliberated.
Murdaugh’s legal drama continues to be fascinating. Miniseries, best-selling books and dozens of true crime podcasts are being released that tell the story of how the multimillionaire Southern lawyer whose family dominated and controlled the legal system in tiny Hampton County ended up in a maximum security South Carolina prison.
In their ruling, the justices praised prosecutors, the defense team, and the judge for their outstanding work and took full blame for having to try Murdaugh again on the Hill.
Hill’s attorney in the criminal case did not respond to a phone call or email seeking comment.
Hill “put her fingers on the scales of justice, denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the justices wrote. “Our justice system ensures and even demands that everyone has the right to a fair trial.”
