Alex Murdaugh sentenced in murders of wife, son
WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC/Gray News) - The judge in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial has passed his sentence a day after a jury convicted the disbarred Lowcountry attorney of murdering his wife and son.
Murdaugh, 54, will spend the rest of his life in prison for the June 7, 2021, shooting deaths of 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh and their youngest son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh.
Judge Clifton Newman sentenced Murdaugh to two life terms to be served consecutively.
“And it might not have been you. It might have been the monster you become,” Newman replied, noting Murdaugh’s addiction to painkillers.
Creighton Waters, the prosecutor, recommended two consecutive life sentences.
w“The depravity, the callousness, the selfishness of these crimes are stunning. The lack of remorse and the effortless way in which he is, including here, sitting right over there in this witness stand — your honor, a man like that, a man like this man, should never be allowed to be among free, law abiding citizens,” he said.
Waters said none of the family members wanted to give impact statements.
Murdaugh, dressed in a prison uniform, denied the crimes, saying “I’m innocent. I would never hurt my wife Maggie and I would never hurt my son Paul Paul.”
The sentencing took place after Murdaugh was found guilty on Thursday. Newman sent them to deliberations at approximately 3:50 p.m. They notified the court at approximately 6:41 p.m., just less than three hours later, that they had reached a verdict.
Juror Craig Moyer told ABC News that when deliberations began, the jury immediately took a poll and there were nine guilty votes, the Associated Press reported. He said it didn’t take long to convince the other three.
Moyer said agreed with prosecutors that the key piece of evidence was a video locked on his son’s cellphone for a year — video shot minutes before the killings at the same kennels near where the bodies would be found.
The voices of all three Murdaughs can be heard on the video, even though Alex Murdaugh had insisted for 20 months that he hadn’t been at the kennels that night.
Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison for each of the two murder charges and up to five years for both weapons charges.
After the verdicts were published, Newman denied a defense motion for a mistrial.
SPECIAL SECTION: The Murdaugh Cases
Copyright 2023 WCSC via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
