Now that Alex Murdaugh has been granted an appeal for his double-murder conviction, the former lawyer whose criminal trial became one of the most sensational proceedings in memory will go before a jury once again.
Murdaugh, 57, was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife and son. On Wednesday, more than three years later, the South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously overturned Murdaugh conviction and opted to grant him a new trial.
Murdaugh’s defense team filed an appeal soon after his initial conviction, accusing Court Clerk Rebecca “Becky” Hill of improperly influencing jurors. Hill pleaded guilty in December to counts including obstruction of justice and perjury for showing sealed court exhibits to a reporter and then lying to a judge about it. She received three years probation.
On Tuesday, the justices of the Supreme Court unanimously agreed with Murdaugh’s argument.
“Hill, the Colleton County Clerk of Court, egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense, thus triggering the presumption of prejudice, which the State was unable to rebut,” the justices wrote in their opinion. “We are accordingly constrained to reverse the post-trial court’s denial of Murdaugh’s motion and remand for a new trial consistent with this opinion.”
Murdaugh will now go to trial once again. In their opinion, the justices said that while they wouldn’t review “every evidentiary issue Murdaugh raises,” they instructed the lower court to review “the admissibility of Murdaugh’s financial crimes,” to which he pleaded guilty in 2023.
Murdaugh’s wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, were found shot to death in June 2021 near the dog kennels on a 1,770-acre property in Islandton, S.C., where the family’s hunting lodge was located.
During his sensational murder trial, a cell phone video Paul took on the night of the murders was shown to the jury, which allegedly placed Murdaugh at the crime scene.
Murdaugh had initially denied being near the dog kennels on the night of the murders, but while testifying in his own defense, he admitted to lying about his whereabouts that evening.
He testified that he lied about where he was that evening because of the paranoia he claims he was experiencing due to his 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 addiction at the time. However, he maintains to this day that he did not 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 the mother and son.
Murdaugh is still serving 40 years in federal prison and 27 years in state prison concurrently for his various financial crimes committed around the time of the killings.
