Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions for wife and son’s death unanimously overturned in shock supreme court ruling
Topics: South Carolina, True crime
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Law and Crime Network
Topics: South Carolina, True crime
An attorney's conviction for the 2021 murder of his son and wife has been overturned.
The justice at the South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously agreed that Alex Murdaugh's 2023 trial was improperly influenced by the actions of Colleton County Clerk Rebecca Hill.
Murdaugh was serving two life sentences for the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
He appeared in the South Carolina Supreme Court in Febuary to appeal his conviction, and ask for a new trial.
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"Both the State and Murdaugh's defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter," the justices wrote.
"However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury."
During a trial that lasted six weeks in 2023, a jury found the disgraced attorney guilty of the two murders. It was said Maggie and Paul were shot at close range.
However, his defence team later claimed jurors had said County Clerk Rebecca Hill had made comments to influence them to reach a guilty verdict.
The BBC reports that one juror claimed that Hill told jurors to "watch [Murdaugh] closely". The juror wrote that this influenced their decision to find him guilty of the murders.
Justices also cited testimony from jurors who claimed Hill told them 'not to be fooled'.
In 2023, Murdaugh did however, plead guilty to 22 federal financial crime charges, in which he admitted to stealing millions of dollars. He received a 40 year federal sentence.
The former attorney has always adamantly denied killing his wife and son.
WSAV reports that the Murdaugh is now eligible for a new trial and the case will now return to circuit court.
The case gained traction worldwide, and was recently documented on streaming giant, Netflix.
In 2023, the streamer released a two-season documentary series, titled Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.
The second season interviewed jurors, prosecutors and witnesses involved int the case, including former friends of the Murdaugh family.
The nail-biting series also showed body-cam video from the night Maggie and Paul were killed.
“The story has always been about the people who lived through this firsthand,” director Gasparro told Netflix's Tudum.
“In Season 1, we focused on the kids, and that was always the core story we wanted to tell and root into. In Season 2, we wanted to talk to the people that were there in the days and aftermath of the murders [of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh]," he said.