Alex Murdaugh

The South Carolina lawyer faces a minimum of 30 years in prison for each murder.

They called Judge Newman's decision to allow evidence related to Murdaugh's financial crimes to be included in the murder trial "erroneous". Murdaugh had been cast as a "despicable human being", he said. He stared ahead and did not react as his sentence was read. "I would never hurt my wife and I would never hurt my son," he said in brief remarks at the hearing. Judge Clifton Newman called the case "one of the most troubling" he had seen and noted Murdaugh's past "as a well-known member of the legal community". Disgraced ex-lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife and son in a case that shocked the US.

The 54-year-old disbarred South Carolina lawyer faces a sentence of 30 years to life in prison for each murder conviction.

"This defendant has fooled everyone — everyone who thought they were close to him," Waters told the jury in his closing argument. He was facing a financial reckoning, they said, that also included his liability in a court case over a fatal 2019 boating accident in which Paul, then 19, was said to be driving. Prosecutors never produced the two murder weapons used to kill Maggie and Paul, and there were no eyewitnesses. But after witnesses identified Murdaugh's voice in a cellphone video taken by Paul at the kennel around 8:45 p.m. Newman had said he would render his sentence after any victim impact statements, but prosecutor Creighton Waters began his remarks by saying the state did not have anyone who wanted to deliver a victim statement. "It's so unfortunate, because you had such a lovely family of such friendly people — including you," the judge told Murdaugh. The sentencing closes a six-week-long trial that charted Murdaugh's fall from grace. Murdaugh said repeatedly that he didn't go with his wife and son to the dog kennels where they were shot and killed, saying that he stayed in the house, and took a nap before leaving to see his ailing mother. The court session began shortly after 9:30 a.m. Thank you." "Good morning, your honor. Newman told Murdaugh that each of the punishments apply to "the rest of your natural life," adding that the sentences are consecutive.

Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murder in the deaths of his wife and son.

Waters said Murdaugh, a member of a [prominent legal dynasty](https://bit.ly/3KROCEA) that ran a prosecutor's office in Hampton County for more than 80 years, killed his family to prevent his alleged financial crimes from being exposed and ruining his family's legacy and his successful law practice. Murdaugh initially told police he was not at the family's dog kennels before finding the bodies there, but his voice was captured on [a video taken on his son’s cellphone](http://bit.ly/41ASJLd) minutes before prosecutors believe the killings happened. [Murdaugh addresses the court: 'I'm innocent'] [None of Maggie or Paul's family members delivered a victim impact statement, but Murdaugh briefly addressed the court before he was sentenced.] ["I'm innocent. [tax evasion,](http://bit.ly/3CZRISg) and [drug trafficking](http://bit.ly/3JkNoRB) which [ could carry a penalty of more than seven centuries of prison time. [Judge Clifton Newman criticizes Murdaugh's testimony as not credible] [Newman said he could imagine the "looming storm" lead prosecutor Creighton Waters described Murdaugh faced the day of the murders. "In the murder of your wife Maggie Murdaugh, I sentence you for a term for the rest of your natural life," Newman said. “And it might not have been you," Newman said. "But once that information was in, I mean he had to take the stand to explain the kennel video, the lie, if you will." He added the evidence that Murdaugh stole and lied wasn't about motive but Murdaugh's character. When asked why Murdaugh's son Buster did not speak during sentencing, Griffin said it would not have made a difference in Murdaugh's sentence. The attorneys said the strongest grounds for appeal are the judge's decision to admit evidence related to Murdaugh's alleged financial crimes.] Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were killed near dog kennels at the family's home in June 2021.

Alex Murdaugh, center, is led out of Colleton County Courthouse by sheriff's deputies after being convicted Thursday, in Walterboro, S.C. Murdaugh was found ...

"This defendant has fooled everyone — everyone who thought they were close to him," Waters told the jury in his closing argument. He was facing a financial reckoning, they said, that also included his liability in a court case over a fatal 2019 boating accident in which Paul, then 19, was said to be driving. Prosecutors never produced the two murder weapons used to kill Maggie and Paul, and there were no eyewitnesses. But after witnesses identified Murdaugh's voice in a cellphone video taken by Paul at the kennel around 8:45 p.m. Newman had said he would render his sentence after any victim impact statements, but prosecutor Creighton Waters began his remarks by saying the state did not have anyone who wanted to deliver a victim statement. The sentencing closes a six-week-long trial that charted Murdaugh's fall from grace. Murdaugh said repeatedly that he didn't go with his wife and son to the dog kennels where they were shot and killed, saying that he stayed in the house, and took a nap before leaving to see his ailing mother. The court session began shortly after 9:30 a.m. Thank you." After a trial that spanned 28 days, it took a Colleton County jury only a few hours to agree unanimously that Murdaugh is guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of using a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. "Good morning, your honor. Newman told Murdaugh that each of the punishments apply to "the rest of your natural life," adding that the sentences are consecutive.

A judge sentenced the disgraced South Carolina lawyer to two consecutive life terms, without the possibility of parole, for the murders of his wife and son.

Mr. Murdaugh and Mr. His lawyers said that Mr. June 28, 2022: Mr. 4 so that Mr. 4, 2021: Mr. Stone knew Mr. [supported Mr. The firm forced Mr. Murdaugh admitted during his first day of testimony that he had lied when he told the police that he was not at the dog kennels with his wife and son on the night of the murders. The prosecution offered the theory that Mr. Murdaugh admitted on the stand that he had lied to the police about his whereabouts that night, blaming a mixture of paranoia brought about by his longtime addiction to painkillers and his distrust of investigators.

The jury on Thursday convicted Alex Murdaugh, a prominent South Carolina lawyer, of murdering his wife and son.

The prosecution seized on that admission — how readily, and easily, he had lied to the police, his family and friends — in an attempt to convince the jury that he was lying about not having killed his wife and son. He also said that when he spoke with his father about 20 minutes after prosecutors say the murders took place, Alex Murdaugh sounded “normal” — at a time that Mr. “He said that he did not know who it was, but he felt like whoever did it had thought about it for a long time,” Ms. Murdaugh’s law firm confronted him, accusing him of pocketing about $800,000 in lawyer fees that he was supposed to have deposited into the firm’s account. Murdaugh testified that he had feared an admission that he was at the kennels before the murders would cause the police to consider him a suspect. Defense lawyers also noted that the police had issued a statement in the days after the killings saying that no immediate threat to the public existed. Murdaugh was wearing when police arrived after he called 911 — it would have been covered in blood and body matter, his lawyers argued — and the DNA of an unknown man was discovered under Mrs. That was an indication, they argued, that the authorities were investigating only Mr. After denying for more than 20 months that he was at the dog kennels where his wife and son were found shot to death, Alex Murdaugh confessed that he had lied about his whereabouts. Murdaugh’s phone from the day of the killings had been overwritten. Murdaugh told his lawyer that he had been there for a few minutes, but then had left, laid down at the house, and driven to check on his ailing mother who lived about 15 minutes away. He blamed his lies to the police on paranoia spurred by opiate dependency, as well as his distrust of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, a state investigative agency.

Over the past nearly six weeks, the jury has heard from over 60 witnesses called by state prosecutors. Murdaugh's sentencing will be on Friday morning.

Crystal Cranmore reports. Murdaugh's sentencing will be on Friday morning. Over the past nearly six weeks, the jury has heard from over 60 witnesses called by state prosecutors.