Convicted family killer Alex Murdaugh is hoping to get a new murder trial — but even if things go his way, the 56-year-old won’t get out of prison anytime soon.
The disgraced South Carolina lawyer is also serving two other lengthy terms — 40 years in federal court and 27 years in state court — for a slew of financial crimes, including theft, fraud and embezzlement.
The charges stem from several years where Murdaugh stole money from his law firm and its clients.
“He’ll die behind bars,” sneered one of his former law partners at the Parker Law Group, formerly known as Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick.
“Even if he ultimately gets off for the murders, which I don’t believe he will, he will spend the rest of his life in jail for the money he stole and the lives he ruined.”
Murdaugh was sentenced to two life terms for the shocking murders of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, who were gunned down on their rural estate on June 7, 2021.
His older son, Buster, was not at the estate and was spared. Prosecutors said he committed the crime to divert attention from his many financial misdeeds.
Immediately after his sentencing, Murdaugh filed an appeal, claiming that former Colleton County Clerk Rebecca Hill tampered with the jury so that they would find him guilty.
On Tuesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court agreed to hear Murdaugh’s appeal. The ruling means that the case will go straight to the state’s highest court and will skip the lengthy Court of Appeals process. The high court might overturn a lower court’s earlier decision to deny Murdaugh a new murder trial.
But even if he gets a new trial, there’s no guarantee that Murdaugh will be acquitted of the murders for which he was already convicted.
“The evidence isn’t going to change — and in my opinion, any panel of jurors will come to the same conclusion,” his former law partner said.
But Murdaugh’s lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin want the verdict to be set aside and claim that the publicity surrounding the case inspired Hill to tamper with the jury for her own personal gain.
“The issue of significant public interest is whether the verdict returned after Mr. Murdaugh’s internationally televised murder trial should be overturned due to unprecedented jury tampering by a state official, the former Colleton County Clerk of Court,” attorneys said in a July filing.
The South Carolina Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against a new murder trial before making a decision.
