Alex Murdaugh's life sentences for double-murder of wife and son overturned in shock judgement
Alex Murdaugh, whose imprisonment for the murder of his wife and son formed the basis of a hit Netflix true crime series, has had his convictions overturned.
A unanimous ruling after the South Carolina Supreme Court found the court clerk in his trial had 'egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility'.
In recent years, his case has been the subject of the Netflix documentary entitled Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. Running for two seasons, it followed a string of incidents between 2015 and 2023 involving Murdaugh and the conclusion to his murder trial.
He was also the subject of Hulu drama series Murdaugh: Death in the Family, in which he was portrayed by Zero Dark Thirty's Jason Clarke.
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A panel of justices also found that the judge at his trial went too far in allowing evidence of his financial crimes to impact his murder trial.
He will remain in prison as Murdaugh, from Charleston, had pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients, for which he is serving a 40-year federal sentence.
The 57-year-old had always denied killing his wife Maggie and their son Paul.
The murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh
On 7 June 2021, Murdaugh called 911, saying he had found the bodies of his wife, 53, and son, 22, shot dead outside their home in Islandton, South Carolina. He said he'd returned from visiting his sick mother to discover the horrific scene.
Murdaugh and his surviving son, Buster, offered an $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible. But things took a bizarre turn when the following September, Murdaugh was shot in the head on the side of the road, and later admitted to taking a hit out on himself.
At the same time, he found himself facing dozens of charges for financial crimes, before he was eventually charged with the murder of his wife and son in July 2022.
Prosecutors claimed he killed his two family members in an attempt to stop his financial crimes coming to light, and he was convicted in March 2023.
But that conviction no longer stands.
'Jurors influenced to find Murdaugh guilty'
The justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Becky Hill, county clerk of Colleton Court, had influenced jurors to find Murdaugh guilty during the murder trial.
She had been assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, but she was also writing a book about the case and had been hoping to increase sales.
The court claimed Hill was guilty of 'shocking jury interference'.
Last December, Hill pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, perjury, and two counts of misconduct in office after admitting she showed sealed photos to a reporter, then lied about it to a judge. The misconduct offences stem from her accepting bonuses and promoting her book through her public office.
She was sentenced to three years of probation.
Legal representatives for Murdaugh argued that there was a lack of physical evidence tying the man to the deaths of his wife and son as no DNA evidence was ever found on him or his clothes despite the victims being killed at close range with powerful weapons.
They also argued that a juror said Hill had made comments urging them to watch his body language and listen to his evidence carefully, which they said removed his presumption of innocence.
Another juror said Hill told them 'not to be fooled' when the defence presented evidence, and when the jury began deliberations she said it 'shouldn't take us long'.
New trial awaits
Hill denied making most of the comments the jurors claimed they'd heard her say, but she admitted she had spoken to a bailiff about Murdaugh's decision to take the stand where some of them could hear her and that she'd told them it was a 'big day'.
In a unanimous ruling the judges overturned the convictions and grant the 57-year-old a new trial.
They said: "Although we are aware of the time, money, and effort expended for this lengthy trial, we have no choice but to reverse the denial of Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial due to Hill’s improper external influences on the jury and remand for a new trial."
A timeline of the murder cases against Alex Murdaugh
26 February 2018
Gloria Satterfield, the family's housekeeper, dies after falling down some steps at their hunting lodge, called Moselle. The case would later come up at Murdaugh's 2023 double-murder trial, where prosecutors accused Murdaugh of convincing Satterfield's sons to sue him in a scheme to get them an insurance settlement - but then kept the money for himself.
24 February 2019
Murdaugh's son, Paul, then 19, is involved in a fatal late-night boating accident. Paul had been on the boat with a group of friends when it hit a bridge piling, killing Mallory Beach, 19.
Medics who treated Paul at the time say he was drunk. Paul later pleads not guilty to felony charges of boating under the influence and causing Beach's death.
7 June 2021
Just after 10.00pm, Murdaugh calls the police to report that his wife, Maggie, 52, and their son, Paul, 22, have been fatally shot at Moselle. The coroner says the pair died between 9.00pm and 9.30pm.
3 September 2021
Murdaugh is forced to resign from his family's law firm, with the firm later claiming to local outlet The Island Packet that he illegally took money from the business.
4 September 2021
Murdaugh is on the phone to 911 again, this time to report he's been shot in the head while changing his car tyre. According to officials, he made attempts to arrange his own death to get his hands on a $10 million life insurance payment for his surviving son. The wound was superficial, with the bullet grazing his head.
14 October 2021
Murdaugh is arrested while at a drug rehab facility - where he was staying due to opioid addiction - after being accused of stealing insurance settlements worth more than $4 million intended for the sons of his late housekeeper.
17 November 2021
Prosecutors lay out 27 new charges against Murdaugh, alleging he stole $5 million in settlement money.
18 January 2022
Murdaugh now faces 71 charges, accused of stealing nearly $8.5 million in wrongful death and wreck settlements.
4 May 2022
More charges are added, according to prosecutors. Now, Murdaugh faces a total of 79 state charges on 15 indictments, including fraud and forgery.
28 June 2022
In fresh indictments, prosecutors allege Murdaugh is involved in a money laundering and painkiller scheme spanning nearly a decade.
14 July 2022
Murdaugh is charged with murder in the deaths of his wife and son.
23 January 2023
Murdaugh's double murder trial begins.
23 February 2023
Murdaugh denies killing his wife and son, but admits lying to police about when he last saw them alive.
2 March 2023
Following a six-week trial, the jury convicts Murdaugh on two counts of murder. The following day, he is sentenced to life in prison.
28 January 2024
Murdaugh is denied a new trial after his defence team put in a bid, accusing a clerk of tampering with a jury.
2 April 2024
Murdaugh is sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for stealing from clients and his law firm.
11 February 2026
Murdaugh makes another bid to the South Carolina Supreme Court to get his murder convictions thrown out.
13 May 2026
The South Carolina Supreme Court overturns Murdaugh’s murder convictions and life sentence after finding court clerk Becky Hill, who was writing a book about the trial, had 'egregiously attacked Murdaugh's credibility and his defence, thus triggering the presumption of prejudice'. As such, he will get a new trial for the murder of his wife and son.
Joe Harker