Lawyer who murdered his family to hide fraud gets life in prison

His trial took America by storm and made headlines: Alex Murdaugh, a well-known attorney from a respected family of attorneys and prosecutors in South Carolina, was sentenced to life in prison Friday for the murders of his wife and son in 2021.

Repeated lies, fraud, opioid addiction, suspicious deaths in his immediate environment… The downfall of the large, expressionless-faced man was exposed during the hearing and in the many documentaries currently running about him and his family.

Before announcing the verdict, Justice Clifton Newman addressed Murdo, saying that it was impossible for him to understand the “duplicity” of a lawyer who had once stood so long in court and now found himself on the other side, in the dock. He noted that Murdaugh descended from a “dynasty” of lawyers, “a respectable family that has dominated justice in this region for a century.”

So much so that a picture of the defendant’s grandfather adorned the courtroom, until the judge ordered its removal.

Alex Mordo, handcuffed and in prison attire, maintains his innocence. His son, Buster, was also at court. I respect this court but I am innocent. I will never hurt my wife Maggie (…) and my son, Paw Paw,” he insisted, calling his son Paul by his nickname.

According to prosecutors, Murdau, 54, embezzled large sums of money from the law firm where he worked, his friends and even the heirs of the housekeeper who was killed when she tripped on the family dog ​​and fell down the stairs. He allegedly killed his wife and son in an effort to prevent his frauds from being discovered. He is also accused of insurance fraud because he asked a drug dealer to shoot him so that his other son could get his life insurance.

The Walterboro jury took only three hours to convict him, and the judge sentenced him to life in prison. “I know you’ll see Paul and Maggie at night when you’re trying to sleep. I’m sure they’ll come to see you.”

Attorney General Creighton Waters spoke of a “scheming” man who “offended the trust of so many people, his friends, relatives, associates and most of all Maggie and Paul.” “Nobody knows who this guy really is. And it’s scary.”

Murdo admits to the thefts, and says he committed to paying for the opioids he was addicted to and covering losses from bad investments. He did not confess to the murders.

According to the indictment, he killed his wife and youngest son with two different guns on June 7, 2021, inside the family’s sprawling home in Colton, South Carolina, as they were on their way to hunt wild boar.

The case captivated the United States and the media, even the most serious, made the life of the family – with three generations of prosecutors and judges in their favor. Several podcasts and a Netflix documentary called “Murdow Blood: Scandal in South Carolina” are dedicated to this issue. News channels broadcast on air the testimony of colleagues and friends of the fraudster Murdau, who recounted how he had robbed them of millions of dollars without their realizing it.