The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Alex Murdaugh’s 2023 murder convictions and ordered a new trial, ruling that jury interference by a county court clerk denied him the right to a fair trial in the killings of his wife and son.
The decision reopens one of the country’s most closely watched criminal cases, but it does not mean Murdaugh will be released from prison. He is also serving separate state and federal sentences for financial crimes tied to the theft of millions of dollars from clients and his law firm.
Why the convictions were reversed
In a unanimous ruling, the justices found that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill improperly influenced jurors during the high-profile trial. The court said Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice,” depriving Murdaugh of a fair trial before an impartial jury.
The opinion cited juror accounts that Hill told them to watch Murdaugh closely, not to be misled by the defense and that deliberations should not take long. One juror said in an affidavit that Hill’s comments affected her decision to vote guilty because she believed the clerk was implying Murdaugh was guilty.
Hill denied making most of the comments attributed to her, according to the ruling, though she acknowledged speaking within earshot of some jurors on the day Murdaugh testified and describing it as a “big day.” She later pleaded guilty to charges including obstruction of justice, perjury and misconduct in office. Months after the trial, she published a book about the proceedings.
The killings and the original trial
Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, who were shot in June 2021 near the dog kennels at the family’s rural Moselle estate in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. Prosecutors said two weapons were used. Investigators did not produce a murder weapon, and there were no eyewitnesses.
At trial, prosecutors argued that Murdaugh killed Maggie and Paul as his years of financial wrongdoing were beginning to unravel. Jurors heard evidence that he had stolen from clients and law partners, and prosecutors linked that conduct to a possible motive in the murder case. Murdaugh pleaded not guilty and denied killing his wife and son.
One of the pivotal moments in the six-week trial came when Murdaugh admitted he had lied to investigators about his whereabouts. He had said he was not at the kennels shortly before the shootings, but witnesses identified his voice on a cellphone video recorded by Paul minutes before investigators said the killings occurred. Murdaugh testified that he lied about being there but maintained he did not commit the murders.
The jury deliberated for about three hours before finding him guilty of two counts of murder and two weapons counts. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
The Supreme Court’s ruling sends the murder case back for a new trial. The justices also said the court would not take up Murdaugh’s financial crimes case, while noting that the admission of too much evidence from that case during the murder trial created a danger of unfair prejudice.
Murdaugh remains imprisoned under a 27-year state sentence and a 40-year federal sentence for financial crimes. The next phase will determine how prosecutors proceed with retrying the murder charges after the state’s highest court concluded that the first trial was compromised outside the knowledge of the judge and lawyers on both sides.
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