SOUTH CAROLINA (LOOTPRESS) – More than three years after former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and son, the South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned those convictions and ordered a new trial.
In a unanimous ruling issued Wednesday, the state’s highest court reversed Murdaugh’s murder convictions in the June 7, 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and younger son, Paul Murdaugh. The court also vacated the life sentences previously imposed against him.
The decision centers on misconduct involving former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca ‘Becky’ Hill, who the justices said improperly influenced jurors during the nationally watched murder trial held in Walterboro, South Carolina.
According to the court, Hill made comments to jurors about Murdaugh’s testimony and behavior during the proceedings, actions the justices determined violated his constitutional right to a fair and impartial trial.
In the opinion, the court stated Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice,” adding that the improper outside influence on jurors left the court with “no choice” but to reverse the convictions and send the case back to circuit court.
Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 in what became one of the most closely followed criminal cases in the country. Prosecutors accused him of fatally shooting his wife and son at the family’s Colleton County hunting estate, known as Moselle.
Despite the reversal, Murdaugh will remain in prison. The 57-year-old former attorney is currently serving sentences tied to numerous state and federal financial crime convictions after admitting to stealing millions of dollars from clients and associates.
The ruling does not automatically guarantee a second murder trial. South Carolina prosecutors must now decide whether to retry the case, though no timetable has been announced for that decision.
Murdaugh comes from one of South Carolina’s most influential legal families. For generations, members of the Murdaugh family served as prosecutors in the state’s 14th Judicial Circuit, while Murdaugh himself worked as a prominent personal injury attorney at the Hampton-based PMPED law firm before the firm later rebranded amid the fallout from the scandal.
The court’s ruling also adds new scrutiny to Hill, who previously pleaded guilty to misconduct in office and perjury charges connected to her actions during and after the trial.
Under the law, Murdaugh is once again presumed innocent of the murder charges unless prosecutors pursue a new trial and secure another conviction.
