Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul. The former lawyer, a member of a prominent family of South Carolina jurists, was found guilty by the jury, which delivered its verdict late Thursday evening.

Today's ruling by Judge Clifton Newman of the Colleton County Courthouse rules Murdaugh out of prison for good behavior. The jury had taken less than three hours to decide Murdaugh's guilt in the murders of his 52-year-old wife, with a rifle, and his 22-year-old son, with a gun, on June 7, 2021. The former lawyer continued to profess his innocence, even before the sentence was read.

Murdaugh admitted embezzling millions of dollars from the family law firm and his clients to fund his drug addiction. Before being charged with the murders of his wife and son, the former lawyer was already in prison and awaiting trial on about a hundred other charges, including fraud and tax evasion. The prosecution had neither the weapons used in the murders, nor direct evidence, such as a confession or bloodstains. However, prosecutors presented a substantial set of circumstantial evidence in court, including a video showing Murdaugh at the crime scene, five minutes before his wife and son stopped using their mobile phones.

Judge Clifton Newman's ruling of South Carolina Circuit Court follows the verdict of the jury that found Murdaugh guilty at the end of a six-week trial. "Many people tried by the Murdaugh family over the years have been sentenced to death for much less," Newman said.

The Murdaugh case

The case attracted intense media coverage given the political power of the family inside and outside Colleton County, where the trial took place. For decades, until 2006, family members were the area's top attorneys, and Murdaugh was a prominent attorney specializing in personal injury. "I would never hurt my wife Maggie and I would never hurt my son, Paw Paw," Murdaugh said, using a nickname for Paul, minutes before the judge pronounced his sentence.

Prosecutors said he killed his wife and son to distract attention from a range of financial misdeeds, including stealing millions of dollars from his legal partners and clients, money used to fuel a years-long addiction to opioids and sustain an expensive lifestyle. For their part, Murdaugh's lawyers tried to portray their client as a loving family man who, despite facing financial difficulties and suffering from a drug addiction that led him to lie and steal, would never hurt his wife and son.