Alex Murdaugh: Jury Rules He Gunned Down His Wife & Son

Disgraced South Carolina lawyer Richard “Alex” Murdaugh has been found guilty of murdering his wife and son. He’s been sentenced to life in prison.

Murdaugh was sentenced to two counts of gunning down his wife Maggie, 52, and his youngest son Paul, 22 on their family compound in the summer of 2021. Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman sentenced Murdaugh to jail for the rest of his life.

Initially, he was facing a hard 30 years in lockup for each of the two murder counts. Prosecutors really wanted a sentence of life without parole. This popular case is one that many people have been waiting for and not just in South Carolina. The former lawyer has become a spectacle nationally and internationally.

the prosecution painted Murdaugh as someone who lies regularly and cannot be trusted when he says he didn’t murder his son and wife because he was the only one with the opportunity to do it.

The prosecution alleges that Murdaugh murdered his family because he was attempting to distract from his financial difficulties. At the time he was being looked into for financial theft from his business partners, and clients.

He is also accused of using the stolen money to fund his extravagant lifestyle and maintain his opioid addiction. Murdaugh’s lawyer insisted that he is a family man and due to his addiction, that got out of control he was willing to lie and steal to fund it, as any addict would.

Alex pleaded not guilty but admitted that he lied about where he was the night they were attacked and murdered. The jury took less than 3 hours to deliberate on Thursday after hearing closing arguments.

Judge Newman took a moment to address the court and highlight his feelings calling the case "one of the most troubling" he has served over. The last six weeks has been trying for the court and the jury.

Murdaugh’s legal team has shared that they plan on appealing the sentence within 10 days. The former lawyer knows his rights and plans on practicing them to the fullest extent. The judge, however, found it even more disturbing that Murdaugh was a lawyer and still involved himself in incriminating behavior.

"It was especially heart-breaking for me to see you go in the media from being a grieving father who lost a wife and a son to being the person indicted and convicted of killing them," said Judge Newman ahead of handing down the life-ending sentence.

"You've engaged in such duplicitous conduct here in the courtroom, here on the witness stand," he stated with passion. "You continued to lie and lie throughout your testimony. Truthfully the judge looked disturbed having to engage with Murdaugh.

Seeing as Murdaugh claims he isn’t the one who killed his wife and son, the judge noted. "It might not have been you, but it may have been the monster you became when you took those pills,” insinuating that the murders were drug-fueled.

Murdaugh spoke in the court and recounted his truth once more before being cuffed and taken away.

"I would never hurt my wife and I would never hurt my son."