The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions and ordered a new trial within the killing of his spouse and son in June 2021, saying the trial was marred by the “improper” affect of the county clerk, Becky Hill.
In a 5-0 ruling, the court docket stated Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.”
“Although we are aware of the time, money, and effort expended for this lengthy trial, we have no choice but to reverse the denial of Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial due to Hill’s improper external influences on the jury and remand for a new trial,” the justices wrote.
Attorney General Alan Wilson stated his workplace plans to retry Murdaugh on the murder prices.
“While we respectfully disagree with the Court’s decision, my Office will aggressively seek to retry Alex Murdaugh for the murders of Maggie and Paul as soon as possible,” he stated.
“No one is above the law and, as always, we will continue to fight for justice.”
With its ruling Wednesday, the court docket additionally vacated the 2 life sentences Murdaugh had obtained for the murder prices. But the choice doesn’t imply he might be launched from jail: He individually pleaded responsible to dozens of monetary crimes and continues to be serving concurrent state and federal sentences of 27 and 40 years.
The ruling is the newest twist within the sprawling Murdaugh saga that has riveted the general public and spawned true crime documentaries, podcasts and books.
Murdaugh, a distinguished legal professional from a South Carolina Lowcountry authorized dynasty, was convicted by a jury of the murders of his spouse, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, in March 2023.
The six-week trial featured in depth testimony about Murdaugh stealing tens of millions of {dollars} from susceptible shoppers and his personal regulation agency. He took the stand in his personal protection and denied he killed his spouse and son – a place he maintains – at the same time as he admitted to large monetary theft and admitted he had lied to investigators about his whereabouts simply previous to the killings.
Murdaugh’s attorneys appealed the murder convictions, saying the trial was tainted by the county clerk’s improper feedback to jurors, prejudicial proof and failures at trial. Hill later pleaded responsible to felony prices linked to the case.
In distinction, prosecutors argued the convictions ought to stand. Murdaugh was convicted as a result of the proof towards him was overwhelming and he was “obviously guilty,” they stated. Prosecutors acknowledged the clerk’s feedback have been inappropriate however stated they have been minor within the grand scheme of the trial.
At a February listening to on the attraction, the five-member panel of justices appeared skeptical of the prosecution’s arguments.
The murder trial was the capstone to a exceptional fall from grace for the private damage lawyer, whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather served because the native prosecutor consecutively from 1920 to 2006.
Murdaugh was a accomplice at a strong regulation agency along with his title on it. But that prominence belied underlying points, and the killings of his wife and son were followed by accusations of misappropriated funds, his resignation, a weird alleged suicide-for-hire and insurance coverage rip-off plot, a stint in rehab for drug dependancy, dozens of monetary crimes, his disbarment and, finally, the murder prices.
Murdaugh’s attraction targeted on alleged feedback to jurors from Hill, who labored throughout Murdaugh’s trial and later wrote a tell-all e book about it.
Murdaugh’s attorneys had argued Hill improperly influenced jurors throughout the trial by making feedback, reminiscent of “watch his body language,” implying Murdaugh’s guilt. Just a few jurors affirmed in affidavits and in testimony she made these feedback, however the majority stated they didn’t hear them.
In January 2024, after a one-day evidentiary listening to, retired South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal decided these feedback didn’t affect the jury’s verdict and denied Murdaugh’s request for a new trial. Still, Toal discovered Hill made improper feedback to the jury, was not credible and was “attracted by the siren call of celebrity.”
Hill was charged last May with perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct. The prices alleged she made sealed proof out there to the media, lied below oath about doing so, and used her court docket place to advertise her e book concerning the trial. She pleaded guilty to the fees in December 2025 and was sentenced to 3 years of probation.
Murdaugh’s attorneys argued her feedback violated his proper to a good trial and an neutral jury, whereas prosecutors downplayed their significance.
“We agree with Murdaugh,” the court docket wrote in its ruling Wednesday. “Prejudice is presumed from Hill’s comments, and while this presumption is rebuttable, the State failed to overcome this presumption.”
Murdaugh’s attraction additionally challenged whether or not the prosecution’s in depth concentrate on his monetary crimes was acceptable in a murder trial.
At the trial, a sequence of witnesses testified about Murdaugh’s history of financial crimes as prosecutors sought to point out he killed his spouse and son to fend off a “gathering storm” that he believed would quickly expose him as a fraud. This proof was key to their idea of his motive, prosecutors stated.
However, Murdaugh’s attorneys argued this motive didn’t make logical sense. They stated the prosecution improperly used the monetary crimes proof to malign Murdaugh’s character and argued it ought to have been restricted or excluded from the trial.
The appeals court docket stated it ordered a new trial based mostly on Hill’s affect on the jury, and so didn’t formally rule on the evidentiary points. Still, the justices supplied “guidance” for a possible retrial, saying the trial court docket “allowed the state to go far too long and far too deep into aspects of Murdaugh’s financial crimes.”
As an instance, the appeals court docket famous the testimony of Michael “Tony” Satterfield, a sufferer of Murdaugh’s monetary schemes, who stated his brother “is a vulnerable adult and he has a disability.” The court docket wrote that testimony had “zero probative value” and had “obviously high potential for unfair prejudice.”
This story has been up to date with further data.