It took less than three hours for a South Carolina jury to find Alex Murdaugh guilty of double murder. “I would never hurt my wife, Maggie, and I would never hurt my son, Paul-Paul,” Alex pleaded with Judge Clifton Newman. The plea fell on deaf ears: Judge Newman sentenced Alex Murdaugh to life in prison.
The verdict effectively ended the Murdaughs’ influence over South Carolina’s judicial system. “Over the past century, your family – including you – have been prosecuting people here in this courtroom, and many have received the death penalty, probably for lesser conduct,” Judge Newman said.
Prison authorities shaved Alex’s head as standard procedure to prevent the spread of lice
Alex Murdaugh is bald in his prison mug shot; he had a full head of red hair during his trial. South Carolina’s Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center personnel shaved Alex’s head as standard procedure to prevent the spread of lice.
“He will be assessed, and we will determine what his permanent placement will be,” a source told Fox News. The outlet reports that Alex will spend 45 days in a single cell at the facility as South Carolina’s Department of Corrections decides where to incarcerate him.
We expect to see Alex Murdaugh in court again as his legal team appeals his conviction and sentence. “Today [defense attorney Jim Griffin] and I filed our notice of appeal for Alex Murdaugh. This is the next step in the legal process to fight for Alex’s constitutional right to a fair trial,” Dick Harpootlian, one of Murdaugh’s attorneys, tweeted.
In a brief press conference held after the trial, Alex’s legal team said they expected the verdict. “We could have had Mother Teresa up there speaking on behalf of Alex at sentencing,” Jim Griffin said. “He was getting a double life sentence. That was expected.”
Harpootlian said the prosecution tarnished Alex’s character so profoundly that the jury had no choice but to convict him. He explained [per The New York Times]:
“Look, they won this case the day the judge bought into letting them put every piece of stealing from kids who lost their mother, from somebody with pancreatic cancer, somebody that’s a paraplegic, all of that. Two and a half weeks.”
“By the time they got done with it, it didn’t matter about [the] final argument, it didn’t matter about what we put up. They would never, ever, ever acquit him after that.”
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