Court overturns Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions and orders new trial

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions and ordered a new trial in the killing of his wife and son in June 2021, saying the trial was marred by the “improper” influence of the county clerk, Becky Hill.

In a 5-0 ruling, the court said 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.

With its ruling, the court also vacated the two life sentences Murdaugh had received for the murder charges. Still, he separately pleaded guilty to dozens of financial crimes and will remain behind bars on concurrent state and federal sentences of 27 and 40 years.

Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office plans to retry Murdaugh on the murder charges.

“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 said.

Wilson told reporters his “hope is to get this case retried by the end of the year,” but noted the window is still open for his team to ask the South Carolina Supreme Court to reconsider its decision or to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Alex Murdaugh, right, had been convicted of killing his wife Maggie and son Paul.

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The ruling is the latest twist in the sprawling Murdaugh saga that has riveted the public and spawned true crime documentaries, podcasts and books.

Murdaugh, a prominent attorney from a South Carolina Lowcountry legal dynasty, was convicted by a jury of the murders of his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, in March 2023.

The six-week trial featured extensive testimony about Murdaugh stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable clients and his own law firm. He took the stand in his own defense and denied he killed his wife and son – a position he maintains – even as he admitted to massive financial theft and admitted he had lied to investigators about his whereabouts just prior to the killings.