Alex Murdaugh is led outside the Colleton County Courthouse by sheriff's deputies after being convicted of two counts of murder Thursday in Walterboro, S.C., in the June 7, 2021, shooting deaths of his wife and son. (Chris Carlson/AP)
“The depravity, the callousness, the selfishness of these crimes are stunning; the lack of remorse, and the effortless way in which he lies, including here, sitting right over there, in this witness stand. Your honor — a man like that — a man like this man — should never be allowed to be among free law-abiding citizens again. I would submit to you that the only just sentence here, to get justice for maggie and paul, would be the maximum. And that would be two consecutive life sentences.”
The above statement came from the prosecution’s concluding remarks right before the trial broke and went into deliberation on the case of Alex Murdaugh. After three hours, the verdict was decided: guilty.
On Friday, March 3, Alex Murdaugh, a South Carlina Lawyer, received two consecutive life sentences, without the possibility of parole, for shooting his wife and son to death in 2021.
During the trial, Murdaugh took to the stand to provide self-defense, claiming his innocence, although admitting he had lied to police at the time of the murder of his wife and son.
Facts Surrounding the Case
The factors surrounding the murders were manifold.
Alex Murdaugh was roiled in financial crimes, embezzlement, and fraud, spurred by severe opioid addiction. And after his son, Paul Murdaugh, got into a drunken boating accident in 2019, killing one of the five passengers onboard, the family was prosecuted by the deceased passenger’s family.
The ensuing investigation threatened to expose Alex Murdaugh’s long history of financial fraud.
So, the prosecution argued that, in desperation, Alex Murdaugh slayed his son with a shotgun before he could stand trial and end the investigation into his financial dealings. Likewise, the prosecution argued that Murdaugh murdered his wife to garner sympathy and further shake off those poking around his finances.
Additional Cases Reopened After Murdaugh’s Double Murder Trial
However, although the trial for the murder of his wife and son has ended, investigations have reopened for two additional deaths near Charleston, South Carolina, potentially connected to Alex Murdaugh.
In 2018, the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died while working at the family’s estate. The reports initially claimed her cause of death was that she tripped over the family dogs, fell down a flight of stairs, and hit her head, suffering multiple fractured ribs and a pulmonary contusion.
However, it came out that, months before, Alex Murdaugh took out a commercial insurance claim on the property and received $4.3 million upon Satterfield’s death — $4.3 million that was supposed to go to her family.
Murdaigh never transferred the death settlement money to her family.
The second case is that of a 19-year-old, Stephen Smith, who died in 2015 in Hampton County, South Carolina. At the time of his death, it was ruled a hit-and-run. However, the case was reopened upon the end of the Murdaugh trial, with a potential connection to Alex Murdaugh.
For more breaking news, legal analysis, and opinion pieces, visit the Current Affairs Times.
