Wednesday’s state Supreme Court arguments gave Alex Murdaugh another day in court even while he remained incarcerated on the life sentence imposed after a 2021 double-murder conviction. Through his attorneys, he continued to deny he killed his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his younger son, Paul Murdaugh, as South Carolina justices considered whether the trial that led to the verdict was compromised.
Murdaugh’s lawyers argued that the jury never received a fully fair process. They told the court that rulings during the trial prevented a fair trial, including allowing evidence of Murdaugh stealing from clients that, according to his defense, had nothing to do with the killings.
The defense emphasized what it described as an absence of physical evidence. It said there was no DNA or blood splattered on Murdaugh or on any of his clothes, even though the defense argued the shootings happened at close range with powerful weapons that were never found.
In court, Murdaugh’s team also focused on alleged jury influence tied to comments by the court clerk overseeing evidence and the jury during the trial. Prosecutors addressed that issue by saying that any problems were brief and isolated during the six-week proceeding, while the defense argued the effect on jurors could be harder to detect.
Chief Justice John Kittredge asked prosecutor Creighton Waters to explain whether the trial judge erred by ignoring juror testimony about the clerk’s conduct while the judge still credited testimony from jurors who did not accuse the clerk of misconduct. Waters agreed there were problems but said they were so isolated that they did not affect the verdict; the chief justice said the concern appeared improper, even if it might not require reversal.
The clerk at the center of the discussion was Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill, a former Colleton County Clerk of Court. Hill pleaded guilty in December to obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter photographs that were sealed as court exhibits and then lying about it to a different judge.
Prosecutors also reiterated that there was no basis to overturn the guilty verdicts for murder. In written arguments, Waters and the prosecution laid out the evidence they said supported conviction, including testimony and case narrative that Murdaugh’s financial situation was collapsing amid claims he stole from clients and struggled with debts tied to his drug habit and lifestyle.
According to prosecutors, the case included evidence that they said showed Murdaugh’s motive, including that he had been financially vulnerable when Paul Murdaugh was involved in a boat crash that killed a teen. Prosecutors also described how Murdaugh told investigators he had not seen his wife and son for about an hour before they were killed, and said investigators later found a video on Paul Murdaugh’s phone with Alex Murdaugh’s voice admonishing a barking dog shortly before the younger man stopped using his phone.
Murdaugh’s attorneys argued prosecutors “piled on” extensive financial evidence at trial in a way they said risked turning the case into something more about character than about proof of the killings. Prosecutors countered that the financial history mattered to understanding the “boiling point” and the buildup they said led to the shootings. Waters said in court that jurors could not understand the pressure without hearing the broader criminal and financial history, and Kittredge questioned why that evidence had been presented, including noting that it could lead jurors to view Murdaugh as both a thief and, in the defense’s framing, “a despicable, low-life character.”
Even if the appeal succeeds in overturning the murder convictions, Murdaugh is not expected to be released from prison. As Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh’s attorneys, said after the hearing, the 57-year-old also faces a 40-year federal prison sentence for stealing more than $12 million from clients intended for their medical care and living expenses after their or their relatives’ injuries in accidents.
The justices did not signal how they would rule from the bench. Kittredge said they understood the gravity of the situation and the entitlement of every individual to a fair and impartial trial, and the court typically issues rulings months after oral arguments.