Trial of Alex Murdaugh
| State v. Murdaugh | |
|---|---|
| Court | South Carolina Fourteenth Circuit |
| Full case name | The State of South Carolina v. Richard Alexander Murdaugh |
| Started | January 25, 2023 |
| Decided | March 2, 2023 |
| Verdict | Guilty on all counts |
| Charge |
|
| Case history | |
| Subsequent action | Murdaugh sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole |
| Court membership | |
| Judge sitting | Clifton Newman |
State of South Carolina v. Richard Alexander Murdaugh was the trial of American former lawyer Alex Murdaugh for the murder of his wife, Maggie, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, on June 7, 2021. The trial in the fourteenth circuit of the South Carolina Circuit Court began on January 25, 2023, and ended on March 2 with a guilty verdict on all four counts. Murdaugh, who had pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to two life sentences to run consecutively without the possibility of parole. He soon filed a motion for new trial, alleging that the court clerk tampered with the jury; a new trial court judge denied the motion in January 2024.
Local media called the trial South Carolina's "trial of the century" and "one of the most high-profile and sensational cases in South Carolina legal history."
On May 14, 2025, former trial clerk Becky Hill was arrested and charged with felony misconduct; this was seen as reviving if not increasing Murdaugh's efforts to obtain a new trial.