Murdaugh files appeal of double-murder case with S.C. Supreme Court
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A lengthy and long-awaited appeal for convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh was filed Tuesday in the South Carolina Supreme Court.
The 56-year-old Murdaugh was convicted of the June 7, 2021, killings of his wife and son at their Colleton County home on March 2, 2023. He is currently serving two life sentences for the crimes.
The 132-page appeal comes after the South Carolina Supreme Court decided in August to allow a judge to decide if Murdaugh should be granted a new murder trial over a claim of jury tampering.
Two main arguments are highlighted in the appeal, with the first surrounding allegations against former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill.
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Moselle: Former family home is up for sale again
- The former home of the Murdaugh family is for sale yet again.
- The home, located on Moselle Road in Islandton, is listed for $2.75 million. It’s a four-bedroom home and includes over 48 acres of property.
- The home last sold in February of this year.
- Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot and killed on the property in June 2021. Alex Murdaugh was later found guilty of their murders.
The appeal alleges that Hill denied Murdaugh a fair trial by swaying jurors to find him guilty with secret advocacy for a guilty verdict in the jury room.
It references a hearing last January where multiple jurors testified that Hill told them to watch Murdaugh’s actions and body language. One juror in particular stated that Hill’s comments affected her verdict because Hill made it seem like he was already guilty.
The other main argument in the appeal surrounds alleged improper character evidence allowed by the court that “infected the trial with unfairness.”
One example details Murdaugh’s financial crimes being included in the double-murder trial as irrelevant, stating his other criminal acts could have painted him as a bad character.
Murdaugh was sentenced in April for his financial crimes after entering guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, bank fraud, five counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 14 counts of money laundering.
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The appeal also lists the ission of irrelevant and unreliable firearms evidence as another reason for appeal, referencing specific testimony and evidence. Specific testimony referenced includes SLED’s firearms examiner and an unqualified Charleston County Deputy.
As for evidence, the appeal alleges the state introduced multiple guns with no evidence linking the guns to the murders and gunshot residue of a raincoat when no evidence linked the raincoat to Murdaugh.
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It’s currently unknown when exactly the South Carolina Supreme Court will be hearing this appeal in person.
As for Hill’s involvement, she was expected to face the State’s Ethics Commission on Dec. 19 as she is accused of 76 ethics violations. But the hearing is now on hold in light of a pending criminal investigation undertaken by the Attorney General’s Office according to the State’s Ethics Commission.
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Meanwhile, a new state trial date for Russell Laffitte, a man accused of conspiring with Murdaugh to commit fraud, is requested for October 2025.
Monday’s status hearing inside the Orangeburg County Courthouse came just a month after a court overturned the conviction and sentence of Laffitte. Judge Heath Taylor discussed setting a new trial date, the conditions of Laffitte’s bond and his assets.
The new trial was granted after Laffitte appealed his convictions for bank and wire fraud, citing the removal and replacement of two jurors who are implied to have disagreed with his guilty verdict.
In 2022, a jury convicted Laffitte of helping Murdaugh steal around $2 million in legal settlements and sentenced. Judge Richard Gergel sat bench for the trial and sentenced Laffitte to seven years in prison and to pay $3.5 million in restitution in August of 2023.
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