Former attorney Alex Murdaugh has initiated the fight for a new trial after a South Carolina jury convicted him of murdering his wife, Maggie, and their youngest son, Paul, in their home on June 7, 2021. He appeared in the state’s highest court this week after filing an appeal in December 2024, which the South Carolina Supreme Court agreed to hear.
Hearing on Appeal Granted
Alex Murdaugh has maintained his innocence long before he was convicted, and continues to maintain it even after he was sentenced to life in prison. He filed a 132-page appeal at the end of 2024, arguing that improper evidence was admitted during trial and accusing the lower court clerk of pressuring the jury to reach a guilty verdict.
On one end, the appeal focuses on evidence from the trial, specifically citing that there was minimal physical evidence that connected Alex to the murders of his family. It also argues that the testimony from several witnesses, including an investigator who tossed a phone around his office to see how it would be damaged, should not have been allowed on the stand.
His defense attorneys also mention that the text messages that occurred before and after the murders between Alex and his drug dealer, Eddie Smith, were not used in the investigators’ timeline.
On the other end, the appeal discusses Becky Hill, the former Colleton County Clerk of Court, who appeared at Alex’s trial. The appeal accuses Hill of influencing the jury, and it is a reasonable argument considering she pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and perjury for revealing sealed court exhibits to a reporter and lying about it afterward. Alex’s attorneys allege that Hill was biased against him and made comments to the jury, pressuring them to vote guilty.
Oral arguments in Alex Murdaugh’s appeal for a new trial are scheduled to begin on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. ET in the South Carolina Supreme Court.
The Murdaugh Family Murders
Alex Murdaugh was born into a powerful and wealthy legal dynasty in South Carolina. He married his beloved wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and together they had two children, Buster and Paul. Maggie was a traditional homemaker and stay-at-home mom to her two boys. She loved her family and appreciated the time she got to spend with them.
After her death, it was immediately assumed something sinister was happening behind closed doors. Maggie’s sister, Marian Proctor, testified during Alex’s trial that his behavior was nothing short of odd. “We never talked about finding the person who could have done it,” she said.
On the day of the murders, Alex called his wife and asked her to meet him at the Murdaugh family hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina, so the two could drive together to visit his father, who was terminally ill. Maggie was purportedly suspicious of her husband and told a friend he was acting strange. Authorities say she left her car running and walked towards the estate where the dog kennels were and found her son, Paul.
Authorities stated that the two were found gunned down there, and Maggie was shot several times by an AR15 rifle, and her son was shot in the head and chest at close range by a shotgun. Alex told investigators he had been with his father at the hospital at the time they were murdered, and he found their bodies when he returned. However, cellphone data placed him at the scene beforehand.
His trial started on January 25, 2023, and he was convicted over a month later on March 2 for the murders of his wife and son and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In addition to the murder conviction, he was found guilty of several financial crimes, including bank and wire fraud.
