Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is already serving two consecutive life sentences for murder, pleaded guilty on Thurs...
Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is already serving two consecutive life sentences for murder, pleaded guilty on Thursday to financial crimes.
Murdaugh, 55, pleaded guilty in federal court to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering, the Associated Press reported. Murdaugh is already serving consecutive life sentences without parole for the murder of his wife, Maggie, and youngest son Paul.
“I want to take responsibility. I want my son to see me take responsibility. It’s my hope that by taking responsibility that the people I’ve hurt can begin to heal,” Murdaugh said at the hearing on Thursday.
The guilty plea would likely keep Murdaugh in prison for years, even if he manages to overturn his murder conviction on appeal. His attorney’s recently accused a court clerk of jury tampering in order to secure a book deal about the trial.
He will be sentenced for the financial crimes at a later date, and federal prosecutor Emily Limehouse told reporters at a news conference after the hearing that prosecutors would seek a lengthy term.
“Our goal in holding him accountable for the financial crimes in federal court is to ensure that he’s never a free man again,” Limehouse said, according to the AP.
Murdaugh’s defense attorneys also spoke after the hearing.
“There’s two things Alex will tell you. One, he stole the money. Two, he did not kill Maggie and Paul,” Murdaugh’s defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said.
A jury found Murdaugh guilty of murder on March 2, and he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
The decision came after just a few hours of deliberation and a six-week trial where more than 70 witnesses testified. Murdaugh has maintained his innocence, suggesting his son Paul was the main target for the murders due to his involvement in a 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.
Murdaugh spent nearly two days testifying in his own defense at his trial and immediately admitted to lying for years about his whereabouts on the day his wife and son were murdered.
The prosecution had already argued that Murdaugh lied about not going to the dog kennels on the day his wife and son were murdered. Prosecutor Creighton Waters previously pointed to cell phone evidence taken from Paul’s phone less than five minutes before he was killed. Paul had filmed one of the dogs to send to a friend, and prosecutors allege Murdaugh’s voice can be heard in the background of the recording. Murdaugh has said he wasn’t at the kennels that night. Prosecutors said that Murdaugh murdered his wife and son around 8:49 p.m., just a few minutes after the video was taken.
When Murdaugh took the stand, his defense attorneys asked him if he had lied to police about his whereabouts on the night his family was murdered, and Murdaugh admitted to lying.
“I lied about being down there, and I’m so sorry that I did,” Murdaugh said, according to People Magazine.
Murdaugh maintained that he did not murder his wife and son, whom he referred to by nicknames “Mags” and “Paul Paul.” He claimed during his testimony that his alleged drug addiction made him “paranoid,” which caused him to lie.
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