Murdaugh faced the judge in the Colleton County courtroom on the circuit where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather tried cases as the elected prosecutor for more than 80 years. It might have been the monster you become,” Newman said. I would never under any circumstances hurt my wife Maggie and I would never under any circumstances hurt my son Paul-Paul,” Murdaugh responded. “As I tell you again, I respect this court.
But Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman wanted to know if he saw the mangled bodies of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh as he tried to sleep or thought about how he disgraced his family’s three-generation reputation for justice through lying, stealing and - eventually - murder. In the quiet Lowcountry that Murdaugh’s family had dominated since the days of Jim Crow, a judge talked to Murdaugh in a way that few probably have - not in his days playing college football, making millions as a high-powered attorney or gaining favor because of his name - and reminded Murdaugh that he had to remove the portrait of the defendant’s grandfather from its place of honor in that same courtroom to ensure a fair trial.Īt sentencing, Murdaugh maintained his innocence, just as he did when he testified in his own defense during the six-week trial. (AP) - One of the last pieces of a legal dynasty that doled out justice in rural South Carolina for decades crumbled Friday as lawyer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his wife and son at their sprawling estate.
By JEFFREY COLLINS and JAMES POLLARD (Associated Press)
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