Alex Murdaugh will not be leaving prison — but the murder convictions that put him there no longer stand. The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh’s convictions and life sentence on Wednesday, ruling unanimously that the court clerk at his trial had tampered with the jury in a way that denied him the right to a fair trial. Prosecutors immediately confirmed they intend to retry him.
Murdaugh, 57, remains behind bars regardless. He pleaded guilty to stealing approximately $12 million from his clients and is currently serving a 40-year federal sentence on those charges. The overturning of his murder convictions changes the legal landscape dramatically — but it does not change his address.
The case that made Murdaugh a true crime sensation — involving money, power, family tragedy, opioid addiction, and breathtaking betrayal — is heading back to court. And this time, it will look very different.
What the Court Actually Found — and Why It Matters
The South Carolina Supreme Court’s ruling centred entirely on the conduct of Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, who was assigned to oversee evidence and the jury during the original trial. Several jurors later said Hill told them to watch Murdaugh’s body language when he testified in his own defence — and warned them not to be fooled, confused, or thrown off by what he might say.
The justices were unsparing in their assessment. Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility,” the court found, and by urging jurors not to be convinced by his defence, she “essentially implored the jurors to find him guilty.” The court said Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.”
The motivation, the justices wrote, was the “siren call of celebrity.” Hill had written a book about the trial called Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders — later pulled from publication after plagiarism allegations — and the court found her behaviour was designed to boost her public profile and sales. Hill has since pleaded guilty to lying about her conduct during the trial, including showing graphic crime scene photographs to media members.
The retrial will also look different in another important way. The justices ruled that extensive evidence about Murdaugh’s financial crimes — particularly details about how some of his victims were disabled or vulnerable — should not be allowed in the next trial. Some connection between his thefts and the murders may be permitted, but the court warned the next presiding judge to be cautious about allowing details that could unfairly prejudice jurors who should be focused solely on whether Murdaugh killed his family.
Murdaugh has always denied killing his wife Maggie and younger son Paul, whose bodies he says he discovered outside their Colleton County home in June 2021. He admits to being a thief, a liar, and an opioid addict — but has maintained consistently that he did not commit murder. His lawyers called the ruling a vindication of that position. “Alex has said from day one that he did not kill his wife and son,” they said in a joint statement. “We look forward to a new trial.”
Prosecutors argue the evidence against Murdaugh remains overwhelming. His voice was captured in a video on his son’s phone made approximately five minutes before the killings — contradicting his claim that he had not seen either victim for an hour before discovering their bodies. The murder weapons have never been found, and no clothing with DNA or blood evidence was presented at trial. The retrial will test whether that evidence is enough to convict again — this time, without the tainted jury.
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