Alex Murdaugh sentencing: Disgraced SC attorney gets life in prison

Murdaugh was found guilty in the 2021 murders of his wife and youngest son.

Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced Friday to life in prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and their youngest son.

Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family's estate in June 2021, authorities said.

Alex Murdaugh, 54, was found guilty Thursday on all charges -- two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in the commitment of a violent crime.

"Murdaugh Family Murders," a deep dive into the trial, featuring new interviews, airs Friday at 9 ET/8 CT on ABC's "20/20."


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Key moments from the trial

After nearly three hours of deliberations, a jury reached a guilty verdict Thursday in the double murder trial Alex Murdaugh, a disgraced South Carolina attorney who was charged with the murders of his wife and their younger son at their rural hunting estate in June 2021.

The bodies of Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family's estate in June 2021, authorities said.

Alex Murdaugh, 54, who called 911 to report the discovery, was charged with their murders 13 months later.

Jurors -- and the packed gallery -- heard testimony from dozens of witnesses since the trial started on Jan. 23 in the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Here's a look at five key moments from the high-profile trial.


Timeline of key events

A string of bloody killings and mysteries involving a prominent South Carolina family has been filled with a wild chase full of twists and turns -- culminating in a murder conviction against the family’s patriarch.

At the center of it is Alex Murdaugh, 54, a former lawyer who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in South Carolina, where three generations of the family had been state prosecutors in the Hampton County area for more than a century.

The saga began when his youngest son, Paul, was involved in a fatal boat crash in 2019. A year and a half later, Murdaugh's wife, Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and Paul, 22, were found fatally shot on the family's rural hunting estate.

Since then, there have been curveballs in the investigation -- including Alex Murdaugh's alleged money misuse that led to his disbarment, an admitted opioid addiction, an assisted-suicide attempt involving an alleged $10 million insurance fraud scheme and a high-profile murder trial.

Here's a timeline of the key events in the Murdaugh murders and scandals.


Defense stands by putting Murdaugh on stand

Defense attorney Jim Griffin said Alex Murdaugh's surviving son, Buster, speaking on his father’s behalf at Friday's sentencing hearing would not have made a difference in the sentence, and only would have put Buster through more trauma.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian stood by putting Alex Murdaugh on the stand during the trial.

"There was no choice, because he had been made out to be a monster ... he had to try to push back on that," Harpootlian said. "Without taking the stand, he was toast."

"He had to take the stand to explain the video," he said, referring to the cellphone video placing Alex Murdaugh at the scene minutes before the murders.

Harpootlian said he wouldn't change anything about how the defense presented its case.

Harpootlian said the prosecution focused on Alex Murdaugh's character, casting him as a thief and a liar.

"This jury had to think he was a despicable human being and not to be believed. So it was about character, wasn't about motive," he said.

Harpootlian said the defense will file an appeal in 10 days.