His ordeal fascinated her America and was on the front pages of major newspapers: o Alex Murdowa prominent attorney from a family of prominent South Carolina lawyers and prosecutors, was sentenced today to life in prison for the 2021 murders of his wife and son.

Repeated lies, fraud, opioid addiction, suspicious deaths in his inner circle… The fall of a large man with an often expressionless face has been exposed during hearings and in several documentaries currently being shown about him and his family.

Before the verdict was announced, Judge Clifton Newman turned to Murdow, saying that he could not understand the “duplicity” of a lawyer who once stood in court, and now found himself on the other side, in the dock. He recalled that Murdow comes from a “dynasty” of lawyers.“a respectable family that controlled justice in this area for a century.”

So much so that the portrait of the defendant’s grandfather adorned the courtroom until the judge ordered it removed.

Alex Murdow, handcuffed and wearing a prison uniform, maintained his innocence. His son Buster was also put on trial. “I respect this court, but I am innocent. I would never offend my wife Maggie (…) and son Pow-Pow, ”he insisted, calling his son Paul by his nickname.

Prosecutors say Murdow, 54, embezzled huge sums of money from the law firm he worked for, his friends and even the heirs of a housekeeper who died after tripping over the family dog ​​and falling down the stairs. He allegedly killed his wife and son in an attempt to hide his machinations from exposure. He is also charged with insurance fraud for asking a drug dealer to shoot him so his other son could collect his life insurance..

It took a jury in Walterboro just three hours to find him guilty, and the judge sentenced him to two life sentences. “I know you’ll see Paul and Maggie at night when you’re trying to sleep. I’m sure they’ll come to visit you,” she told him.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters spoke of a “conniving” man who “abused the trust of so many people, his friends, relatives, associates and, above all, Maggie and Paul.” “No one knew who this man really was. And it’s scary,” he added.

Murdow confesses to the thefts he says he committed to pay for the opioids he was addicted to and cover losses from bad investments. He did not confess to the murders.

According to the indictment, he killed his wife and youngest son with two different rifles on June 7, 2021, on the family’s sprawling estate in Colton, South Carolina, where they were going to hunt feral pigs.

The case took over the United States, and the media, even the most serious, made the life of the family – with three generations of prosecutors and judges on their account. Several podcasts and a documentary on Netflix have been devoted to this case called Murdow’s Blood: Scandal in South Carolina. News channels broadcast live testimonies from Murdow’s deceived colleagues and friends who told how he stole millions of dollars from them without them knowing it.

Source: APE-MPE-AFP-Reuters