Disgraced former lawyer Alex Murdaugh will appeal his conviction for murdering his wife and son, multiple sources have confirmed.
The 54-year-old was last week sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting his son Paul, 22, and wife Maggie, 52, on their rural South Carolina property in June 2021. Murdaugh, 54, claimed that he had been visiting his parents at their home at the time his wife and son were slain, but his story ended up changing several times.
Maggie and Paul were found dead near the dog kennels at their 1,700-acre Moselle hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina. The two victims had been fatally shot, with Murdaugh refusing responsibility for killing them throughout his trial. He even routinely suggested that a third party had been responsible for the deaths, as some sort of revenge for a 2019 boat crash that Paul was involved in, which sadly resulted in the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach.
During his sentencing on Friday morning, the judge told Murdaugh, per Sky News: "You have turned from lawyer to witness, and now have an opportunity to make your final appeal as an ex-lawyer". The former attorney repeated again that he "would never under any circumstances" harm his wife and son.
Speaking to the jury during his trial, Murdaugh insisted: "I did not kill Maggie, and I did not kill Paul. I would never hurt Maggie, and I would never hurt Paul, ever, under any circumstances," per The Telegraph.
The prosecution argued throughout the six-week trial that Murdaugh had killed Maggie and Paul to distract growing attention from his financial crimes. In fact, a pre-trial hearing for the 2019 boat crash - which would have exposed his financial crimes - had been scheduled for three days after the murders.
Now, Murdaugh's defense team announced on Thursday (March 9) that they would be appealing his conviction, something that was expected as his attorneys indicated that they would be doing so within 10 days of the verdict.
Dick Harpootlian - one of Murdaugh's attorneys - tweeted: "Today [Jim Griffin, another Murdaugh defense attorney] and I filed our notice of appeal for Alex Murdaugh. This is the next step in the legal process to fight for Alex's constitutional right to a fair trial."
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After the announcement received some backlash on Twitter, Harpootlian added in a separate tweet: "No amount of vitriol or misguided attacks will stop us from pursuing due process for Alex to the fullest extent of the law."
Following Murdaugh's highly-publicized trial, one of the jurors, Craig Moyer, appeared on Good Morning America to discuss the case, telling the outlet about the jury's relatively short deliberation and the key piece of evidence that convinced him of Murdaugh's guilt.
Speaking about a cellphone video that placed Murdaugh at the scene of his wife and son's deaths just minutes beforehand, Moyer revealed: "I was certain it was [Murdaugh's] voice." The video was reportedly recorded by son Paul Murdaugh at the family's dog kennels. In the background, a voice can be heard that Moyer believes belonged to Alex Murdaugh.
Elsewhere in the interview, Moyer said that despite believing Murdaugh to be a "good liar", the disgraced lawyer wasn't "good enough".
