Alex Murdaugh sobs about murders at fraud sentencing: Live
Sentencing marks only the latest chapter in the Murdaugh saga, as he continues to fight his conviction over the June 2021 murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul
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Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh was confronted by his victims in a courtroom in South Carolina today before being sentenced to 27 years in prison on a slew of state financial crime charges.
“You seem empty, I don’t see anything,” Judge Clifton Newman told Murdaugh as he handed down the sentence. “Hopefully something will emerge in your spirit, in your soul.”
For more than a decade, Murdaugh stole over $12.5m from clients at his law firm in a vast multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.
Among the victims who spoke was the family of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh’s housekeeper who died in a 2018 “trip and fall” at Moselle. In that case, Murdaugh stole more than $4m in wrongful death settlements meant for her sons.
Murdaugh spent nearly an hour apologizing to them. He admitted he did “terrible things” that “continue to bother and disturb him.”
The disgraced legal scion reached a plea deal with prosecutors on 17 November, agreeing to plead guilty to 22 charges including money laundering, fraud and criminal conspiracy.
The sentencing marks only the latest chapter in the Murdaugh saga, as he continues to fight his conviction over the June 2021 murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Today’s sentencing will have no bearing on roadside shooting charges
Alex Murdaugh’s plea deal in his financial crimes case will have no bearing on charges over another related incident.
On 4 September 2021 – three months on from the murders of Maggie and Paul and just hours after he resigned in shame after being confronted for stealing from his law firm – Murdaugh was shot in the head by the side of a road in Hampton County.
He survived and called 911, claiming he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while he was changing a tire on his vehicle.
He was treated at a hospital for what police called a “superficial gunshot wound to the head,” but his story quickly unravelled.
One day after the shooting, Murdaugh entered rehab for a 20-year opioid addiction and his version of events rapidly fell apart.
On 13 September, he confessed to police to paying an alleged hitman to shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot so that his surviving son Buster could get a $10m life insurance windfall.
He told investigators that he had paid Curtis Smith – a former client, distant cousin and allegedly Murdaugh’s drug dealer – to carry out the shooting.
Both men were arrested and charged over the incident. However, Mr Smith denies Murdaugh’s version of events.
While the other financial fraud charges have been dropped under the plea deal, the charges in this case have not – and Murdaugh and Mr Smith are still awaiting trial over this.
Who were Alex Murdaugh’s victims?
Alex Murdaugh will be sentenced today for stealing millions of dollars from victims as part of a vast, decade-long, multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.
Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh’s housekeeper, cared for the family as if they were her own.
So, when the mother-of-two died in a tragic fall down the steps of the family home in 2018, it seemed only natural that Alex Murdaugh would wish to take care of her two sons financially.
And, for some time, that’s what they believed he was going to do – until it emerged he had stolen every single dime of a $4m settlement from them through a wrongful death lawsuit.
For more than a decade, Murdaugh stole over $8.5m from clients at his law firm, the law firm itself, and the state and federal government.
Prosecutors said the convicted killer worked with his co-conspirators and friends ex-attorney Cory Fleming and ex-Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte to swindle clients out of millions of dollars.
In the Satterfield case, Murdaugh recommended that her sons hire Fleming to represent them in bringing a wrongful death claim against him – as the homeowner of the property where she died – so that they could collect from his homeowner’s insurance policies.
Among the other victims were the family of Hakeem Pinckney – a deaf man who became a quadriplegic after being involved in a horror car crash in 2009. He died two years later.
Another victim was former lieutenant with the South Carolina Highway Patrol Tommy Moore, who hired Murdaugh as his personal injury lawyer when he suffered a broken neck in the line of duty.
Read more:
Alex Murdaugh is still fighting his murder verdict. But he’s admitted to these crimes
Alex Murdaugh has been exposed as a family annihilator, a fraudster, a thief and a liar. On Tuesday, he will finally be sentenced over the multi-million-dollar fraud scheme which helped drive him to murder. Rachel Sharp reports
Satterfield family attorney Eric Bland ‘looking forward’ to confronting Murdaugh in court
Satterfield family attorney Eric Bland ‘looking forward’ to confronting Murdaugh in court
Before the judge hands down his sentence, several of Alex Murdaugh’s victims are slated to confront him in court in impact statements.
The family’s attorney Eric Bland has been tweeting about the upcoming sentencing and on Tuesday, posted that it was “looking forward” to it.
“Off to Beaufort, and confront Alex Murdaugh at his sentencing hearing. So looking forward to this. EB”
Earlier this week, he told NBC News that he is planning to speak and has been preparing for this moment.
Hearing expected to start any minute
Alex Murdaugh’s financial crimes hearing was expected to start at 10am ET, but a packed courtroom is still waiting.
The former attorney and convicted killer has not yet been brought into the courtroom.
Victims of his financial crimes along with curious community members and reporters have packed the courthouse in South Carolina.
Judge Clifton Newman has not yet taken the bench.
Alex Murdaugh appears in court for financial crimes sentencing
The convicted killer has arrived in court in his orange jail jumpsuit for his financial crimes hearing.
Before Judge Clifton Newman hands down the sentence, Alex Murdaugh will be confronted by his victims.
Watch live on Court TV or stream on Law&Crime’s YouTube channel.
Murdaugh defence accuses attorneys of using hearing as an infomercial
Alex Murdaugh’s defence attorney Dick Harpootlian accused people of making money off the trial by selling shirts, bobbleheads and other items.
He slammed the opposing attorneys of using Murdaugh’s sentencing as an infomercial.
WATCH: Alex Murdaugh arrives for his financial crimes hearing
Gloria Satterfield’s son rolls eyes as a smiling Murdaugh arrives
Gloria Satterfield’s son Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head as he watched Alex Murdaugh walk into the South Carolina courtroom with a smile on his face, CourtTV’s Chanley Painter tweeted.
Tony is expected to give a victim impact statement today before Murdaugh is sentenced.
Early victims were afraid of Alex Murdaugh’s power
Prosecuting attorney Creighton Waters said some of Alex Murdaugh’s early victims were afraid of the power that the former prominent attorney held.
Mr Waters is currently laying out the “morass” of financial fraud that resulted in Murdaugh stealing millions of dollars from his victims.
Mudaugh financial crimes victims to speak after prosecution
Creighton Waters has spent about an hour outlining Alex Murdaugh’s financial fraud schemes.
Victims of the schemes are expected to give their impact statements next.
Murdaugh himself is also expected to give a statement before he is sentenced.
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