Alex Murdaugh to appeal his conviction in killing of wife and son

Murdaugh’s attorneys file notice to appeal his convictions and life sentences

Alex Murdaugh will appeal his convictions for killing his wife and son, his attorneys said on Thursday in a court filing.

"Today Jim Griffin and I filed our notice of appeal for Alex Murdaugh," Dick Harpootlian, one of Murdaugh's attorneys, tweeted.

"This is the next step in the legal process to fight for Alex's constitutional right to a fair trial."

Murdaugh, 54, was convicted on 2 March for the shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul on 7 June 2021. He was found guilty of shooting his son twice with a shotgun and Maggie five times with a rifle on the family's sprawling hunting lodge in Islandton

The trial in rural South Carolina lasted six weeks and included more than 75 witnesses, but culminated in a jury taking less than three hours to find Murdaugh guilty.

He had 10 days to send a notice of appeal following his conviction.

Murdaugh, the scion of an influential legal family, was sentenced to life terms in prison without parole.

Murdaugh called 911 on the evening of 7 June 2021, saying he found his son and wife dead when he returned home from a one-hour visit with his mother, who has dementia.

He was arrested more than a year after the killings in July 2022 and charged with their murders.

Murdaugh, who is also charged with about 100 counts of financial and other crimes, adamantly denied any involvement in the killings.

Prosecutors throughout the trial portrayed Murdaugh as a serial liar and argued that only he had the means and the opportunity to commit the murders.

Following the trial, some jurors said that the key piece of evidence in finding the lawyer guilty was a video on his son's cellphone that was shot minutes before the killings at the kennels near where the bodies were found.

Murdaugh’s testimony only cemented what they were already thinking – that he easily lied, and could turn on and off his tears at will, jurors said.

“No amount of vitriol or misguided attacks will stop us from pursuing due process for Alex to the fullest extent of the law,” Murdaugh’s lawyer said on Twitter.