‘I made a terrible decision’: What Alex Murdaugh said of alleged crimes in court Monday
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Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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Alex Murdaugh, suspended from practicing law and in jail, spoke publicly Monday for the first time since his arrests on dozens of criminal charges, expressing regret for having hurt the people who loved him.
But during his virtual bond hearing, he did not specifically apologize to or address any of the victims of the financial crimes he was charged with last week.
Speaking before S.C. Judge Alison Lee, Murdaugh, who sat in a white-walled room inside the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia, became emotional and explained his state of mind before his alleged murder-for-hire attempt in September.
He said that “the news” of his “actions” and alleged drug addiction hurt people he cared most about, including the family and friends of his wife and younger son — who were both found murdered in June. Murdaugh said the partners at his former law firm, founded by his great-grandfather in 1910, “knew nothing and did nothing,” though he did not specify what that meant.
Monday’s hearing was to determine bond on the 48 charges against the Hampton lawyer, alleging that he defrauded numerous clients out of $6.2 million from 2015 to late 2020. The charges were filed in 12 indictments handed down by a South Carolina state grand jury in November and December.
The charges illustrate how Murdaugh used his prestige as a lawyer from a prominent family to take advantage of his clients — people who came to him for help, and who were owed settlements after injuries or deaths in the family.
Murdaugh spoke in an attempt to convince the judge that he was not a danger to himself and should be granted bond. Shortly after Murdaugh’s speech, Judge Lee imposed conditions and a $7 million surety bond, one of the highest bonds in state history.
Although the hearing was open to the public, Lee did not allow anyone to record it. Reporters watching virtually took notes on what Murdaugh said.
A day prior to the Sept. 4 shooting, when Murdaugh allegedly asked Curtis Smith, a former client, to shoot him so his older son, Buster, could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy, Murdaugh met with his brother and another partner. That meeting he told Lee, was to “discuss my actions.
“I had divulged to them that I had an opiate addiction that I had concealed for 20 years,” he said. “Things were moving really quickly and really negatively.
“My world was caving, much as it had three months prior (a reference to the still-unsolved murders of Murdaugh’s wife and son). That particular day (Sept. 4), I was in the throes of withdrawal, as I had not taken opiates as I had for so long. I was grieving.”
Murdaugh said he knew the news of his actions (he did not specifically address the financial crimes) was going to “deeply, deeply hurt every single person that I cared about.”
The suspended lawyer then described the people he felt would be hurt, stopping several times when he became emotional:
▪ His family and his late wife Maggie’s family — “a designation with no distinction as I love them all dearly.” Murdaugh said Maggie’s family “was very proud of me” and “was proud of my family’s legacy, which I knew I had tarnished badly.”
▪ His partners at the PMPED law firm, “who are not coworkers, but are family and who knew nothing and did nothing.” Murdaugh did not specify whether he was referring to the financial crimes he is accused of.
▪ His clients, “who I do care about.”
▪ His friends, including two of his “oldest and dearest friends: Chris Wilson and Cory Fleming,” who Murdaugh said “didn’t know anything and didn’t do anything wrong.” In a civil lawsuit brought by the estate of Murdaugh’s housekeeper, Fleming was accused of helping Murdaugh to defraud the estate. Wilson, a Bamberg attorney, said Murdaugh misled him and left him on the hook for nearly $200,000 in a separate case they worked on together, an indictment said.
▪ His son Buster, “who’s trying to be a lawyer, who’s one of the best young men I’ve ever known and deserves none of what he’s gotten dumped on him.”
▪ His son Buster’s “very serious girlfriend, who’s like a daughter to me and who is a young lawyer.”
▪ Murdaugh told the judge that he had tried in the months after son Paul’s death to keep a close relationship with Paul’s friends. He said he feared that his alleged financial crimes were “going to alienate them.”
Murdaugh said the botched September shooting was a “terrible decision that I regret.” He said he was sorry about it and embarrassed.
“I quickly realized that I made a terrible mistake — that I needed to be there for my son,” he said.
In defense of why he should be granted bond, Murdaugh said his “head is on straighter” compared to Sept. 4:
▪ He told the judge he’s had 38 days of inpatient drug treatment and has not taken opiates in 98 days. He said this was the “longest stretch in 20 years.”
▪ Murdaugh said he has been exercising in jail for several hours a day.
▪ He said he has been “humbled and surprised by the outpouring of love and support that I have received.”
▪ He said he wants to be there for his son, Buster, and wants to “deal with everything I have to deal with, which is a lot. I want to deal with these charges appropriately and head-on.”
▪ He said he wants to “hopefully figure out a way to make people who care proud again in some small way.”
As he finished speaking, Murdaugh said he looks forward to putting “all this” behind him.
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 2:14 PM with the headline "‘I made a terrible decision’: What Alex Murdaugh said of alleged crimes in court Monday."
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