Murdaugh murder convictions overturned by South Carolina Supreme Court
The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled to overturn the 2023 double murder conviction of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh.
In its ruling Wednesday, the S.C. Supreme Court said the actions of former Colleton County Court Clerk Becky Hill denied “Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.”
Murdaugh’s case will now return to circuit court, according to the ruling.
“Both the State and Murdaugh’s defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter. However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice,” the ruling said. “... Although we are aware of the time, money, and effort expended for this lengthy trial, we have no choice but to reverse the denial of Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial due to Hill’s improper external influences on the jury and remand for a new trial.”
The state Supreme Court’s decision was made following a February hearing about whether jury tampering and improper prosecution evidence spoiled Murdaugh’s right to a fair trial. In that February hearing, Murdaugh attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin argued that Hill made improper comments on Murdaugh’s guilt to jurors before they reached a decision.
Murdaugh, 57, a once wealthy fourth-generation lawyer in his family law firm in Lowcountry Hampton County, was serving two life sentences for murder at a maximum security state prison in McCormick County.
The man that the S.C. Supreme Court called a “notorious former attorney” is also serving multiyear state and federal sentences for defrauding clients of millions of dollars. Murdaugh has admitted his financial frauds and plead guilty to them.
But he contends he is innocent of murder and was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and son.
In 2023, Murdaugh was found guilty of two counts of murder for the June 7, 2021, shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on the family’s remote 1,770-acre estate, called Moselle.
In addition to the murder charges, Murdaugh also was convicted of two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime at the end of the March 2023 trial.
Attorney general says Murdaugh will be retried
On Wednesday, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said he would retry Murdaugh on the murder charges.
“While we respectfully disagree with the Court’s decision, my office will aggressively seek to retry Alex Murdaugh for the murders of Maggie and Paul as soon as possible,” Wilson said in a news release.
Wilson pointed out that despite the S.C. Supreme Court’s ruling, Murdaugh will remain incarcerated for convictions on other crimes.
“Let me be clear — this decision does not mean Murdaugh will be released,” Wilson said. “He will remain in prison for his financial crimes.”
Murdaugh is currently serving a 27-year sentence in a South Carolina Department of Corrections prison for financial crime convictions. Murdaugh is also serving a concurrent 40-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to the financial crimes.
Murdaugh will be in his 90s when he’s released from federal prison, if he lives that long.
Road to a retrial
During an October 2023 appeal, Murdaugh sough to file a motion for a new trial because he said that Hill tampered with the jury in multiple ways. Murdaugh contended that Hill:
- Advised the jury not to believe his testimony and other defense evidence
- Pressured the jury to reach a quick guilty verdict
- Misrepresented information to the trial court in an attempt to have the court remove a juror she believed to favor the defense
In the February hearing before the S.C. Supreme Court justices, the prosecution argued the jury convicted Murdaugh “because he was obviously guilty, and not because three jurors heard Hill’s ‘foolish and fleeting’ comments about his upcoming testimony,” Wednesday’s ruling said.
But that wasn’t enough to sway the S.C. Supreme Court justices — a group that includes Chief Justice John Kittredge as well as John Few, George James, D. Garrison Hill and Letitia Verdin.
“We agree with Murdaugh,” the ruling said. “Prejudice is presumed from Hill’s comments, and while this presumption is rebuttable, the State failed to overcome this presumption.”
But the justices were clear about who they found most responsible for this outcome.
“The breathtaking and disgraceful effort of Hill to undermine the jury process is unprecedented in South Carolina,” the ruling said.
Hill resigned her $101,256-a-year clerk of court job In March 2024 after she was charged with obstruction of justice in the leaking of confidential court information to a reporter. Hill later pleaded guilty to perjury and misconduct charges and received probation.
“There is no excuse for my mistakes,” Hill said following her December 2025 conviction. “I am ashamed of them, and I will carry that shame with me for the rest of my life.”
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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Murdaugh murder convictions overturned by South Carolina Supreme Court."
