SC Supreme Court overturns Alex Murdaugh's 2023 murder conviction, orders new trial

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]A major twist in a South Carolina case that has gripped the entire nation.

[00:00:05]Disgraced attorney Alec Murdoch getting a new trial after he was convicted in the 2021 murders of his wife and son.

[00:00:12]This day Supreme Court ruling coming down today in a unanimous opinion saying the then Colleton County Clerk of Court engaged in shocking jury interference pushing the jury to a guilty verdict. We have team coverage including criminally obsessed podcast host Ann Emerson who has been following this case from the very beginning. But we start with News 4's Cameron Limes live in Walterboro.

[00:00:37]And Cam, you've been digging through the documents all day long. You have reaction from both sides. What have you learned?

[00:00:46]Yeah, Alex Murdaugh's defense team requested a new trial and that was denied back in 2024. They appealed and now the South Carolina Supreme Court says they have no choice but to reverse that decision and order a new trial. In the opinion of the court the court said the former clerk of court Becky Hill egregiously interfered with the jury during Murdaugh's trial. During a post-trial hearing jurors were asked whether Hill's actions influenced their verdict. According to testimony presented by the court's multiple jurors described comments made by Hill throughout the trial. One juror testified Hill told them to watch Murdaugh's behavior closely saying her comments made them believe he was guilty. Another juror testified that on the day Murdaugh took the stand they heard Hill say quote, "This is an important day." or "This is an epic day." Just hours after the ruling Murdaugh's attorney releasing a statement saying in part quote, "The court found that Becky Hill's conduct during the trial attacked Alex Murdaugh's credibility and his defense."

[00:01:48]The statement going on to say the court described her contact as breathtaking, disgraceful, and unprecedented in South Carolina. And while there is no set date yet for a retrial, Attorney General Alan Wilson says his office plans to move quickly. Wilson releasing a statement saying, "Quote, 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." And ahead tonight, hear more from the Attorney General Attorney General and his opinions on this retrial. Live from Walterboro, Cameron Limes, News 4.

[00:02:26]All right, Cameron. We will be hearing from the Attorney General Alan Wilson getting ready for a news conference that was set to start right around 5:00. Once that does start, we'll bring it to you live here on News 4 at 5:00 and also at abcnews4.com. Meantime, Murdaugh will not be released from prison. His conviction on financial crimes has not been overturned. The former attorney is currently serving a 40-year federal sentence that runs concurrently with his state financial crime sentence after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $11 million from his clients.

[00:02:59]Tonight, our team coverage continues with investigative reporter and host of criminally obsessed and Emerson. And you have been following this case from the very beginning. You have been an investigative journalist for a long time. What is your initial reaction to this State Supreme Court ruling?

[00:03:14]>> years, right? And ever since we got the call that something had happened on June 7th, 2021, we have been, you know, boots on the ground working on this case. My initial reaction, Ashley, was I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn't because I heard that appeal and it did not go well for the state at all. Um, what we heard from the South Carolina Supreme Court justices was just a railing on the state to come up with a reason why this is not enough to to to cause a retrial. And obviously, the state, according to to this 27-page document we got uh, uh is needed to keep this from going to a retrial. So, shocked? No, but yeah, disappointed.

[00:04:04]Well, you're really versed in this case.

[00:04:07]Uh for it to be essentially back to a kind of a new starting point, a reset point, that'll be difficult when you think about how, you know, your podcast has talked about this case. There have been so many document commentaries and true crime crime series on this case that shocked the low country just years ago.

[00:04:25]And Ashley, we have we have taken it apart bit by bit, sentence by sentence, the testimony, the investigation. I've talked at length, as you said, um >> [snorts] >> to the prosecutors, to the defense team, to everybody in this entire story. And the thing is, Ashley, that it's going to be so tough going forward and gives the defense, honestly, a huge leg up in this, is that we've all heard it, right?

[00:04:52]So, it's going to be incredibly difficult to get this impartial juror, um the jury that they are going to need to to retry this case. But, you know, the state still feels adamant that they can do it. But, you know, even with all of the information out there, Ashley, this is what's so interesting, is that there are so many holes that we feel that need to be investigated still. Um from the information that uh Blanca Simpson, the Murdaugh housekeeper, shared with me, all the way through to the questions that our forensic scientists and detectives and investigators have talked about. There are obviously, when you build a case, which Creighton Waters did brilliantly, there are still going to be a million things that that don't make the final cut. That's all going to have to be re-examined. So, when people say this isn't going to take another 6 weeks, I say I beg to differ. It could take 6 weeks again.

[00:05:50]Yeah, that was a lengthy trial. And I'm looking at your website right now.

[00:05:54]All of the different podcasts you have on YouTube as well, including The Housekeeper. For people who have not been able to tune into that, is there anything interesting that that that you found in her her accounts that might be now taken into account in this retrial?

[00:06:09]They've got to, right? Because I mean, it just all came out on paper. She wrote a book about it. She calls them The Cleaners. She believes that there was no way that Alec Murdoch could have pulled all of this off by himself. So, now the question is is is what does that look like? And how much of that should actually be included in in a new trial, you know? But I think that the state's going to stay very directed. They're going to have to get another double conviction for Alec Murdoch, and that's where they're going to stay focused. And they're going to be they're going to be head down on this.

[00:06:45]Yeah, no doubt a lot to follow here and on the national level and and thank you so much for joining us. I know you're busy talking with so many different TV stations all across the country. We do want to remind you right now that you can dig into this extensive history of this case with Anne's coverage with the Criminally Obsessed podcast right now.

[00:07:03]That QR code, you can watch her podcast.

[00:07:06]She breaks down the full story and will of course have coverage as that new trial gets underway when it does. Now, she was mentioning some of the things that might come up in that new trial.

[00:07:16]And coming up at 5:30 here on News 4, we are talking with former South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon for his take on the State Supreme Court ruling and challenges that lie ahead in a retrial, including finding jurors for that case. Well, we do want to now listen in to a news conference that is starting. Attorney General Alan Wilson speaking out. We did get a statement from him earlier today. Let's go ahead and listen in to his reaction to the ruling today.

[00:07:48]Ruled in a 5-0 decision to reverse the murder convictions for Alec Murdaugh for the June 2021 murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

[00:07:57]The court based its decision on the conduct of then Colleton County Clerk of Court, Rebecca Hill.

[00:08:03]As you know, this conduct involved her in interactions with the jury at that time. As the court said in the order, this was conduct unknown to the state and other individuals.

[00:08:12]My office's position has always been that the conduct, while inappropriate and should never be condoned, was ultimately harmless as it related to prejudicing Alec Murdaugh's right to a fair trial.

[00:08:24]The Supreme Court obviously disagreed in its conclusion.

[00:08:27]While we strongly disagree with the Supreme Court, we respect its decision because that's how the process is supposed to be played out.

[00:08:35]So, now we must look to the future.

[00:08:38]What does this decision decision mean going forward for this office?

[00:08:42]First, Alec Murdaugh is currently serving a 27-year sentence for the financial crimes that he has admitted to in a guilty plea that we secured against him.

[00:08:53]Uh and he has also waived his appeals for those financial charges. Additionally, uh he uh pled guilty to federal charges about 5 months after he pled to the state financial charges.

[00:09:09]He received a concurrent 40-year sentence in addition to the state's charges.

[00:09:13]So, Alec Murdaugh will not be getting out of prison for several decades.

[00:09:17]Currently, our office is reviewing the Supreme Court's order. We're meeting with members of our legal team and our staff. We're evaluating what our legal strategy will be going forward.

[00:09:27]As of right now, the state has 15 days to ask the state Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. We have 90 days to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

[00:09:37]However, it is currently my intention to seek a speedy retrial in the case against Alex Murdaugh.

[00:09:44]Um obviously, we I always say this um with the court's current decision, we obviously recognize that all defendants have the presumption of innocence unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law. And Mr. Murdaugh will enjoy that presumption at this time.

[00:09:59]Are there any questions?

[00:10:01]Uh Mr. Attorney General, your opponents in the governor's [clears throat] race are jumping on this uh saying your office bungled the case.

[00:10:10]You heard a major update from State Attorney General Alan Wilson on what this means moving forward. He did mention that Alex Murdaugh will continue to spend time in jail for the financial crimes and that he will now have another day in court for a fair new trial. The Attorney General saying it will seek a speedy retrial. Again, his last one was lengthy at 6 weeks consuming the entire area around Walterboro as all the national media came in covering that original trial just 3 years ago. So, that is the update. We will continue streaming this for you including all of the questions that he is answering right now at ABC News 4. A reminder that on our website right now, we have all of our coverage including a deeper dive into uh the case involving the former clerk of court in Colleton County.