Alex Murdaugh was granted a new trial by the South Carolina Supreme Court on May 13, 2026 after the justices concluded jurors were improperly influenced during his 2023 Colleton County murder trial, the court said in a unanimous opinion.
The high court found external influences linked to Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill had tainted the jury, and it reversed a lower court's denial of Murdaugh's motion for a new trial, remanding the case for further proceedings.
Murdaugh, who was arrested in July 2022 and convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul, had been serving two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole following that Colleton County verdict.
The South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said he planned to aggressively seek to retry Murdaugh as soon as possible, and the appellate action follows a January 2024 ruling that had denied a new trial.
Financial Convictions And Ongoing Sentences
Beyond the overturned murder convictions, state and federal prosecutors have pursued extensive financial cases against Murdaugh, resulting in guilty pleas and multi-decade prison terms that will keep him in custody.
In November 2023 Murdaugh pleaded guilty to nearly two dozen state financial crimes, including fraud, forgery, tax evasion and conspiracy, resolving 101 counts in a deal that produced a negotiated 27-year state prison sentence.
A federal grand jury indicted Murdaugh in 2023 on 22 financial counts that largely mirrored state charges. He pleaded guilty in September 2023 and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel to 40 years in federal prison.
Judge Gergel imposed a term far longer than federal guidelines recommended, citing the seriousness of a lawyer abusing the trust of extremely vulnerable victims, according to reporting.
Federal prosecutors said Murdaugh stole about $10.8 million from 27 people, including clients, while state filings described nearly $11 million taken from legal clients, partners and others. A panel of federal judges rejected Murdaugh's appeal challenging the 40-year sentence.
The federal 40-year sentence was ordered to run at the same time as the 27-year state term negotiated in the state plea, meaning those terms will operate concurrently even as the murder convictions are set for retrial.
