South Carolina court tosses murder conviction in Alex Murdaugh case

The state’s high court ruled that Murdaugh had been denied a fair trial due to comments from a court clerk suggesting guilt.

The state Supreme Court in South Carolina has overturned the murder conviction against lawyer Alex Murdaugh, whose case has become a source of public fascination in the United States.

On Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously ordered a retrial in Murdaugh’s 2023 murder case.

The lawyer had been accused of murdering his 52-year-old wife, Maggie, and his 22-year-old son, Paul, who were found shot to death at the dog kennels outside the family lodge in June 2021. Murdaugh, 57, has denied any involvement in their killings.

In its ruling, the South Carolina Supreme Court criticised the Colleton County court clerk, Rebecca Hill, for having “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” in court and thereby swaying the juror pool.

The court’s decision highlighted comments in which Hill advised jurors to watch Murdaugh’s “body language” and “not to be fooled” by his lawyer’s evidence.

“Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the justices said.

“We have no choice but to reverse the denial of Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial due to Hill’s improper external influence on the jury.”

The justices also pointed to Hill’s book, entitled Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders, as evidence that she had not properly carried out the duties of her office.

“As her book’s title suggests, it turns out Hill was quite busy behind the doors of justice, thwarting the integrity of the justice system she was sworn to protect and uphold,” the justices wrote in Wednesday’s ruling.

The book was later unpublished after plagiarism charges emerged. Separately, in 2025, Hill herself pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, perjury and misconduct while in office.

The state Supreme Court also ruled that the judge in the initial murder trial had allowed unrelated evidence to be presented in the murder trial, including details about Murdaugh’s financial crimes.

Murdaugh is currently serving a 40-year federal sentence after pleading guilty to stealing $12m from his clients. He will not be released as a result of Wednesday’s decision.

While Murdaugh has acknowledged stealing, he has consistently denied any involvement in his wife’s and younger son’s deaths.

His defence team has also highlighted the lack of physical evidence tying Murdaugh to the crime scene. The weapons involved in the shooting were never found, and no DNA or blood splatter connected Murdaugh to the murders.

But prosecutors have argued that evidence from his son’s cellphone indicates that Murdaugh was present at the crime scene moments before the two victims were killed.

In court, they suggested that Murdaugh attacked his wife and son as pressure built over his financial crimes and his opioid addiction.

The office of State Attorney General Alan Wilson had opposed the defence’s push to have the 2023 murder conviction tossed, arguing that Hill’s comments to the jury were brief and pointing to the evidence against him.

But the defence argued that Hill’s comments had tarnished Murdaugh’s chances of a fair trial.

On Wednesday, after the state Supreme Court’s ruling, Wilson announced he planned to retry the case, which was the subject of a documentary miniseries on HBO and Netflix.

“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 wrote in a statement.

“Let me be clear—this decision does not mean Murdaugh will be released. He will remain in prison for his financial crimes. No one is above the law and, as always, we will continue to fight for justice.”