Alex Murdaugh

Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh is facing federal charges for the first time after being indicted on 22 financial fraud charges over allegations the former attorney schemed to steal settlement money from clients. The indictments unsealed Wednesday don't appear to reveal any new allegations against Murdaugh, the former South Carolina legal scion who is serving a life sentence without parole for killing his wife and younger son. Murdaugh is also awaiting trial on around 100 other state charges including insurance fraud and tax evasion.

Alex Murdaugh may be serving a life sentence for killing his wife and son, but the legal system is far from done with him. As he sat in a South Carolina prison cell this week, Murdaugh's lawyers dealt with several problems. They told an insurer looking to force him to repay more than $3 million it awarded in a wrongful death settlement for Murdaugh housekeeper Gloria Satterfield that he lied about the circumstances of her death in a fall. His chief defenders in his murder case asked a judge to release an additional $160,000 from his retirement account to pay for his appeal. They say his six-week murder trial exhausted the $600,000 they have already been given.

A South Carolina grand jury Tuesday charged convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh with two counts of tax evasion after prosecutors reviewed his final years of tax returns before he headed behind bars.

A lawyer for the family of a teenager found dead nearly eight years ago says a second autopsy of the exhumed body is complete. Attorney Eric Bland, who is representing the family of Stephen Smith, says this weekend was a "bittersweet" and "trying time." Stephen Smith was found dead on a lonely highway in July 2015. Investigators initially thought it was a hit-and-run, but authorities say no skid marks or vehicle debris was found near his body. Bland's law firm announced Monday a $35,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of anyone responsible.

South Carolina prison officials have decided to keep former attorney and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh in a special protective unit as he begins serving his life sentence for killing his wife and son. The state Department of Corrections said in a news release Friday that mental health and prison experts determined that Murdaugh should be kept in protective custody after they reviewed his case, including the enormous amount of publicity it garnered and psychiatric and other tests. Prison officials said they weren't disclosing the unit's location due to security concerns.

March 25, 2023 — A debrief of the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh; the latest on the resignation of embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom over a $3.5 billion accounting error; a look at the potential economic impact of Scout Motor's production facility in the Palmetto State; and more.

Attorneys for Alex Murdaugh have filed a notice to appeal his convictions for the murder of his wife and son along with his two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. The trial in rural South Carolina lasted six weeks and included more than 75 witnesses, but the jury took less than three hours to find the 54-year-old Murdaugh guilty last week. The appeal to the South Carolina Court of Appeals was filed on Thursday.

Alex Murdaugh didn't help his defense when he took the stand at his trial for the murder of his wife and son, three jurors said on Monday.

Alex Murdaugh's murder trial brought a business boost and frenzy of attention to a small South Carolina town. The spectacle altered life for over a month. Teachers adjusted drop-off and pickup routines at the school down the street from the courthouse. Walterboro Police Chief Kevin Martin said the city incurred $35,500 in overtime pay, facilities rentals and technology upgrades related to the trial — not including this past week's costs. Now, many residents are ready for life to return to normal.

The judge who sentenced Alex Murdaugh on Friday to life in prison for killing his wife and son has earned attention and plaudits for his even-handed demeanor throughout the trial and for his dressing-down of the once-prominent lawyer just before he sent him to prison. Judge Clifton Newman, a South Carolina native who attended racially segregated schools in the 1950s and 1960s, addressed Murdaugh directly during roughly 20 minutes of comments that ranged from invoking the memories of the defendant's slain son and wife to lamenting what he described as attacks on the credibility of the state's justice system during the trial.