Alex Murdaugh appeals his conviction for the murders of his wife and son

Disgraced South Carolina legal descendant Alex Murdaugh filed a motion to appeal his conviction for the murders of his wife and son.

The 54-year-old man was sentenced last week to two consecutive life terms after he was found guilty of fatally shooting his wife Maggie, 52, and their youngest son Paul, 22, on the sprawling hunting estate of the family on the night of June 7, 2021. .

His attorneys filed the motion to appeal his conviction and sentence when a new mugshot was released showing Murdaugh with a shaved head and smiling in a yellow prison jumpsuit.

He is now being held in his own cell at the Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center, where he will undergo 45 days of testing, which the South Carolina Department of Corrections conducts on each prisoner to assess where to permanently hold them.

As a convicted double murderer, Murdaugh is housed with the most brutal and violent inmates in the state.

Murdaugh’s lawyers, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, had previously hinted that they would file a notice of appeal within 10 days of his sentencing.

Then on Thursday, Harpootlian tweeted: ‘Today (Griffin) and I filed our Notice of Appeal for Alex Murdaugh.

“This is the next step in the legal process to fight for Alex’s constitutional right to a fair trial.”

The court document simply states: ‘Richard Alexander Murdaugh is appealing his convictions and sentences in the cases listed above.’

During the trial, jurors heard from more than 75 witnesses and viewed almost 800 pieces of evidence.

They also heard about Murdaugh’s betrayed friends and clients, his failed attempt to fake his own death in an insurance fraud scheme, a fatal accident involving his son, the housekeeper who died in a fall in the house. of Murdaugh and the grisly scene of the murders

Eventually, the lawyer took the stand to admit that he stole millions of dollars from the family business and from clients, saying he needed the money to finance his drug addiction.

He also admitted that he had lied to investigators about being at the kennels where Maggie and Paul died, saying he was paranoid with law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket the night of the murders.

Prosecutors did not have the weapons used to kill the Murdaughs or other direct evidence such as confessions or blood spatter.

But they had a mountain of circumstantial evidence, including video showing Murdaugh at the scene of the murders five minutes before his wife and son were to stop using their cell phones for good.

When he gave evidence last week, Murdaugh appeared to cry as he repeatedly denied killing his wife.

But jury Craig Moyer said he uncovered another lie.

never cried All she did was blow her nose,” Moyer said. ‘Without tears. I saw his eyes. I was that close to him.

In his sentencing last week, Judge Clifton Newman described Murdaugh as a “monster” who continued to lie even when the evidence was damning.

“This case qualifies under our death penalty statute based on the legally aggravating circumstances of two or more persons killed by the defendant by an act or pursuant to a plan or course of conduct. I do not question at all the decision of the State not to prosecute the death penalty.

‘But as I sit here in this courtroom and look at the many portraits of judges and other court officials and reflect on the fact that for the past century, your family, including you, have been prosecuting people here in this courtroom. court and many have received the death sentence, probably for minor conduct.

Remind me of the expression you gave on the witness stand. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. What do you mean by that?’

“I mean when I lied, I kept lying,” Murdaugh replied.

‘And the question is when will it end? When will it end? And it’s over for the jury, because they’ve come to the conclusion that you’re still lying, and they lied throughout your testimony.

“And maybe with all the crowd of people here, for the most part everyone believes or 80, 90 and/or 99 percent believe that you continue to lie now when your denial statement is in court.”

The life Murdaugh now faces is a far cry from the privileged world of multimillion-dollar homes from the coast to the Lowcountry hunting grounds he’s used to.

“As part of the intake process, like all inmates, (Murdaugh) will undergo medical examinations, mental health evaluations and education, and additional background information will be collected by the South Carolina Department of Corrections,” the South Carolina Department of Corrections said. South Carolina in a statement. statement last week.

After evaluation, Murdaugh will be sent to one of the state’s maximum security prisons to serve out the rest of his life behind bars.

Kirkland is home to more than 1,700 of the state’s most violent criminals and passes through more than 8,000 prisoners each year for evaluation.

In addition to serving as the processing site for all convicts in the state, it is also home to a specialized maximum security prison for the most dangerous and violent criminals.

Adjacent to the prison is the Broad River Correctional Institution, which houses high- and medium-security inmates.

More than 700 inmates died in South Carolina prisons and jails between 2015 and 2021. Most of those deaths occurred in Kirkland (160) and Broad River (101).

“Kirkland is also responsible for the maximum security unit that houses some of the most violent and dangerous inmates in the state,” the website says.

“In addition, the Kirkland Correctional Center houses inmates who are in the state’s protective custody program.”

Trial attorney Robert Rikard tweeted on the eve of Murdaugh’s sentencing: “Tomorrow will be a very different day for Murdaugh. After sentencing, instead of going to the county jail, he will go to Reception and Evaluation on Broad River Rd.

His head will be shaved and he will undergo a series of tests that last for weeks.

‘You will then be assigned to a South Carolina Department of Corrections facility. Because he is convicted of a violent crime, he will go to a facility that only houses violent criminals. The worst of the worse.

‘It will be a very different scene than in the county jail. These are brutal environments and it will be quite a shock after the privileged life he has lived.’