The prosecutor in Alex Murdaugh’s double murder case has now started a Twitter account and has begun sharing his insights into the aftermath of the disgraced attorney’s explosive trial.
South Carolina Attorney General Creighton Waters posted his first message on the social media platform on March 4 to say he was glad the trial was over and proud of the work his team was doing — and now more than 21,000 followers has accumulated in 24 hours.
Waters’ prosecution led to Murdaugh being found guilty of murdering his wife and son in June 2021. The former South Carolina attorney was sentenced to two life terms on March 3.
The attorney said he was glad he helped bring justice to victims Maggie and Paul Murdaugh during the five-week trial.
He also posted about how the trial ended and nothing was as he expected, writing that he “had an idea of the journey the trial would be — but actually I didn’t.”
Creighton Waters delivers his closing statement during the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh
Alex Murdaugh with a shaved head in his first police photo since he was found guilty
In his first tweet posted a day after the sentencing, Waters expressed his gratitude to those involved in the process.
‘Yes this is me. So glad this process is over,” he wrote. “So proud of my team. And so grateful that the jury ruled for Maggie and Paul. I want to thank everyone in the audience for all the support – it has meant a lot.
“I’m currently packing up the hotel room I lived in for six weeks and it’s kind of nostalgic,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet. ‘We made a lot of friends here, including hotel staff who really took care of us. So much hard work, blood, sweat and even tears – but also fun – the team has remained in these rooms.’
On a lighter note, he posted a photo of himself with his electric guitar, saying he was excited to play it again after not touching it since the trial began.
“Barely touched,” he wrote. “Definitely the least I’ve played guitar since I got my first guitar when I was fifteen.”
Peace Walterboro. We will be back soon,” he added.
He also shared a photo of himself in his hotel room taken the day before the trial began.
“This was January 22 – the day before day one – while I was writing my opening,” he said. “I had an idea of the journey this trial would be — but actually I hadn’t.”
“Many of you have made the journey of this trial with us. The main destination had been reached and that was the jury speaking for Maggie and Paul. There are roads left,” he added.
Last week, Waters delivered a scathing closing statement, calling Murdaugh “the master liar.”
Waters said Murdaugh faces legal action that could “not only potentially ruin him, but expose the reality of what he’s been doing for years.”
“Nobody knew who this man was,” he told the court, after laying out the lies Murdaugh told while embezzling millions from his prestigious family law firm and the lies he told police after the murders.
“He evaded accountability all his life, he had relied on his family name, he had a powerful family, he wore a badge and used it as authority, he lived a wealthy life – but now he was finally facing complete ruin.”
“His father whom he idolized – who I occasionally worked with – was dying, his son was being sued in the boat case, he was facing a civil suit that not only had the potential to ruin him, but exposed the reality of what he had done he had an opiate addiction for years, his life was about to change, he couldn’t live for that – he is the kind of person for whom shame is an extraordinary provocation.
“His ego couldn’t take it and he became a family destroyer.”
Waters concluded by asking the jurors, “On behalf of the State of South Carolina, I ask that you enter a guilty verdict against Defendant Richard Alexander Murdaugh for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.”
“This defendant has fooled everyone, everyone. Anyone who thought they were close to him he fooled them all and he also fooled Maggie and Paul and they paid for it with their lives. Don’t be fooled either.’
Creighton Waters gives his closing statement on March 3 in Walterboro, South Carolina
Creighton Waters cross-examines Alex Murdaugh at his February 24 trial
Murdaugh will spend the next several weeks at the R&E facility, where he will undergo rigorous testing before being assigned to a permanent state prison. Because he is a double murderer, he will be housed with the most brutal and violent inmates in the state.
The life he faces is a far cry from the privileged world of multi-million dollar homes, from the coast to the hunting grounds of the Lowlands, to which he has grown accustomed in his 54 years.
The disgraced legal scion appeared with a shaved head in a yellow jumpsuit after being booked Friday at the Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center in South Carolina.
“As part of the intake process, (Murdaugh), like all inmates, will undergo medical tests, mental health and educational assessments, and the South Carolina Department of Corrections will collect other additional background information,” the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a statement.
After the evaluation, Murdaugh will be sent to one of the state’s highest security prisons to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Kirkland is home to more than 1,700 of the most violent criminals in the state and puts more than 8,000 inmates through for evaluation each year.
This undated file photo, provided July 11, 2019, by the South Carolina Department of Corrections, shows the new death row at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, SC
Alex Murdaugh (right) with wife Maggie and their sons Buster (left) and Paul (right)
In addition to being the processing center for all of the state’s convicts, it is also home to a specialized maximum-security prison for the most dangerous and violent offenders.
“Kirkland is also responsible for the maximum security unit that houses some of the most violent and dangerous inmates in the state,” the site’s website says. “In addition, the Kirkland Correctional Center houses inmates who are in the state’s protective custody program.”
Attorney Robert Rikard tweeted last night prior to Murdaugh’s sentencing, “Tomorrow will be a very different day for Murdaugh. After his conviction instead of going to county jail, he goes to reception and evaluation on Broad River Rd.
“They’ll shave his head and put him through a series of tests that went through the vet for weeks.”
“Then he will be assigned to an SC Department of Corrections facility. Being convicted of a violent crime, he goes to an institution that houses only the violent criminals. The worst of the worst.
“It will be a very different scene from the county jail. These are brutal environments and it will come as quite a shock after the privileged life he has led.”