Alex Murdaugh is very “thankful” to no longer be labeled the murderer of his wife and son after the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday to overturn the 2023 verdict and sentencing, his lawyers said in their first interview since the bombshell ruling.
“He didn’t believe that it could be possible,” attorney Jim Griffin told “TODAY” on Thursday morning. “He was very gracious, thankful, and he said, ‘Jim, I’m seeing, I’m reading it, and it’s still hard to believe.’”
“But he’s glad to get that moniker off of him as a convicted murderer of his wife and son. No doubt about that,” Griffin added.
The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial in connection with the June 2021 slayings of Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret Murdaugh, and their 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh, after the court clerk in the original proceedings was found to have influenced the jury.
In their unanimous ruling, the state’s top court said Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill denied Murdaugh his right to a fair trial when she “placed her fingers on the scales of justice” and “egregiously attacked” his credibility by suggesting to the 12-person jury that his testimony could not be trusted.
Murdaugh, 57, will remain in prison, however, after being sentenced on dozens of state and federal charges for bilking millions from his former law firm and clients for more than a decade. Prosecutors say they plan to retry Murdaugh “as soon as possible” and have not yet closed the door on appealing the state court’s decision.
In the “TODAY” interview with co-host Craig Melvin, Murdaugh’s lawyers Griffin and Dick Harpootlian celebrated the court’s decision and said they are looking forward to a new trial in the case with a “paper-thin” motive.
They added that Murdaugh will not take a plea deal “under any circumstances” in connection with the double murder.
When asked if their investigation into the case had yielded any new leads or working theories, Murdaugh’s defense team revealed they had received new information since the trial from people who believe in their client’s innocence.
Griffin declined to provide more details, but said it concerned “third parties and potential motives.”
“I wish we could talk about it, but I think this reversal is going to give us much more access to that information,” Harpootlian added. “Either these folks that were hesitant to tell everything will come forward and tell us that. But more importantly, we now have the power of subpoena. We have the power to investigate this using the legal process.”
Melvin also pressed the lawyers on how they are being paid to represent their high-profile client, with the attorneys saying that they were paid to try the first case and that “there’s no more money left.”
“We’re not getting paid but we’re going to see it through,” Griffin added, before Harpootlian noted the first trial cost $600,000.
During Murdaugh’s 2023 double murder trial, prosecutors alleged the disgraced scion of a South Carolina dynasty carried out the killings at the family’s hunting estate to garner public sympathy and evade mounting questions about his financial crimes that threatened to derail his reputation.
His defense team, however, argued that Murdaugh was innocent and had no motive to kill his loved ones. Murdaugh also testified on his own behalf, admitting to lying to law enforcement and his yearslong addiction to opioids that often led to tension within his household.
Murdaugh was convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime after about three hours of jury deliberation.
“I respect this court but I’m innocent,” Murdaugh told a judge during his March 2023 sentencing. “I would never under any circumstances hurt my wife, Maggie, and I would never under any circumstances hurt my son Paul Paul.”
Amie Williams, who served as a juror in Murdaugh’s trial, expressed her shock over the Supreme Court’s “crazy” decision and told NBC News she never thought Hill was “pushing an agenda or trying to push me to come to a certain verdict.” Another juror, however, said she believes that Hill’s actions kept Murdaugh from getting a fair trial.
“I feel like justice wasn’t served, that he didn’t get a fair trial,” juror Mandy Pearce told NBC News on Wednesday night.
Hill, for her part, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to a year of probation for criminal charges after showing sealed court exhibits to a photographer and lying about it in court. Her lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
“There is no excuse for the mistakes I made. I’m ashamed of them,” Hill said at the time in a short statement to the court.
