The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned the 2023 murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh due to “shocking jury interference”.
Murdaugh, 56, had been serving two life sentences after being convicted of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in June 2021.
The disgraced lawyer, who has denied killing his wife and child, is also serving two separate 27 and 40-year sentences for federal financial crime convictions.
Murdaugh, who was once one of South Carolina’s most powerful lawyers, became the focus of worldwide attention as his downfall unfolded through a televised trial, documentaries, podcasts and books examining the sprawling case.
The state’s supreme court on Wednesday ordered a new trial for Murdaugh over the killings.
South Carolina Supreme Court issued a 5-0 ruling overturning Murdaugh’s double-murder convictions, claiming impartiality was compromised.
The justices ruled that Colleton County Court Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill "placed her fingers on the scales of justice," violating Murdaugh's constitutional right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.
Hill pleaded guilty last December to charges of misconduct in office, obstruction of justice and perjury over accusations that she misused public funds as a clerk and shared sealed court information with a reporter, among other claims.
The court found Hill "egregiously attacked Murdaugh's credibility" by warning jurors not to be "fooled" by the evidence presented to them by the defence and to watch his body language “closely”.
Jurors also claimed that Hill told them when they began deliberations: “This shouldn’t take too long.”
The court declared that Hill's actions created an automatic presumption of prejudice.
A few months after Murdaugh's trial, Hill published a tell-all book about the court proceedings.
In their ruling, the justices mentioned the book, which is called behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders.
"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.
"The book was pulled from publication because Hill plagiarized portions of it."
The justices said Hill denied making most of the comments jurors claimed she had, but on the day of Murdaugh’s testimony she told the jurors it was a “big day”.
The decision on Wednesday does not mean that Murdaugh will be getting out of prison, but a retrial has been ordered.
No date has yet been set for this.
