COLUMBIA, S.C. (Court TV) — Disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh will return to court in 2026 as his push for a new trial goes before the South Carolina Supreme Court.
FILE – Defendant Alex Murdaugh gives testimony during his murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on Feb. 23, 2023. (Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool, File)
The justices announced they would hear Murdaugh’s appeal of his murder conviction on Feb. 11, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
Murdaugh was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders of his youngest son, Paul, and his wife, Maggie. The two were shot to death on June 7, 2021, on the Moselle property where the once-prominent attorney lived with his family.
Court TV’s Trial Archives | Murdaugh Family Murders (SC v. Alex Murdaugh 2023)
In his bid for a new trial, Murdaugh’s attorneys focus on a lack of physical evidence tying the defendant to the murders, prejudicial evidence they say should not have been shown to the jury and alleged jury tampering by the clerk of court, Becky Hill.
Hill, who served as Colleton County Clerk of Court during Murdaugh’s trial, is facing felony charges of perjury, obstructing justice and misconduct in office. Hill is accused of allowing media to access sealed exhibits and inappropriately using her office to promote the book she wrote on the Murdaugh murders. Murdaugh’s attorneys say her behavior went beyond that and have accused her of making comments to the jury that suggested the defendant was guilty. At a previous hearing focused on the allegations, Judge Jean Toal refused to overturn Murdaugh’s guilty verdicts “on the strength of some fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity-seeking clerk of court.”
Regardless of whether Murdaugh gets a new trial, he will spend decades behind bars. He was sentenced to 40 years after pleading guilty to financial crimes.
