- Alex Murdo pleaded guilty Friday to more than 100 counts of financial crimes
- The killer admitted targeting friends and clients to steal millions
- He is currently serving a life sentence for murdering his wife and son
Alex Murdo pleaded guilty to more than 100 financial crimes as he reached a plea deal admitting he targeted clients in a scheme to steal millions of dollars.
The 55-year-old disgraced legal scion embezzled more than $9 million while working as one of South Carolina’s most prominent lawyers as prosecutors say he was able to rely on his family name to scam clients at his law firm .
As the staggering number of charges were read out, Murdoch – sporting a haircut longer than his shaved head in recent pictures – appeared unfazed from the moment as he sat next to his lawyers, shackled in an orange jumpsuit.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters asked for a 27-year sentence, but asked the judge to consider sentencing at a later date to allow time to notify each victim and allow them to speak to Murdow in victim impact statements if they wish.
Asked by the judge if he understood the seriousness of his guilty plea, Murdo replied that “there is no doubt in my mind.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it,” he added, to which the judge replied, “I’m sure you have.”
His financial crimes trial was scheduled for November 27, when prosecutors are expected to argue that he killed his wife Maggie and son Paul to distract from his financial crimes as his life spiraled out of control amid a secret addiction to opiates.
Last month, he pleaded guilty to 22 of the charges against him.
Waters praised Murdo’s long career in the justice system after reading the plea agreement, saying the former attorney acted within “the right” and never thought he would be caught.
Fueled by an “insatiable need for money,” Waters waved around the room, saying the killer used the tools of “power, influence and legal sanction” to commit crimes “in these courtrooms.”
Murdo stared at the table for most of the hearing as Waters detailed the check-forging scheme Murdo set up that went on for years.
At certain moments, Murdo exchanged glances and smiles with his lawyers, but remained silent as he read how he coolly addressed clients who had voted their confidence in him.
Noting a “long-time friend” from whom Murdow stole, Waters said the lawyer callously defrauded hundreds and thousands from someone who “trusted him unconditionally.”
In another crime, Waters detailed how Murdo lied to one of his clients and told her she would only be able to get a $30,000 settlement, while he secretly agreed to a $150,000 settlement and pocketed the extra money.
Waters added that Murdo was usually able to convince his victims that he was working in their best interest, as he would still hand them sizable checks while secretly siphoning off portions of the total.
He noted that one of the victims was the law firm of Murdaugh, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, as he diverted to himself legal fees intended for the company.
Murdo’s financial crimes case was a key aspect of his double-murder trial earlier this year, with a hundred charges ranging from tax evasion, money laundering, forgery and fraud.
As the hearing drew to a close, Murdow admitted that if he had faced his scheduled trial on November 27, “I would have been convicted.”
He said he “disagrees with some of the accounts” of Waters’ account of his crimes, “but not with the facts” presented by the prosecutor.
“I’m glad I was given the opportunity to plead guilty,” he added, saying he was “happy” to finally do so – more than two years after he was first charged with financial crimes.
Ronnie Richter, a lawyer representing victims of Murdo’s alleged financial crimes, said the legal scion’s actions amounted to a “Ponzi scheme.”
“Alex’s financial crimes are nothing more than a Ponzi scheme and all Ponzi schemes work the same way – I have to keep stealing from new people to replace the money I’ve stolen from old people,” he said.
“All Ponzi schemes end the same way. Sooner or later it’s like musical chairs: the music stops and someone is left without a chair.
“And that’s exactly what happened to Alex. The music stopped, he ran out of places to get money from, and all his financial crimes were exposed.
Also among the crimes Murdoch admitted to was stealing millions from his late housekeeper’s estate and insurance carriers, siphoning off settlement money from the 2018 death of his longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
Murdo’s lawyers had pushed for the financial crimes trial to be moved out of the province or delayed until at least March, arguing that his case may have been tainted by the media and public interest surrounding it.
Last week, Murdo’s attorney, Dick Harpoutlian, cited responses to a pre-trial juror questionnaire, asking how well potential jurors understood his criminal charges because of the “extensive media coverage.”
In response, Eric Bland, an attorney representing one of Murdo’s alleged financial victims, said the request is without merit because a juror is not selected based on their knowledge of the case.
“It’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, the fact is you can go to Tanzania and try to do the trial there and there are people who have heard of the Murdow case there,” Bland said.
“Just because people have heard about the Murdow case doesn’t mean they can’t be fair, impartial and objective jurors.
“You don’t have to pick a jury where 12 people have never heard of the Murdo case. They have to be willing to put aside any knowledge they have, listen to the evidence and be fair and impartial, that’s the standard and I think they can.
The financial crimes trial was presided over by Judge Clifton Newman, who recused himself this week from any future hearings for Murdo over his murder conviction as his lawyers seek a retrial.
Newman came under fire for a controversial interview with NBC News a month after the trial, where he commented on the hit trial just a month after it ended.
Last month, Murdo pleaded guilty to some of the financial crimes he was charged with, saying he wanted to “take responsibility” on 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering.
“I want my son to see me take responsibility,” he said, adding that his hope is “that by taking responsibility, the people I’ve hurt can begin to heal.”
His deal requires him to pay back $9 million he admitted to stealing from clients at his law firm and ensures that any prison time will be served concurrently with any he receives from state courts.
Ahead of Friday’s hearing, his lawyers asked for the trial to be moved to another location or significantly delayed as they raised concerns about the impartiality of the jury in the notorious killer’s case.
Murdow is also seeking a retrial in the murder case on similar charges that have been directed at Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, who is accused of improperly advising jurors to disregard Murdow’s testimony and pressuring them to reach a quick verdict .
As Murdo finally confesses to his financial crimes, the lead investigators in the investigation into his murder reveal the moment they discovered the smoking gun in his case.
Breaking their silence for the first time since the prominent South Carolina attorney’s trial in March, investigators Brett Dove and David Owen spoke with Dateline NBC in an episode airing tonight at 9 p.m. about the discovery of video evidence proving he lied , that he was at the scene of the crime.
The evidence in question was a final cellphone video recorded by Murdoch’s son Paul on the night of the murders, in which a voice believed to be the patriarch could be heard at a time when he claimed he was not at the scene .
“I listened to it three or four times to make sure I heard it because I couldn’t believe it,” Dove said, while Owen described the moment as “really exciting.”
“I can prove that Alex was lying to me,” he added, agreeing that this was the smoking gun that “blew the case wide open.”
