Alex Murdoff has pleaded guilty to murdering his wife and son

South Carolina lawyer Richard “Alex” Murdoff was convicted last week of murdering his wife and son. On appeal of his conviction and life sentence, According to new court records.

Murdaugh, 54, a scion of a prominent American legal family, was convicted on March 2, 2021 of shooting and killing his wife Maggie, 52, and youngest son Paul, 22, on their family property on June 7, 2021.

Attorney for Murdaugh, who is the prosecutor Has committed murder As part of an effort to cover up a drug addiction and multimillion-dollar theft, the state filed a notice of appeal with the Court of Appeals.

The notice filed in court on Thursday did not detail the grounds of appeal.

Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman sentenced Murdoff to life in prison, with terms to run consecutively for both murders. That was the sentence requested by prosecutors, who did not seek the death penalty.

Under South Carolina law, Murdoff faced a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison for each of the two counts of murder, as well as up to 10 years in prison for the two related firearms charges.

During his trial, prosecutors said Murdoff fatally shot his wife and son to distract him from financial misdeeds, including stealing millions of dollars from his law partners and clients, money used to feed an opioid addiction for a year and support a. Expensive lifestyle.

Murdaugh’s lawyers tried to paint their client as a loving family man who, despite facing financial problems and drug addiction, would not harm his wife and children.

But the main body of evidence was a Snapchat video on her dead son’s mobile phone, which took investigators a year to unlock.

It was taken minutes before the killing in the kennels of the family property where the bodies were found.

In the video, the voices of three Murdafs can be heard.

Moordoff initially told police, and maintained for 20 months, that he was not at the kennel.

Even during sentencing, he maintained his innocence, saying: “I respect this court, but I am innocent. I would never hurt my wife Maggie. I would never hurt my son Paul under any circumstances.”