Alex Murdaugh news: Killer in court for first time since murder trial sentencing as jury tampering update looms

Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has lost some of his prison privileges after he fed information to a Fox Nation documentary without permission.

South Carolina Corrections Department officials said on Wednesday that, during a jailhouse phone call on 10 June, Murdaugh’s lawyer Jim Griffin had recorded him reading aloud entries from the journal he had kept during his double murder trial.

Mr Griffin had then handed over the recordings to producers working on the new Fox Nation documentary about his high-profile case titled “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh”, released today.

Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill had nothing to say when she was spotted on Thursday for the first time since being accused of tampering with the jury in Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial.

Ms Hill clutched her cell phone, a drink and a stack of papers in one hand as she crossed the street in Walterboro, South Carolina, around 10am and walked into the courthouse through a back gate.

In a video posted by Fox News, a photographer could be heard asking her, “Did you tamper with the jurors?”

Buster Murdaugh has broken his silence to deny any involvement in the mysterious killing of gay teenager Stephen Smith – and insist that he still believes his father is innocent of the murders of his mother and brother.

Alex Murdaugh’s only surviving son spoke out in his first TV interview since his family was propelled to national attention, for the new three-part FOX Nation documentary “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh”.

In the interview, Buster slammed rumours that he too could have been involved in a heinous murder – that of 19-year-old Smith in July 2015 – and offered an alibi for his whereabouts on the night the teenager was killed.

“I never had anything to do with his murder, and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level in any regard,” he said in a clip from the documentary, due for release on 31 August.

Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh is once again claiming to be a victim in one of America’s most explosive murder cases.

The 65-year-old disgraced legal dynasty heir – currently serving life in prison for the brutal June 2021 slayings of his wife Maggie and son Paul – filed a motion for a new murder trial on the grounds of alleged jury tampering in his original trial.

This is hardly the first time we’ve seen Murdaugh take on a victim role. He put on his biggest performance on the witness stand during his trial, where he lamented over his last moments with his wife and son, and sobbed at the horror of finding their bodies as he pleaded for the real killer to be caught.

Alex Murdaugh was once a powerful figure in Hampton County, South Carolina, where his family has reigned over the local justice system for almost a century.

Three generations of the family – his father, grandfather and great-grandfather – all served as the solicitor in the 14th Judicial Circuit solicitor’s office.

His father Randy held the position until 2006 and was given the highest civilian award the Order of the Palmetto by the South Carolina governor in 2018 for his work. Randy died just three days after Maggie and Paul’s murders.

Due to the Murdaughs’ prominence in the judicial system in the lowcountry, the family held a reputation for being powerful and wielding their influence over matters.

Murdaugh continued with the family tradition working as an attorney in the local prosecutor’s office and also at his own law firm PMPED (the M standing for Murdaugh).

He was married to wife Maggie – whom he met at college – and the couple had two sons Buster and Paul.

After the murders of his wife and son, it transpired that Murdaugh had a two-decade-long opoiod addiction and he checked into rehab in September 2021.

Alex Murdaugh is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday morning for a status hearing in his criminal case accusing him of a string of financial fraud charges.

At the hearing, a trial date is likely to be set for Murdaugh to face charges for stealing from the estate of his dead housekeeper Gloria Satterfield and from his family friend Jordan Jinks.

Despite his efforts to avoid it, Judge Clifton Newman ordered Murdaugh to attend in person.

Murdaugh will be joined at the courthouse by Corey Fleming and Russell Laffitte – his former friends and alleged co-conspirators in his financial crimes.

Fleming is expected to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to 23 counts.

Laffitte – who was convicted of federal charges in November – is also appearing for a status conference in his state case.

Juror number 785 hit headlines due to a comedic moment where she asked to retrieve a dozen eggs from the jury room after being dismissed from Murdaugh’s trial. Now, the so-called ‘egg juror’ could be about to blow the killer’s case wide open again. Rachel Sharp reports

Alex Murdaugh will be joined in court on Thursday by two former friends and alleged co-conspirators in his financial crimes – Russell Laffitte and Corey Fleming.

Fleming, a former attorney and alleged accomplice in Murdaugh’s financial fraud schemes, will be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to a string of 23 state charges last month.

The charges – which include breach of trust with fraudulent intent, money laundering, computer crimes, and criminal conspiracy – stem from Murdaugh’s scheme to steal money from the estate of his dead housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.

Prior to this, Fleming also pleaded guilty to federal charges in May.

Last month, he was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on the charges and is currently serving his sentence.