Alex Murdaugh, a disbarred South Carolina lawyer who was wrongly convicted of murder (in our opinion), is scheduled for a jury selection hearing in Beaufort, South Carolina on Friday, November 17th, 2023 at 10am. The hearing will be held before Judge Clifton Newman, who is set to oversee all Murdaugh-related cases.
Murdaugh is currently facing 104 counts of financial charges against him. The first case to be tried is the Gloria Satterfield case. Satterfield was a Murdaugh family housekeeper who was found dead in 2018. The state alleges that Satterfield suffered a fall at the family's Moselle estate, died weeks later and then Alex stole money from her estate.
Murdaugh's defense team has argued that the evidence against him is circumstantial and that he is innocent of all charges. They have also filed a motion with the South Carolina Supreme Court to remove Judge Newman from the case, alleging among many things, but that he is overly biased against Murdaugh.
It remains to be seen what will happen in the financial trial. No word yet on the change of venue motion that Murdaugh's team filed last week, or their motion for a continuance. According to FITSNews, many issues are at play, and they even cite sources as saying, "defense attorneys are planning to put their recent motion before the supreme court directly to Newman – asking him on the record for the first time to voluntarily recuse himself from further involvement in Murdaugh-related proceedings."
In the meantime, Murdaugh's supporters continue to maintain his innocence. Murdaugh's notoriety has helped flood his account at the prison's commissary - where inmates can buy sodas, snacks and toiletries - it has been flooded with cash from well-wishers, including women who are writing him love letters.
Murdaugh's case has garnered national attention. It has been featured on numerous news outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN. The case is also the subject of a book called "Defending Alex Murdaugh: Not Guilty by Reasonable Doubt," which is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The book, Defending Alex Murdaugh: Not Guilty by Reasonable Doubt argues that Murdaugh was targeted from the onset by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). The book also claims that the state's evidence against Murdaugh was weak and highly misinterpreted. The book offers an alternative theory of who may have committed the murders, that is gaining ground fast, as the Kindle version is ranked #5 on Amazon (Criminal Law Evidence), going into its 5th week since publishing.
Murdaugh's case is complex and there is no easy answer. However, it is clear that he is a controversial figure and that his case is likely to be closely watched in the months and years to come. Murdaugh has pled guilty to Federal financial crimes earlier this fall.