Alex Murdaugh found guilty of murder: Will he get the death penalty?

All eyes have been on former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh as he stood trial on murder charges. His family and their alleged crimes and corruption are also the focus of one of Netflix’s most recent docuseries, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. The three-part doc reviews multiple deaths with supposed connections to the family, with former friends providing interviews and accounts of what happened.

UPDATE 3/3/2023: On March 3, Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He did not receive the death penalty.

See original story below.

Not only are the deaths of teens Mallory Beach and Stephen Smith linked to the Murdaugh family, but their housekeeper Gloria Satterfield also suffered a mysterious death at their property in 2018, and then Alex Murdaugh’s wife Maggie and son Paul were shot dead in 2021. Alex has maintained his innocence, claiming to have found the two after supposedly visiting his father at the hospital.

Alex Murdaugh double-murder case verdict

Murdaugh’s double-murder trial began in January 2023 and on Thursday, March 2, the jury came to a verdict. According to ABC News, Murdaugh has been found guilty on all four charges, which include two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon used during the crime.

Now that the verdict has been decided, Murdaugh will await his sentencing. If you’ve been following along with the case or have just watched the Netflix docuseries and are wondering what his sentencing might look like and whether or not he’ll receive the death penalty, here’s what we know so far.

South Carolina death penalty

At the time of this writing, South Carolina does have the death penalty, however we have reason to believe Murdaugh won’t receive that sentencing. A previous report from AP News published in Dec. 2022 said prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty for the former attorney. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson confirmed in December: “After carefully reviewing this case and all the surrounding facts, we have decided to seek life without parole for Alex Murdaugh.”

And now that the verdict is out, ABC News reports that Murdaugh is facing 30 years to life if convicted.

With a case with this many eyes on it, we’re sure we’ll continue to get new updates by the day. We’ll keep our readers updated once Alex Murdaugh’s sentencing is determined.

And if you’re not caught up, all three episodes of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal are now streaming on Netflix.