Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to financial crimes months after murder conviction

Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 counts, including money laundering and bank fraud, according to court documents. The former lawyer stole money from clients, including teenagers and a quadriplegic man, to fund the family’s extravagant lifestyle and his addiction to opiate pills that forced him into a rehabilitative-care facility three times before the June 2021 slayings.

A dynasty broken: Alex Murdaugh found guilty of killing wife and son

Altogether, the financial crimes carry decades-long prison sentences and millions of dollars in fines, likely meaning a life of incarceration for Murdaugh even if he successfully appeals the life sentence he received in March for fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul.

Murdaugh told the judge he wanted to be held accountable for stealing from his clients and do right by his surviving son Buster, according to the Associated Press: “I want to take responsibility. I want my son to see me take responsibility. It’s my hope that by taking responsibility that the people I’ve hurt can begin to heal.”

Clerk told Murdaugh jury not to be ‘fooled’ by the defense, attorneys say

The former patriarch of a South Carolina legal dynasty maintained throughout his double murder trial that he did not kill his wife and youngest son, which fueled the national intrigue about a rich family gone bad, as depicted in documentaries on Netflix and HBO.

The date of Murdaugh’s sentencing hearing was not listed on federal court documents. He still faces scores of state charges.