Alex Murdaugh to serve life sentence in protective custody in '8-by-10 cell with bed, toilet and a sink'
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA: South Carolina prison officials have decided to keep former attorney Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife and son, in a special protective unit, the officials said on Friday, March 31. This comes after mental health and prison experts reviewed Murdaugh’s case and determined that he should serve his life sentence for the double homicide in protective custody.
A four-member board made the recommendation of moving the 54-year-old to a statewide protective custody unit in a maximum security prison. "Inmates in the unit have validated protective concerns and are placed in a specialized unit to separate them from the general population," the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a news release, as per Fox News. "Their location is not disclosed for safety and security reasons." The unit currently has 28 inmates who each harbor their cells and enjoy similar privileges as other inmates.
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Murdaugh will live in an eight-by-ten cell with a bed, toilet, and sink
Murdaugh's case was highly contentious as it gained an enormous amount of publicity. The disgraced attorney, who is used to his privileged life in multi-million dollar homes, will reportedly live in an eight-by-ten cell with a bed, toilet, and sink. Previously in early March, a TMZ report said that Murdaugh would be kept in a concrete cell under 24-hour surveillance amid fears that he will be a target for other inmates in the Kirkland Correctional Institution. There, he would spend up to 23 hours a day inside his cell that only had a steel bed, toilet, and sink.
However, the prison conditions reportedly lasted till the Department of Correction went through medical tests, assessed his mental health, and "gathered other additional background information." Apparently, the legal scion was being held in the most secure area of the prison where the meals are brought to him in his cell and he had to eat alone.
Murdaugh has appealed his convictions
Murdaugh is serving a life sentence after being found guilty of killing his wife, Maggie, 52, and 22-year-old son, Paul, at the family's Colleton County property on the night of June 7, 2021. His attorneys have filed a notice of plea in his double murder case, appealing his convictions and sentencing. However, legal experts believe that the efforts will be futile as Murdaugh has already admitted to some of the financial crimes that he was accused of during his murder trial. “He will spend the rest of his life in prison — there’s no getting out of this at this point,” former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Duncan Levin told the Independent. “Not only has he been convicted of two heinous murders, but he has also implicated himself in financial crimes to give himself a lifetime in prison.”