Alex Murdaugh placed alone in secure single prison cell over fears of being attacked by other inmates
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA: Double murderer Alex Murdaugh is reportedly being kept alone in a single cell under 24-hour surveillance amid fears that the disgraced legal scion will be a target for other inmates in the Kirkland Correctional Institution. The former lawyer, who is serving two life sentences for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul, spends up to 23 hours a day in a concrete cell with only a steel bed, toilet, and sink.
According to TMZ's sources, the prison officials have chosen to keep Murdaugh away from the inmates over fears that they "might wanna take him down a few notches due to his notoriety." Moreover, he is being held in the most secure area of the prison where the meals are brought to the 54-year-old in his cell and he eats alone. Murdaugh will reportedly spend 45 days in the maximum security unit of the prison which is home to the state's most violent and brutal inmates, while officials in the Department of Correction go through medical tests, assess his mental health, and "gather other additional background information."
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Following the assessment and its results, Murdaugh is likely to be moved into the general population of Kirkland or another prison. The grim conditions are a stark contrast to the former lawyer's privileged world of multi-million dollar homes while being a member of one of South Carolina’s most powerful legal families. He was sentenced to life in prison in early February, for gunning down his 52-year-old wife Maggie, and 22-year-old son Paul on the family's property in Colleton County on the night of June 7, 2021.
Duncan Levin insists any appeals will likely be futile
Legal experts believe that any appeals will likely be futile now as Murdaugh has already admitted to some of the financial crimes that he was accused of when he testified under oath 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,” he said of Murdaugh, whose defense argued that his client was a drug-addicted, serial-lying thief but not his wife and son’s murderer.
Levin, who has previously represented Harvey Weinstein and con artist Anna Delvey, called it a "colossal mistake" to admit the crimes. “He had to look jurors in the eyes and say ‘I lied to so many people [on] so many occasions but this one time you should trust me that I’m telling the truth,'” he told the outlet. “His testimony was an abomination and he actually helped prosecutors convict him,” he said. Murdaugh's attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin described the six-week trial as a "miscarriage of justice" and admitted that they plan to appeal.