'He gets along with everybody': Alex Murdaugh's lawyer opens up about murderer's life in prison
WALTERBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA: Former lawyer and convicted murderer, Alex Murdaugh has become quite a popular figure in the prison as he spends his time playing checkers and cards with other inmates and stays away from the convicted sex offenders in his unit, his attorney said. "When he came in, he obviously had a lot of notoriety and was a celebrity of sorts, but he gets along with everybody in the pod," Jim Griffin said of Murdaugh's new home at McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina.
The 54-year-old is behind the bars in the protective custody wing of the maximum security prison that houses about 28 inmates who are considered potential targets, including child abusers and former law enforcement officers. "He has a small group he interacts with regularly," Griffin said according to Fox News. He also added that Murdaugh avoids the "significant number" of inmates in the small unit who were "convicted of some pretty horrendous sex crimes."
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Murdaugh was sentenced to two life terms last month for killing his wife, Maggie, 52, and his son, Paul, 22, in June 2021 in an attempt to cover up his alleged financial malfeasance. On March 31, he arrived at McCormick from Kirkland Correctional Institution. Murdaugh's attorney said that the inmates who have their own cell are allowed in the communal area of the pod from 9 am to 4 pm. They pass the time playing checkers, and cards and watching TV.
Furthermore, there is also a small courtyard for fresh air and each inmate has a tablet that can be used for phone calls, emails, and limited internet access. Murdaugh appears to have plenty of admirers on the outside. Strangers have contributed about $1,000 to his commissary, and he has received more than 90 letters from 28 states and several countries mostly expressing support.
Murdaugh may face potential trouble in prison
Corrections officials told Griffin that some inmates had posted menacing TikTok videos using contraband cellphones threatening physical harm to Murdaugh if they see him in the yard. The attorney claimed he was unsure what Murdaugh and other inmates watched on TV at McCormick, but at Kirkland, he came to know about Murdaugh's favorite channel. "I've learned that a lot of inmates watch CourtTV. It's their channel," he said.
Murdaugh was "surprised by the extensive coverage of his case" on the show after his trial had ended at Kirkland. Griffin recalled the time when he met Murdaugh, who was wearing a yellow prison-issue jumpsuit, on April 11 in a private room to discuss the appeal of his murder convictions. "Alex has stayed positive and when I met him he was in a good mood," Griffin said.
Murdaugh told him that the guards have all been polite and professional but at the same time claimed he would like to be in the prison's general population. The South Carolina Department of Corrections made the protective custody decision, but the designation will be reviewed in 90 days. Murdaugh cannot take advantage of the facility's programs in protective custody which include producing upholstered furniture and powder-coating metal products at the prison's own factory.
Murdaugh writes to his son
Although Murdaugh has yet to have visitation privileges, he writes his friends and family, including his living son, Buster. "I talked to Alex yesterday, and he asked me to call Buster, and if Buster has something he wants his dad to know, I relay it," Griffin said.