WALTERBORO, S.C. (NewsNation) — Alex Murdaugh, the patriarch of a once-powerhouse legal dynasty in South Carolina, received two consecutive life sentences after being found guilty of murdering his wife and youngest son.
“I am innocent. I would never hurt my wife, Maggie, and I would never hurt my son,” Murdaugh said as he addressed the court Friday before his sentencing.
But prosecutor Creighton Waters said the only just consequence for Murdaugh would be a life sentence.
“This man should never be allowed to be among free, law-abiding citizens again,” Waters said.
The jury in the double murder trial reached a verdict at 6:41 p.m. ET Thursday, just two hours and 51 minutes after it began deliberations.
“This is a great day for the people of South Carolina where they get to see justice delivered to someone who desperately needed a measure of it,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson told “Morning in America” host Adrienne Bankert.
Wilson said this was the longest and most complex criminal trial in South Carolina history and he was proud that the prosecution was able to deliver justice.
Murdaugh, 54, was convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
However, prosecutors did not ask for the death penalty, despite it being legal in South Carolina.