What to know about Alex Murdaugh's sentencing
- Murdaugh, 54, was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole
- He was convicted Thursday of murdering his wife, Margaret, 52, and younger son, Paul, 22
- South Carolina's attorney general says his testimony was a "fatal mistake"
Here's what's next for Murdaugh
The South Carolina Department of Corrections will process Murdaugh at the Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center, part of the state prison in the state capital, Columbia.
He will undergo medical tests, mental health and education assessments, and other evaluations in a process that takes about 45 days, the department said.
He will then be assigned a specific custody level and transported to one of the department's maximum-security prisons for inmates serving life sentences.
During the trial, Murdaugh was being held on bond at the Richland County Jail on financial crimes charges related to the embezzling of money from clients.
Defense criticizes SLED's handling of the crime scene
"What effort are you making to find the real killer?" a reporter asked Murdaugh's defense attorneys.
Harpootlian responded that it was not the defense's job to find the perpetrator. He also said he had no faith in the real killer being found, due to how how he said SLED investigators poorly managed the crime scene and forensic evidence.
“If they had taken fingerprints, if they had gotten footprints, if they hadn’t destroyed — if they had preserved Maggie’s phone with her GPS. They misrepresented to the grand jury that they had a shirt with his blood on it. If Owens had opened his email, he says he didn’t get, it would’ve told him a year before that there was no human blood on that T-shirt. It was a comedy of errors in terms of forensics on this," he said.
"Do I have faith they’d find the real killer? No."
Newman rebukes Murdaugh during his sentencing as the ‘monster you’ve become’
Before he gave Murdaugh two consecutive life sentences for murdering his wife and younger son, Newman admonished the former lawyer for his lack of remorse and said he must reckon with his conscience and the “monster you’ve become.”
“Remind me of the expression you gave on the witness stand ... ‘Oh, what tangled web we weave.’ What did you mean by that?” Newman asked Friday in a packed Colleton County Courthouse.
“I meant when I lied,” Murdaugh, 54, said. “I continue to lie.”
Murdaugh spoke in court only briefly and did not address his role in what happened to his wife, Margaret, and their younger son, Paul, when they were fatally shot June 7, 2021, at the family’s estate.
He has proclaimed his innocence since a grand jury indicted him in the murders last year, and prosecutors alleged he killed them to gain pity before being exposed for a slew of financial crimes.
Why Buster Murdaugh didn't speak at his dad's sentencing
Griffin said Murdaugh's older son, Buster, did not speak on his father's behalf at the sentencing because the team didn't want to put him through more trauma.
"We could have Mother Teresa speaking up there on behalf of Alex on sentencing" and it wouldn't have made a difference, Griffin told reporters, because Newman is a "very stringent punisher when it comes to crimes and sentences."
Murdaugh's lie about alibi was 'damning,' his lawyer says
A video clip — a vital piece of the state's evidence taken from the cellphone of Paul before his death — proved that Murdaugh was at the crime scene after he had repeatedly insisted to investigators that he was not.
In response to the video, Murdaugh admitted on the stand last week that he lied about being at the family kennels in the minutes before the murders.
"How damning was the lie about the kennel video?" NBC News' Craig Melvin asked the defense team.
"Damning," Harpootlian said.
"Extremely," Griffin added.
"You know, we were looking for a way to get around the, we call it, 'the lie,'" he said. "How do you get around it? How do you explain it? And apparently, he didn't."
NBC is airing a special “Dateline” episode about the Murdaugh trial at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT tonight.
Defense plans to appeal Murdaugh's conviction
Murdaugh's defense lawyers said they will appeal his double murder conviction after a jury found him guilty in the deaths of his wife and younger son.
In an interview with NBC News' Craig Melvin, Griffin said the appeal is just "one step in the process."
"You know, we're very, very disappointed, Craig," Griffin said. "You know, we came in here hoping we could get a fair trial. You know, there's so much media spotlight on the Murdaugh Lowcountry dynasty. And frankly during the course of the trial, you know, Netflix aired their documentary during the weeks of the trial."
Murdaugh has "a very strong appeal," he added. "We respect the judge’s rulings. But that's why we have appellate courts."
There are no winners today, SLED chief says after the sentencing
"Today is not the end. It's the next step in a long road to justice for every person who has been victimized by Alex Murdaugh," S.C. Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said after Murdaugh's sentencing.
"I’m here to provide a voice for Maggie and Paul. I’m here to recognize the heart-wrenching journey that that family and friends of Maggie and Paul have endured," he said.
Murdaugh's legal team to speak following his sentencing
Murdaugh's defense team, led by veteran lawyers Richard "Dick" Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, are expected to make their first public statements at 11:45 a.m. in front of the Colleton County Courthouse.
The defense has not spoken to the media since Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife and younger son Thursday evening.
As he left the courthouse Thursday, Harpootlian said, "We are obviously disappointed."