{"id":94,"date":"2026-05-19T09:35:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=94"},"modified":"2026-05-19T09:35:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:35:58","slug":"murdaughs-lawyer-attacks-attorney-general-for-death-penalty-statements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=94","title":{"rendered":"Murdaugh\u2019s lawyer attacks attorney general for death penalty statements"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alex Murdaugh\u2019s attorney Dick Harpootlian said Monday that S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson\u2019s recent widely reported statements that he could seek the death penalty against Murdaugh were not only wrong and uninformed, they were made to help Wilson in his political campaign for governor.<\/p>\n

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Under state law, Wilson cannot seek the death penalty against Murdaugh in any retrial because Wilson only sought life sentences in the original 2023 trial, Harpootlian said.<\/p>\n

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Late Monday afternoon, Wilson fired back, saying seeking the death penalty in a new trial is perfectly lawful. He denied he was trying to score political points with voters.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis case is being treated exactly as it should be, as a brand-new trial,\u201d said Wilson in a statement released by his office. \u201cEvery legal option is on the table, and those discussions are happening as they should happen, with the dedicated prosecutors and staff within the Attorney General\u2019s Office, not as part of some campaign apparatus.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wilson\u2019s statement continued: \u201cIn 2022, the legal and practical realities surrounding the death penalty were very different. South Carolina had not carried out an execution in more than a decade. That has changed, and it is one of several factors that must now be considered as we move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In Murdaugh\u2019s original 2023 six-week trial on two state charges of murder \u2014 for killing his wife, Maggie, and his son Paul \u2014 he was convicted and sentenced to two life sentences in prison. Those sentences were vacated last week when a unanimous S.C. Supreme Court ruled that Hill\u2019s jury tampering had denied Murdaugh his right to a fair trial. A do-over trial is in the works, but no date has been set.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOver the weekend we learned that the attorney general has announced he is considering the death penalty in this case,\u201d said Harpootlian in a well-attended press conference outside his downtown Columbia law offices Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

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\u201cClearly he (the attorney general) is not talking to lawyers in his office,\u201d said Harpootlian, likely referring to either Don Zelenka or Creighton Waters, two veteran criminal attorneys who work for Wilson and who were instrumental in getting Murdaugh two life sentences for the 2021 murders of his, wife, Maggie and son Paul.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe is probably talking to his political consultants who thought that was a good sound bite for his governor\u2019s campaign,\u201d said Harpootlian. \u201cPlease, Alan, focus on your job and not the politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Currently, Wilson is running for governor in a close contested six-person race. Already at least one opponent has criticized him for being responsible for the Supreme Court\u2019s last week\u2019s decision vacating Murdaugh\u2019s murder convictions.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe law is clear he cannot seek the death penalty,\u201d Harpootlian said.<\/p>\n

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Under S.C. law, prosecutors can seek the death penalty when a case involves two or more murders. But Wilson declined to seek the death penalty against Murdaugh.<\/p>\n

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In the Murdaugh case, the bodies of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found on the family\u2019s 1,700-acre estate, called Moselle, on the evening of June 7, 2021. Maggie had been shot with an assault rifle; Paul, with a shotgun. Under the state\u2019s theory of the case, Murdaugh used both weapons to kill Maggie and Paul in an effort to shut down emerging questions in his law firm and elsewhere about missing client money.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHere\u2019s a question \u2014 what does he (Wilson) know today that he didn\u2019t know five years ago?\u201d asked Harpootlian. \u201cWhy is he saying he\u2019s going to seek the death penalty? Is there some new piece of evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lawyers discuss other Murdaugh topics<\/h2>\n

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In answers Monday to reporters\u2019 questions on Murdaugh-related topics, Harpootlian and Murdaugh defense attorneys Jim Griffin and Phil Barber spoke on a variety of topics:<\/p>\n

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