After Alex Murdaugh’s double-murder conviction was overturned, a South Carolina prosecutor says he may seek the death penalty as the case heads toward a new trial.
“In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, we’re back to square one on this case, and that means all our legal options are on the table, including the death penalty,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement shared with PEOPLE on Monday, May 18. His statement was first shared with NBC News’ Craig Melvin on Friday, May 15.
The South Carolina Supreme Court ordered a new trial on May 13 after unanimously finding that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill improperly influenced jurors during Murdaugh’s original trial in 2023.
Wilson subsequently announced that his office would “aggressively seek to retry Alex Murdaugh for the murders of Maggie and Paul as soon as possible.”
“Our justice system provides — indeed demands — that every person is entitled to a fair trial, which includes an impartial jury untainted by external forces bent on influencing the jury toward a biased verdict,” the justices wrote in their opinion, referencing Hill’s comments.
Hill also pleaded guilty in December 2025 to perjury and related charges tied to separate 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓸𝓃𝓈 that she improperly shared sealed exhibits with the press, receiving three years of probation, CNN reported.
Murdaugh, a former attorney, prior to the mistrial, received two consecutive life sentences after being convicted of murdering his wife, Maggie, and his 22-year-old son, Paul, in June 2021 at the family’s hunting property in Islandton, S.C.
There were no eyewitnesses to the incident, but a Snapchat video Paul sent to a friend placed Murdaugh at the crime scene just moments before the two were fatally shot.
Following last week’s ruling, Murdaugh’s attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian said during an appearance on the Today show that they are optimistic about his chances in a new trial.
“On a retrial, the statistics are in favor of a defendant because you have a lot more recorded testimony of witnesses, you can impeach them with inconsistencies, and so it’ll be a totally different trial, I promise you,” Griffin said.
The attorneys added that Murdaugh will never accept a plea deal on the murder convictions “under any circumstances.”
Meanwhile, Murdaugh remains behind bars, where he is serving concurrent federal and state sentences totaling decades for financial crimes committed around the time of the killings.
