Alex Murdaugh pleads not guilty to killing wife, son in South Carolina crime saga: Latest updates
Richard "Alex" Murdaugh, the disbarred South Carolina attorney accused of murdering his wife and son while committing scores of financial crimes, pleaded not guilty Wednesday and was denied bond.
The charges: Last week, Murdaugh was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime following a yearlong investigation into the killings of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul.
Latest updates: During Wednesday's hearing, Murdaugh pleaded not guilty but did not address the court at length. When asked how he wished to be tried, Murdaugh replied, "By God and country."
What's next: In a final joint motion, both parties expressed the desire for a speedy trial. The defense said it would like for the case to be heard within120 days, preferably by October or November.
Read more:
Money, murder, mystery: What to nkow about Alex Murdaugh and alleged web of crimes
Charges filed: Alex Murdaugh indicted on murder charges in deaths of wife, son
Power, prestige, privilege: Inside the Murdaugh family killings
What to know about the case
Murdaugh's wife, Margaret, 52, and his 22-year-old son Paul, were shot and killed at their Colleton County estate, Moselle, the night of June 7, 2021.
Murdaugh called 911 and reported that he had found the pair unresponsive and lying on the ground near the family's dog kennels. At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing three felony boating-under-the-influence charges related to the February 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, 19, of Hampton.
Since the killings, the Attorney General's office and the State Law Enforcement Division have uncovered a web of financial and drug crimes allegedly involving Murdaugh that span more than a decade in several Lowcountry counties.
Prior to Wednesday's bond hearing, Murdaugh was facing 88 criminal charges and 11 civil suits. He is being detained in Richland County's Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on a $7 million bond.
How Murdaugh's case unfolded
At least a half-dozen investigations have resulted in charges that Murdaugh stole $8.5 million from people who hired him and that he lied to police by saying he was shot by a stranger last September on a roadside when, officials say, he actually asked a friend to kill him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy just days after the family firm determined he was stealing money.
The felony indictments, signed by a Colleton County grand jury and unsealed July 14, allege that Murdaugh shot and killed his wife with a rifle, and shot and killed his younger son with a shotgun. No other details were included in the indictments. Both had been shot multiple times, Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey said not long after the killings.
Murdaugh's attorneys Jim Griffin and Richard Harpootlian denied the allegations from the onset with a statement issued just minutes after the charges were announced by the state.
"Alex wants his family, friends and everyone to know that he did not have anything to do with the murders of Maggie and Paul. He loved them more than anything in the world," the statement from Harpootlian and Griffin reads.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Alex Murdaugh pleads not guilty to killing wife, son: Latest updates
