Murdaugh’s Fraud Victims To Confront Him in Court

Victims of a convicted murderer, Alex Murdaugh, will confront him at court in South Carolina Tuesday over fraud charges to which Murdaugh has pleaded guilty.Murdaugh, who was convicted earlier this year for the murders of his wife and son, pleaded guilty to 22 counts of financial crimes earlier this month. Prosecutors allege that Murdaugh, who is appealing his murder conviction, committed 101 financial-related crimes, costing his victims some $8.8 million over the course of a decade.Judge Clifton Newman, who is hearing the case at the South Carolina Circuit Court, said at a hearing earlier this month that he intended to accept a plea deal in the case but wants to give victims a chance to speak. Murdaugh, a now disbarred and disgraced lawyer, admitted to wrongly taking the money of victims during his time as a personal injury lawyer.In one case, Murdaugh pocketed the money that was meant to be paid to one of his clients on two separate occasions. In 2010, one client, Pamela Pinckney, hired Murdaugh in a negligence case relating to the paralyzation of her son, Hakeem Pinckney.Later, Ms. Pinckney hired Murdaugh again to represent her in a wrongful death case against the care facility where her son was staying when he suffered seizures. He died as a result.“Mr. Alex Murdaugh told me and my entire Pinckney family that he has our best interests, we don’t have anything to worry about and we’re like family to him,” Ms. Pinckney told NBC News in 2022. “And whatever he needs, he’s going to be there for us to support us.”In both cases, Murdaugh and his associates stole hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to Ms. Pinckney through a variety of fraudulent schemes.Prosecutors have also alleged that Murdaugh laundered some of his stolen money through a drug ring that, in part, helped fuel decades of opioid addiction for Murdaugh. At the sentencing Tuesday, Ms. Pinckney and other victims will be able to confront Murdaugh after years of following his legal proceedings in the news.An attorney for Murdaugh, Jim Griffin, told reporters earlier this month that Murdaugh “feels very comfortable doing prison time for crimes he committed,” though he maintains his innocence in regard to the murder of his family.“He does not feel comfortable doing prison time for the murders of his wife and son, which he did not do,” Mr. Griffin said.In mid-October, an appeals court in South Carolina ruled that Murdaugh’s attorney would be able to ask a judge to consider tossing his murder convictions and re-trying the case.Murdaugh’s attorneys claim that the Colleton County clerk of court, Rebecca Hill, influenced jurors against Murdaugh in the case. They are seeking a hearing where both Ms. Hill, who denies the charges, and the jurors can be put under oath and questioned.Attorneys for Murdaugh asked the court to delay proceedings concerning the fraud charges this week. The court denied the request, and the schedule for the appeals process remains unsettled.

Murdaugh’s Fraud Victims To Confront Him in Court

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