Judge: Murdaugh Must Pay $7M Bond in Full

SC lawyer makes first public remarks in months
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 13, 2021 4:47 PM CST
Murdaugh Speaks Out at Bond Hearing
Alex Murdaugh awaits the beginning of his bond hearing in the Richland Judicial Center in Columbia, SC, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021.   (AP Photo/Lewis M. Levine, Pool)

A judge set bond for Alex Murdaugh at $7 million Monday—well above the $6.2 million the South Carolina attorney is accused of stealing from clients. The bond is one of the highest in state history and Judge Alison Renee Lee, unusually, said it would have to be paid in full before Murdaugh could get out of jail, the State reports. The judge said she was "a little reluctant" to set bond at all, but she was "obligated by state law and the Constitution." Prosecutor Creighton Waters said Murdaugh is both a flight risk and a potential danger to the community.

Murdaugh's attorney, state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, argued that $7 million was equivalent to no bond because his client has "no money" and can't afford to pay even a tenth of that amount. Seven new indictments were released last week and Murdaugh now faces 47 felony counts of financial misconduct, with a possible maximum penalty of more than 500 years in prison. In September, a different judge released Murdaugh on his own recognizance on charges connected to an alleged plot to stage a suicide so his son Buster could collect a $10 million life insurance payout. He was arrested weeks later and charged with stealing insurance settlements that were supposed to go to the sons of his late housekeeper.

In his first public remarks since his wife and his son Paul were shot dead in June, Murdaugh blamed his problems on a 20-year opioid addiction, the AP reports. "My head is on straighter, I’m thinking clearer than I have in a long, long time," said the 53-year-old, who has not been charged in connection with the June deaths. He said that he hadn't used drugs in months and on Sept. 4, the day he allegedly asked a former client to shoot him in the head, he "was in the throes of withdrawal." He apologized to people close to him hurt by his actions but didn't address the victims of his alleged financial crimes, the Island Packet reports. (More Alex Murdaugh stories.)

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