Alex Murdaugh appears in court for the first time since double murder sentencing
Murdaugh's attorneys have accused the court clerk in his double murder trial of tampering with jurors
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alex Murdaugh appeared in court Thursday for the first time since he was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and son to face financial crime charges involving two co-conspirators.
The 55-year-old disbarred attorney wore an orange prison-issue jumpsuit in the Beaufort, South Carolina courtroom, as prosecutor Creighton Waters outlined the 101 counts against him that span numerous indictments.
He's accused of stealing a total of $8.8 million, including more than $4 million in insurance payments intended for the family of his late housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After tumbling on the steps of the family’s main residence at Moselle, Satterfield died in 2018 from complications of a slip and fall.
WATCH: ALEX MURDAUGH'S SURVIVING SON SPEAKS OUT IN FOX NATION EXCLUSIVE
Disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh arrives in court in Beaufort, S.C. Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. Murdaugh appeared publicly as a convicted murderer for the first time at the state court hearing regarding the slew of financial crimes allegedly committed by the disbarred South Carolina attorney. (AP Photo/James Pollard)
Waters said the state wanted to try the Satterfield indictment first. Circuit Judge Clifton Newman, who also presided over Murdaugh's double murder case, scheduled the financial crimes trial for Nov. 27 over the objections of the defense.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Attorney Dick Harpootlian requested a change of venue and a delay, citing an ongoing media circus and a pending motion to overturn the verdict in the murder trial over allegations of jury tampering.
ALEX MURDAUGH SEEKS NEW TRIAL, ALLEGES JURY TAMPERING IN BOMBSHELL MOTION
"[The murder trial] had more publicity than any case in the history of this state and maybe the country," he said, arguing that the attention had prejudiced potential jurors. "Where are we going to get a jury, Mars?" he quipped, eliciting laughter from the courtroom.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Allendale, Orangeburg, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton," Judge Newman said in a deadpan voice, listing the various counties in which Murdaugh has been indicted.
Alex Murdaugh appears in court in Beaufort, South Carolina, on his state financial crimes case. It was his first court appearance since he was sentenced to two life terms for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in June 2021. (Fox News Digital)
The jurist rejected the request for a change of venue but conceded that the pending motion over the alleged misconduct of Colleton Court Clerk Becky Hill would make it unlikely the Satterfield case would be tried in that county.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The appearance comes one day before the South Carolina Attorney General's Office is scheduled to respond to the explosive motion for a new murder trial filed last week accusing Hill of pressuring jurors to reach a swift guilty verdict.
Newman sentenced Murdaugh in March to two life terms in prison for gunning down his 52-year-old wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul, 22, in June 2021, to forestall a devastating financial reckoning. Hill read the jury's verdict.
Murdaugh has maintained his innocence and is appealing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Palmetto Bank CEO Russell Laffitte also appeared in court Thursday on charges he helped Murdaugh rip off his clients for more than 15 years.
South Carolina Circuit Judge Clifton Newman sentences Alex Murdaugh, right, March 3 to two life terms for the murders of his wife and son. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
Cory Fleming, the convicted killer's former friend and co-conspirator, is also expected to appear for sentencing.
He pleaded guilty to 23 charges for conspiring with Murdaugh to steal from former clients and friends.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FOX Nation aired the hit docuseries "The Fall of the House of Murdaugh" which featured an interview with Hill recounting her role in the blockbuster six-week trial.
Murdaugh's only living son, Buster, also spoke exclusively with FOX Nation and said his father did not receive a fair trial.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think it was a tilted table from the beginning," he told Martha MacCallum. "And I think, unfortunately, a lot of the jurors felt that way prior to when they had to deliberate. It was predetermined in their minds, prior to when they ever heard any shred of evidence that was given in that room."