Where will Alex Murdaugh go to prison?

On March 2, 2023, after a six-week televised trial, Judge Clifton Newman of the state of South Carolina sentenced Alex Murdaugh to life in prison for the murder of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh.

Labeled the “trial of the century,” the case took nearly two years to finalize and captivated the entire nation. Previously a respected member of a family of top prosecutors, Alex Murdaugh went from the thing he prosecuted to the one being prosecuted when, on June 7, 2021, he shot and killed his wife and son with a shotgun on their sprawling 1,700-acre estate in Islandton, South Carolina. 

As reported by the Associated Press, the prosecuting team claimed that Murdaugh committed these crimes to garner sympathy from the public and eclipse the millions of dollars he’d been stealing from his law firm and clients. 

During the trial, Judge Newman remarked how, over the course of a century, Murdaugh and his prestigious family had sentenced defendants like himself to the death penalty for crimes of lesser than his own – in the very same courtroom, he added. Judge Newman also said he’d had the portrait of Murdaugh’s grandfather removed from the front of the courthouse so as to ensure a fair trial.

But Judge Newman didn’t give Murdaugh the death penalty; he made sure Murdaugh would spend the rest of his life behind bars when he sentenced him to life in prison. There are seven maximum security prisons in South Carolina that house violent criminals like Murdaugh. Which one will he go to?

In which prison in South Carolina will Alex Murdaugh spend his life sentence?

Upon delivering the sentencing, Judge Clifton Newman assured the people that Alex Murdaugh would begin his sentencing at the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDOC), and then later transfer to the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia – where all male inmates are taken after sentencing. But this won’t be where Murdaugh spends the rest of his life. 

According to the SCDOC, after a 45-day evaluation to determine mental and physical stability, Murdaugh will be transferred to one of seven maximum security prisons in South Carolina. Those prisons are Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, Broad River Secure Facility in Columbia, McCormick Correctional Institution in McCormick, Perry Correctional Institution in Pelzer, Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia, and Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville.

Official word of which aforementioned prison Murdaugh will spend his life in has not been announced yet. For the time being, the former lawyer will remain in the South Carolina Department of Corrections and then transfer to the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia while a decision is reached.