Alex Murdaugh Gets His Prison Placement

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Inmate No. 00390394 of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) has received his permanent prison placement, according to a news release from the agency.

The public just doesn’t (and won’t) know where he is being held …

SCDC has placed inmate No. 00390394 (a.k.a. convicted killer Alex Murdaugh) into its “statewide protective custody unit,” deciding to house him at an undisclosed “maximum-security prison.”

Which prison? The agency isn’t saying … which apparently is part of the protective plan.

“SCDC’s protective custody review board met Thursday and made a recommendation of (a) statewide protective custody classification for inmate Murdaugh,” the agency’s news release (.pdf) noted.

According to SCDC, “inmates in this unit have validated protective concerns and are placed in a specialized area to separate them from the general population.” As such, “their location is not disclosed for safety and security reasons.”

(Click to View)

A total of twenty-eight inmates have received this classification, according to the release. They are placed at one of the state’s six “close security facilities” (a.k.a. “maximum security” prisons) – Broad River, Kirkland, Lee, Lieber, McCormick and Perry.

Wherever he is housed, Murdaugh will reside in “a single eight-by-ten (foot) cell that contains a bed, toilet and sink.” He and other inmates in this classification “receive all privileges afforded those in the general population inside this self-contained unit.”

Murdaugh’s confinement will not be solitary, meaning he will be housed in “a unit and will interact with the other people on the unit all the time,” according to a source familiar with the details of his incarceration.

For the past four weeks, Murdaugh has resided at Kirkland – an SCDC intake center located just north of Columbia, S.C. He arrived there on the afternoon of Friday, March 3, 2023 – the same day S.C. circuit court judge Clifton Newman sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences for the murders of his wife and younger son.

Upon arrival, Murdaugh’s reddish-blonde locks were shaved – which is standard intake procedure to protect against the spread of lice and prevent the smuggling of contraband.

This news outlet published a report last week on Murdaugh’s new life behind bars.

Murdaugh received his life sentences after a jury convicted him in the savage slayings of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and younger son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh on June 7, 2021 at Moselle – the family’s 1,700-acre hunting property straddling the Salkehatchie River on the border of Colleton and Hampton counties.

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Paul Murdaugh was hit by a pair of 12-gauge shotgun blasts on that fateful evening – one to the arm and chest and a second shot which literally blew his brain out of his head. Maggie Murdaugh was killed by multiple .300 blackout rounds from an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle around the same time her son was killed. At least two of Maggie Murdaugh’s gunshot wounds were inflicted as she was lying wounded on the ground – consistent with initial reports we received of “execution-style” slayings.

Murdaugh continued to plead his innocence during his sentencing …

“I’m innocent,” he told judge Newman. “I would never hurt my wife, Maggie. I would never hurt my son, Paul Paul.”

Murdaugh’s attorneys – Dick Harpootlian, Jim Griffin and Maggie Fox – filed a notice of appeal in his case on March 9, 2023.

As previously noted, Murdaugh is expected to remain confined at a level three (maximum security) facility in the SCDC system until all of his pending charges at the state level have been adjudicated. That obviously could take some time considering how many charges he is facing … and considering a statewide grand jury is still hearing testimony on various Murdaugh-related allegations.

Once all of his cases and appeals have been definitively resolved – a process which could obviously take many years – a decision will be made as to whether Murdaugh should be place in an out-of-state maximum security facility to serve out his life sentences.

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THE RELEASE …

(Via: SCDC)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.

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