Alex Murdaugh’s attorney ‘mad as hell’ after their jail call is leaked

Hidden True Crime podcast obtained the recording, which took place as Murdaugh was in Colleton County jail during his murder trail, after the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office sent it to them in ‘error.’ Following the episode, a social media user shared a clip of the call and questioned whether its release was a breach of client-attorney confidentiality. Griffin later tweeted he was furious that it had been released. ‘It’s me and I’m mad as hell. Stay tuned,’ Griffin tweeted, suggesting that he may take action over the leak. Most conversations between attorneys and their clients are protected by attorney-client privilege. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11885053/Alex-Murdaughs-attorney-says-mad-hell-jailhouse-phone-call-leaked.html?ito=msngallery

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office said the phone call was accidentally released in ‘human error.’ They said that when they became aware of the mistake, they asked the podcast not to share it. They said in a statement released to Fox Carolina: ‘The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office became aware of an attorney/client privilege call that was on social media this past weekend. The release of the attorney/client call was an inadvertent human error. The release of jail calls was a response to a FOIA request. All jail calls had to be screened by listening to the first few seconds of each call to determine if they fell under attorney/client privilege. Multiple calls were removed but this one call inadvertently remained in the list for release. An email was sent out to the requestor advising that the call fell under attorney/client privilege and to not share the call.’ Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11885053/Alex-Murdaughs-attorney-says-mad-hell-jailhouse-phone-call-leaked.html?ito=msngallery

But the Hidden True Crime podcast said on Twitter that they released the audio recording as they believe in transparency and providing the public with information deemed public by officials. ‘As a trained journalist – I am passionate about the FOIA, and transparency. If a recording is deemed PUBLIC by government employees, I believe in giving it to the public. The Murduagh family represents secrets and cover-ups. I value the opposite,’ Hidden True Crime tweeted. Murdaugh is currently housed in high-security Kirkland Correctional Institution, one of South Carolina’s most notorious prisons . And while the disgraced former lawyer escaped the death penalty for the murder of his wife Maggie and son Paul, a third life sentence conviction would mean Murdaugh will spend the rest of his life behind bars due to the state’s ‘three strikes’ law. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11885053/Alex-Murdaughs-attorney-says-mad-hell-jailhouse-phone-call-leaked.html?ito=msngallery

He is currently appealing his murder conviction, but the state is specifically seeking three additional convictions for breach of trust totaling $10,000 or more. Three additional convictions on the breach of trust charges would result in a life sentence, removing his chance of parole. Murdaugh’s trial lasted six weeks and included more than 75 witnesses, but culminated in a jury taking less than three hours to find the 54-year-old guilty of shooting his wife and son dead. Murdaugh called 911 on the evening of June 7, 2021, saying he found his son and wife dead when he returned home from a one-hour visit with his mother, who has dementia. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11885053/Alex-Murdaughs-attorney-says-mad-hell-jailhouse-phone-call-leaked.html?ito=msngallery

Authorities said Paul was shot twice with a shotgun, each round loaded with different sized shot, while Maggie was struck with four or five bullets from a rifle. A crime scene report suggested that both victims were shot in the head after initially being wounded near dog kennels on the Murdaughs’ sprawling rural property. Prosecutors took more than a year to charge the disgraced lawyer with murder but decided not to pursue the death penalty. Murdaugh, who is also charged with about 100 counts of financial and other crimes, adamantly denied any involvement in the killings. Murdaugh could have received as little as 30 years behind bars, but the judge gave him the maximum: two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. After the trial, some jurors said that the key piece of evidence in finding the lawyer guilty was a video on his son Paul’s cellphone that was shot minutes before the killings at the kennels near where the bodies were found. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11885053/Alex-Murdaughs-attorney-says-mad-hell-jailhouse-phone-call-leaked.html?ito=msngallery

The voices of all three Murdaughs can be heard on the video, though Alex Murdaugh had insisted for 20 months that he hadn’t been at the kennels that night. When he took the stand in his own defense, the first thing he did was admit he had lied to investigators about being at the kennels, saying he was paranoid of law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket the night of the killings. Murdaugh’s testimony only cemented what they were already thinking — that he easily lied, and could turn on and off his tears at will, jurors said. Attorney Dick Harpootlian filed Murdaugh’s appeal to the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Prosecutors didn’t have the weapons used to kill the Murdaughs or other direct evidence like confessions or blood spatter. But they had a mountain of circumstantial evidence, including the video putting Murdaugh at the scene of the killings five minutes before his wife and son stopped using their cellphones forever. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11885053/Alex-Murdaughs-attorney-says-mad-hell-jailhouse-phone-call-leaked.html?ito=msngallery

Through more than 75 witnesses and nearly 800 pieces of evidence, jurors heard about betrayed friends and clients, Murdaugh’s failed attempt to stage his own death in an insurance fraud scheme, a fatal boat crash in which his son was implicated, the housekeeper who died in a fall in the Murdaugh home and the grisly scene of the killings. The now-disbarred attorney admitted stealing millions of dollars from the family firm and clients, saying he needed the money to fund his drug habit. Before he was charged with murder, Murdaugh was in jail awaiting trial on about 100 other charges ranging from insurance fraud to tax evasion. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11885053/Alex-Murdaughs-attorney-says-mad-hell-jailhouse-phone-call-leaked.html?ito=msngallery

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