South Carolina judge who sentenced Alex Murdaugh ‘felt sorry’ for killer

The veteran South Carolina judge who sentenced Alex Murdaugh to two consecutive life terms for the murders of his wife and son said this week that he “felt sorry” for the disgraced attorney — adding that he was convinced the one-time Low Country heavyweight regrets his extreme actions.

“I felt sorry for [Alex Murdaugh],” Judge Clifton Newman told the “Today” show about the blockbuster trial in an interview that aired Wednesday morning.

Murdaugh, 54, was found guilty March 2 of fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, on June 7, 2021, in order to cover up his alleged financial crimes and worsening drug dependency that colored his time running his family’s storied law firm.

The case — culminating in the guilty verdict and emotional sentencing — garnered national headlines and media scrutiny from around the world.

Newman admitted that he “shouldn’t have been surprised” by the case’s notoriety.

“You know, high-profile lawyer. Death of a wife, death of a child. Accusations of stealing millions of dollars from clients. Allegations of a lawyer hooked on drugs,” he explained, listing several of the bombshell revelations that came to light both before and during the six-week proceedings.

“It had all the ingredients for something of major public interest.”

Newman, 71, added that he was not shocked when the jury returned with a verdict after less than three hours of deliberation.

“Jurors don’t take a long time deliberating after they’ve spent weeks and weeks and weeks listening to testimony and receiving evidence,” he said.

Newman — who attended segregated schools in South Carolina before going to law school in Ohio — made headlines with his measured but blistering words during the sentencing the morning after the conviction.

“I know you have to see Paul and Maggie during the nighttime when you’re attempting to go to sleep … and reflect on the last time they looked you in the eyes,” he told Murdaugh at the time. 

Newman reiterated this belief in Wednesday’s interview, noting that he “cannot imagine [Murdaugh] having a peaceful night, knowing what he did.”

“I’m sure if he had the opportunity to do it over again, he’d never do it.”

During the high-stakes trial, Newman listened as the court heard the gruesome details of how Murdaugh gunned down Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, in the family’s kennels.

An autopsy report showed that Paul, who was facing his own legal troubles stemming from a fatal 2019 boat crash, was killed when a shotgun blast to the neck and shoulder completely detached his brain from his skull.

“I felt that he was just in a position where he could not … where if there’s a hole that he could go into that, he would dive in that hole and keep going to the lower depths,” Newman said of Murdaugh, who sobbed multiple times while testifying.

“I wasn’t trying to pull him out of that hole, but I still wanted to give him an opportunity to say something.”

Murdaugh maintained his innocence at sentencing.

He announced plans to appeal both murder convictions on March 9.

Due to the ongoing appeal process, Newman declined to answer some of “Today”’s questions about the case, the outlet said.

Additional footage from the interview will also be aired in an upcoming episode of “Dateline.”

Newman, who is a father of four, was briefly joined in the interview by his daughter Jocelyn Newman, who is an at-large judge of the South Carolina Circuit Courts.

“You know, just scrolling through Instagram and seeing a ‘Dateline’ post about Alex Murdaugh was just amazing. I’m pretty sure I took a screenshot of that and sent it around to the family,” she recalled of watching her father’s trial unfold.

While he remained reserved on the bench, Newman was grappling with his own personal tragedy: His youngest son, Brian Newman, died unexpectedly just two weeks before the trial started in January.

Although officials offered to delay the proceedings, Newman insisted on moving forward, “Today” reported.

For the first time in his career, Newman’s wife was in court every day to support her husband.

But while Newman — who was lauded by one attorney as “the best that we want in our jurists” — plans to retire in the fall, Alex Murdaugh’s legal struggles are far from over.

He is facing a slew of charges related to alleged financial crimes, as well as the mysterious 2018 death of his family’s housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.

Murdaugh will also be questioned in a wrongful death suit filed by the family of Mallory Beach, 19, who died when Paul Murdaugh crashed his power boat into a bridge in February 2019.