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WALTERBORO, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh, who was once like royalty in South Carolina's prosecutorial law, will spend nearly two months with "some of the most violent and dangerous offenders in the state," according to the state Department of Corrections.
For the next 45 days, Murdaugh will be housed in the city of Columbia's Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center, which is a maximum-security, level-three facility that houses male offenders.
"As part of the intake process, like all inmates, (Murdaugh) will undergo medical tests, mental health and education assessments, and the South Carolina Department of Corrections will gather other additional background information," the SCDC said in a statement.
After the evaluation, Murdaugh will be sent to one of the state's maximum-security prisons to serve out his double life sentence, the SCDC said.
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Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison after conviction in double murder trial during his sentencing at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro on Friday, March 3, 2023 after he was found guilty on all four counts. ( Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
"Kirkland is also responsible for the maximum security unit which houses some of the most violent and dangerous inmates in the state," the site's website says.
"Furthermore, Kirkland Correctional Center houses inmates who are in the statewide protective custody program."
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There were just over 1,700 inmates in the facility, as of Friday, according to the SCDC.
Murdaugh's sentencing on Friday capped off the sordid and spectacular downfall of the scion of a once powerful Murdaugh family legal dynasty, as he continued to deny he killed his wife and son.
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian talks with Alex Murdaugh while he is brought out of the courtroom during his sentencing at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro on Friday, March 3, 2023 after he was found guilty on all four counts. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
Exterior view of the South Carolina Department of Corrections Administration Checkpoint in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday, March 3, 2023. (Larry Paci for Fox News Digital )
All pretense of innocence was stripped from Murdaugh, who stood before the judge a convicted murderer, donning for the first time a beige prison-issued jumpsuit and wrist and leg shackles.
South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman excoriated the 54-year-old defendant before handing down the maximum: two double life sentences to run consecutively for the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.
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"You’ve engaged in such duplicitous conduct here in the courtroom, here on the witness stand and as established by the testimony," Newman said. "This has been, perhaps, one of the most troubling cases, not just for me as a judge, for the state, for the defense team but for all of the citizens in this community."
He described Murdaugh's once prominent position as a "lawyer, a person from a respected family who has controlled justice in this community for over a century."
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He added, "A person whose grandfather’s portrait hangs at the back of the courthouse that I had to have ordered removed."
The jurist noted that over the past century, the Murdaugh family had prosecuted people in this same courtroom, and many defendants received the death penalty for lesser crimes.
Alex Murdaugh is taken to the Colleton County Courthouse for sentencing on Friday, March 3, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
Exterior view of the South Carolina Department of Corrections Administration Building in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday, March 3, 2023. (Larry Paci for Fox News Digital )
Murdaugh responded by defiantly insisting he did not execute his wife and son. "I respect this court, but I’m innocent, I would never under any circumstances hurt my wife Maggie, and I would never under any circumstances hurt my son ‘Paw Paw,’" he proclaimed.
Newman told Murdaugh that even if he continues to deny his guilt publicly, he'll have to deal with the haunting crimes he's committed in his own soul.
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"I know you have to see Paul and Maggie during the nighttimes when you’re attempting to go to sleep. I’m sure they come and visit you. I’m sure," the judge said.
The prison where Murdaugh will sleep is to be determined by the state before the end of April.
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