Talk:Trial of Alex Murdaugh

Alex Murdaugh pleaded guilty to a raft of financial crimes, including nearly two dozen charges of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering and sentenced on Monday April 1, 2024 to an additional 40 year sentence (to run concurrently with a previous sentence for similar state crimes). (https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/01/us/alex-murdaugh-federal-sentencing/index.html) ManateeLife (talk) 19:26, 3 April 2024 (UTC)

Yeah that whole paragraph is misleading. This is what actually transpired:

• He was indicted by the state on 101 charges (see Murdaugh_family#State_indictments)
• He made a plea deal (details of which I don't know) that resulted in the indictments reduced from 101 to 22.
• He was tried by the state in state court for the 22 indictments, and received 27 years.
• He was tried by the Feds in Federal court for either the same or different 22 indictments (I don't know). He received 40 years, and a fine.

If anyone wants to untangle this legal mess with sources that would be great. Many sources contain inaccurate information because they are/were also confused. -- GreenC 21:46, 3 April 2024 (UTC)

Page 21 of the Supreme Court's opinion states that Murdaugh pled guilty in both state and federal court for financial crimes. Alpacaaviator (talk) 17:18, 14 May 2026 (UTC)

https://apnews.com/article/murdaugh-killings-appeal-overturned-65a2ea0610bdb80763b39838ab4fcdb6

It would be great if someone more experienced with Wikipedia could update this article. Isoldmyownbones (talk) 14:53, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

Should the second trial be added to this one or a separate article? - Jeez Louise! ProfessorKaiFlai (talk) 18:15, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

Recommend keeping together. Would not be difficult to organize. Keeps contexual information intact, avoids duplication of content and sources, a single page resource for all things related to the murder trials. -- GreenC 19:05, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

International media including VG.no are writing about the case. I am adding the link, in case any of you will be visiting the idea in regard to if Hill and/or her own case is notable. Link, https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/d4vz1O/drapsdommene-mot-alex-murdaugh-opphevet-faar-ny-rettssak . The link might indicate some notability to the defendant, in case that becomes a question. ~2026-27573-13 (talk) 17:15, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

Hill is notable. She made a plea deal so not a criminal conviction but her role in the case is now central and coverage about her is everywhere. -- GreenC 19:00, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

A guilty plea is a criminal conviction, it just wasn't reached by trial. Whether she rates her own article or not at this point, we will see. Her case is mainly notable as it pertains to this case, but if this article gets too lengthy (given a second trial), it could be split off. Alpacaaviator (talk) 20:46, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

I would say no per WP:ONEEVENT. She's notable primarily for her association with the Murdouch case and it's not common for a county level officials to have their own pages. GamerKiller2347 (talk) 02:08, 14 May 2026 (UTC)

What does the former housekeeper have to do with this? ~2026-28174-82 (talk) 22:19, 13 May 2026 (UTC)

This article should be split into an article about Alex Murdaugh as he is notable as a person. GreenPlacement (talk) 02:43, 16 May 2026 (UTC)

• Support: It is common for a defendant of a trial to have their own page, so I don't think WP:ONEEVENT applies to Murdaugh. We have pages George Zimmerman and Derek Chauvin despite the existence of Trial of George Zimmerman and Trial of Derek Chauvin, so I think Murdaugh should have his own page to be consistent. GamerKiller2347 (talk) 16:44, 16 May 2026 (UTC)

Support split or move given his notability as a former lawyer and his involvement in multiple cases (theft convictions, potential involvement in the boat-crash aftermath etc). I will note there doesn't seem to be a lot of consistency in crime articles; sometimes the killing event itself is the name of the article (Death of Caylee Anthony), sometimes the case itself is named (Trial of Alex Murdaugh), sometimes the convict gets the article. I don't know a great solution for that but Alex Murdaugh passes WP:1E. Alpacaaviator (talk) 16:51, 16 May 2026 (UTC)

I will add that there certainly isn't excessive information about Murdaugh on this page, so I'm not sure if we need the notice at the top of the article. I'd have no objection if someone wants to start working on an article or Draft page. Alpacaaviator (talk) 17:51, 17 May 2026 (UTC)

• Neutral If there is coverage of Murdaugh's career prior to the trial, a split would be appropriate. Only reason I'm not saying "oppose" is that it's entirely possible that coverage exists given his past status. HangingCurve^{Swing for the fence} 20:31, 16 May 2026 (UTC)
• Oppose The way we have it now is fine. See Murdaugh_family#Prosecutions_and_lawsuits_against_Alex_Murdaugh. That is where 90% of the content about Alex's life resides. This article is about a trial that lasted only a few weeks. The rest of his story is elsewhere. And because the Murdaugh family is so intertwined it's better to keep it all together as a Murdaugh family page. If there was a lot to say about Alex's life I would agree, but there isn't much to say. -- GreenC 01:52, 18 May 2026 (UTC)
• Oppose Beyond his notability outside of this case and related cases, there really isn't that much to cover about him. My interpretation of WP:1E: *if the indicments and trials never happened, would he have a page of his own?* and I think the answer to that is squarely no. Philipnelson99 (talk) 05:52, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

  I see it's been proposed that his father and grandfather are notable enough themselves to warrant individual pages. I also oppose that. Philipnelson99 (talk) 18:34, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

Support a split. We should have one on the murders, not him. PARAKANYAA (talk) 23:37, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

Support a split. He is a noteworthy person in his own right by now. Setting aside the murders, he's a notorious financial felon and subject of extensive coverage as the Murdaughs write large have been thrust into the spotlight. His father and grandfather warrant pages, too. ---Volvlogia (talk) 14:39, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

Strong support. AM is a very notorious person —Volvlogia (talk) 01:18, 4 August 2026 (UTC) Volvlogia (talk) 01:18, 4 August 2026 (UTC)

COMMENT Again, this article is not the primary article about Alex, that it is Murdaugh_family. Most of the content on Wikipedia about Alex (the person) is not in this article. Any split discussion that does not involve that article is not a consensus, it is a misunderstanding how the content is arranged. Furthermore, you can't meaningfully split the person from his family because his family and relations are what made him notable, the background stories etc.. it would be a mess of jumping back and fort between multiple articles and overlapping narratives. -- GreenC 03:05, 4 August 2026 (UTC)