Double-murderer Alex Murdaugh will plead guilty to stealing nearly $8 million from his disabled clients — marking the first time he’ll admit in court to committing a crime.
The disgraced South Carolina attorney — who is serving two life sentences for killing his wife and son — is set to change his “not guilty” plea during a Sept. 21 hearing for the federal case to avoid going to trial, according to court records filed Thursday.
It is not clear whether Murdaugh, 55, will be offered an agreement to drop any of the dozens of charges he faces, which include money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Each charge carries at least a maximum of 20 years in prison. Some have a maximum 30-year sentence.
The allegations served as a major crutch in the March case against Murdaugh for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul on their colossal 1,772-acre South Carolina hunting farm in June 2021.
Murdaugh gunned down his family members in an effort to cover up his theft, hoping that their deaths would buy him sympathy and time to figure out a plan, prosecutors argued.
Before the killings, state and federal investigators said Murdaugh spent a decade bilking millions from clients who suffered debilitating injuries and who needed money for medical care.
He is charged with stealing from his family’s law firm and helping run a drug ring to launder money.
Murdaugh also allegedly asked a friend to kill him on the side of a highway so his surviving son, Buster, would get $10 million in life insurance.
He also faces around 100 other state charges regarding insurance fraud, tax evasion, and stealing from clients and his own family’s law firm.
Murdaugh is building an appeals case to overturn his murder conviction — he has maintained since taking the stand during the trial that he wasn’t responsible for Maggie and Paul’s deaths.
Murdaugh is serving two life sentences in protective custody at the McCormick Correctional Institution.
Last month, a batch of cringeworthy prison selfies emerged of Murdaugh appearing topless inside his cell.
He snapped dozens of pictures from his prison tablet, which was issued so the prisoner could make monitored calls, watch approved entertainment, read books or take video classes.
Prison officials initially released the photos under the state’s open records law, but after a brief publicity splash, decided that since the photos were taken for security reasons and not as an official measure, they should not have been released under the Freedom of Information Act.
With Post wires
