What we know
Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder in 2023 and separately received decades of prison time for financial crimes, including state and federal cases.
Financial crimesConvicted
Last updated February 11, 2026
The Alex Murdaugh financial crimes after the murders
The high-profile murders tied to a powerful legal family.
Dateline
South Carolina - Hampton County
Editorial note
Compiled by After the Headline from public reporting, court filings, official records, and the sources cited below.
Current status
Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder in 2023 and separately received decades of prison time for financial crimes, including state and federal cases.
What's still unclear
Most people missed the financial crimes resolution.
Deep dive
What happened next
The details most readers never saw once the original coverage cycle moved on.
The problem with Murdaugh in public memory is that the murder trial swallowed almost everything else.
The public remembers the kennel video, the family dynasty, and the murder convictions. But the financial-crimes side of the story ended up being enormous in its own right. Murdaugh pleaded guilty in late 2023 to a large number of state financial crimes and received a 27-year sentence. He also faced federal financial-crime consequences. By 2026, reporting around his ongoing murder appeal was still noting that he had already been sentenced to decades in prison on the money side of the case.
That is the piece many people missed. Even if the murder convictions had somehow changed on appeal, Murdaugh's legal collapse would still be massive because of the theft, fraud, and client-victimization cases that followed.
In other words, the murders made him infamous, but the financial crimes explain the full implosion of the Murdaugh empire.
Timeline
Key updates
The sequence of major developments, ordered from newest to oldest.
Update
Reporting on his murder appeal underscored that he already faced decades in prison on the financial-crimes side.
Update
Pleaded guilty to major financial crimes.
Update
Convicted of murder.
Update
Murders occurred.
More to read
Related stories
Other follow-ups readers of this story are likely to want next.
Financial crimes/Convicted
Tom Girardi after the scandal
People remember the collapse and the TV chatter, but many never saw the final criminal sentence.
Read storyFinancial crimes/Convicted
Elizabeth Holmes after Theranos
People forget she is actually in prison now, and many missed that her conviction held even though the sentence length later changed slightly.
Read storyFinancial crimes/Convicted
FTX after the collapse: not just Sam Bankman-Fried, but what happened to the money
A lot of people know Bankman-Fried went to prison, but they don't know the bankruptcy recovery ended up being unusually strong for customers.
Read storySources
Reporting and records
2 links