Murderer Alex Murdaugh held at McCormick Correctional Institution

Convicted double murderer  is reportedly being held at the maximum security McCormick Correctional Institution which houses some of South Carolina’s most violent prisoners.

because of ‘validated protective concerns’ and will be housed in a cramped single eight by ten cell that contains a bed, toilet, and sink.

The disgraced lawyer will be surrounded by 28 other prisoners in the protective custody unit and his privileges will be no different to the other inmates.

Murdaugh executed his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at their home in June 2021 — shooting them with two different weapons before calling 911 and claiming he discovered the bodies.He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in March following a six-week blockbuster trial.

McCormick Correctional Institution has a violent and chaotic history which includes prisoners rioting, inmates murdered in their cells and drugs being smuggled in via drone.

Murdaugh is now in McCormick Correctional Institution which has a maximum capacity of 1,128 adult male inmates.

The life he now faces is a far cry from the privileged world of multi-million dollar homes from the coast to the hunting lands of the Lowcountry he is used to.

Prisoners can be held in the general population or in special management, which is reserved for those who are difficult to manage, are on disciplinary, who have safety and security concerns or are in protective custody.

The offenders at the level 3 maximum security institution, located on the Georgia-South Carolina border, have usually committed violent acts.They are closely supervised and held in single or double bunked cells.

Offenders can take adult literacy courses, earn a GED, and various religious worship services and substance abuse treatment programs are provided.

McCormick Correctional Institution also participates in the correctional industries program and inmates are employed in an upholstery shop, in powder coating metal products, and in a modular furniture plant.

It also houses infamous prisoner Stephen Ross Kelly who raped and killed 18-year-old Briana Rabon in February 2014.

He pleaded guilty to raping, strangling and stashing the body of the woman who was found dead in a wooded area of a subdivision in Elgin. Kelly was later sentenced to 50 years in prison for the horrific crime.

The institution also has a violent and черный адам фильм 2022 chaotic history with murders, beatings and riots.

Deshawn Livaughn Simmons, 28, was stabbed to death by two fellow inmates in 2020, while Reico Lamont Welch was murdered in his cell in 2016 by a prisoner.

Five inmates escaped from the prison in December 2020 after a guard was locked in a cell and held hostage but were quickly caught.

And in 2017, officers lost control of the prison yard for two hours during a brawl which resulted in hundreds of prisoners running around in large groups.

No officers were targeted or hurt in the incident.

And a man was arrested in January with a backpack filled with drugs and a drone outside of McCormick Correctional Institution and was accused of trying to smuggle items into the prison.

Arnez Thompson, 24, was found with 113 grams of a substance that field tested positive for Fentanyl, four pounds of marijuana, six pounds of tobacco as well as cellphones, cigarettes, cigars, rolling papers and lighters.

South Carolina Department of Corrections charged him with trafficking in more than 28 grams of heroin and morphine, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, criminal conspiracy and providing contraband to prisoners.

Following his sentencing, Murdaugh was held in his own cell at the Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center, where he underwent 45 days of testing, which the South Carolina Department of Corrections carries out on every prisoner to assess where to hold them permanently.

As he is a convicted double murderer, Murdaugh was housed with the state’s most brutal and violent inmates.

Kirkland is one of South Carolina’s most notorious facilities.Far from being safe inside the prison’s fortified walls, inmates like Murdaugh are under constant threat from the killers, sex offenders and armed robbers they call neighbors.

Prison officials feared his former role as the patriarch of a prominent legal family makes him a target for other inmates.

Meals were brought to the 54-year-old in his cell.On the rare occasions he was given a break from confinement, Murdaugh was escorted by at least one prison officer.

During his time there authorities conducted medical tests, mental health checks and gathered other additional background information.

The decision to move Murdaugh into protective custody came on March 30 after a recommendation from the Protective Custody Review Board.

His case was evaluated at the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia.

The disgraced lawyer will be kept from the general population because of ‘validated protective concerns.’ The four member board takes into account security, mental health and classification, before taking their decisions.

South Carolina’s corrections department does not disclose the exact location of inmates in protective custody for their own safety.There are six maximum security prisons in the state.

Many had raised concerns over Murdaugh’s possible influence over the judiciary stemming from years of operating within the state’s legal sphere.

Murdaugh, the scion of a legal dynasty, was branded a ‘monster’ by a judge after a six-week trial.

Prosecutors said he executed his family — making it look like outside murder — to cause a distraction and generate sympathy as investigators closed in on his own murky finances.

At the time of the killings he faced a hearing that could have revealed what he later admitted to be an $8.5million theft from his South Carolina law firm.

His lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin filed a motion to appeal his conviction and sentencing.

Buster Murdaugh, 26, the sole surviving son of the disgraced legal scion, supported his doomed father every day during his six-week trial. 

During the trial, jurors heard from more than 75 witnesses and viewed nearly 800 pieces of evidence.

They also heard about Murdaugh’s betrayed friends and clients, his failed attempt to stage his own death in an insurance fraud scheme, a fatal boat crash in which his son was implicated and the housekeeper who died in a fall in the Murdaugh home — and the grisly scene of the killings.

Eventually, the lawyer took the stand to admit to stealing millions of dollars from the family firm and clients, saying he needed the money to fund a crippling drug habit.

He also admitted he had lied to investigators about being at the kennels where Maggie and Paul died, saying he was paranoid of law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket the night of the killings.

Prosecutors did not have the weapons used to kill the Murdaughs or other direct evidence like confessions or blood spatter.

But they had a mountain of circumstantial evidence, including the video putting Murdaugh at the scene of the killings five minutes before his wife and son stopped using their mobile phones forever.

When he gave evidence, Murdaugh appeared to cry as he denied again and again that he killed his wife.But juror Craig Moyer said he saw through yet another lie.

‘He never cried. All he did was blow snot,’ Moyer said. ‘No tears. I saw his eyes. I was this close to him.’

It took the jury just a few hours to convict him.