The convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh has lost his phone privileges and his prison tablet computer after his lawyer recorded him reading his journal entries on a call for a documentary about his case, South Carolina corrections department officials said.
Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the media, a state prisons spokeswoman, Chrysti Shain, said in a statement. The call was for a Fox Nation documentary series called The Fall of the House of Murdaugh that is set to air on Thursday.
The media interview violation, along with another violation for using a different inmate’s password to make a telephone call, are prison discipline issues and not a crime, Shain said.
“SCDC’s interview policy is rooted in victims’ rights and is longstanding. The department believes that victims of crime should not have to see or hear the person who victimized them or their family member on the news,” the statement said.
It added: “Inmates lose the privilege of speaking to the news media when they enter SCDC.’
Murdaugh, 55, is serving a life sentence without parole for killing his wife and younger son. Prosecutors said Murdaugh, a now disbarred attorney, was worried investigators were about to determine he stole millions from his law firm and clients, and was trying to win sympathy and buy time to cover up the crimes.
Murdaugh’s killings prompted a huge wave of interest, gripped by a complicated tale of murder, corruption and intrigue that spurred several documentaries and saturation media coverage of his eventual trial.
