Alex Murdaugh Sentenced To Life For Double Murder of Son and Wife

Alex Murdaugh will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murders of his wife and son ... and the judge seemed to say the death penalty might have been more appropriate.

The life sentence was handed down Friday in a South Carolina courthouse ... the sentencing comes a day after the jury convicted him of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime -- a verdict reached by the jury after less than three hours of deliberations.

Before the judge handed down the sentence, Murdaugh maintained he did not commit the murders. The judge said it was heartbreaking for him to see Murdaugh going from a grieving husband and father to a killer. The judge noted prosecutors could have sought the death penalty, and seemed to say the death penalty may have been the right punishment.

After Murdaugh said he didn't commit the crime, the judge said he agreed it might have been an alter ego ... the monster within.

Murdaugh’s legal team told TMZ ... "We are disappointed in the jury’s verdict but we will not have any further comment until after sentencing."

Murdaugh's 22-year-old son Paul and his wife Maggie were found dead back in 2021 at their hunting property in Islandton, South Carolina. Murdaugh was originally described by authorities as only a "person of interest," largely because he claimed to have an airtight alibi.

During the trial, however, prosecutors introduced video and audio evidence showing that Alex’s alibi evidence was not credible, and placed him at the scene of the crime at about the time of the killings

Murdaugh later admitted on the stand that he had lied to authorities about not being at the property, but nevertheless insisted he had not killed his wife and son.