Murdo judge issues stern warning after disturbing court leak

South Carolina District Court Judge Clifton Newman reacted angrily Friday after learning that an autopsy photo from Alex Murdo’s murder trial had been posted online.

Murdo, 54, was found guilty Thursday of the 2021 murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul. On Friday, he was sentenced to two life terms in prison with no hope of parole.

Newman said after the verdict that an investigation was requested to determine who leaked the autopsy photo during the shooting, WHNS-TV reported.

Newman said the image circulated included a photograph of the autopsy as it was shown in court on a digital screen.

“I have a lot of work and I am not trying to do any investigation other than litigation. But to the extent that law enforcement decides to reconsider this, the responsibility for this lies with law enforcement,” he said.

The photo was shown Tuesday during the testimony of Dr. Ellen Riemer, who performed the autopsies on the victims.

According to the New York Post, the original posting of the photo was taken during a live broadcast of WGN News.

“The sick trolls then took screenshots and started circulating them on bulletin boards on the Internet,” writes the Post.

One of the published photos shows Maggie Murdo. The entry wound is visible just below her left ear.

“During Tuesday’s hearing, the pool’s camera was slow to respond to the display of some of the photographic evidence that was visible from a distance on air for several seconds,” a WGN spokesperson said in a statement, according to the Post. “The pool cam was not operated by WGN-TV and we have since removed the videos from our streaming platforms.”

Many on Twitter condemned the posting of the image, regardless of how it was originally posted.

Victims are IMPORTANT! Victims deserve privacy and dignity in life and death. Sharing autopsy photos of Maggie and Paul Murdo is inexcusable. This is disgusting and horrible and MUST be shut down. #murder #victim

— Sarah A. Ford (@sarahafordesq) March 3, 2023

Autopsy photos from Murdo’s trial leaked online? Jesus. So twisted. Regardless of how you feel about the victims/families, victims deserve respect/privacy for not posting these photos, and families deserve not to have to see or be harassed.

— Brandi Rene (@NorthOfSass) March 3, 2023

Newman scolded the person who shared the photos.

“One of the reasons we were keen to seal the graphic photographs is because the parties have a right to privacy, a right to keep these matters from being made public,” the judge said, according to the Post.

“If anyone has heard of the recent agreement that…Kobe Bryant’s wife has just entered into with Los Angeles County and others in connection with certain disclosures related to Kobe Bryant’s death – the liability can be substantial, and for the most part it is a risk.” . don’t take it.”

“We will allow everyone to judge themselves accordingly in this regard,” Newman said.