COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Corrections is responding to the candid photos showing convicted killer Alex Murdaugh behind bars that recently surfaced online.
The photos began popping up on some news outlet websites over the weekend and were quickly shared on multiple social media platforms. They showed an at times shirtless Murdaugh with reading glasses on looking into the camera.
The corrections department says the photos were released after a Freedom of Information Act request was filed, which provides the public the right to request access to federal agency records. However, the agency now said the photos aren't supposed to be released under state law because they are for a security measure. The agency also said they have a policy of not releasing pictures of inmates except for the booking photograph that's on their public website.
The photos were taken by Murdaugh's tablet as part of a system built into the device to take an inmate's picture when they sign into their account. That feature is in place so the agency can make sure the inmate doesn't use their tablet inappropriately or give it to others. The inmate can't control how the photo is taken and they do not pose for the image. They're also not allowed to use it for video chatting.
The SCDC tells News19 that every inmate is issued a tablet, which they can use to make monitored telephone calls, take classes, read books, subscribe to entertainment that is pre-approved and receive messages from the institution. The department says they are not connected to the internet or to social media.
These tablets are from ViaPath Technologies, the department’s telephone partner, formerly called GTL. According to a statement from the company, it serves more than 2,100 facilities and over 1.6 million inmates in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
SCDC tells News19 that all content on the tablets are monitored. Inmates without good behavior can lose privileges to the device, which is funded via subscription plans purchased by the inmates friends or family.
Murdaugh is currently serving a life sentence for killing his wife Maggie and adult son Paul on June 7, 2021 at the family's large estate in Colleton County. A jury convicted Murdaugh on March 2 of both murders after just three hours of deliberation. A day later, Judge Clifton Newman sentenced him to consecutive life sentences.
Murdaugh is appealing his conviction.