JUDGE NEWMAN SPENDING SOME TIME HERE YESTERDAY TELLING ME WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL. THE TRIAL GRABBED HEADLINES AROUND THE WORLD. >> I'M ALEX MURDAUGH. >> ONCE HEAD OF A PROMINENT SOUTH CAROLINA LEGAL DYNASTY STANDING TRIAL FOR THE MURDERS OF HIS WIFE AND SON. OVER SEEING THE CASE, JUDGE CLIFTON NEWMAN. WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THE ATTENTION, THE EXTENT OF IT? >> PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED. YOU KNOW, HIGH-PROFILE LAWYER, DEATH OF A WIFE, DEATH OF A CHILD, ACCUSATIONS OF STEALING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM CLIENTS, ALLEGATIONS OF A LAWYER HOOKED ON DRUGS. IT HAD ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR SOMETHING OF MAJOR PUBLIC INTEREST. >> Reporter: IT ALL STARTED ON THE NIGHT OF JUNE 7th, 2021, WHEN ALEX MURDAUGH CALLED POLICE CLAIMING HE FOUND HIS WIFE AND SON SHOT TO DEATH ON THE FAMILY'S COUNTRY ESTATE. >> WHAT'S YOUR EMERGENCY? >> I NEED THE POLICE AND ANSWER IMMEDIATELY. MY WIFE AND CHILD HAVE GOT SHOT BADLY! >> Reporter: TURNS OUT THAT CALL WAS JUST ONE IN A LONG SERIES OF LIES EXPOSED DURING HIS SIX-WEEK TRIAL. >> I WANT TO GIVE THEM AS MUCH ACCURATE INFORMATION AS I COULD. >> Reporter: LIES ABOUT WHERE HE HAD BEEN THE NIGHT HIS WIFE AND SON WERE KILLED, LIES ABOUT A STAGED SUICIDE ATTEMPT, ADMISSIONS ABOUT DRUG ABUSE AND ALLEGATIONS OF STEALING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM HIS CLIENTS. THROUGH IT ALL, JUDGE NEWMAN WIDELY SEEN AS A CALMING PRESENCE AND BY THE BOOK JURIST. IN THE END, IT TOOK THE JURY LESS THAN THREE HOURS TO CONVICT HIM. WERE YOU SURPRISED AT ALL WITH WHICH THE SPEED OF THE JURY CAME BACK WITH THE VERDICT? >> I WASN'T. MY EXPERIENCE IN RECENT YEARS IS THAT JURORS DON'T TAKE A LONG TIME DELIBERATING AFTER THEY'VE SPENT WEEKS AND WEEKS AND WEEKS LISTENING TO TESTIMONY AND RECEIVING EVIDENCE. >> Reporter: LAST MARCH, JUDGE NEWMAN SENTENCED MURDAUGH TO TWO LIFE SENTENCES, WHILE DECLARING HE WOULD BE FORCED TO LIVE WITH WHAT HE'D DONE. >> WITHIN YOUR OWN SOUL, YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT. AND I KNOW YOU HAVE TO SEE PAUL AND MAGGIE DURING THE NIGHTTIME WHEN YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO GO TO SLEEP. I'M SURE THEY COME TO VISIT YOU. >> Reporter: PRETTY POWERFUL. >> YEAH. >> Reporter: DO YOU THINK THAT HE'LL BE HAUNTED BY HIS WIFE AND SON? >> OH, I THINK SO. IT HAS TO BE. I CANNOT IMAGINE HIM HAVING A PEACEFUL NIGHT KNOWING WHAT HE DID. I'M SURE IF HE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO IT OVER AGAIN, HE'D NEVER DO IT. >> Reporter: JUDGE NEWMAN'S RESERVE DEMEANOR ON THE BENCH DRAWING MANY ADMIRERS. HIS STORY MADE MORE IMPRESSIVE BY WHERE IT STARTED, IN A SEGREGATED SCHOOL IN A SMALL SOUTH CAROLINA TOWN, INSPIRED BY THE LANDMARK CASE BROWN VERSUS THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, HE WENT TO LAW SCHOOL AND BECAME A PROSECUTOR BEFORE BECOMING A JUDGE IN 2000. ONE OF HIS DAUGHTERS, JOSELYN, FOLLOWING IN HIS FOOTSTEPS, IS NOW A STATE JUDGE, TOO. SO GROWING UP, YOU WOULD SEE DAD IN COURT IN ACTION. >> IT WAS KIND OF SCARY. HE WAS A GOOD PROSECUTOR. I WOULD SIT IN THE JURY BOX AND WATCH HIM AT WORK. >> Reporter: JUDGE NEWMAN AND HER FATHER TALK OFTEN. SO SHE HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT AS HE MADE HEADLINES FROM THE BENCH OF THE MURDAUGH TRIAL. >> I KNEW IT WAS A BIG DEAL. BUT IT HAPPENED EVEN BEFORE THAT, JUST SCROLLING THROUGH INSTAGRAM AND SEEING A "DATELINE" POST ABOUT ALEX MURDAUGH WAS JUST AMAZING. >> Reporter: HE PLANS TO RETIRE THIS FALL AS HIS LEGAL CAREER COMES TO A CLOSE, HE REFLECTED ON MURDAUGH AND HIS MOST HIGH-PROFILE CASE. >> FELT SORRY FOR HIM. FELT THAT HE WAS JUST IN A POSITION WHERE HE COULD NOT -- WHERE IF THERE IS A HOLE THAT HE COULD GO INTO, HE WOULD DIVE INTO THAT HOLE AND KEEP GOING TO THE BIGGEST DEPTHS. I WASN'T TRYING TO PULL HIM OUT OF THAT HOLE, BUT I WANTED TO GIVE HIM AN OPPORTUNITY TO SAY SOMETHING. >> Reporter: ALEX MURDAUGH STILL MAINTAINS HE DID NOT KILL HIS WIFE AND SON. THERE WERE CERTAIN QUESTIONS THAT JUDGE NEWMAN DECLINED TO ANSWER BECAUSE THIS IS A CASE THAT IS BEING APPEALED. IT IS ALSO INTERESTING TO POINT OUT, YOU JUST HEARD FROM ONE OF HIS DAUGHTERS THERE. JUDGE NEWMAN HAD FOUR CHILDREN. YOU WILL APPRECIATE THIS. ALL FOUR OF THE CHILDREN ENDED UP TAKING THE LSAT. ALL FOUR OF THEM ENDED UP GOING TO LAW SCHOOL. TWO FINISHED AND BECAME ATTORNEYS. JUST TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO THIS TRIAL STARTING, HIS YOUNGEST SON DIED SUDDENLY, AND A LOT OF FOLKS SAID TO THE JUDGE, WE WOULD UNDERSTAND IF YOU WANTED TO DELAY THE START OF THE TRIAL. JUDGE NEWMAN INSISTED THAT, BECAUSE THERE HAD BEEN SO MANY PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN JURY SELECTION AND SEATING THE JURY, HE WANTED TO SEAT THEM FOR THAT REASON. AND ALSO HE NEEDED THE DISTRACTION AS WELL. AND HIS WIFE, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, WAS IN COURT EVERY DAY TO SUPPORT HER HUSBAND DURING THE COURSE OF THAT TRIAL. >> WOW. PRETTY EXTRAORDINARY THAT HE DECIDED TO JUST GO FORWARD AND
