WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCBD) – Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Creighton Waters reflected on the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial Friday afternoon.
After more than 70 witnesses delivered testimony and hundreds of evidence exhibits displayed, a jury found disbarred South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife and child on June 7, 2021. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Waters, who served as lead prosecutor for the state, described a team effort leading up to the verdict.
“That’s probably the thing I am most proud of aside from the jury speaking for Maggie and Paul,” he said in an interview with News 2’s Riley Benson. “Everybody had a role, everybody stepped up, everybody contributed, everybody deserves the credit.”
Waters said there will be good days and bad days amid a trial of this magnitude, but he noted that it’s important to remain confident and encouraged.
“It’s like what they tell a quarterback, the other team’s going to score touchdowns- they’re not just going to let you score touchdowns. You’re going to fumble the ball; you’re going to throw an interception. You shake it off, you move forward, you keep digging – and if you keep digging then you win in the end. That’s what we did,” he said.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters questions Alex Murdaugh during Murdaugh’s murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool 
Prosecutor Creighton Waters gives his closing statement during the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool 
Prosecutor Creighton Waters addresses Judge Clifton Newman during the Alex Murdaugh sentencing at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro on Friday, March 3, 2023 after he was found guilty on all four counts. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool 
Prosecutor Creighton Waters makes the case for sentencing Alex Murdaugh to two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son at the Colleton County Courthouse on Friday, March 3, 2023. Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool 
Prosecutor Creighton Waters cross examines Alex Murdaugh during Murdaugh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Friday, February 24, 2023. Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool 
Prosecutor Creighton Waters asks Alex Murdaugh to remember a specific time he lied to a client’s face during Murdaigh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Thursday, February 23, 2023. Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool 
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian and prosecutor Creighton Waters stand back to bake during a break in closing arguments during Alex Murdaugh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool 
Prosecutor Creighton Waters, left, and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, right, speak with defense attorney Jim Griffin during day 25 of the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh at the Colleton County Courthouse on Monday, February 27, 2023. Jeff Blake/The State/Pool 
Prosecutor Creighton Waters talks with the media after Alex Murdaugh was found guilty on all four counts at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro on Thursday, March 2, 2023. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool
Attorney General Alan Wilson explained during a press conference immediately following the verdict Thursday night how hard Waters had worked on this case, even noting that the lead prosecutor missed a few meals and suffered many sleepless nights.
But with the double murder trial behind him, what comes next for Waters? “The Attorney General said I could come in 30 minutes late on Monday,” he joked.
Waters said he plans to take some time off when he can. He issued a reminder that despite all the attention this case has garnered from across the nation, it’s important not to lose sight that two people were brutally murdered.
“This case is fundamentally about justice for them,” he said.
Waters said the Attorney General’s office plans to move aggressively on the financial crimes, many of which Murdaugh admitted while on the witness stand during the trial. Despite that, he said Murdaugh is still entitled to a fair trial for the misdeeds.
