WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A United States (US) court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a prominent lawyer serving a life sentence for killing his wife and son in a sensational case that drew national attention.

Alex Murdaugh, 57, scion of an elite family of judges and attorneys, was denied a fair trial because a court clerk influenced the jury, the South Carolina Supreme Court said.

Murdaugh was found guilty in March 2023 of shooting his son, Paul, 22, with a shotgun and his wife, Maggie, 52, with an assault rifle on the family’s sprawling hunting estate in June 2021.