Judge Clifton Newman’s sentencing statement this morning at the end of the Alex Murdaugh trial was stunning.

At one point, a spectator behind the defense table silently mouthed the words “Oh, wow!” 

I’ve never heard righteous fury communicated so directly but in a voice that was so restrained, even sorrowful.

Newman, to me, exemplified wisdom.

Here are some excerpts:

“You have a wife who has been murdered. A son who has been savagely murdered. A lawyer, a person from the respected family who has controlled justice in this community for over a century, a person whose grandfather’s [portrait] hangs at the back of the courthouse who I had to have ordered removed in order to ensure that a fair trial was had by both the state and the defense….

“I don’t question at all the decision of the state not to pursue the death penalty. But as I sit here in the courtroom and look around at the many portraits of judges and other court officials and reflect on the fact that over the past century, your family, including you, have been prosecuting people in this courtroom and many have received the death penalty, probably for lesser conduct. Remind me of the expression that you gave on the witness stand. ‘Oh, what tangled web we weave.’ What did you mean by that?”

“I meant that when I lied, I continued to lie,” Murdaugh replied. 

“And the question is when will it end? When will it end?”