Alex Murdaugh's Maximum-Security Prison Has A Disturbing History Of Violent Inmate Assaults & Alleged Crooked Cops

Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh's new maximum-security prison has a disturbing history besides housing some of the worst and most violent offenders. RadarOnline.com has learned the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, which Murdaugh now calls home, has been accused of fostering an environment for sexual assault, encouraging physical fights among inmates, and having a horrible track record with its officers.

Murdaugh's correctional institute was sued by an inmate — known as John Doe — after he claimed he was raped by another prisoner in July 2019. The alleged assault happened at Gilliam Psychiatric Hospital, which is part of the Kirkland. The man accused prison officials of preventing him from getting a rape kit, claiming the facility's lack of concern for staffing and operating the hospital facilitated an environment for sexual assault to occur.

In the lawsuit, Doe claimed SCDC “consciously failed to follow generally accepted, proper protocol and consciously failed to perform a proper investigation of the incident in question." He said the officers and his alleged assaulter went “unpunished and unprosecuted.”

The legal docs also alleged that Kirkland “had a long history of overcrowding and failing to provide adequate security and supervision over the inmates located at the facility – to include those inmates located within the Gilliam Psychiatric Hospital," adding the issues were allegedly "well-known" to higher-ups in the SCDC administrative staff.

The officers at Kirkland have also been plagued with scandals.

From January 2017 to April 2018, more than 100 correctional officers were terminated from South Carolina prisons, according to data from the state Department of Corrections. Kirkland fired six officers and demoted one during the 16 months.

In 2017, a Kirkland officer was arrested after being accused of opening cell doors and allowing inmates to fight. The officer would act like the referee during the physical altercations — which was documented in a letter outlining his firing.

A lieutenant at Kirkland got demoted and transferred with decreased pay after he admitted to a warden that he slept with another prison employee at a company Christmas party while intoxicated. RadarOnline.com has reached out to Kirkland for comment.

As this outlet exclusively reported, Murdaugh 54, began his two consecutive life sentences in a single cell when he arrived at Kirkland last week.

Authorities were tight-lipped when we asked if Murdaugh was being segregated from the rest of the prison population to prevent a potential suicide or guard his well-being as a high-profile inmate against attacks from other criminals.

The disbarred attorney will undergo a two-month evaluation, including mental and physical health checks. Following the evaluation process, which is estimated to take 45 days, officials will determine where the convicted killer will spend the duration of his life-long sentence.

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As RadarOnline.com reported, a 12-person jury found Murdaugh guilty on all counts for the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. At his sentencing, Murdaugh claimed his innocence. His legal team plans to appeal the conviction.