For most of Alex Murdaugh’s six-week murder trial, Wendell Butterfield took up residence in the Colleton County courtroom on a gallery bench directly behind the disgraced former lawyer.
Butterfield, an 80-year-old South Carolina state constable with over 50 years of law enforcement experience, wasn’t just a spectator. The former judge, who also has a doctorate in theology, had a job to do: He was security for Judge Clifton Newman, Court of Clerk Becky Hill, and the court reporters.
Along the way, however, Butterfield’s stoic presence behind Murdaugh caught the attention of viewers watching the proceedings online. That, and his brightly colored suits—especially a yellow one.
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“For the casting of the Murdaugh Murders Movie. Who should play Mr. Fashionista?” one Twitter user asked. “His daughter thinks Clint, I think Eastwood’s a little long in the tooth these days.”
Another added: “Dr. Wendell Butterfield’s suit was telling. It brought the sunshine today.”
Butterfield, who agreed to the courthouse gig just weeks before the trial began in January, told The Daily Beast that he was shocked to learn that the clothes his wife picked out for him got so much attention. He added that he wasn’t thinking about his outfits when he arrived at the courthouse every morning to a sea of spectators and reporters from around the country.
“I had no idea that my suit choices were making quite a stir,” he added. “It’s been surreal.”
Hill told The Daily Beast it was a no-brainer to ask Butterfield—whose resume includes stints as a Marine, in the Colleton County Sheriff's Department, and with Homeland Security conducting audits—to join the already-robust courthouse security team.
“He takes pride in his uniform and the way he looks and is always immaculately dressed with starched shirts and pants, a crisp blazer, a tie, and shoes that are shined, and a very similar likeness to a favorite and very loved actor of mine, Clint Eastwood,” she said, adding that Butterfield showed up to work “every morning before time to report with his coffee in one hand and my sweet tea in the other.”
The security job, Butterfield said, also allowed him to have a front-row seat to one of the most anticipated murder trials in South Carolina. He said that while he was concentrating on the safety of Hill, Newman, and other courthouse staff—he was also closely watching Murdaugh and the 12-person jury.
“There were a few times when Murdaugh seemed a little distracted and nervous. He was listening to witness testimonies and I could tell when he didn’t seem too pleased about what was being said,” Butterfield said, adding that Murdaugh’s “body language would change from time to time.”
“Murdaugh seemed to be very involved in discussing some matters with his attorneys sometimes but the topic of discussion is unknown,” he added.
Originally, Butterfield said, he was stationed at the side of the courtroom “out of everyone’s eyesight.” But he wasn’t “too thrilled” about the seat placement because it was too far away from the people he was tasked with protecting and did not have a good view of the proceedings.
“So I took the first seat in the second row behind Murdaugh so I could go right through the gate if something were to happen,” he explained. “But I didn’t care for the fact that that meant the camera was right in my face.”
Butterfield said the live-streaming of the trial didn’t stop him from “concentrating on what I was doing.” He said he closely listened to dozens of witnesses as prosecutors presented their argument that Murdaugh fatally killed his wife and son near the dog kennels of their family’s hunting estate on June 7, 2021. And, he said, he watched how the jury and Murdaugh himself were responding to the trial.
“The thing I noticed the most was that the majority of the jury was paying attention to everything that was being said,” Butterfield noted. “They were very engaged.”
He said that he believed it was a “very bad idea” when Murdaugh made the decision to take the stand in his own defense. Several jurors have since come out and agreed with Butterfield’s analysis, saying they did not believe Murdaugh’s emotional testimony was genuine.
“The defense tried to talk him out of it,” he added. “But he knew what he wanted to do and he was going to do it regardless of what he was being told.”
Butterfield said his family would sometimes come to the courthouse while he worked, including his wife who one day sat next to the mystery novelist Rhonda Rich.
“They hit it off,” Butterfield said.
The only real stir in the courtroom, he said, came from Murdaugh’s own family.
Butterfield said that the family was warned not to communicate with Murdaugh after his sister “came up to the defense table.” Despite a sharp warning, Murdaugh’s sister later passed a book to one of his legal clerks on the defense team.
“The clerk ended up giving it to Murdaugh and it was noticed. The book was confiscated and Murdaugh’s sister was told that was the second time the family was warned and if something were to happen again, she would be restricted from the courthouse,” Butterfield explained. “She wasn’t too happy about it.”
Court staff eventually moved Murdaugh's family several rows behind the defense table to ensure there was no communication for the rest of the trial, Butterfield said.
On Friday, the jury only deliberated for about three hours before convicting Murdaugh of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Butterfield said that as the verdict was being read, Murdaugh was “gritting his teeth.”
The next day, the packed courtroom was bristling with anticipation for Murdaugh’s sentencing. After a searing admonishment, the judge gave Murdaugh two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
“There was no clapping or whooping or anything like that in the courtroom,” Butterfield said. “Everyone understood that Newman did not allow that.”
Since the end of the trial, Butterfield said, he has been blown away that his fashion choices have been “talk of the town on all the different social media outlets.” His daughter, Shanna Ayer, who first alerted him to his online fame, told The Daily Beast that she enjoyed his turn in the spotlight.
“I was very proud of him and honored that he was being showcased as the best dressed in the courtroom,” Ayer added. “My dad is an amazing man who takes pride in everything he does. He is very humble but he deserves all the attention and praise for sure.”
But Butterfield added that he has a different favorite moment about this trial.
“The moment it was over,” he said with a laugh.
