A former South Carolina state senator and Democrat says he is "proud" to have represented Alex Murdaugh in his highly publicized murder trial.

Columbia attorney Dick Harpootlian spoke with the Daily Mail about his experience on the case, which inspired him to write a true crime book.

The defense attorney became part of the spectacle when he infamously pointed a rifle at the prosecution while demonstrating to the jury, quipping he found it "tempting" to shoot.

Murdaugh, a former lawyer from a prominent Lowcountry family, was sentenced to two life terms without parole in 2023 after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and younger son Paul.

Murdaugh's lawyer speaks out

Harpootlian said the public fascination in the case convinced him to write a book about another notorious trial in which he took part, but as a prosecutor.

Dig Me A Grave centers on infamous serial killer and rapist Donald Henry 'Pee Wee' Gaskins, who was sentenced to death by electrocution in 1991. Harpootlian prosecuted Gaskins in 1983 for murdering a death row inmate using C-4 explosives while he was serving a life sentence for a previous murder conviction.

"'I prosecuted Gaskins' six-week trial, the longest criminal trial in the history of the state. Until 40 years later, Murdaugh took the prize," Harpootlian said.

Reflecting on the impact the case had on him, Harpootlian said Gaskins threatened to kidnap his daughter before the death sentence was carried out. The method of execution, death by electrocution, troubled Harpootlian.

He deserved it

"If anybody in the world deserved to be executed, it was a guy on his 14th murder when he blows up a guy on death row. Gaskins was, if you're opposed to the death penalty, might be the exception to that," he said.

"But still, the fact that they strapped him in a chair and burned him to death bothered me then, and it still bothers me," he said.

Harpootlian introduced a bill in the South Carolina senate that was signed into law that allowed executions by firing squad, which some see as a more humane form of killing.

Controversial new client

Despite the powerful public opprobrium towards Murdaugh, Harpootlian, who received death threats for defending Murdaugh, said even the most unsympathetic defendants deserve an attorney.

"I'm proud of participating in this system, and to those folks that don't believe that people they think are guilty deserve a lawyer, I would say, grow up. Read the Constitution," he said.

Murdaugh's lawyers have appealed his conviction to the South Carolina Supreme Court, pointing to alleged jury tampering.

While he continues to defend Murdaugh, Harpootlian is adding to his portfolio of unpopular clients by representing Hunter Biden in a libel case in California against pro-Trump retailer and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.