South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman has spoken publicly about the Alex Murdaugh case for the first time since he sentenced the disgraced former attorney to two life terms for the murders of son Paul Murdaugh and wife Maggie Murdaugh. In remarks at Cleveland State University College of Law on Tuesday, the judge said he was not affected by the "interest and notoriety" surrounding the case because "I was engaged in the process of what I had to do," CNN reports. "I was simply a judge in a trial doing my job as I’ve done repeatedly over the years," Newman said. "It was an important case, all cases are, any case where you have a murder."