Alex Murdaugh’s second murder trial will start next spring, judge rules

By Dianne Gallagher, Eric Levenson, Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

Lexington, South Carolina (CNN) — Alex Murdaugh, the disbarred South Carolina attorney accused of killing his wife and son, will face his second murder trial next spring after his previous convictions were overturned on appeal.

Murdaugh, 58, appeared in court Monday, shackled in an orange jumpsuit, for his first court appearance since his murder convictions were overturned. Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin ruled the new trial will begin April 5, 2027.

Murdaugh’s attorneys filed several pretrial motions last week, including requests for a change of venue, for further independent testing of DNA evidence and for Murdaugh to get access to a computer in prison.

Though McCaslin did not rule on the motions Monday, the judge made clear she intends the trial to move forward without delay.

“When I say April 5th, we’re picking a jury and going forward,” she said. “All those issues should be decided by then.”

Separate from the murder case, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to dozens of financial crimes and remains behind bars on concurrent state and federal sentences of 27 and 40 years.

Dozens of members of the public showed up early to court hoping to snag a seat within view of the man whose sprawling saga has already had enough twists to fill multiple true-crime documentaries, dramatized shows and best-selling books.

The hearing marked the start of the road to retrial for Murdaugh, whose case stems from the June 2021 fatal shootings of Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, outside their family home in Islandton, a small community in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.

Murdaugh was a partner at a powerful law firm with his name on it, and his father, grandfather and great-grandfather served as the local prosecutor consecutively from 1920 to 2006.

But that prominence belied underlying issues, and the alleged killings of his wife and son were followed by accusations of misappropriated funds, his resignation, a bizarre alleged suicide-for-hire and insurance scam plot, a stint in rehab for drug addiction, dozens of financial crimes, his disbarment and, ultimately, the murder charges.

In 2023, Murdaugh was found guilty of the murders after a six-week trial that featured testimony about his years of embezzlement and theft as an attorney, video placing him at the crime scene and his dramatic admission on the stand that he had repeatedly lied to investigators. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Murdaugh’s attorneys appealed the convictions, saying the trial was tainted by county clerk Becky Hill’s inappropriate comments to jurors implying his guilt. Hill later pleaded guilty to criminal charges connected to the case, though she has never been charged with jury tampering.

Last month, the state Supreme Court overturned the murder convictions and ordered a new trial, saying his previous trial was marred by Hill’s “improper” influence.

Defense pushes for advanced DNA testing

The defense’s pretrial motions focus on issues related to venue and evidence as well as Murdaugh’s preparation for court and appearance.

Murdaugh’s attorneys argued their client cannot receive “the fair and impartial trial guaranteed to him” in the 14th Circuit, which includes Colleton County, where his 2023 double-murder trial was held.

“The basis for this motion is that this is among the most heavily publicized criminal prosecutions in the history of this state,” wrote Murdaugh’s attorneys in the motion. “For years, Defendant, his family, and the law firm with which his family was associated for generations have been the subject of saturating, sensational and continuous media coverage.”

The attorneys noted the 14th Circuit is “where the Murdaugh name has been synonymous with the local legal system for nearly a century, where the population is small and interconnected, and where the very documentaries, books, and films that have shaped public opinion were researched, filmed, and produced.”

McCaslin said Monday she will give prosecutors time to respond to the motion and discuss it with Murdaugh’s attorneys. If the attorneys cannot agree on whether or where to move the trial location, she will decide.

The attorneys also filed a motion seeking an order to require the state to produce DNA evidence for an independent laboratory review.

“DNA evidence was collected from underneath Maggie Murdaugh’s left-hand fingernails at the scene,” wrote Murdaugh’s attorneys. “SLED (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) determined this DNA was from an unknown and unrelated male. No further analysis was attempted. This evidence, however, is crucial to the defense.”

Murdaugh’s attorneys on Monday argued DNA analysis technology has advanced significantly since the killings in 2021.

They suggested they would send the DNA sample to a laboratory such as Othram, a Texas-based lab that has emerged as a leader in helping to solve cold cases through DNA sequencing combined with genealogy mapping. The lab was responsible for analyzing the DNA sample that was critical to identifying and ultimately convicting University of Idaho student murderer Bryan Kohberger.

“We don’t think it’s a red herring. We think it’s very important,” defense attorney Jim Griffin said. “It may turn out to be innocuous – we don’t know. But it’s worth looking into.”

Prosecutors, however, wrote in a court filing the DNA is of “limited consequence” and state investigators have sufficiently analyzed it.

“There is absolutely no evidence that a physical struggle took place between Margaret Murdaugh and her murderer. She had no defensive wounds, and no indications on her hands or fingernails that she scratched her attacker,” they argued in a filing.

The judge is expected to decide on the issue at the next pretrial hearing, set for August 14.

A third motion requests that the South Carolina Department of Corrections allow Murdaugh to access a “secure laptop computer” so he can go over any material associated with his trial.

Prosecutors have balked at the proposal to leave “such valuable and sensitive information” in Murdaugh’s unsupervised possession.

“He has shown he will come up with all manner of schemes to get money, and a laptop can be used for all sorts of nefarious purposes,” prosecutors wrote in a response in opposition to the motion.

The warden overseeing Murdaugh in prison informed McCaslin he would not allow Murdaugh to keep a laptop in his cell “for safety reasons,” the judge said. However, she said she would discuss with the warden the possibility of keeping a laptop in the warden’s office that the inmate would be allowed to view under supervision.

Finally, Murdaugh and prosecutors filed motions with unusually personal debate about his attire and appearance in court.

Murdaugh’s team initially asked that he be allowed to come to all court appearances, including pretrial hearings, wearing civilian clothes and unshackled. Given the cameras in the courtroom, his defense argued – much like lawyers have in Tyler Robinson’s case in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk – that his appearance in shackles and a prison outfit could influence potential jurors.

“Bringing him around in a jumpsuit shackled like an animal impacts their view,” defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said of potential jurors. “It’s going to make it more difficult for us to get a jury.”

Murdaugh’s defense had withdrawn the motion, but renewed it again at Monday’s hearing.

“This guy is not a serial killer. He is not Ted Bundy. He stole some money. That’s all he’s convicted of,” Harpootlian told the judge.

Prosecutors pushed back on the request in court, arguing it is standard treatment for convicted inmates – and reminded the court Murdaugh is still charged with murder.

The argument echoed their response to the original motion, in which prosecutors wrote the presence of cameras “is no basis to ignore normal security concerns” and sharply criticized Murdaugh personally.

“This case is ultimately about the fact that Defendant thinks he is special. He is not,” prosecutors said.

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CNN’s Dianne Gallagher reported from Lexington, and Eric Levenson and Elizabeth Wolfe wrote and reported from New York.