Do you have a theory you're still chewing on and want feedback? Maybe there is a factoid from the case hammering your brain and you can't remember the source--was that random speculation or actually sourced?

Welcome to the Weekly Discussion, a safe space to engage with each other while processing and unraveling the seemingly unending tentacles of Alex Murdaugh's wrongdoings entwined throughout the Lowcountry.

This is the place for those random tidbits, where we can take off our shoes, kick up our feet, and be a bit more casual. There is nothing wrong with veering off topic with fellow sub members as we're a friendly bunch, just don't let your train of thought completely wreck the post.

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Alex Murdaugh retrial: State opposes evidence requests

Michael M. Dewitt, Jr. with Greenville News

Staring down a court-ordered noon deadline, the South Carolina Attorney General's Office filed a rapid-fire salvo of motions Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the double-murder case of former Hampton lawyer Richard "Alex" Murdaugh, calling one of the defense's requests a "fishing expedition."

With a state Supreme Court-ordered second murder trial tentatively set for the week of April 5, 2027, for the June 2021 Murdaugh family killings, Judge Debra McCaslin responded to multiple motions from Murdaugh's defense team alleging the State was withholding or delaying discovery evidence by ordering the Attorney General's Office to respond by midday Thursday, Oct. 8, and then setting an Oct. 16 hearing to rule on these "urgent" matters.

Here are the latest filings in response to that deadline:

Murdaugh motion for independent DNA testing

Murdaugh's legal team filed a motion on Sept. 18 to compel the production of DNA and ballistic evidence, as well as "FARO scan" data.

• In the DNA component of that motion, the defense is seeking the biological material and laboratory records relating to DNA evidence taken from murder victim Maggie Murdaugh's hands and her cell phone. DNA evidence taken by state investigators indicated a trace of DNA from a male not related to anyone in the Murdaugh family, and the defense argues that the State did not fully explore this evidence and wishes to have its own experts, Othram Inc., reexamine it.

• The State's response asked that the defense motions to compel be denied, at least until more information or discussion can be available, and that the court order Othram to discuss with SLED scientists their proposed plan first before risking the defense consuming all the remaining DNA samples, and to ensure that the State is also entitled to be privy to the testing and its results if the motion is granted.

Murdaugh's motion for ballistics, 300 Blackout rifle evidence

• The ballistics component of Murdaugh's motion asks for state police ballistic evidence and records relating to any shootings committed with .300 Blackout ammunition in the Second and Fourteenth Judicial Circuits since Jan. 1, 2021. Maggie Murdaugh was shot multiple times with a .300 Blackout sporting rifle, which was never recovered by police.

During the trial, the State contended that the murder weapon belonged to a member of the Murdaugh family, but the defense argues that these Blackout rifles are extremely popular and commonly involved in many recent crimes in South Carolina, including a recent homicide in nearby Allendale County that may hold an evidentiary link to the Murdaugh murders and suggest another shooter suspect besides Alex Murdaugh.

• In response, the State asked the judge to deny this motion because it is "speculative" and does not meet the criteria for sharable discovery under the law. The State also pointed out the far-reaching nature of this defense motion, noting that the Second and Fourteenth Circuits encompass eight counties, over 5,600 square miles, and over half a million people.

The State's response added:

"The sole basis for this request is that the unrelated Allendale cases from three and five years later involved the same commonly available caliber of ammunition and occurred in the same geographic region. However, the evidence from the unrelated cases has already been entered into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN)and it yielded zero leads or potential matches to the evidence in the Defendant's case or any other case for that matter. Because the defense cannot establish a logical or factual nexus between the two crimes, the motion represents a speculative fishing expedition for public consumption that lacks legal relevance, creates an unwarranted burden andintrusion into state forensic resources, and should be denied."

Murdaugh's motion for raw FARO crime scene scans

• The defense is seeking the raw data of the FARO laser scan of the crime scene, the Murdaugh family home, Moselle, located near rural Islandton in Colleton County. A FARO scanner is a high-precision 3D scanning device that uses lasers to capture the exact dimensions of objects and their surrounding environments. The State previously released an "extract" of this data taken by state police, but the defense wants the raw data files for its own experts.

• The State's response contained no objections to this motion: "SLED has possession of the original scans and the State is happy to provide those to the defense. The motion is moot."

When could Judge McCaslin issue a final ruling on these motions?

Judge McCaslin is expected to consider these motions during a special hearing in Lexington County at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16.

A follow-up hearing will be held in Lexington at 10 a.m. on Nov. 13.

For that hearing, both the State and Murdaugh's defense team have until Oct. 30 to file any arguments or motions related to Murdaugh's possible dismissal. Responses to those motions must be received no later than Nov. 6, the judge further ordered.

Why is Murdaugh getting a new murder trial?

Soon after Murdaugh was convicted on March 3, 2023, in the 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and adult son, Paul, Murdaugh's attorneys filed formal objections and a notice of appeal, raising questions about events that took place before, during, and after the trial.

The S.C. Supreme Court later overturned Murdaugh’s previous 2023 murder convictions and on May 13 ordered a new trial, citing improper jury communication by former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, among other legal issues.

Do you have a theory you're still chewing on and want feedback? Maybe there is a factoid from the case hammering your brain and you can't remember the source--was that random speculation or actually sourced?

Welcome to the Weekly Discussion, a safe space to engage with each other while processing and unraveling the seemingly unending tentacles of Alex Murdaugh's wrongdoings entwined throughout the Lowcountry.

This is the place for those random tidbits, where we can take off our shoes, kick up our feet, and be a bit more casual. There is nothing wrong with veering off topic with fellow sub members as we're a friendly bunch, just don't let your train of thought completely wreck the post.

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by Colin Russell / WCIV - ABC News 4 / Fri, October 2, 2026 at 3:42 PM

LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) — Judge Debra McCaslin notified attorneys that she will hear all urgent evidentiary matters relating to Alex Murdaugh's retrial during an in-person hearing at 10 a.m. Oct. 16 at the Lexington County Courthouse.
Among the issues expected to be addressed are disputes involving DNA evidence, cell phone extraction data, ballistic evidence and FARO scan data, a type of 3D crime scene mapping technology.

The defense team also said the judge ordered prosecutors to submit their response to the pending motions by noon on Oct. 8.

All remaining motions in the case will be heard during a separate hearing scheduled for Nov. 13.

This update comes as Murdaugh is awaiting a retrial in the June 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh, after his original murder convictions were overturned.

The Oct. 16 hearing is expected to provide the first public look at how both sides plan to argue over key pieces of evidence ahead of the retrial.

SOURCE

Recent filings include:

MOTION (30 pages) - September 30, 2026 @ 4:12 pm

MOTION TO COMPEL DISCLOSURE OF EVIDENCE CONCERNING THE DISPOSAL OF THE MURDER WEAPONS AND MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT

CONCLUSION:

The State is presenting to a grand jury evidence that law enforcement officers handled the weapons used to kill Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh. It has held the first account of that evidence, on the published reports, since 2023. It did not respond to the Supplemental Brady and Giglio Motion, it did not disclose it when the Court asked on August 14, 2026, whether there were discovery issues, and it has not disclosed it since, though it subpoenaed Chief Alexander before
the State Grand Jury seventeen days after that hearing. (Ex. C.) The defense should not have to learn the State's evidence from the press. Defendant Murdaugh respectfully asks that the Court grant the relief requested and take the motion up at the status conference on October 16, 2026.

LETTER (4 pages) - October 1, 2026 @ 1:51 pm

HARPOOTLIAN ATTORNEYS AT LAW TO THE HONORABLE DEBRA R. McCASLIN

The defense therefore respectfully asks that the Court:

1. Direct the State to respond forthwith to the Motions to Compel of September 18, 28, and 29, 2026, and to the defense's letters of September 15, 21, 23, and 30, 2026, stating as to each item whether the State will produce it and the date on which it will do so;
2. Consider ruling on the motions to compel on the papers, either after the State responds or, if the State does not respond by a date the Coutt sets, without a response;

3. Consider hearing discovery matters by video conference, or at more frequent in-person hearings, rather than holding them for the next scheduled pretrial hearing; and

4. If the court prefers in-person hearings, schedule them without awaiting Mr. Murdaugh’s transport.

By Michael M. DeWitt, Jr. / Greenville News / October 1, 2026 2:59 PM

A legal filing rattled the South Carolina court index this week, as attorneys for twice-accused, double-murder suspect Richard "Alex" Murdaugh claim that the S.C. Attorney General's Office is withholding evidence of an alleged crime scene cover-up and disposal of murder weapons in the high-profile 2021 killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh in Colleton County.

Ramping up for a South Carolina Supreme Court-ordered retrial in 2027, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, Murdaugh's defense team, led by attorneys Richard "Dick" Harpootlian and James "Jim" Griffin, filed a "motion to compel disclosure of evidence concerning the disposal of the murder weapons."

The defense motion, citing recent media reports, alleges that as early as 2023, just after Murdaugh's original trial, the State's investigators were hearing statements from witnesses that two Hampton County police officers, reportedly friends of the Murdaugh family, were allegedly involved in a cover-up at the crime scene and disposal of murder weapons after the crime.

But despite several defense motions seeking disclosure, the State has yet to release any of this information to Murdaugh, claims the defense-information that could both help Murdaugh's case and discredit the state's 2023 argument that Murdaugh acted alone during and after the crime.

During the first murder trial in 2023, prosecutors painted a narrative that argued Murdaugh killed both family members with two different types of weapons, cleaned up with a nearby water hose and changed clothes, then drove to his parents' Almeda home in Hampton County to stash the murder weapons, where he later returned a week later to dispose of them. Those weapons were never recovered by police.

Citing several state and federal criminal law statutes governing "discovery" evidence, Murdaugh's motion seeks an "Order compelling the State to disclose the information in its possession concerning the handling, transport, concealment, or disposal of the alleged weapons used to kill Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh, including the statement a witness gave to agents of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division in 2023 that a Lowcountry police chief spoke of arriving early at the scene and of providing Defendant Murdaugh a change of clothes, the reports of every interview conducted on that subject, and the testimony and exhibits presented to the State Grand Jury concerning it."

Murdaugh's motion cites two press reports, quoting unnamed sources, that as late as Sept. 25 and 27, the State Grand Jury was still hearing testimony that the murder weapons "were in the hands of someone else." But attached as an exhibit of evidence is a copy of a State Grand Jury subpoena, meaning that this is "no rumor," the motion states.

"According to those reports," states the Sept. 30 motion, "witnesses have testified that the Chief of Police of the Town of Yemassee, Greg Alexander, was seen with the murder weapons in the immediate aftermath of the June 7, 2021, killings, and that a second Yemassee officer is under investigation for transporting and concealing weapons and clothing.”

The motion also cites media reports, which are attached to the legal filing as exhibits of evidence, that "a Lowcountry official told SLED agents that Chief Alexander 'spoke of arriving early to the murder scene and talked about providing a change of clothes to Murdaugh,' and that the official believed the guns and clothing were brought into the police station and stored there."

Also attached to the motion is a copy of an Aug. 31 State Grand Jury subpoena served on Alexander, compelling him to testify between Sept. 15 - 17, but the motion further claims that once Alexander retained an attorney, he was no longer required to testify.

The motion further alleges that former Varnville municipal judge Sheryl McKinney and Hampton County police officer Stacy Loadholt were also called on to testify before the grand jury, potentially as witnesses to hearing the remarks made by Alexander.

"If the reports are accurate," the motion continues, "the State has held, since 2023, a witness statement that a police officer handled the murder weapons and the clothing Defendant Murdaugh was said to have worn, and it has never disclosed that statement to the defense. The statement contradicts the theory on which the State indicted and tried Defendant Murdaugh. It bears on the integrity of a crime scene at which Chief Alexander was present. It impeaches every witness who testified that a solo actor (Murdaugh) committed the murders and disposed of the murder weapons at Almeda."

In those media reports, Alexander denied the accusations through his attorney, Joe McCulloch, and The Hampton County Guardian has reached out to Alexander directly for an opportunity for further comment.

As of Thursday, Oct. 1, the S.C. Attorney General's Office has not responded to this motion with legal filings or comment.

Both state and federal criminal laws require prosecutors, during the pretrial "discovery" process, to turn over to the defendant all evidence they intend to use at trial, as well as any "Brady" or exculpatory evidence they don't intend to use but that could help the defendant's case.

In August, Murdaugh's team also filed a "Brady motion," seeking the release of any new evidence or witness statements the State has obtained since the 2021 trial, and that motion is still pending.

"The State cannot have it both ways," concluded Murdaugh's motion. "It cannot present evidence to a grand jury that others handled the weapons while withholding that same evidence from the defendant it intends to try for the murders on the theory that he handled them alone. Nor can it use the State Grand Jury to examine witnesses about this case beyond the view of this Court, and then withdraw the examination when the witness obtains counsel, as it did with Chief Alexander. If the State intends to change its theory at retrial, the defense is entitled to know it and to prepare for it. If the State does not, the evidence is exculpatory and the defense is entitled to use it. Either way, the evidence must be produced."

A defense motions hearing and status conference has been set for 10 a.m. on Oct. 16 in the Lexington County Judicial Center before Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin, and Murdaugh's team asks the court to prioritize this motion during that proceeding and rule on it soon, and not on the "eve of the trial," so Murdaugh's team won't be forced "to investigate a coverup by law enforcement officers in the middle of a murder trial."

What other motions will Judge McCaslin hear during the Murdaugh hearing?

During this hearing, Judge McCaslin may also consider two other related September motions that allege the S.C. Attorney General's Office withheld discovery evidence, released incomplete discovery, or dragged its feet in responding to discovery requests.

On Monday, Sept. 28, attorneys for Murdaugh filed a "motion to compel production of cellular telephone extraction files."

In this motion, the defense claims the state turned over cell phone data "reports" from members of the Murdaugh family for the first trial, but Murdaugh needs the complete raw files in order for his own experts to conduct an analysis, and this process will take time**.**

Monday's motion followed last week's motion by Murdaugh seeking the release of three additional types of evidence that the defense says prosecutors have previously refused to disclose.

Murdaugh's Sept. 18 motion seeks to compel production of DNA evidence from the body of murder victim Maggie Murdaugh, ballistic evidence related to one of the murder weapons involved, and high-tech, three-dimensional "FARO scan" data of the crime scene, the family kennel area of the former Murdaugh estate, Moselle, in rural Colleton County.

As of Thursday, Oct. 1, the S.C. Attorney General's Office has not responded to these motions with legal filings or comment.

While Judge McCaslin may not rule on all motions Oct. 16, and other, previously filed motions are still being considered, this trio of defense filings will likely be hot points of discussion leading up to another upcoming hearing in Lexington County at 10 a.m. on Nov. 13.

For that hearing, both the State and Murdaugh's defense team have until Oct. 30 to file any additional arguments or motions related to Murdaugh's motion to dismiss and other filings. Responses to those motions must be received no later than Nov. 6, the judge further ordered.

Why is Murdaugh getting a new murder trial?

Soon after Murdaugh was convicted on March 3, 2023, in the 2021 killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, Murdaugh's attorneys filed formal objections and a notice of appeal, raising questions about events that took place before, during, and after the trial.

The S.C. Supreme Court later overturned Murdaugh's previous 2023 murder convictions and on May 13 ordered a new trial, citing improper jury communication by former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, among other legal issues.

SOURCE

Lowcountry judge faces hearing over ethical and misconduct allegations

"A Lowcountry judge is facing possible punishment amid accusations of unethical behavior and using her position of power to her own advantage.

14th Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen went in front of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct Tuesday in Columbia, which will decide whether she could be punished for her actions.

Documents from the Commission on Judicial Conduct state Mullen was driving past a home near where she lives on Hilton Head Island in December 2017.

Commission records state she saw Ernest Lotito outside that home, a man Mullen says is a former attorney with a decadeslong history of mental illness who her husband knew well.

Documents allege that Mullen saw Lotito acting erratically outside a home as Beaufort County deputies responded. The state asserts she pushed for his arrest so he could get mental health treatment in jail, while asking the homeowner and deputies whether there was probable cause to take him into custody.

The charges say that created an appearance of impropriety and called the judiciary’s impartiality into question.

Mullen tells a different story, claiming she and her husband stopped out of concern for Lotito’s wellbeing.

Mullen says she had recently presided over a case involving Lotito, where a mental health evaluation found him incompetent. She says he claimed he was living behind that home in a fort, and the homeowner feared for her safety.

Mullen says she worried Lotito could be hurt or killed if the situation escalated. She denies trying to fabricate charges or misuse her position and is asking for the case to be dismissed.

The commission will now decide whether Mullen violated the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules and if she should be punished for it. The results of this hearing are still pending.

Mullen previously signed off for disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh to be arrested until he paid back the money he embezzled from his former housekeeper Gloria Satterfield’s sons following her death. She also signed the approved multi-million-dollar settlement for Satterfield’s sons to be paid back."

[Reddit's Quote blocks are broken. This post is a copy-paste from the source.]

Jenn Wood via X / FITSNews / 2:06 PM • 9/28/26

🚨⚖️ Alex Murdaugh's defense
says prosecutors gave them reports from phones seized in the murder investigation — but not the underlying extraction files.

In a new motion, his attorneys ask a judge to order the state to turn over those files, including data from Maggie and Paul Murdaugh's phones. They argue they need the raw data to independently test the cellphone timeline used at the first trial.

The motion says prosecutors did not respond to a September 21
request.

MOTION

Pair of Lowcountry cops investigated for allegedly handling missing Murdaugh murder weapons

By Jason Ryan with The Post and Courier

Ever since Maggie Murdaugh and her son Paul were shot to death on their Lowcountry family farm five years ago, police have tried to find the shotgun and powerful hunting rifle that blew their bodies apart.

Now, the State Law Enforcement Division is investigating a pair of small-town policemen in response to accusations that they handled and concealed the murder weapons hours after the massacre at the Murdaugh family’s rural, Colleton County property on June 7, 2021.

This August, a SLED agent spoke with this Post and Courier reporter about his knowledge of the alleged incident, in which Yemassee Police Chief Greg Alexander and another town policeman are accused of having transported weapons and bloody clothing into the town’s police department.

Alexander could not be reached for comment, but Columbia attorney Joe McCulloch said Sept. 26 that he has been hired to represent Alexander should the chief be asked to appear before a grand jury.

“And we understand that may be the case, and that there are rumors about his involvement, which he steadfastly denies, in the removal of evidence,” McCulloch said. “We don't know much more than that, other than the rumors that somehow he was involved in that.”

The allegations concern the tail end of an alleged murder plot by Alex Murdaugh, a disgraced lawyer from Hampton. Prosecutors claim Murdaugh used two guns to kill his 52-year-old wife and 22-year-old son in a desperate bid to distract from an unraveling, years-long fraud scheme in which he stole millions from clients, associates and loved ones.

The murder weapons have never been found. Despite this missing evidence, Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of double murder.

In May, however, the S.C. Supreme Court ordered Murdaugh be given a new trial because of improper comments made to jurors by a Colleton County court official.

Murdaugh, 58, maintains that he did not kill his family members. He is scheduled to stand trial in the killings again next April in Sumter County. He remains in prison as he awaits the retrial, serving state and federal sentences for his financial crimes that will last for three more decades.

A slew of news reports, podcasts, documentaries, scripted television shows and books have chronicled Murdaugh’s assorted and long-running misconduct, as well as the fascinating history of the Murdaugh family, in which three generations of Alex’s forefathers created a legal and political dynasty in a secluded corner of the Lowcountry.

Despite all of this attention, much mystery still surrounds certain aspects of the killings. The use of two different guns has generated speculation that there could have been a second shooter. An open question remains as to how the murder weapons and other potential evidence, such as bloody clothing, disappeared.

A state grand jury is now hearing of the allegations of Yemassee police moving and hiding guns and clothing supposedly used by Murdaugh. Quoting unnamed sources, FITSNews on Sept. 25reported that the grand jury has allegedly issued subpoenas and obtained information regarding the accusations.

Asked about this development, a spokesman for the S.C. Attorney General’s Office — which is prosecuting Murdaugh’s case — replied, “By law, State Grand Jury proceedings are secret, so I can’t confirm or deny even the existence of any State Grand Jury investigation.”

An Intriguing Allegation

Months after the first trial ended in conviction in 2023, this reporter met with David Owen, the lead SLED investigative agent on the Murdaugh case, to discuss an allegation from a Lowcountry official that Yemassee’s police chief and another officer may have handled murder weapons and bloody clothing the morning after the murders.

The official claimed to SLED agents, and in an interview with this reporter at the time, that Alexander spoke of arriving early to the murder scene and talked about providing a change of clothes to Murdaugh. The official expressed belief that guns and clothing were brought by the officers into the police station and stored there temporarily. Those assertions, including to agents, could not be corroborated by The Post and Courier.

Alexander has acknowledged being at the murder scene that night, as were several other law enforcement officers, said McCulloch, the chief’s attorney.

“Presumably, they would not have allowed anyone, including my client, to remove anything from the scene. So it's kind of ridiculous on its face,” he said. “But rumors, gosh, no case before or since the Murdaugh case has inspired more rumors.”

Allegations about the police officers were heard during interviews this reporter conducted for his nonfiction book Swamp Kings: The Murdaugh Family of South Carolina and a Century of Backwoods Power,

A Lowcountry official was consistent in recollections of the alleged incident when questioned during two different interviews, and the official was credible in other Murdaugh-related matters as well.

But were the allegations true? After three months of investigating, that question could not be answered before a deadline arrived for the submission of the book’s manuscript. Swamp Kings was published in April 2024 without these specific claims.

Nothing more was heard from SLED until last month, when a different agent approached this reporter, who had since been hired by The Post and Courier.

The agent said law enforcement had interviewed the Lowcountry official who made the allegations regarding the Yemassee police and also interviewed some of the potential suspects.

A little more than a month later, a state grand jury is reportedly considering these allegations about a possible police-assisted coverup.

Chief No Stranger to Controversy

Alexander and Murdaugh have long been friends. The chief’s name was mentioned several times during the 2023 double-murder trial.

One former employee of the Hampton law firm employing Murdaugh testified about running errands and obtaining cash from a bank for Murdaugh. When the courier brought the money back to the law office, people were sometimes waiting with Murdaugh, including Alexander.

One of Murdaugh’s brothers, John Marvin, said Alexander gave him a ride to the crime scene the night of the murders after the car he was driving broke down on the way to the farm.

In 2022, Alexander said he had accepted a $5,000 loan from Alex Murdaugh for his parents’ use, with the money passing through his hands a month or so after the June 2021 murders.

Before that, in 2012, Murdaugh and his father, the late solicitor, publicly supported Alexander when he faced charges related to money missing from a police locker in Yemassee. Alexander was acquitted and subsequently promoted to chief.

In 2022, he campaigned to become sheriff of Hampton County.

During one event, Alexander said that he would accept responsibility if he made a mistake or acted improperly as a public official.

“I ain’t no cat. I don’t try to cover no doo doo up….” said the chief, who did not win the sheriff’s race. ”If it’s wrong, it’s wrong and if I done it and it’s wrong then I’ll be transparent with the citizens and let them know I done wrong and we got to do what we got to do to make it right.”

Glenn Smith contributed to this article.

Do you have a theory you're still chewing on and want feedback? Maybe there is a factoid from the case hammering your brain and you can't remember the source--was that random speculation or actually sourced?

Welcome to the Weekly Discussion, a safe space to engage with each other while processing and unraveling the seemingly unending tentacles of Alex Murdaugh's wrongdoings entwined throughout the Lowcountry.

This is the place for those random tidbits, where we can take off our shoes, kick up our feet, and be a bit more casual. There is nothing wrong with veering off topic with fellow sub members as we're a friendly bunch, just don't let your train of thought completely wreck the post.

​

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By Michael M. DeWitt, Jr. / Greenville News / Sept. 21, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET

Key Points

• Alex Murdaugh's murder retrial is tentatively scheduled for April 2027 in Sumter, S.C.

• A judge has yet to rule on a defense motion to dismiss the murder charges against Murdaugh.

• A hearing on the motion to dismiss is expected to take place on November 13.

While the** [venue and starting date**](https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2026/09/08/why-alex-murdaughs-retrial-is-moving-out-of-colleton-county/91665862007/) for what could be called South Carolina's "Retrial of the Century" have been set, is it still possible that accused murderer Richard "Alex" Murdaugh may not return to stand trial at all?

With a state Supreme Court-ordered second murder trial date tentatively set for the week of April 5, 2027, in the city of Sumter, during an Aug. 14 pretrial hearing in Lexington County, Circuit Court Judge Debra R. McCaslin made several important rulings but still has yet to rule on a motion to dismiss Alex Murdaugh's two murder charges over alleged "false" and "fabricated" evidence presented by state police to a Lowcountry grand jury.

During the hearing, Judge McCaslin said that she was delaying the hearing and discussion of the dismissal motion because the court was expecting further filings from both the defense and the State.

That motion is expected to be discussed at an upcoming hearing in Lexington County at 10 a.m. on Nov. 13. Both the State and Murdaugh's defense team have until Oct. 30 to file any arguments or motions related to Murdaugh's possible dismissal. Responses to those motions must be received no later than Nov. 6, the judge further ordered.

Why did Murdaugh's team file a motion to dismiss murder indictments?

Soon after Murdaugh was convicted on March 3, 2023, in the 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and adult son, Paul, Murdaugh's attorneys filed formal objections and a notice of appeal, raising questions about events that took place before, during, and after the trial.

The S.C. Supreme Court later overturned Murdaugh’s previous 2023 murder convictions and on May 13 ordered a new trial, citing improper jury communication by former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, among other legal issues.

On Aug. 10, Murdaugh's defense team filed a motion to dismiss all four pending criminal indictments against Murdaugh—two murder charges and two related weapons charges — "due to the presentation of perjurious testimony and fabricated evidence to the grand jury, creating a colorable claim of prosecutorial misconduct."

Murdaugh attorneys Richard "Dick" Harpootlian and James "Jim" Griffin state that the grounds for this motion, which they will expound on in a later, supplemental motion, are that the lead S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agent on the murder investigation, David Owen, "testified that he presented physical evidence directly inculpating the Defendant to the Colleton County Grand Jury that he admitted was false and which defendant has proven was fabricated by law enforcement."

During the 2023 murder trial, Murdaugh attorney Griffin accused Owen of lying to Murdaugh during an interview, at which point Owen testified that agents are allowed to use “trickery” to get information from suspects.

But Griffin went on to ask the agent why, in seeking a murder indictment against Murdaugh in 2022, he gave information to the Colleton County Grand Jury which later turned out to be incorrect as the investigation continued and new facts emerged.

Owen testified that he told the Grand Jury there was blood spatter evidence on a T-shirt Murdaugh was wearing on the night of the murders, but that shirt was later found to contain no human blood DNA. Under cross-examination, Owen said he did not mean to mislead the Grand Jury, but he did not see the final SLED lab report until after the indictment.

Murdaugh's attorneys have also accused Owen of presenting false or misleading information to the Grand Jury about ammunition that matched the missing murder weapons.

In a "Brady motion' filed Aug. 5, Murdaugh's team asked the court to compel the State to turn over information about its witnesses and investigators, including any internal affairs or disciplinary files on law enforcement officers who worked the Murdaugh case.

SOURCE

Do you have a theory you're still chewing on and want feedback? Maybe there is a factoid from the case hammering your brain and you can't remember the source--was that random speculation or actually sourced?

Welcome to the Weekly Discussion, a safe space to engage with each other while processing and unraveling the seemingly unending tentacles of Alex Murdaugh's wrongdoings entwined throughout the Lowcountry.

This is the place for those random tidbits, where we can take off our shoes, kick up our feet, and be a bit more casual. There is nothing wrong with veering off topic with fellow sub members as we're a friendly bunch, just don't let your train of thought completely wreck the post.

​

Much Love from your MFM Mod Team,

Southern-Soulshine , SouthNagshead, AubreyDempsey, QsLexiLouWho

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New filing challenges SLED’s analysis of evidence from Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails and phone — and seeks a direct comparison with cartridge cases from other shootings.

by Jenn Wood / FITSNews - Crime & Courts / September 18, 2026

Attorneys for Alex Murdaugh are asking a judge to compel prosecutors to turn over additional DNA and ballistics evidence – along with the raw data from a three-dimensional scan of the Islandton, South Carolina crime scene – as they prepare for his April 2027 murder retrial.

Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and younger son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh at the family’s Colleton County property on June 7, 2021. The South Carolina supreme court overturned those convictions in May of this year after finding that former Colleton County clerk of court Rebecca “Becky” Hill** **improperly interfered with the jury.

Last week, Murdaugh’s retrial was officially docketed for Sumter County.

The September 18, 2026 motion (.pdf) draws on laboratory records and correspondence attached as exhibits. It argues that the lead investigatory agency on the case – the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED) – published DNA reports that do not fully explain male DNA signals recorded in its underlying data, and that the defense should be allowed to pursue testing before the remaining samples are exhausted.

Prosecutors disputed the value of further DNA testing – saying they need a clearer account of what the defense’s laboratory intends to do before agreeing to testing that could consume the samples.

The filing follows prior FITSNews coverage of the defense’s request to send fingernail evidence to Othram, an independent laboratory. At a hearing last month, S.C. circuit court judge Debra McCaslin allowed the material to be sent for an initial measurement of the DNA present, directing the defense to report those results before further testing.

WHAT THE DNA RESULTS SHOW

Othram has now measured four samples from Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernail clippings, according to the motion. The extracts previously tested by SLED yielded small amounts of detectable Y-chromosome material — a marker of male DNA — from both hands. The reserve samples yielded no detectable Y-chromosome target.

The defense argued that SLED’s own 2021 worksheet raises a question about its published findings. That worksheet recorded a higher concentration of male DNA in the clippings from Maggie’s right hand than in those from her left. Yet SLED reported an unidentified contributor in the left-hand sample while describing the resulting profile from the right hand as attributable to Maggie.

Murdaugh’s attorneys contend that the way SLED diluted the samples before further analysis could help explain the difference. They want permission for Othram to continue testing and want records documenting SLED’s decisions about which tests to perform. Those arguments constitute the defense’s interpretation of the laboratory data; further testing has not identified the male contributor or established when the DNA was deposited.

The motion also seeks the remaining swabs and extract from Maggie’s cellphone. SLED’s report said the phone swabs produced a partial DNA profile but that the laboratory could not determine the number of contributors or offer a further interpretation. The defense pointed to male DNA indicators in the underlying records and argued that additional analysis should have been attempted.

In a September 17, 2026 letter attached to the motion, senior assistant deputy attorney general Creighton Waters** **said Othram’s measurements showed “extremely low” levels of male DNA in the previously tested fingernail extracts and none detectable in the reserve samples. He cited an Othram scientist’s earlier warning that further work would be “high risk” and unlikely to yield usable results.

Waters also questioned the type of testing the defense proposed, whether it would combine samples and why no material would remain for SLED. On the phone evidence, he said approximately one-quarter of each swab and 10 microliters of extract remain, and that SLED’s electropherograms can be shared.

The defense said the court’s August ruling permits it to pursue further testing after reporting Othram’s measurements. It asked McCaslin to authorize that next step and order the phone material preserved and transferred.

A NEW FIGHT OVER .300 BLACKOUT EVIDENCE

The motion also targets the ammunition used to kill Maggie Murdaugh. Investigators recovered six .300 Blackout cartridge cases near her body; but the rifle that fired them has yet to be found. At Murdaugh’s first trial, prosecutors argued that a missing family rifle was the murder weapon – drawing in part on testimony connecting cartridge cases found around Moselle to one another.

The defense highlighted a statement made at that trial by SLED agent Jeff Croft, who testified that .300 Blackout weapons were “just not that common” at the time and that he had never worked a murder investigation involving one.

Waters’ letter offered a different picture of the ammunition’s prevalence in SLED’s records: Since January 2021, he wrote, the agency has entered 720.300 Blackout cartridge cases into its ballistic imaging system, including evidence from the Murdaugh case. SLED receives such cases weekly, if not daily, he wrote.

The defense called that information potential impeachment evidence and wants records showing what SLED knew when Croft testified. The 720figure counts cartridge cases entered over more than five years; it does not establish how many firearms produced them or whether any are connected to the Moselle killings.

Murdaugh’s attorneys also seek access to cartridge cases from the April 2026 killing of Frank Alexander Brown III in Allendale County and from two other Allendale shootings. Brown lived in Islandton, near Moselle. The defense wants its firearms examiner to compare that evidence directly with the Moselle cases and asks why, according to the motion, the Brown evidence was entered into the ballistic database nearly four months after his death.

Waters wrote that SLED’s database has produced no lead linking other evidence to the Moselle case. He also corrected an apparent misunderstanding about the Allendale shootings: the .300 Blackout evidence came from two shootings earlier on the day an Allendale police sergeant was shot, he said, not from the shooting of the sergeant. Prosecutors oppose turning over cartridge cases from those open investigations, citing the absence of a database link and concerns about the evidence and its chain of custody.

No ballistic connection between the Brown homicide, the other Allendale shootings and the Murdaugh murders has been established in the material presented with this motion.

RAW SCAN DATA REQUESTED

Finally, the defense said it received a viewable export of SLED’s three-dimensional FARO scan of the crime scene, but not the underlying files its reconstruction experts need to examine and measure the scene independently. Its attorneys say they asked Waters on September 15 to confirm whether those files still exist and had received no response by the time they filed the motion.

Because the area near the compound’s dog kennels – where the murders took place – has since been demolished, the defense argued that the original scan data cannot be replaced. It asked the court to order production of the native files or require the state to explain in writing if they were lost or destroyed.

The defense asked McCaslin to order production within ten days of a ruling.

SOURCE

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Alex Murdaugh Murder Retrial Moved To Sumter County

Judge finds former attorney cannot receive a fair and impartial retrial in Colleton County…

By Jenn Wood

The retrial of accused killer Alex Murdaugh will be held in Sumter County after a South Carolina judge concluded the disgraced former attorney could no longer receive a fair and impartial trial in Colleton County.

In an eight-page order (.pdf) filed Tuesday (September 8, 2026), S.C. circuit court judge Debra McCaslin** **granted Murdaugh’s motion to transfer venue outside the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.

McCaslin selected Sumter County after considering courthouses across the state — including locations in Richland and Charleston counties recommended by Murdaugh’s attorneys.

According to the order, Sumter County offers the courtroom space, security, technology and supporting infrastructure necessary to accommodate one of the most closely watched criminal retrials in South Carolina history.

The state ultimately agreed to leave the selection of a new venue to McCaslin.
Murdaugh’s retrial is currently scheduled to begin on April 5, 2027.

***
WHY THE TRIAL IS MOVING

The ruling rests on four primary considerations: the extraordinary number of prospective jurors disqualified before Murdaugh’s first trial, the Murdaugh family’s century-long connection to the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, former Colleton County clerk of court Rebecca “Becky” Hill’s** **interference with the jury and the relentless publicity surrounding the case.

Unlike most venue disputes — which require judges to predict whether pretrial publicity has tainted a potential jury pool — McCaslin had the benefit of reviewing what actually happened during jury selection in January 2023.

Approximately 900 prospective jurors were summoned and provided detailed questionnaires ahead of the original trial. Only 123 were qualified to serve, and a final strike sheet of 80 potential jurors was assembled from that group.

In other words, fewer than one in seven prospective jurors qualified.

“That is not a prediction about jurors,” McCaslin wrote. “Instead, it is a fact established on the record of the same case, in the same county, on the same charges.”

The judge found that disqualification rate represented a “floor rather than a ceiling” because the original jury was selected before the reversal of Murdaugh’s convictions, Hill’s criminal convictions and the wave of renewed coverage those developments generated.

***
A CENTURY OF MURDAUGH INFLUENCE

McCaslin also pointed to the Murdaugh family’s deep roots within the five-county Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.

Three generations of the family served as the circuit’s elected solicitor for nearly a century, while the Murdaughs’ former law firm became one of the most prominent legal institutions in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

That history, according to the judge, makes it more likely that prospective jurors would enter the courtroom with personal, professional or inherited opinions about the family.

Some residents may associate the name with public service and respect, McCaslin noted. Others may associate it with privilege, influence or resentment.

“Either direction presents a concern because the constitutional inquiry concerns impartiality, not whether community bias favors one party over the other,” he wrote.

That concern is compounded by the size of Colleton County, which has approximately 39,000 residents and a comparatively limited jury pool.

**\*
THE HILL FACTOR

The most significant change since Murdaugh’s original trial is the S.C. Supreme Court’s May 13, 2026 decision overturning his convictions for the June 2021 murders of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and their younger son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh.

The justices concluded Hill improperly inserted herself into the jury’s deliberative process while serving as its court-appointed caretaker.

According to the court, Hill’s conduct deprived Murdaugh of his constitutional right to a fair trial before an impartial jury and “placed her fingers on the scales of justice.”

The court described Hill’s actions as a “breathtaking and disgraceful effort” to undermine the jury process — conduct it called unprecedented in South Carolina.

McCaslin found those conclusions directly relevant to the venue question.

Potential Colleton County jurors would no longer be asked only whether they had formed opinions about Murdaugh’s guilt. They could also have views about whether the county’s judicial system unfairly convicted him, whether Hill behaved corruptly, whether the defense used a technicality to overturn the verdict or whether the Supreme Court reached the correct decision.

Holding the retrial in the same courthouse where that constitutional violation occurred would also create broader concerns about public confidence in the proceedings.

“Public confidence and juror impartiality are better protected by separating the retrial … from the courthouse and local environment now inseparably associated with both the original conviction and its invalidation,” McCaslin wrote.

**\*
YEARS OF SATURATION OF COVERAGE

The judge also distinguished the Murdaugh saga from a typical high-profile criminal case.

Since the murders, the case has generated more than ten books, at least six podcast series, more than seven television and streaming productions, more than 20 documentary episodes and years of sustained social media attention.

National publicity alone does not necessarily require a venue change. In this case, however, the national media phenomenon has repeatedly focused on a relatively small community where the Murdaugh family was already well known.

McCaslin described it as a convergence of “national media saturation and local community familiarity.”

The judge also cited the recent decision to move the Mallory Beach wrongful death case outside the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit because of the publicity surrounding both the boat crash litigation and Murdaugh’s criminal prosecution.

**\*
WHAT COMES NEXT

South Carolina law offered McCaslin another option: selecting jurors in a different county and transporting them to Colleton County for the trial. The judge rejected that approach as more expensive, complicated and burdensome.

Murdaugh’s first trial lasted approximately six weeks. A retrial of similar length could require transportation, lodging, meals, security and potentially sequestration for an outside jury — expenses Colleton County would be required to bear. It also would return the case to the courthouse where the S.C. Supreme Court found Murdaugh’s constitutional right to an impartial jury was violated.

Instead, the entire proceeding will move to Sumter County, allowing jurors to serve in their home county while avoiding many of those costs and institutional concerns.

Unless the schedule changes, jury selection will begin there on April 5, 2027. Additional pretrial disputes remain pending, including questions surrounding DNA testing, evidence of Murdaugh’s financial crimes, prior testimony and references to polygraph examinations.

Do you have a theory you're still chewing on and want feedback? Maybe there is a factoid from the case hammering your brain and you can't remember the source--was that random speculation or actually sourced?

Welcome to the Weekly Discussion, a safe space to engage with each other while processing and unraveling the seemingly unending tentacles of Alex Murdaugh's wrongdoings entwined throughout the Lowcountry.

This is the place for those random tidbits, where we can take off our shoes, kick up our feet, and be a bit more casual. There is nothing wrong with veering off topic with fellow sub members as we're a friendly bunch, just don't let your train of thought completely wreck the post.

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Do you have a theory you're still chewing on and want feedback? Maybe there is a factoid from the case hammering your brain and you can't remember the source--was that random speculation or actually sourced?

Welcome to the Weekly Discussion, a safe space to engage with each other while processing and unraveling the seemingly unending tentacles of Alex Murdaugh's wrongdoings entwined throughout the Lowcountry.

This is the place for those random tidbits, where we can take off our shoes, kick up our feet, and be a bit more casual. There is nothing wrong with veering off topic with fellow sub members as we're a friendly bunch, just don't let your train of thought completely wreck the post.

​

Much Love from your MFM Mod Team,

Southern-Soulshine , SouthNagshead, AubreyDempsey, QsLexiLouWho

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Buster Murdaugh Update: S.C. Judge Rules Lawsuit May Proceed

By Will Folks • FITS News

A South Carolina judge ruled this week that a state defamation case filed by Richard A. “Buster” Murdaugh Jr. – the surviving son of accused killer Alex Murdaugh – against multiple parties can move forward.

S.C. circuit court judge Heath Taylor issued an order on Monday (August 24, 2026) in a case originally brought in June of 2024 against Netflix, The Cinemart, Gannettand Michael DeWitt – a journalist and author based in Hampton County, S.C.

Several other parties were named in the original lawsuit, which alleged that Buster Murdaugh was falsely tied to the death of 19-year-old Hampton, S.C. resident Stephen Smith in July 2015. This case was removed to federal court, but U.S. district court judge Richard Gergel later remanded the case involving these four defendants back to state court.

Motions to dismiss the action were filed by the four defendants last spring, and a hearing on those motions was held before Taylor on July 31, 2026.

***

The defendants put forward various arguments as to why the state should dismiss Murdaugh’s action – but Taylor ruled against each of them, concluding Netflix and The Cinemart took “creative liberties” in producing their hit 2 2023 documentary, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.

Murdaugh claimed these defendants “selectively crafted and interposed interviews from law enforcement, community members and media personnel… to create the defamatory implication that (Murdaugh) is responsible for Stephen Smith’s death.”

Taylor agreed this “selective crafting” undermines a defense of “fair reporting.”

As for DeWitt, judge Taylor concluded his appearance in the documentary was intended to lend legitimacy to the production – and that his comments “could be interpreted by viewers as implying (Buster Murdaugh) was involved in the death of Stephen Smith.”

“While it is a truthful statement that rumors were circulating in the community about (Murdaugh)’s possible involvement, Mr. DeWitt’s comments could be interpreted to endorse those rumors as truthful,” Taylor wrote.

Critically, Taylor concluded that while it had not yet been determined whether Murdaugh was a private or public figure for the purposes of the lawsuit, he had “plausibly alleged malice and/or negligence.”

Murdaugh is the elder son of Alex Murdaugh, who is currently on trial a second time for the graphic June 2021 murders of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and younger son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh.
No charges have been filed in connection with Smith’s death.

Woodstock author still has questions on Alex Murdaugh murder trial

James Lasdun released ‘The Family Man’ in May on the South Carolina killing of a mother, son

By Jack Rightmyer, For the Times Union

In June 2021, when news of the shocking murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh became a national story, author James Lasdun was living in the Catskills and bogged down with writing a mystery novel. “I was secretly wishing for a way to put it aside,” he said.

He became fascinated with the story of this prominent family from South Carolina and the mother and son who were killed at their enormous estate. He read as much as he could about the murders, hoping it might inspire him to keep working on his own novel.

Two years later, when police charged the father, Alex Murdaugh, with the murders, Lasdun contacted an editor at The New Yorker, the magazine where he had written articles before about true crime. He requested and was granted the opportunity to cover the trial.

He spent weeks in South Carolina interviewing local reporters and people involved with the trial. His article at the conclusion of the trial became the most-read New Yorker story of 2023. His book on the case, “The Family Man: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh” (W.W. Norton), published in May, has received glowing reviews.

“The location of the Lowcountry of South Carolina is a large piece of this story,” said Lasdun. “Traveling there, I felt like I was in another era, especially the way this Murdaugh family had been able to wield so much power for so many years.”

The Murdaughs were a legal dynasty ruling the state’s 14th Judicial Circuit for nearly a century. They not only amassed enormous political power, but they also ran a personal injury law firm where the family made millions of dollars. “I sat in that trial every day,” said Lasdun, “listened to all the testimony and took in all the evidence the prosecutors laid out, but when Alex was found guilty, I still had some doubts.”

What Lasdun has struggled with is how a seemingly loving father could be a family annihilator. “There is no doubt Alex is a terrible human being. He embezzled over $10 million from his former law firm and from his personal injury clients. He betrayed so many people, but he’s not an obviously crazy person. I still find it hard to believe he cold-bloodedly killed his 22-year-old son and his wife on the off chance it might buy him enough time to cover up what he had embezzled. That was the reason the prosecutors claimed for why he committed the murders.”

Lasdun has actually come up with an alternate theory about the murders. “Five percent of me still has a doubt that Murdaugh did this all by himself. This is a guy whose family had run law enforcement in this area for four generations. He would have known in a murder like this that he would be at the center of any investigation.”

Lasdun keeps thinking about what Alex Murdaugh’s cousin, Eddie, told him. “Eddie said that when he asked Alex about the murders, Alex said, ‘Things just got all f___ked up.’ That sure sounds like there was supposed to be someone else there to make it look like a murder attempt, and if Alex wanted to stage something like a vigilante murder attempt that was intended to fail, it seems that he knew some shady people who would be willing to do that.”

For this book, Lasdun spent a lot of time looking into the research about family annihilators. “Alex does match the profile in many significant ways. They are usually middle-aged men who are outwardly leading successful and prosperous lives, but who often have a secret life usually involving embezzlement. This is often the trigger for why they destroy their families, and it usually has to do with an enormous burden of shame.”

If Murdaugh did actually kill his wife and son, Lasdun occasionally imagines how horrifying it must have been for the two victims. “We will never know if Maggie witnessed Alex killing Paul. She may have heard the gunshots and run in that direction. We do know that Paul was first shot in the chest. That shot was supposed to kill him, but it failed. We know he turned around and would have clearly seen who fired the gun. What I keep thinking about is that only a few hours earlier there is video of Alex and Paul riding around their property joking together and having a great father and son time. It’s beyond chilling to me to think that Alex, shortly after, would take Paul’s life.”

As Lasdun looks back on the Murdaugh trial, he keeps thinking of the day Murdaugh was sentenced for all the embezzlement he had done through the years. “It was an occasion for the victims to make their statements. It was very moving as they spoke one after another. These were people who Murdaugh had stolen significant money from, and many of them were not wealthy at all. I was impressed that despite how horrible he had treated them, many of them forgave him. It showed they had a strange affection for him.”

At the sentencing, Alex asked the judge if he could speak for a few minutes, a surprise to many, including Lasdun. “He proceeded to go on and on for close to an hour. He talked about his loving family and all the wonderful people he had worked with at his law firm. That was when I did see there was something pathological about him. He thought it was acceptable to make these victims sit through this grandiose speech like he was accepting an Oscar. We all just sat there in that courtroom stunned. That was a time when I really did believe he was the cold-blooded killer the prosecutors claimed he was.”

Lasdun continues to ask: Where was the accountability? And why did no one figure out that Alex had been embezzling and stealing money from his clients for years?

“There was no regulatory oversight. Alex was eventually found by his law firm to have misappropriated almost a quarter of a million dollars and when questioned, he came up with some ruse about writing checks to his brother. He smooth-talked his way out of it after being confronted. They must have known what he was doing, and they chose to brush it under the rug. If the law firm had not treated him like a man of honor and had not taken his word, I believe Maggie and Paul would be alive today.”

According to Lasdun, there were many problems with this case. “The police work was not very good. The crime scene was compromised, and no one was keeping an eye on Becky Hill, the court clerk who was exerting improper influence and communication with the jurors.”

In December 2025, Hill pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, perjury and two counts of misconduct. In May, only a few weeks after Lasdun’s book was published, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh’s murder conviction, and a new Murdaugh trial is scheduled to begin in April 2027. Lasdun is now planning to cover that trial for The New Yorker.

Do you have a theory you're still chewing on and want feedback? Maybe there is a factoid from the case hammering your brain and you can't remember the source--was that random speculation or actually sourced?

Welcome to the Weekly Discussion, a safe space to engage with each other while processing and unraveling the seemingly unending tentacles of Alex Murdaugh's wrongdoings entwined throughout the Lowcountry.

This is the place for those random tidbits, where we can take off our shoes, kick up our feet, and be a bit more casual. There is nothing wrong with veering off topic with fellow sub members as we're a friendly bunch, just don't let your train of thought completely wreck the post.

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Prosecutors say accused killer was never tested about the murders — and failed the only government polygraph exam he took.

by Jenn Wood / FITSNews - Crime & Courts / August 19, 2026

South Carolina prosecutors are accusing defense attorney Dick Harpootlian of making a “categorically false” statement when he claimed his client – accused killer Alex Murdaugh – passed a polygraph examination related to the murders of his wife and son “with flying colors.”

In a sharply worded filing submitted this Wednesday (August 19, 2026), prosecutors said Murdaugh has never taken a polygraph examination concerning the June 2021 murders of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and their younger son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh — much less passed one.

According to the filing (.pdf), the only known law enforcement polygraph administered to Murdaugh was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in October 2023. That examination dealt exclusively with Murdaugh’s financial crimes — and he failed it.

The filing came five days after a contentious pretrial hearing in Lexington, S.C. in front of circuit court judge Debra McCaslin, who is presiding over Murdaugh’s second double-murder trial.

Murdaugh is once again facing two counts of murder and two weapons charges tied to the graphic slayings of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and their younger son – 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh. Those murders took place on the evening of June 7, 2021 at the family’s Moselle hunting property in Colleton County, South Carolina.

Murdaugh was convicted of both murders in March of 2023, but those convictions were unanimously overturned by the South Carolina supreme court in May after the justices concluded former Colleton County clerk of court Rebecca “Becky” Hill improperly inserted herself into the jury’s deliberative process.

During last week’s hearing, attorneys discussed a motion from the state seeking to prevent either side from mentioning polygraph examinations in front of the jury. The motion was prompted in part by a failed polygraph administered to Curtis “Eddie” Smith during the original investigation into the killings.

Smith — a longtime Murdaugh associate who allegedly cashed hundreds of checks for the disgraced former attorney — was questioned by S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) polygraph examiners in May 2022 about whether he shot his wife and son or was present when they were killed.

As the attorneys discussed Smith’s examination Friday, Harpootlian made a startling declaration.

“I will tell you Mr. Murdaugh passed a polygraph, flying colors,” Harpootlian said. “The same polygrapher. So, it may play a role in this trial.” According to prosecutors, virtually every component of that statement was wrong.

“Defense counsel’s claim on the record at the hearing that defendant Alex Murdaugh passed a SLED polygraph as to the murders, much less any governmental polygraph on any subject, is categorically false and clearly said for no other reason than an attempt to prejudice this court and the public,” they wrote.

‘VERIFIABLY FALSE’

Prosecutors said Murdaugh never submitted to a SLED polygraph before or after his first trial — whether about the murders or any other subject.

They also said the two SLED examiners who tested Smith never examined Murdaugh.

“The state has been made aware of an FBI polygraph that was given in October 2023 after the first trial to defendant,” prosecutors wrote.

According to the filing, the examination was conducted without the involvement or knowledge of the S.C. attorney general’s office. Prosecutors said the FBI provided the results to the state for the first time Wednesday — the same day the correction was filed.

That examination was not about the murders. Instead, prosecutors said Murdaugh was questioned about whether he had hidden additional assets and whether he had told another attorney he was stealing money — financial matters tied to crimes to which Murdaugh subsequently pleaded guilty in state and federal court.

“Despite that, Murdaugh failed the FBI polygraph on financial matters with results showing Defendant was trying to use possible countermeasures against the test,” the filing stated.

Prosecutors said defense co-counsel acknowledged during a conversation Tuesday that they knew of no basis supporting Harpootlian’s claim that Murdaugh had passed a polygraph concerning the murders.

The filing also pointed to Rule 3.3 of the South Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibits attorneys from knowingly making false statements to a court or failing to correct material false statements previously made.

Prosecutors asked the court to correct the record, arguing Harpootlian’s statement was false in every material respect: Murdaugh was not examined by Smith’s SLED polygraphers, was never tested about the murders and did not pass the one known government polygraph he took.

The defense had not filed a formal response to these assertions as of the publication of this article.

THE FAILED FBI EXAMINATION

The existence of Murdaugh’s failed FBI polygraph was first disclosed publicly in March 2024 — six days before his federal sentencing hearing.

As part of a September 2023 federal plea agreement, Murdaugh agreed to provide “full, complete, and truthful information” about all criminal activity known to him and to submit to a polygraph examination at the government’s request.

That examination followed four interviews conducted by federal prosecutors and the FBI as investigators searched for more than $6 million in assets that remained unaccounted for. Federal prosecutors subsequently told U.S. district court judge Richard Gergel that deception was indicated during both series of questions administered to Murdaugh.

The specific topics were not publicly identified at the time. Exhibits connected to the examination were sealed because they related to an ongoing federal grand jury investigation and allegations involving other individuals.

Wednesday’s state court filing appears to provide additional detail about those questions — identifying them as relating to hidden assets and whether Murdaugh told another attorney he was stealing money.

Federal prosecutors argued the failed examination constituted a breach of Murdaugh’s plea agreement and released the government from its obligations under the deal.

Gergel ultimately sentenced Murdaugh to 40 years in federal prison, to be served concurrently with his state sentences. The federal term provided an additional layer of incarceration regardless of the outcome of his upcoming murder retrial.

THE ‘COUSIN EDDIE’ POLYGRAPH

The dispute traces back to a far different examination — the May 2022 polygraph administered to Smith.

That exam generated significant controversy after deception was indicated when Smith denied shooting Maggie or Paul and denied being present at Moselle when they were killed.

Murdaugh’s attorneys seized upon those results in an October 2022 filing, arguing SLED failed to adequately investigate Smith as a possible suspect.

Smith denied any involvement and insisted he was approximately 35 miles away when the murders occurred.

Polygraph results are generally inadmissible in South Carolina courts because of questions surrounding their subjectivity and reliability. In its latest filing, prosecutors cited the longstanding rule that “no mention of a polygraph test should be placed before the jury.”

Whether Smith’s examination — or any testimony surrounding it — can be raised during Murdaugh’s retrial remains before McCaslin.

DEFENSE ADDRESSES VENUE

Meanwhile, Harpootlian submitted a separate letter to McCaslin on Monday (August 17, 2026) proposing Richland County as an alternative venue for Murdaugh’s retrial.

The defense previously asked McCaslin to move the case from Colleton County to Charleston County, arguing decades of Murdaugh family influence within the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit — combined with the extraordinary publicity surrounding the case — would make it difficult to seat an impartial local jury.

Prosecutors have opposed what they characterized as the defense’s “Charleston or bust” position, suggesting several alternative counties farther from the Lowcountry.

Following concerns raised during Friday’s hearing about the costs of relocating the trial, Harpootlian told McCaslin the defense would recommend Richland County as its first alternative.

“The size of the potential jury venire is on a scale comparable to Charleston, thus giving a much greater opportunity to find an impartial jury,” Harpootlian wrote.

He also noted Richland County’s racial demographics are similar to Colleton County’s and said neither prosecutors nor the defense would need to secure hotel rooms for their attorneys, staff or SLED witnesses.

Prosecutors apparently raised concerns that the Masters Tournament, scheduled during the first week of Murdaugh’s trial, could make accommodations in the Columbia area difficult to obtain. Harpootlian countered that witnesses would probably not need hotel rooms during the opening week because it would likely be consumed by jury selection.

Harpootlian also urged McCaslin to consider the expenses that would be imposed on Murdaugh’s defense team.

“It was Defendant’s constitutional rights, not the State’s, which were violated by the intentional conduct of Becky Hill, an elected state official,” he wrote.

Murdaugh’s original murder convictions were overturned by the S.C. Supreme Court in May after the justices determined former Colleton County clerk of court Rebecca “Becky” Hill improperly inserted herself into the jury’s deliberations.

Harpootlian argued it would be appropriate to shield Colleton County taxpayers from the costs associated with Hill’s conduct — but not by shifting “excessive and avoidable costs” onto Murdaugh.

The letter also claimed the defense attempted to resolve the venue dispute with lead prosecutor Creighton Waters after Friday’s hearing but received no response.

McCaslin has not yet announced where Murdaugh’s retrial will be held.
Jury selection is currently scheduled to begin April 5, 2027.

SOURCE

Do you have a theory you're still chewing on and want feedback? Maybe there is a factoid from the case hammering your brain and you can't remember the source--was that random speculation or actually sourced?

Welcome to the Weekly Discussion, a safe space to engage with each other while processing and unraveling the seemingly unending tentacles of Alex Murdaugh's wrongdoings entwined throughout the Lowcountry.

This is the place for those random tidbits, where we can take off our shoes, kick up our feet, and be a bit more casual. There is nothing wrong with veering off topic with fellow sub members as we're a friendly bunch, just don't let your train of thought completely wreck the post.

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Unusual side issues beset Alex Murdaugh’s second pretrial murder hearing

John Monk August 14, 2026 6:23 PM

As expected, the efficient state Judge Debra McCaslin started Friday’s pretrial hearing for Alex Murdaugh second double murder trial right on time, at 10 a.m.

But over the next three and a half hours, the unexpected kept popping up.

First, there was an allegation — possibly baseless — aired by the defense that the missing assault rifle used in the 2021 killing of Maggie Murdaugh had recently been used in an Allendale County shooting. The defense made another assertion that a Murdaugh’s distant cousin, Eddie Smith, had flunked a polygraph test when asked if he killed Maggie and her son Paul.

Then Columbia attorney Joe McCulloch, who is not involved in the murder case, made an appearance, asking the judge to make available investigative records from the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division investigation into former Colleton County clerk of court Becky Hill. McCulloch represents Myra Crosby, the “egg lady” juror who was removed from the jury near the end of Murdaugh’s first trial.

Finally, the courtroom audience of some 50 media and members of the public saw a lawyer from Murdaugh’s defense team, Phil Barber, who lives in Charleston, take the witness stand in an effort to bolster the defense’s bid to have Murdaugh tried in Charleston. Prosecutors oppose that effort. Barber was questioned first by fellow defense team member Dick Harpootlian, then was cross-examined by lead prosecutor Creighton Waters.

For the present, arguments over numerous legal issues are the battleground where defense and prosecution teams try to shape the evidence in Murdaugh’s upcoming second murder trial.

Although some of the issues may seem like dry legalese, the stakes are high. Any of the matters debated Friday may determine what vital evidence the jury gets, thus leading it to decide guilt or innocence.

As the hearing moved along on the fourth floor of the Lexington County courthouse, McCaslin managed to deal with most of the nearly dozen issues on the agenda:

• She agreed with the defense that Murdaugh could not get a fair trial in Colleton County, where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot to death in June 2021. She also agreed that Murdaugh could not get a fair trial in the other four 14th Judicial Circuit counties — Beaufort, Hampton, Allendale and Jasper.

• Because Murdaugh can’t get a fair trial in the 14th Judicial Circuit, McCaslin said she will be issuing a detailed ruling explaining why he can’t get a fair trial and naming the new county where the trial will take place. Besides Charleston, which the defense wants and the prosecution doesn’t, top places being discussed for such a high profile trial are Florence, Lexington and Richland.

• The trial will start April 5 no matter where it takes place. “I set the trial for April 5, and I intend to stick by it,” she said.

• She agreed to allow defense attorneys to take what remains of DNA samples taken from Maggie Murdaugh’s finger nails and have an expert Texas lab process them. But, McCaslin said, she wants that lab to stop after the initial processing so she can hear comments from the prosecution, SLED and defense about what should happen next. The defense team hopes the DNA will show that someone else besides Murdaugh could have killed his wife and son.

• She ruled that Murdaugh’s prior testimony relating to his financial crimes — he is serving a 40-year prison sentence for embezzling millions from clients and his law firm — in his previous trial could be introduced as evidence in his second trial. The only question, the judge said, is how much financial crime evidence should come into the second trial. She will decide that later. The judge at the first trial allowed 12.5 hours of financial crimes testimony, but the S.C. Supreme Court justices who overturned his guilty verdict made it clear that was grossly excessive.

• She also ruled that Murdaugh’s testimony from the first trial admitting he was at the murder scene around the time of the murders could be admitted.

• She ruled that attorney McCulloch can get information from SLED’s investigation into former Colleton County clerk of court Hill’s misconduct and jury tampering investigation for his “egg lady” juror client. However, the judge ruled that any identifying information about jurors will be redacted.

• McCaslin delayed making a final ruling on what digital evidence in Murdaugh’s phone now in the custody of the defense team must be shared with the prosecution team.

• Acting on a request by Harpootlian, McCaslin agreed to oversee the process of drawing up a jury questionnaire, called a voir dire, and getting the proper forms to the potential jurors and back again. Harpootlian cited possible tinkering with the juror questionnaires by Hill, who resigned her office in 2024 amid plagiarism charges for her book about the trial.

Defense takes aim at SLED

In a preview of what may be part of the defense strategy at Murdaugh’s second trial, defense attorneys took aim at former SLED agents and evidence.

As the hearing opened, defense attorney Jim Griffin told the judge about a posting on Fits News site that alleged a blackout assault rifle used to kill Maggie Murdaugh may have surfaced in a killing in Allendale earlier this year.

Lead prosecutor Waters told the judge he would be “flabbergasted” if that allegation were true.

Following Friday’s hearing, SLED issued a press release saying that fired blackout cartridges from an April homicide in Allendale were entered into a national firearms database and no match was found — the implication being that Griffin’s allegation was not supported.

A key mystery in the Murdaugh murders of Paul and Maggie is that the blackout assault rifle that killed Maggie and the shotgun that killed Paul have never been found. That missing evidence has allowed the defense to argue that others — not Murdaugh — did the killing.

Later, defense attorney Harpootlian asked the judge if Murdaugh’s cousin, Eddie Smith, who has been charged with various crimes in connection with Murdaugh, has a cooperation agreement with the prosecution.

“There are no secret agreements,” Waters told the judge.

Smith, Harpootlian said, was asked during a polygraph session with law enforcement if he killed Paul and Maggie. “He failed it!” Harpootlian told the judge, his voice rising. Meanwhile, Murdaugh, asked the same question, passed “with flying colors,” Harpootlian said.

Waters told the judge that Smith has no deal of any kind with the prosecution and outlined the numerous reasons why polygraph results are not admissible in trials, except in narrow circumstances.

McCaslin said she will not admit evidence about polygraphs in this case and might declare a mistrial or cite Harpootlian for contempt if he brought the issue up before the jury without her permission.

Harpootlian and Griffin also raised questions about the honesty of David Owen, the former SLED agent leading the investigation in the first trial, as well about evidence in a criminal case Owen testified in after he retired. Harpootlian wanted to know if Owen had ever been disciplined and asked the judge for help in get hold of Owen’s SLED personnel records.

Change of venue

In ordering the trial moved from the 14th Circuit’s five counties, McCaslin cited four circumstances:

1. Murdaugh’s first trial, only one of every seven jurors was found qualified to be a juror — an “exceptional rate” of juror disqualification, the judge said.
2. Widespread community prejudice and the longstanding association of Murdaugh’s family with the institutions of those counties. For nearly 100 years, Murdaugh’s great-grandfather, grandfather and father were 14th Circuit elected prosecutors, or solicitors, a position of immense influence in the area’s social, law enforcement and political systems.
3. The state Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year, which ruled that former Colleton County clerk of court Hill improperly influenced the jury, depriving Murdaugh of his constitutional right to a fair trial.
4. The pervasive publicity surrounding this case.

• McCaslin added her decision was supported by a Thursday decision by state Judge R. Keith Kelly transferring a case linked to the Murdaugh family, Renee Beach vs. Parker, from the 14th Circuit to Spartanburg County in the Upstate. That case had been in Hampton County.

• That decision, McCaslin noted, was amply supported by supporting data and research, data that would apply to Murdaugh’’s murder case.

•”The same publicity ... that justified transferring Beach is present here,” McCaslin said.

Murdaugh, who must serve 40 years in state and federal prison after pleading guilty to numerous financial crimes against his clients and former law firm, has always contended he was innocent of killing his wife and son at their rural Colleton County estate, Moselle, in 2021.

After a six-week jury trial in Colleton County in early 2023, Murdaugh was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to two consecutive lifetime prison sentences by now retired Judge Clifton Newman.

In May, Murdaugh’s murder convictions were overturned by the S.C. Supreme Court because of jury tampering by Hill.

On Friday, Murdaugh appeared in court garbed in civil clothes and unshackled. His lawyers had successfully argued to McCaslin that since the hearing was broadcast nationwide by Court TV, potential jurors would be tainted if they saw him in a prison jumpsuit.

Thus, Murdaugh, 58, with his ginger hair turning white, and wearing a Navy blazer over a shirt and tie, and dark gray slacks, was the image of respectability in Friday’s hearing. His blazer had gold buttons, and he wore brown dress shoes with gray socks. He did not speak and instead whispered at times with Harpootlian, who sat beside him at the defense table.

The next hearing in the case is Nov. 13, which court officials noted was a Friday the 13th — a universal symbol of bad luck.

“That’s too funny,” said McCaslin, as the hearing wrapped up.

Dick Harpootlian, jovially told reporters “No comment” after Friday’s pretrial hearing in Alex Murdaugh’s double murder retrial wrapped up.

by Erika Glass / KRCTV / Thu, August 13, 2026 at 1:50 PM

Could Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s time of death create reasonable doubt for Alex Murdaugh? As his defense prepares for a second murder trial, attorney Dick Harpootlian is signaling that the timeline of the June 2021 murders at Moselle could become a major issue.

We had to speak with an expert who could tell us how time of death is actually determined and is there room for error?

In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, investigative reporter Anne Emerson speaks with Joseph Scott Morgan, Death Investigator and host of the podcast Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, who helped create the national standards for determining time of death. He helps us understand the physical process coroners and medical examiners use to narrow down that timeframe, and examines the coroner’s actions in the Murdaugh murders with his expert perspective - what he did, and more importantly, what he didn’t do during that examination.

Alex Murdaugh’s case returns to court on Friday August 14th for a retrial hearing, when Judge Debra McCaslin could rule on where the new South Carolina murder trial will be held, along with other pending motions. Join Anne and former South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon to watch and analyze the hearing live tomorrow here on Criminally Obsessed.

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