Judge moves Alex Murdaugh murder retrial from small rural county amid ongoing legal twists
FILE - Alex Murdaugh arrives for a judicial hearing on Monday, June 29, 2026, at the Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center in Lexington, South Carolina. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The judge in Alex Murdaugh’s murder retrial decided Friday to move the case out of Colleton County but stopped short of deciding on the defense’s request to throw out the entire case.
Alex Murdaugh murder retrial
The backstory:
Murdaugh’s conviction and life sentence for killing his wife and son were overturned in May by the South Carolina Supreme Court after the justices ruled a court clerk may have influenced the jury.
Murdaugh’s lawyers said the chief state investigator lied to the grand jury that indicted their client in 2022 and another main investigator was fired for misconduct after taking a job at a different agency.
Judge Debra McCaslin ruled the retrial had to be moved because of the immense publicity the first trial received.
Murdaugh’s attorneys suggested moving the trial to Charles County, but received pushback from prosecutors who said it was too expensive and that parking would be difficult to find.
McCaslin stated she wanted to research hotels and courtroom availability before making a final decision. As of this reporting, a new location has not been chosen.
Alex Murdaugh's defense team holds news conference
Alex Murdaugh's attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin hold a news conference to discuss the South Carolina Supreme Court decision to overturn Murdaugh's convictions and order a new trial.
What's next:
The trial is set to begin on April 5.
Murdaugh’s lawyers want case dismissed completely
Dig deeper:
Arguments for dismissing the case were not heard on Friday.
The defense has said it will provide more information in writing about why it believes the case should be dismissed because State Law Enforcement Division agent David Owen told a 2023 grand jury that blood was found on a shirt Murdaugh was wearing when a different agent determined no blood had been found.
Murdaugh’s lawyers are also concerned about former agent Ryan Kelly, who testified how investigators thought Murdaugh paid another man to shoot him in the head so his son could collect millions in life insurance money but the shot only grazed him.
After the trial, Kelly took a job with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office but was fired for harassment and improper conduct. More details have not been released.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press and FOX News. This story was reported from San Jose.