Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin set Alex Murdaugh’s second murder trial to begin April 5, 2027, during a pretrial hearing Monday at the Lexington County courthouse after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his convictions last month.
Dozens of media outlets from international agencies to local TV stations and true-crime podcasters traveled to the Lexington County courthouse, and dozens of members of the public showed up early hoping to see Murdaugh in court.
Murdaugh appeared at the hearing shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit.
The state Supreme Court overturned the convictions after finding that the Colleton County clerk of court suggested Murdaugh was guilty by telling jurors to watch his body language when he testified and because days of trial testimony centered on his thefts from clients.
The clerk, Becky Hill, later pleaded guilty to criminal charges connected to the case, though she has not been charged with jury tampering.
A jury convicted Murdaugh of two counts of murder in 2023 and sentenced him to life in prison without parole; he remains behind bars serving concurrent state and federal sentences of 27 and 40 years for financial crimes.
The 58-year-old pleaded guilty to stealing about $12 million from clients and his family’s law firm and was disbarred, and he has denied shooting to death his wife, Maggie, and his younger son, Paul, after their bodies were found outside their home in 2021.
Defense attorneys filed motions asking that Murdaugh be allowed to wear civilian clothes and not be shackled, writing, “Mr. Murdaugh’s convictions for non-violent, white-collar crimes in no way justify presenting him to the jury pool as a shackled prisoner in a prison jumpsuit via video cameras at televised pretrial hearings.”
McCaslin did not rule on the motions Monday but 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, and she said the outstanding issues should be decided by then.
Defense attorneys asked the court to order independent testing of DNA collected from underneath Maggie Murdaugh’s left-hand fingernails, saying the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division determined the DNA was from an unknown and unrelated male and that modern testing could be instructive. Prosecutors wrote that the DNA is of “limited consequence,” arguing there was no evidence of a physical struggle, no defensive wounds and no indications that Maggie Murdaugh scratched her attacker; the judge is expected to address the DNA testing issue at the next pretrial hearing set for Aug. 14.
The defense also asked that Murdaugh be allowed access to a secure laptop in prison to review evidence; the warden told the judge he would not allow a laptop in Murdaugh’s cell for safety reasons, and McCaslin said she would discuss the possibility of allowing supervised access to a laptop in the warden’s office.
The defense renewed its request about Murdaugh’s appearance in court, and defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said, “This guy is not a serial killer. He is not Ted Bundy. He stole some money. That’s all he’s convicted of.” Prosecutors pushed back, arguing standard security measures for convicted inmates are appropriate and writing, “This case is ultimately about the fact that Defendant thinks he is special. He is not.”