Alex Murdaugh attorneys seek DNA, ballistic evidence before retrial
With an internationally followed, high-profile retrial looming in 2027, attorneys for accused double-murder suspect Richard "Alex" Murdaugh filed a new motion late last week seeking to force the State of South Carolina to release three types of evidence they say prosecutors have previously refused to release.
With a state Supreme Court-ordered second murder
trial date tentatively set for the week of April 5, 2027, before Judge Debra McCaslin in
Sumter, Murdaugh's legal team filed a motion on Friday, Sept. 18, to compel production of DNA evidence, ballistic evidence, and "FARO scan" data in the double-murder case involving the 2021 shootings of Murdaugh's wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.
The defense says it has requested this information in writing before and the State that "has either refused or ignored" these requests, adding that "the State has had continuous and exclusive custody of every item of physical evidence in this case."
At a glance, here are the highlights of the evidence requests:
- 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 reexamine it.
- 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 involved in many recent crimes in S.C., including some that may hold an evidentiary link to the Murdaugh murders and suggest another shooter suspect besides Alex Murdaugh.
- 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 captures 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.
As of Monday, Sept. 21, the S.C. Attorney General's Office has yet to respond to this motion.
This three-pronged motion could be discussed and ruled on, along with several other pretrial motions, 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.
