By Jeffrey Collins
LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Alex Murdaugh was back in court Monday on charges he killed his wife and son, appearing silently at a pretrial hearing that was mostly short on substance but long on spectacle as the true crime sensation continues to captivate.
Murdaugh’s murder convictions and sentence of life in prison were overturned last month by the South Carolina Supreme Court. On Monday, a new judge laid out a timeline for hearings set the retrial to begin April 5. She also nailed down deadlines for making sure the defense and prosecution have exchanged evidence, a process called discovery.
Dozens of media outlets, from international agencies and local TV stations to podcasters, were inside the 200-person Lexington County courthouse to again chronicle every forehead rub and quizzical look from the once-rich and imposing Southern lawyer.
“I see we have a full house,” Judge Debra McCaslin said as the hearing began.
For many, it was a rare glimpse of how life in state prison has changed the 58-year-old Murdaugh. After pleading guilty to stealing about $12 million from clients and his family’s law firm, he is serving a 40-year federal sentence at the same time as a 27-year state sentence.
Unlike just about everyone else in the courtroom, the judge said she was new to the story, which combines a grisly double murder with the fall of a powerful legal dynasty.
“I don’t know anything about the first trial, so when you tell me something please be complete,” McCaslin told the lawyers.
Prosecutors say Murdaugh shot his wife Maggie and younger son Paul, 22, because he believed sympathy over their deaths would buy him time to fix his problems. At that point in 2021, his financial crimes were close to being exposed by his law firm and the family of a teen who filed a wrongful death lawsuit after Paul crashed a boat while drinking.
A jury convicted Murdaugh of two counts of murder in 2023. While admitting he is a thief, insurance cheat, liar and bad lawyer, he has adamantly denied the killings.
Murdaugh wore an orange prison jumpsuit Monday, listening with his mouth set in a tight line.
At one point, as defense attorney Dick Harpootlian asked the judge to let Murdaugh wear civilian clothing in court, he told his client to stand.
“Chains around the hands, chain around the waist, chains on his feet,” Harpootlian noted, saying a jury would see Murdaugh shackled like a dangerous criminal when he’s only been convicted of financial crimes.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters said it’s important for incarcerated defendants to wear restraints and jumpsuits. “Every time someone is transferred out of court, it is a security risk.”
Defense lawyers want Murdaugh, who was disbarred during his legal troubles, to have access in prison to a laptop without internet, so his team won’t have to print and deliver evidence to him. Harpootlian said Monday there are more than 20,000 pages of documents.
“Well surely, Mr. Harpootlian, he reviewed those before his first trial, did he not?” the judge asked.
“Five years ago,” the lawyer replied.
Another pretrial motion asks prosecutors to turn over DNA found under Murdaugh’s wife’s fingernails for testing at a private lab. Investigators said it was from an unknown and unrelated man. The defense said they’d cover the cost of testing.
“I’m gonna let you pay for it,” the judge quipped, drawing a chuckle from the courtroom.
Murdaugh was grimacing and biting his lower lip during the exchange.
The defense also wants to hold the next trial outside Colleton County, where the killings happened and the first trial took place. That matter wasn’t decided Monday.
Investigators and armchair detectives alike have spent hours poring over alibis, timelines and digital breadcrumbs, including a cellphone video that prosecutors say cracked the case. They allege Murdaugh’s voice can be heard on the video, which was taken by his son shortly before the shootings at dog kennels on the family’s sprawling property. Murdaugh says he was asleep at the time.
During the first trial, a few jurors said the Colleton County clerk of court, who is assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, told them to watch Murdaugh’s body language when he testified in his own defense and to not be fooled, confused or thrown off by what he might say.
The state Supreme Court ruled this was a suggestion Murdaugh was guilty, and overturned his convictions.
The justices were also concerned there had been too much testimony around how Murdaugh stole from clients, many of them in dire straits.