Judge moves Alex Murdaugh retrial from small county, but motion to toss out case will wait

LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — The judge in Alex Murdaugh's murder retrial decided Friday to move the case out of the rural South Carolina county where it consumed life for six weeks in 2023.

But left undecided is a defense request to throw out the whole case because 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.

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 was in a coat and tie Friday after Judge Debra McCaslin ruled he didn't have to wear a prison jumpsuit because he was not a security risk even though Murdaugh remains behind bars serving a 40-year federal sentence and a 27-year state sentence after pleading guilty to stealing about $12 million from clients and his family’s law firm.

The judge agreed Friday to move the retrial out of Colleton County, where the killings happened and the first trial brought throngs of media and true crime fans, overwhelming the few restaurants and hotels in the county of 40,000 people.

McCaslin said she had to move the trial because of all the publicity of the first trial, the circumstances of the court clerk tainting the first jury and the Murdaughs' connections to the surrounding community, where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were chief prosecutors and the family's law firm dominated for a century.

The location of the retrial hasn't been decided and Murdaugh's attorneys called one of their own lawyers to the stand to testify about how Charleston County, where he lived, would be perfect.

The testimony lasted 30 minutes as annoyed prosecutor Creighton Waters asked about how expensive Charleston is and how difficult it is to find parking.

The judge said she wants to take her time and research hotels and courtroom availability for the retrial set to begin on April 5.

McCaslin didn’t hear arguments Friday about dismissing the case.

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 true crime sensation continues to fascinate. Dozens of reporters, podcasters, bloggers and others were at the Lexington County courtroom to hear the latest in the case that combines money, violence, power and small-town Southern justice. Afterward, fans stopped defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian in the sweltering parking lot for selfies.

“The Murdaugh case is a total freak show,” Harpootlian said in the courtroom, arguing to move the case.

Prosecutors say Murdaugh shot his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, who was 22, because he believed sympathy over their deaths would buy him time to fix his financial crimes. At that point in 2021, he was close to being exposed by both his law firm and the family of a teen who filed a wrongful death suit 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, bad lawyer and longtime opioid addict, he has adamantly denied the killings .

The judge decided other issues Friday, asking the defense to determine whether there is enough of the dwindling DNA material found under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails for both prosecutors and the defense to run additional tests.