Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers raise explosive questions about possible accomplice

Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers raise explosive questions about possible accomplice Prosecutors and lawyers for Alex Murdaugh are expected to return to court to dispute evidence for his retrial on murder charges next year - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Alex Murdaugh's legal team is demanding answers about a police officer who may have helped conceal evidence in the murders of his wife and son, as a bitter courtroom battle intensifies ahead of the disgraced lawyer's retrial. Murdaugh, 58, is expected back in a South Carolina courtroom Friday as prosecutors and defense attorneys clash over DNA evidence, missing murder weapons and questions about whether someone else could have been involved in the June 2021 killings. The former attorney is scheduled to stand trial again in April for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and their younger son, Paul, who were shot dead at the family's Colleton County estate. His original convictions were overturned earlier this year after the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that a court clerk had improperly influenced jurors during his sensational 2023 trial. The clerk had instructed jurors to scrutinize Murdaugh's body language and warned them against being deceived by his testimony. Now, as both sides prepare for another trial, a series of increasingly hostile legal filings has exposed disagreements over potentially crucial evidence. Mystery police officer raises questions about missing murder weapons Among the most contentious issues is whether prosecutors have convened a grand jury to investigate a police officer who was friends with Murdaugh. Defense attorneys say prosecutors previously suggested the officer arrived at the family's property before other law enforcement personnel and might have helped Murdaugh conceal bloody clothing or the weapons used in the killings. Neither the clothing nor the murder weapons has ever been recovered. Murdaugh's lawyers argue that any evidence suggesting another person was involved could undermine the prosecution's account of the murders. During the first trial, prosecutors maintained that Murdaugh acted alone and that nobody else was at the property between the killings and his return from visiting his mother, when he called 911. The defense is now demanding any evidence concerning potential accomplices, including information about a possible grand jury investigation. Prosecutors have declined to confirm whether such evidence exists, citing legal restrictions surrounding grand jury proceedings. The defense's claims do not establish that the officer was involved in the killings or that any accomplice existed. DNA beneath Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails becomes new battleground Attorneys are also fighting over whether defense experts should be permitted to conduct additional testing on the remaining genetic material recovered from beneath Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails. The sample could become an important point of contention as Murdaugh's lawyers seek to challenge the state's case. Another dispute concerns ballistics evidence from shootings across eight neighboring counties involving the same type of firearm as one of the weapons used to kill Maggie and Paul. Defense attorneys want authorities to turn over those records, while prosecutors are contesting the request. The increasingly acrimonious exchanges have spilled into written filings. After Murdaugh's lawyers accused the state of withholding cellphone information, prosecutors responded with a blistering attack on the defense's allegations. "It's hard to understand the inexplicably brazen and highly prejudicial falsehoods the defense puts in its public filings (or, as previously seen, on the record in open court)," prosecutors wrote. "It is stunning, really. Facts matter." Murdaugh's attorneys delivered their own pointed response after prosecutors agreed to provide complete data from a computerized scan of the crime scene ahead of Friday's hearing. "The defense is glad to hear it. It wishes only that the State had said so a month ago," they wrote. Notorious murder case heads for another trial after jury scandal The retrial will take place in Sumter County, approximately 80 miles from the Colleton County estate where Maggie and Paul were killed. Judge Debra McCaslin ordered the change of venue amid concerns that extensive publicity could make it difficult to select an impartial jury in Murdaugh's home county. Pretrial hearings are being held in Lexington County. The original six-week murder trial gripped audiences around the world, exposing allegations of betrayal, corruption and financial misconduct within one of South Carolina's most prominent legal families. Murdaugh's fall from grace also revealed an extensive scheme in which he stole millions of dollars from vulnerable clients. He subsequently pleaded guilty to stealing approximately $12 million and is serving a 40-year federal prison sentence alongside a concurrent 27-year state sentence for financial crimes. Regardless of the outcome of his second murder trial, Murdaugh will remain behind bars. His retrial is scheduled to begin in April, with the latest disputes threatening to make the proceedings every bit as contentious as the original case.