Murdaugh Seeks to Overturn Murder Indictments

Murdaugh’s defense is challenging the original indictments in the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, alleging that State Law Enforcement Division agent David Owen gave grand jurors inaccurate information. Judge Debra McCaslin is expected to hear the request on November 13. Prosecutors oppose dismissing the charges, saying other evidence supports them and that one error does not demonstrate bad faith.

The defense says Owen informed jurors serving in Colleton County that traces of blood had been found on a shirt Murdaugh wore on the night of the killings. An earlier state-agent report found no blood stains, and prosecutors did not present such evidence at trial. Lawyers also dispute Owen’s statement that weapons around the family’s property contained the same combination of buckshot and birdshot used to kill Paul.

Owen also described a video Paul recorded that captured Alex Murdaugh speaking near the location, as well as the family’s debts and the risk that Murdaugh’s financial schemes would be exposed. Prosecutors have argued that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to gain time to conceal thefts. The defense has emphasized the absence of blood or DNA on Murdaugh and the fact that the weapons were never found.

Murdaugh’s convictions and life sentence were overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court after it found a court clerk improperly influenced jurors during his 2023 trial. He faces a retrial in April. Even if the judge dismisses the current indictments, prosecutors could seek new ones as soon as next month, and the defense has said it would not oppose that step. Owen retired in 2024. A judge had previously dismissed another murder case involving him after he failed to pass along information about the victim’s reported suicide threat.