Alex Murdaugh’s Defense In Court For Final Lexington Co. Pretrial Hearing

The hearing is centered on a motion filed by Murdaugh's defense asking the court to dismiss the murder indictments without prejudice.

Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys are back in court Friday in Lexington County.

The hearing is taking place before Judge Deborah McCaslin. It’s centered on a 200-page motion filed by Murdaugh’s defense team asking the court to dismiss the murder indictments without prejudice.

The defense alleges misconduct by SLED agents and prosecutors, claiming they fabricated and misrepresented evidence and misled the grand jury.

The defense’s allegations focus on evidence involving blood splatter on the t-shirt Murdaugh was wearing the night of the murders. The motion argues the state lab initially found no human blood on the shirt before pressure was allegedly applied.

Friday’s session is expected to be a final pretrial hearing held in Lexington County. The judge has ordered the case to move to Sumter County for future proceedings.

Murdaugh is accused of killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on June 7, 2021. He was found guilty in 2023 but that conviction has since been overturned. He will now face a double-murder retrial on April 5, 2027.