Alex Murdaugh's 'wild goose chase' for missing murder guns targets police chief: expert

LEXINGTON, S.C. – A former prosecutor said defense team is pursuing a "wild goose chase" over claims a police chief handled the alleged murder weapons as the case returns to court Friday.

Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the family's Moselle property in Colleton County. A hearing is scheduled for Friday morning at 10 a.m. to discuss several evidentiary items as both the prosecution and Murdaugh's defense prepare for a retrial next year.

The South Carolina Supreme Court later overturned the convictions after finding that former Colleton County Clerk of Court . His retrial is scheduled to begin April 5, 2027. Murdaugh has maintained his innocence in the killings.

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At the center of Friday's hearing are several motions relating to DNA evidence tied to Maggie Murdaugh's fingernail clippings and her cellphone swabs, ballistics evidence, raw data from the cellphones seized during the investigation, and raw crime scene data that includes the FARO laser scan of the crime scene.

A separate hearing will be held on Nov. 13, where more motions will be heard.

The defense team for Murdaugh had previously sought the release of DNA evidence collected from beneath Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails to Othram, Inc. for analysis. Following Othram's testing, the defense contended that further analysis is necessary to recover a male DNA profile that, according to the defense, the state crime lab identified but did not fully investigate.

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Murdaugh defense attorney Dick Harpootlian argued that the partial DNA profile from swabs on Maggie Murdaugh's phone should be further tested as well.

Defense attorneys asked for a list of every shooting in the counties surrounding the crime scene where .300 Blackout cases or projectiles were recovered, along with . They also asked for raw data from a 3D laser scan the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) took of the crime scene. Prosecutors handed over a read-only viewer file in 2022, but the defense says it needs the raw data to reconstruct the scene.

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In a recent filing, prosecutors said "the state is happy to provide" the original scans of the crime scene done by a laser reconstruction device. Prosecutors also called Murdaugh's ballistics request a "speculative fishing expedition for public consumption." The state also said the phone data they requested was produced to them in 2022, and accused Murdaugh's defense of spreading "brazen falsehoods" in its motion.

Murdaugh's defense team also asked a judge to force prosecutors to turn over information it has "concerning the handling, transport, concealment, or disposal of the alleged weapons used to kill Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh, including the statement a witness gave to agents of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division in 2023 that a Lowcountry police chief spoke of arriving early at the scene and of providing Defendant Murdaugh a change of clothes, the reports of every interview conducted on that subject, and the testimony and exhibits presented to the State Grand Jury concerning i