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by JENN WOOD
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Accused killer Alex Murdaugh‘s long-awaited double murder retrial is tentatively scheduled to begin on April 5, 2027 – just nine months from now – with newly assigned South Carolina circuit court judge Debra McCaslin making clear that she intends to move the case forward without unnecessary delay.
“This case became the oldest case on my docket,” McCaslin told attorneys during a status conference held Monday morning (June 29 ,2026) in Lexington County. “Anybody who knows me knows that I will move an old case, and I intend to do that with this one.”
The status conference – which lasted just over an hour — did not address the merits of the case but instead focused on scheduling, discovery, pending motions and the logistics of preparing for what will be one of South Carolina’s most closely watched criminal trials.
McCaslin repeatedly emphasized that she expected the parties to resolve as many issues as possible before jury selection begins.
“When I set a trial date, I don’t do continuances,” she said. “That’d be a really good reason.”
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NEW JUDGE, NEW TIMELINE
Monday marked McCaslin’s first public hearing since being assigned the retrial following the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision overturning Murdaugh’s 2023 murder convictions because of jury tampering by former Colleton County clerk Becky Hill.
Unlike judge Clifton Newman, who presided over the original six-week trial, McCaslin made clear she is approaching the case with fresh eyes.
“I don’t know anything about the first trial,” she told attorneys early in the hearing. “When you tell me something, please be complete… don’t assume that I know, because I don’t.”
The judge questioned both sides extensively about discovery, expert witnesses, DNA testing, digital evidence and scheduling before proposing the April 5 trial date.
The next pretrial conference was set for August 14, 2026 with all motions due a week ahead of that date.
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DISCOVERY DISPUTE CONTINUES
Although prosecutors insisted the defense already possessed virtually every piece of evidence collected during the investigation, Murdaugh’s attorneys argued they cannot yet say with confidence that discovery is complete.
“We don’t know what we don’t know,” defense attorney Dick Harpootlian told the court.
Harpootlian pointed to statements made by former Colleton County Sheriff Office (CCSO) personnel following the murders that he contends differ from testimony presented at trial, arguing those discrepancies justify another exhaustive review of investigative materials.
He also noted that OnStar vehicle data was not produced until midway through the original trial after General Motors located additional information, saying the defense now wants experts to revisit that evidence.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters rejected any suggestion that discoverable evidence had been withheld.
“I know what my obligations are,” Waters said. “If I have knowledge of something that’s discoverable, then it’s been disclosed.”
Waters added that prosecutors have continued auditing their files and remained willing to resolve any discovery disputes that might arise before trial.
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DNA TESTING COULD SHAPE THE SCHEDULE
One of the more substantive discussions centered on the defense’s request for advanced DNA testing on genetic material recovered from beneath Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin said technology has advanced dramatically since the murders occurred in 2021 and identified Houston-based Othram as the laboratory the defense hopes to use.
According to Griffin, the laboratory specializes in forensic genetic genealogy and helped identify the suspect in the University of Idaho murders.
Griffin argued the DNA profile recovered from Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails excluded Alex Murdaugh and other known individuals tested during the investigation, making additional analysis worthwhile.
Waters characterized the request as potentially “a bit of a red herring,” noting there was no evidence Maggie Murdaugh engaged in a physical struggle with her attacker and emphasizing how easily touch DNA can be transferred.
Still, prosecutors agreed to facilitate discussions between scientists from the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the defense’s experts to determine whether additional testing is feasible.
McCaslin declined to rule on the request Monday, instead directing both sides to determine whether a viable sample remains and how long any additional testing would require before the issue is revisited at the August hearing.
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PRETRIAL ISSUES REMAIN UNRESOLVED
Several procedural issues also remained unresolved as the retrial moves toward its newly proposed spring 2027 start date.
One of the more significant disputes involves how Murdaugh will be able to review the massive volume of digital discovery while incarcerated. Defense attorneys argued that traveling to prison to review hundreds of thousands of pages of documents with their client is extraordinarily burdensome and asked the court to allow Murdaugh access to a dedicated laptop with no internet or communication capabilities.
McCaslin said she personally contacted the prison warden before Monday’s hearing and was told the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC) will not allow an inmate to possess a laptop. Instead, prison officials agreed to make a conference room available where attorneys, paralegals or law clerks can spend unlimited time reviewing digital evidence with Murdaugh using their own computers. The judge also said she would inquire whether discovery could be loaded onto the prison’s legal research tablets but declined to authorize a laptop at this stage.
The defense also renewed its request for Murdaugh to appear in civilian clothes and without shackles during future court proceedings, arguing that widespread media coverage could prejudice potential jurors if they repeatedly see him restrained in a prison jumpsuit. Prosecutors countered that Murdaugh remains a convicted inmate serving lengthy prison sentences and that SCDC security policies – not any effort to prejudice a future jury — govern how he is transported and presented in court. McCaslin took the issue under advisement and said she would issue a written ruling later.
Meanwhile, the defense’s motion to move the retrial out of Colleton County also remains pending. McCaslin gave prosecutors additional time to respond and encouraged both sides to determine whether they could agree on an alternate venue before the next pretrial conference. If no agreement is reached, she said, the court will decide where the retrial will be held.
In the meantime, McCaslin ruled that all preliminary hearings for the case would be heard in Lexington County.
While none of the disputes affects the substance of the murder case itself, each could shape how the retrial is conducted—and how jurors ultimately experience one of South Carolina’s most closely watched criminal proceedings.
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FINANCIAL CRIMES FIGHT LOOMS
Before the hearing concluded, Griffin previewed what is expected to become one of the retrial’s most consequential legal battles.
He reminded the court that the South Carolina supreme court not only overturned Murdaugh’s convictions because of jury tampering but also sharply criticized the extensive financial crimes evidence admitted during the original trial.
Griffin told McCaslin the defense intends to litigate whether any of that evidence should be admitted during the retrial — a decision that could dramatically affect both the scope and length of the proceedings.
McCaslin made clear she intends to resolve those questions well before jurors are sworn.
“I like to address all pretrial matters beforehand,” she said. “When I say April the fifth, we’re picking a jury and going forward.”
With an April trial date now on the calendar, the next several months will likely determine not only where Murdaugh is retried, but what evidence jurors ultimately hear — and how different the second murder trial looks from the first.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.
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SOUND OFF…
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1 comment
First motion hearing now behind us, God willing and FITS permitting, I shall keep pasting here my most relevant replies to comments on FITSTube and YouTube. Here is one from this morning:
@ritaeichler2066 , relax and listen!
I did not write that Alex saw the video ITSELF.
I wrote that Alex must have SEEN PAUL MAKING THE VIDEO. The threesome, who had just had dinner together, were in the narrow confines of the kennels.
If Paul and Maggie could see Bubba-the-dog closely enough to debate whether what its jaws held was a chicken or a guinea, and for Alex to summon Bubba-the-dog and extract the bird from its jaws and later see that chicken died, then Alex MUST HAVE BEEN close enough to SEE PAUL MAKING THE VIDEO then put Paul’s own phone back in Paul’s own pocket.
Had Alex been the real shooter, or had he known that some shooters would show up at the kennels and confront Paul and Maggie, Alex WOULD NECESSARILY HAVE KNOWN that video on Paul’s phone would cast suspicion on Alex; and Alex would have taken the phone from a lifeless Paul’s pocket and disposed of it along with the shooting weapons.
“by 8:49” Paul and Maggie were NOT “dead.”
There is ABSOLUTELY no support for the assumption that they were.
And for the nth time: the food in their stomachs AT AUTOPSY was too little and too digested for their lives to have ended ONLY 19 MINUTES after their KNOWN large and relatively fatty last meal.
These are NOT false facts. These are long known MEDICAL facts about human digestion.
I understand that some people’s ideas are cemented. But I can no more accept that than accept, for example, a man being can be executed for saying the earth is round while most people had a fixed idea that the earth is flat.
I am NOT an Alex troll. I am one who had been FALSELY accused of crimes but, thank God and WITHOUT A LAWYER, ultimately COMPLETELY exonerated myself beginning with a 22-26 February 2010 jury trial in the court of none other than Judge Clifton Newman.
Please respect that or hold your peace.