Attorneys representing Alex Murdaugh have submitted a motion urging a judge to compel South Carolina prosecutors to release crucial forensic evidence. This includes unidentified male DNA discovered under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails. The defense claims the state crime lab never thoroughly tested this DNA.
The 93-page document filed recently requests additional DNA and ballistics evidence, alongside raw data from a laser scan of the crime scene in Colleton County, South Carolina. Murdaugh’s legal team accuses state prosecutors of causing delays that could hinder their trial preparation.
Every week the State withholds this material is a week taken from the preparation of the defense, and if the delay continues the defense may be forced to seek a continuance that Mr. Murdaugh does not want and that the Court has said it will not grant. The State should not be permitted to create, through inaction, the very delay it would then oppose, the motion states.
Previously, Murdaugh’s defense requested the DNA evidence be evaluated by Othram, Inc. After initial testing, the defense insists further analysis is necessary to identify a male DNA profile that the state lab reportedly found but did not fully pursue.
The defense also argues that a partial DNA profile from Maggie Murdaugh’s phone needs further examination. They demand a list of shootings in neighboring counties involving .300 Blackout ammunition and raw data from a 3D laser scan conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Prosecutors had shared a read-only file in 2022, but the defense claims the raw data is essential for scene reconstruction.
Murdaugh’s lawyers also accuse prosecutors of inconsistent statements regarding the weapon used in the murders. The state has argued that the .300 Blackout rifle was rare, linking it to the family’s guns. However, they now describe it as a common AR cartridge.
The State has had continuous and exclusive custody of every item of physical evidence in this case, including the biological material that is the subject of Part III of this motion, for more than five years. It has tested what it wished to test, in the sequence it wished to test it, without notice to the defense and without the defense’s consent. It now proposes that the defense may not do the same, argue Murdaugh’s legal representatives.
Joshua Ritter, a former prosecutor and Fox News Contributor, commented on the request for further DNA testing. He called it a risky move, suggesting that it might be wiser for the defense to use the unidentified male DNA as a point against the prosecution’s efforts.
It’s probably better left alone by the defense so that they can make that argument about this unknown male. ‘Who is that? Why didn’t the prosecution test it? Why didn’t they do anything about it?’ Maybe they’re concerned that the prosecution could point the finger right back at them and say, well, you guys didn’t test it either, you had it for as much time as we did,
Ritter explained.
Alex Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at their Moselle property. The South Carolina Supreme Court later overturned these convictions due to jury tampering identified by former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill. Murdaugh’s retrial is set for April 5, 2027.
Fox News Digital has reached out to SLED and Attorney General Alan Wilson for comments. For more information, contact Adam Sabes at [email protected] or on Twitter @asabes10.