Lexington, South Carolina - Alex Murdaugh – whose 2023 convictions for murdering his wife and son were overturned in May 2026 – now awaits a judge’s written decision on whether to toss his original murder indictments, following a Friday hearing where his attorneys accused the case's lead investigator of lying to the grand jury.
Circuit Judge Debra McCaslin did not make a ruling on Friday regarding Murdaugh's legal team's request to dismiss the four charges (two murder charges and two weapons charges) without prejudice. Instead, she said she'd make a written ruling within a week on whether to toss the charges as prosecutors prepare to retry Murdaugh on April 5, 2027.
If Judge McCaslin does this, it would require state prosecutors to present evidence to a grand jury again to obtain new indictments.
The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his 2023 convictions in May over jury tampering after finding out that former Colleton County Court Clerk Becky Hill improperly influenced jurors during Murdaugh's original trial, and thus ordered a new trial.
The reason Murdaugh's attorney Jim Griffin wants a "reboot" and wants the original grand jury indictment thrown out is because Murdaugh's legal team believes lead investigator David Owen lied to the grand jury in 2022 by inaccurately claiming that blood spatter was found on Murdaugh’s shirt, among other things.
Toward the end of Friday's two-hour hearing, Judge McCaslin asked the prosecution if they'd still be ready to go to trial by April 5, 2027, if she were to grant the defense's request. Without fully answering the question, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters insinuated that they would not let it derail their timeline and would be prepared, saying, "I'm always full-steam ahead."
Though Murdaugh's murder convictions were overturned, the disbarred attorney is currently imprisoned at a maximum-security South Carolina prison on decades-long sentences for separate financial crimes.