COLUMBIA, S.C. — A showdown between prosecutors and lawyers for Alex Murdaugh who is accused of killing his wife and son will take place Friday when they meet in a pretrial hearing at the Lexington County courthouse.

Murdaugh, 58, is expected to be at the hearing.

Over the last several weeks, prosecutors and defense attorneys have filed opposing motions on a number of pretrial issues that — depending on which way Judge Debra McCaslin rules — could affect what kind of evidence goes before the jury in Murdaugh’s upcoming trial.

Murdaugh is charged with killing his wife Maggie and son Paul on the evening of June 7, 2021, at the family’s 1,700-acre estate in western Colleton County. There were no witnesses to the killings.

Issues to be discussed at Friday’s pretrial hearing involve assault rifle cartridges of the .300 Blackout type used to kill Maggie Murdaugh, whether the defense can test DNA found under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails, three-dimensional images of the crime scene and the disposal of the two murder weapons, a shotgun and an assault rifle. The weapons Have never been found.

However, in the back-and-forth filing of opposing motions in recent weeks, some issues seem to have narrowed down — which could conceivably make state Judge Debra McCaslin’s job easier at Friday’s hearing.

For example, an Oct. 8 filing by prosecutors says that “the state is happy to provide” three-dimensional scans of the crime scene by a sophisticated laser crime scene reconstruction device.

In an Oct. 9 reply filing, Murdaugh’s attorneys said, “The defense is glad to hear it. It wishes only that the State had said so a month ago.”

Jury selection in Murdaugh’s second trial on murder charges will start April 5. The case will be tried in Sumter County.

A Colleton County jury in March 2023 convicted Murdaugh of murder in the 2021 fatal shooting deaths of his son Paul and wife Maggie. Judge Clifton Newman sentenced him to two life sentences. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty even though, with two victims, they could have sought the punishment.

In May, a unanimous S.C. Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh’s convictions and life sentences and ordered a new trial. The high court ruled that jury tampering by former Colleton County clerk of court during Murdaugh’s trial had denied him the right to a fair trial.

In Murdaugh’s first trial, prosecutors presented evidence to show that Murdaugh was the lone gunman. In the upcoming trial, defense lawyers have said in filings they are seeking evidence that could show that someone besides Murdaugh could have killed Maggie and Paul.

For five years, the case has attracted national interest. Murdaugh, a disbarred lawyer, is a fourth generation member of a prominent Lowcountry legal and political dynasty that spanned 100 years. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all elected solicitors in the state’s 14th Judicial Circuit, a five-county region that includes Colleton, Hampton, Beaufort, Jasper and Allendale.

Friday’s issues

Issues to be discussed at Friday’s hearing include:

• A statement received by law enforcement after Murdaugh’s 2023 trial to the effect that a police chief arrived at the murder scene before other law officers and provided Murdaugh with a change of clothes, and that the weapons and clothing were taken to a police station. Defense attorneys want more information about this alleged incident; prosecutors say they will turn over such information when they are legally obligated to. An Oct. 8 filing by prosecutors raises the possibility that the matter may be under a grand jury investigation but stresses that grand jury proceedings are confidential.

• Allowing defense experts to test DNA material from Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails. Prosecutors object to any testing that consumes the material and want the State Law Enforcement Division crime lab to know what defense experts plan to do with the DNA material before any testing. Defense lawyers say they also want to test DNA material from Maggie Murdaugh’s cell phone, which was found in a wooded roadside area near the crime scene.

• Any evidence prosecutors have that would show if the assault rifle used in killing Maggie Murdaugh was fired by someone else after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were shot to death. The weapon used to kill Maggie Murdaugh ejected .300 Blackout cartridges with specific markings, cartridges that were found by law enforcement. Prosecutors say that the defense motion to examine .300 Blackout evidence in shootings in an eight-county is overly broad and a “speculative fishing expedition.”

Paul Murdaugh was shot to death with a shotgun; Maggie, with an assault rifle. Neither weapon was ever found.

Alex Murdaugh has contended that he did not kill his wife and son.

Murdaugh’s attorneys are expected to present evidence in the upcoming trial they will assert shows that other people besides their client could have killed Paul and Maggie.

Whatever the result of the upcoming double murder trial, Murdaugh will be in prison a long time. He received a 27-year sentence in state court after pleading guilty to a variety of fraud charges for embezzling millions from his law firm and clients. He also pleaded guilty in federal court to federal fraud crimes based on incidents similar to the state events and received a 40-year sentence.

He is currently serving his 27-year sentence in state prison. When he finishes that, he will be transferred to federal prison to serve out his time there.

Defense lawyers in the case are Dick Harpootlian, Jim Griffin, Maggie Fox, Andrew Hand and Phil Barber.

Prosecutors from the State Attorney General’s office include Creighton Waters, Don Zelenka, John Meadors, John Conrad, Savanna Goude and David Fernandez.

©2026 The State. Visit at thestate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.