Murdaugh Defense Requests Forensic Evidence in Murder Case

<p>Attorneys for Alex Murdaugh have filed a motion requesting that a judge compel South Carolina prosecutors to provide key forensic evidence, including unidentified male DNA found under Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails, which they claim the state crime lab did not fully test.</p><p>The 93-page motion submitted by Murdaugh's attorneys on Friday seeks additional DNA and ballistics evidence, as well as raw data from a laser scan of the crime scene in Colleton County, South Carolina.</p><p>The defense team accused the state of delaying the process, which they argue could hinder their trial preparation.</p><p>The motion states, "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."</p><p>Murdaugh's defense team previously requested that DNA evidence from under Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails be sent to Othram, Inc. After testing, the defense argued that further testing is necessary to recover a male DNA profile that the state crime lab reportedly found but did not pursue fully.</p><p>Additionally, the defense argued that a partial DNA profile from swabs on Maggie Murdaugh's phone should also be further tested.</p><p>Defense attorneys are seeking a list of all shootings in the counties surrounding the crime scene where .300 Blackout cases or projectiles were recovered, along with details about each incident. They also requested raw data from a 3D laser scan conducted by SLED of the crime scene. Prosecutors provided a read-only viewer file in 2022, but the defense contends that they need the raw data to reconstruct the scene.</p><p>The defense also accused prosecutors of inconsistency regarding the murder weapon. The state claimed during Murdaugh's 2023 trial that the .300 Blackout rifle was uncommon, suggesting the family's guns, but now describes it as one of the most popular AR cartridges in the country, according to the motion.</p><p>The motion argues, "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."</p><p>Joshua Ritter, a former prosecutor and Fox News contributor, commented that Murdaugh's request for additional DNA testing could be risky, describing it as a "big gamble." He suggested that it might be more prudent for the defense to focus on questioning why the prosecution did not test the unknown male DNA.</p><p>Alex Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at their Moselle property in Colleton County. The South Carolina Supreme Court later overturned the convictions, citing improper jury influence by former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill. Murdaugh's retrial is scheduled to begin on April 5, 2027.</p><p>Fox News Digital reached out to SLED and Attorney General Alan Wilson for comment.</p>