Alex Murdaugh’s defense team is focusing on unidentified male DNA reportedly found beneath Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails as it seeks additional testing in the high-profile South Carolina murder case.
In court motions filed Tuesday in Colleton County, attorneys for Murdaugh asked a judge to approve an independent laboratory review of the DNA evidence, relocate the trial outside the 14th Judicial Circuit, and permit Murdaugh to access case materials electronically while incarcerated.
One of the filings specifically asks the court to require prosecutors to turn over DNA material collected from underneath the fingernails on Maggie Murdaugh’s left hand so it can be examined by an outside lab.
The defense identified the evidence as SLED Item No. 70 and said the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division determined it came from an unknown male who was not related to Maggie.
Alex Murdaugh is brought into the courtroom during a jury-tampering hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, S.C., on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier)
“No further analysis was attempted,” Murdaugh’s lawyers wrote in the motion.
The filing says the defense has been in contact with Othram Inc., a forensic genetic genealogy company that was also used in the Bryan Kohberger case, to discuss whether more advanced testing could be performed.
According to Murdaugh’s attorneys, Othram believes it can carry out a more detailed review of the sample, though the process would require significant time and a rush order. The defense is asking that the evidence be sent to Othram for testing, with Murdaugh covering the cost.
Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 financial crimes in Beaufort, S.C., on Nov. 17, 2023. (James Pollard/AP)
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In a separate motion, Murdaugh’s attorneys asked the court to move the trial outside the 14th Judicial Circuit, which includes Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.
The defense argued the case is “among the most heavily publicized criminal prosecutions in the history” of South Carolina and said Murdaugh, his family and the law firm associated with his family for generations have been the subject of years of “saturating, sensational, and continuous media coverage.”
The attorneys said publicity has been especially intense in the five-county circuit, where, they argued, the Murdaugh name has been tied to the local legal system for nearly a century. The defense said a transfer to another county within the circuit would not cure the alleged prejudice.
This motion is not surprising, as Murdaugh’s lead defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, previously shared with News Agency his plans to file for the trial to be moved.
Alex Murdaugh is incarcerated at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina. (South Carolina Department of Corrections)
A third motion asks the court to require the South Carolina Department of Corrections to allow Murdaugh to review case materials on a secure laptop computer.
The defense said discovery in the case is voluminous and would fill numerous banker’s boxes if printed.
Murdaugh’s attorneys proposed providing the prison system with a laptop with an encrypted, password-protected hard drive for his use in preparing for trial.
The proposed device would not have cellular capabilities or Internet access, would not be used to make audio or video recordings without written approval from the Department of Corrections, and would be kept in the warden’s office or another secure location when not in use, according to the filing.
The defense argued the arrangement would be more secure than sending boxes of paper records to a prison, particularly because many of the materials are sealed or subject to a protective order.
No court ruling on the motions was included in the filings. News Agency has reached out to South Carolina’s Attorney General’s Office and Murdaugh’s defense team for comment.
