COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The trial of a disgraced former Hampton County attorney accused of killing his wife and son has been rescheduled to start one week earlier.

Alex Murdaugh will appear in a Colleton County court beginning January 23, 2023. The trial is expected to last through February 10, 2023.

Judge Clifton Newman will preside over the trial.

Initially, the trial was set to begin one week later on January 30.

A spokesperson for the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office said that it was unclear why the change in schedule was made.

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But the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office later said that an order was signed last week setting the date for January 30, which was also discussed by the prosecution and defense, “but before the order was filed it was changed to January 23 to better fit with judicial schedules,” said SCAG spokesman Robert Kittle.

Murdaugh was indicted by a grand jury in July of 2022 for the murders of his wife Margaret and youngest son Paul.

The two were found shot to death at the family’s Colleton County property on the evening of June 7, 2021.

Murdaugh has maintained his innocence regarding the murder, but has since been indicted on a slew of other financial and white-collar crimes, to some of which he has already admitted guilt.

Murdaugh is currently being held at the Richland County detention center on charges related to the financial crimes. His bond was denied in a July 20 hearing.