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The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered a retrial in the high-profile murder case against Alex Murdaugh, signaling the beginning of what could be another prolonged legal saga in the state’s Lowcountry.
A recent entry in the court records, labeled as a “Remittitur” for Richard Alexander Murdaugh, was filed on May 29, officially directing the case back to the trial court level.
This remittitur means that the trial court will now take the reins, with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the court preparing to embark on a new trial process. This phase is expected to involve scheduling hearings, revisiting prior motions, resolving disputes over evidence, and potentially setting a new trial date.
In March 2023, Alex Murdaugh was escorted out of the Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, during his trial for the murder of his son, Paul, and wife, Maggie, in June 2021. (Photo credit: Mark Sims/News Media)
Once a prominent attorney in South Carolina, Murdaugh was previously found guilty in the 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and their younger son, Paul, at the family’s rural hunting lodge in Colleton County. The retrial presents a new chapter in this tragic and complex legal case.
In May, the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered a retrial in the murder case, upending one of the state’s most closely watched convictions.
Alex Murdaugh sits with his legal team as jury selection continues before his trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on Jan. 24, 2023. Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder in the deaths of his wife Maggie and their son Paul. (Joshua Boucher/The State)
The formal return of the case to the lower court does not mean a retrial is imminent.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson previously told News Media that he hopes to retry the notorious case “quickly.”
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Wilson said his office is aiming to bring the case back to court within the next year, though he admitted that the timeline is not guaranteed.
“Look, I’m being aspirational when I say this, but we would like to try to get this case up before January 2027. That would be our goal,” he said.
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian speaks to the media alongside Alex Murdaugh’s defense team after their client was sentenced to double life in prison on March 3, 2023. Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in 2021. (Mark Sims for News Media)
Murdaugh’s lead defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, has said the defense plans to seek a venue change, attorney-led jury questioning and potentially sequestration of jurors.
“We now have the ability to get people’s social media, their Instagrams, all of that,” he previously told News Media. “And we’ll scour that before they ever get a chance to appear.”
Alex Murdaugh stands during a break in his murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. Jurors found him guilty. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool/Tribune News Service/Getty Images)
Murdaugh’s retrial comes after the state’s Supreme Court unanimously reversed the disgraced lawyer’s convictions in the killings of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, ruling that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill improperly influenced jurors during the six-week trial.
Though his murder convictions and subsequent life sentences were overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday, he remains in prison to serve sentences for his financial crimes.
