Expert: Alex Murdaugh’s Missing-Gun Hunt Targets Police Chief

LEXINGTON, S.C. — As Alex Murdaugh’s case returns to court Friday, a former prosecutor described the defense team’s claims that a police chief handled the alleged murder weapons as a “wild goose chase.”

Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of killing his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, at the family’s Moselle property in Colleton County. A hearing is set for 10 a.m. Friday to address several evidentiary matters as prosecutors and defense attorneys prepare for his retrial next year.

The South Carolina Supreme Court later overturned Murdaugh’s convictions, ruling that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly influenced the jury. His retrial is scheduled to begin April 5, 2027. Murdaugh has continued to maintain that he did not kill his wife and son.

Friday’s hearing will focus on several motions involving DNA evidence from Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernail clippings and cellphone swabs, ballistics evidence, raw data from phones seized during the investigation and crime scene data, including a FARO laser scan of the property.

The court is scheduled to hear additional motions during a separate hearing on Nov. 13.

Murdaugh’s attorneys previously asked that DNA collected from beneath Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails be sent to Othram Inc. for additional analysis. After Othram completed its testing, the defense argued that more work was needed to identify a male DNA profile that the state crime lab had reportedly detected but did not fully examine.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian has also argued that the partial DNA profile recovered from swabs of Maggie Murdaugh’s cellphone should undergo further testing.

The defense has requested a list of shootings in counties near the crime scene in which .300 Blackout cartridge cases or projectiles were recovered, along with information about those incidents. Attorneys also want the raw files from a 3D laser scan of the crime scene conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED. Prosecutors provided a read-only viewer file in 2022, but the defense says it needs the original data to recreate and analyze the scene.

In a recent filing, prosecutors said “the state is happy to provide” the original crime scene scans created with a laser reconstruction device. They characterized the defense’s ballistics request as a “speculative fishing expedition for public consumption.” The state also said the requested cellphone data had been provided in 2022 and accused Murdaugh’s attorneys of making “brazen falsehoods” in their motion.

Murdaugh’s lawyers are also asking a judge to compel prosecutors to disclose information “concerning the handling, transport, concealment, or disposal of the alleged weapons used to kill Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh.” That request includes a witness statement given to SLED agents in 2023, which allegedly says a Lowcountry police chief discussed arriving at the scene early and providing Murdaugh with a change of clothes. The defense is also seeking reports from every interview on the subject, along with testimony and exhibits presented to the State Grand Jury.

In a motion filed in late September, Murdaugh’s attorneys said news reports indicated that a state grand jury had heard testimony alleging Yemassee Police Chief Greg Alexander was seen with the murder weapons shortly after the June 7, 2021, killings.

“According to those reports, witnesses have testified that the Chief of Police of the Town of Yemassee, Greg Alexander, was seen with the murder weapons in the immediate aftermath of the June 7, 2021, killings, and that second Yemassee officer is under investigation for transporting and concealing weapons and clothing,” the filing states.

The motion cites a report from The Post and Courier. The newspaper reported that “a Lowcountry official told SLED agents that Chief Alexander ‘spoke of arriving early to the murder scene and talked about providing a change of clothes to Murdaugh,’” while the official believed the guns and clothing had been taken to the police station and stored there.

The Post and Courier, however, noted that it could not independently corroborate the allegations.

At Murdaugh’s first murder trial in 2023, prosecutors argued that he used two different weapons to kill Maggie and Paul before washing himself with a nearby hose, changing clothes and driving to his parents’ home. Prosecutors said he left the weapons there and returned about a week later to dispose of them. They also acknowledged that investigators never recovered the alleged murder weapons.

In an Oct. 8 filing, prosecutors said they could neither confirm nor deny whether the matter was under investigation, citing the confidentiality of grand jury proceedings. They said they would provide the information if and when they were legally required to do so.

Alexander, through his attorney, Joe McCulloch, has denied the allegations reported in the media.

“The same explanation has been provided to SLED,” McCulloch told News Media. “That truth will outlive any ridiculous rumors and gossip.”

His attorneys said “if the reports are accurate,” prosecutors have held evidence that contradicts their own theory.

Former prosecutor Joshua Ritter told News Media he considers the allegation against Alexander a “wild goose chase.”

“This is one of those cases that, you know, a lot of reporting was done early on, a lot of conspiracy theories swirling around this case,” Ritter said. “I don’t see any reason for the judge to allow for this essentially wild goose chase in regards to an uncorroborated report about law enforcement perhaps being in possession of the murder weapon.”

“Obviously, the defense would love to pursue this to its absolute limit because they think that there’s a snowball’s chance that it might yield something, but I think that the judge is probably going to give very little leeway on something like this,” he added.

The former prosecutor said he sees Murdaugh’s recent filings as “borderline delay tactics.”

“I think it’s borderline delay tactics. I think it’s grasping at straws. To be fair, I think from their perspective, they would say we’re allowed to zealously defend our client. And if part of that means that we have access to every piece of evidence, including the raw data, so that we can do our own independent testing of it, no one should judge us for that,” he said. “And that’s very true, but at the same time, this is not the first time they’ve seen this evidence. This is not the first time they’ve had a trial regarding this evidence, this is our second go around.”

Ritter said he does not expect Friday’s hearing to push back the retrial, and that Judge Debra McCaslin will likely make sure the defense gets what it’s owed.

“I imagine the judge will address their concerns, make sure that the prosecution is handing over all the discovery that they have and that the defense is entitled to, but I don’t see this causing any kind of delay moving forward,” he said.

News Media reached out to Murdaugh’s defense team for comment.