Lawyers representing Alex Murdaugh are leveling serious accusations against the lead investigator in his murder trial, claiming he misled the grand jury with false evidence. In light of these claims, they’re urging a judge to throw out the charges.

On August 7, Murdaugh’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss, alleging misconduct by David Owen, the principal agent from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division who handled the case. They claim Owen’s testimony to the grand jury was both inaccurate and misleading, describing his actions as a clear case of prosecutorial misconduct.

The attorneys for Murdaugh have indicated that more details on the alleged misconduct will be provided in upcoming legal filings.

“This motion is based on evidence that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s lead agent in this case, David Owen, presented false physical evidence claiming to directly incriminate the Defendant before the Colleton County Grand Jury. Owen conceded this evidence was fabricated, a fact that the Defendant has since proven,” according to the statement by Murdaugh’s legal team.

His attorneys also filed a motion to transfer the venue of Murdaugh’s new murder trial to Charleston County, arguing that an impartial jury cannot be found in Colleton County, stating, “this prosecution has generated publicity without precedent in the history of this State.”

Rather, they argued that a change to nearby Charleston County would “preserve the values of a local trial while curing the local prejudice.”

The motions come ahead of a pretrial hearing scheduled for Friday.

Murdaugh, formerly a prominent Lowcountry attorney from an influential legal dynasty, was convicted in March 2023 of fatally shooting his wife and son, Maggie and Paul.

The murder case descended into chaos when allegations that court clerk Rebecca Hill made inappropriate comments to jurors while the trial was ongoing.

While prosecutors believe Murdaugh got a fair trial, the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the convictions and ordered a new trial.

A courageous paddleboarder has recounted his intense encounter as he valiantly battled to protect a swimmer from an alligator’s fierce attack on a Florida river.

Mike Head was enjoying a day on the water with his family when he noticed the reptile charging toward a woman like a torpedo in the Silver River, located in Marion County, as he detailed to Fox 35.

When he arrived at the scene, the alligator had already clamped its jaws around the woman’s arm, prompting him to use his paddle in an attempt to fend off the creature, he explained.

“I couldn’t swing because I risked hitting her head from where I was positioned, so I maneuvered to the other side,” Head recounted.

“Once in place, I swung, unsure if I made contact with the gator or not. I just know that it vanished immediately after,” he added.

The woman was then pulled to the shore with the help of another boater and Head said that when he tied her bleeding wound off with a rope, she turned to him and said “Tie it tight”.

Relatives told Fox 35 the victim is back at home recovering and in good spirits despite having her right arm amputated.

In a grim case that has shocked the community, a young boy allegedly tortured by his mother and her two transgender partners succumbed to blunt force trauma to the head. Authorities have not discounted the possibility of sexual assault. 

During a press conference held on Tuesday in Cincinnati, unsettling details about the tragic demise of William Michael Evans-Ellis were revealed by coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco.

William was discovered lifeless at his residence in Cincinnati last week. His mother, Kaitlin Evans, 38, along with her transgender partners, Nessa Keaney and Kirby Rankin, both aged 23, now face murder charges.

Dr. Sammarco, the coroner for Hamilton County, emphasized that due to the sensitive nature of the investigation, they are unable to dismiss the possibility that William may have been sexually assaulted before his death.

Authorities claim the young boy was subjected to torture inside a home in Oakley, where he was found deceased on Thursday, stirring distress and outrage within the community. 

The trio were co-parenting the youth prosecutors said in court last week after they were arraigned over the death of William. 

Hamilton County court records seen by the Daily Mail indicate that both Keaney and Rankin are biological males. Evans is the boy’s biological mother. 

According to WLWT, prosecutors said in court that there was evidence to show that William was being abused for over two months by the trio. 

After police entered the property, prosecutors said they found him in a closet where he had been bound and duct-taped. 

It was claimed that despite neglecting and torturing the boy, they managed to take a dog of theirs to a vet to be vaccinated the day before his death. 

Investigators said the boy suffered visible injuries which included ‘indicated physical beatings’ over his body. 

He also suffered impact injuries to the back of his head and had been water tortured for a period of time and was badly burned, investigators said.  

An attorney for Evans claimed that she did not cause the death of her son, saying that one of the others caused his death but did not name either Rankin or Keaney.

Her attorney did say in court that she had failed to save her son, and pleaded with the judge for a $250,000 bond.

Prosecutors asked for a $1 million bond on the murder charge and a further $500,000 on a child endangerment charge. The judge sided with the prosecution. 

The boy’s other biological parent, who was not identified, was given the chance to address her in court, telling her: ‘I trusted you.’

According to Fox56, they also said that William had been kept away from them ‘over lies’. 

A lawyer for Keaney said she had failed to ‘administer treatment’ for the boy’s injuries which were allegedly ’caused by somebody else.’

Her attorney requested a $200,000 bond, prosecutors pushed back saying that Keaney failed to inform the authorities of the abuse. Her bond was set at $1 million. 

Attorneys for Rankin requested an evaluation, saying she suffered from ‘documented serious mental health issues’.

The judge agreed, with Rankin to be back in court for the results at the beginning of next month. 

A detective who was part of the investigation said that Rankin disclosed her own involvement in the abuse and implicated the two others as being involved. 

Her bond was set at $1 million on the murder charge, with another $100,000 secured for the child endangerment charge. 

A detective said the case was ‘one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse’ that he had ever seen in his two decades of work. 

The trio are next back in court on August 17. All of them are on suicide watch inside Hamilton County Jail, Fox19 reported.

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

In Ohio, the mother of a 7-year-old boy and two co-parents face murder charges following a family investigation by the child’s grandparents, who suspected abuse. This tragic case has captured national attention, highlighting the ongoing issue of child welfare.

According to Cincinnati police, Kaitlin Evans, 38, along with her co-parents Kirby Rankin, 33, and Nessa Keaney, 23, have all entered pleas of not guilty concerning the death of young William Evans. This development has sparked community outrage and calls for justice.

Discrepancies have emerged in how authorities document Kirby Rankin’s gender; while the Hamilton County jail and Municipal Court refer to Rankin as male, Cincinnati police records list Rankin as female.

Police records and 911 dispatch details reveal a disturbing sequence leading from a call to the Mercy Rookwood emergency room to a Cincinnati apartment. It was there that officers discovered William bound and unresponsive in a closet, a heartbreaking scene that underscored the severity of the charges.

The sequence began when a charge nurse called 911 to report that a barefoot woman had entered the emergency department, dropped to the floor and said someone was trying to kill her and had taken her son.

The nurse told the dispatcher the woman claimed her son was being held in the attic of a nearby apartment.

FOX19 NOW reported that the woman identified herself as William’s mother and named Rankin as the partner she accused of trying to kill her and taking the boy.

Police were sent to the hospital and the apartment for a welfare check, according to radio traffic and computer-aided dispatch records. An officer reported that a juvenile boy was in a closet and “not moving.”

A dispatch entry also stated that a child was “found tied up in closet.” Dispatchers then asked fire personnel to expedite their response, records show.

Cincinnati police said officers found William unresponsive inside the residence and that Cincinnati Fire Department personnel determined he was dead.

FOX19 NOW reported that Cincinnati homicide Detective Kyle Smith testified in court on Friday that William had been severely beaten over the previous two months, calling the case “probably one of the most disturbing cases of child abuse” he had encountered during decades in law enforcement.

Smith told the judge investigators believe William was held underwater for a prolonged period. He also said Rankin disclosed her involvement in what he described as a prolonged child-abuse incident and implicated Evans and Keaney as active participants.

Rankin’s attorney sought a competency evaluation, citing what the attorney described as serious mental health issues.

William’s grandparents, Mike Evans and Tina Evans, told WLWT they feared their grandson’s home had become a “house of horrors.”

The grandparents said William, who regularly spent Fridays and many Saturdays with them, told them about six weeks before his death that he did not want to return home.

They said Kaitlin later restricted their contact with William. Mike and Tina said they saw him once during the final six weeks of his life and noticed a bruise on his shoulder. That visit, nearly four weeks before William’s death, was the last time they saw him.

Mike and Tina said they met with an attorney alongside William’s other grandparents and hired a private investigator to monitor Kaitlin and William. Mike said relatives feared both William and Kaitlin were being abused.

He said he rented a car Thursday intending to watch the home but arrived to find police vehicles outside. A detective then told Mike that William had died and Kaitlin was being questioned downtown.

The Cincinnati Police Department’s Homicide Unit is investigating.

Zach Holland, an amateur golfer boasting a 2-handicap and a former player at William Carey University, has resigned from his seat at WingHaven Country Club. This decision follows the revelation of security footage capturing him fabricating a hole-in-one during an exclusive members-only event at the O’Fallon, Missouri course.

Speaking candidly in a Friday interview with “The Morning After” show on 101 ESPN St. Louis, Holland acknowledged his misconduct to club authorities. He also shared the unfortunate backlash his wife and two young children experienced after the incident came to light.

“When you engage in something as foolish as I did, consequences are inevitable,” Holland remarked, reflecting on his actions.

Holland confessed to placing his golf ball in the hole on the par-3 fourth hole even before the event had commenced, an event that featured a prize for a hole-in-one. He then misled his fellow players with his false claim.

“What I did was inexcusable,” Holland admitted, expressing deep regret. “There wasn’t any rationale behind it—just pure foolishness. Even though we were giving two shots back to the field, it’s not a justification. There’s no excuse for my actions.”

After completing the first three holes with his group, Holland told his playing partners he needed to take a personal phone call, allegedly regarding his ill grandmother — and that he would tee off on the fourth hole ahead of them and meet them later on the green.

Holland eventually returned to the group and explained that he “thinned” his tee shot, but wasn’t sure where the ball landed.

That’s when his group found the ball in the cup and celebrated what they believed was a hole-in-one by Holland.

Security footage reviewed by WingHaven staff showed Holland driving near the fourth green before his scheduled tee time, resulting in him confessing to the fake hole-in-one and resigning from the club.

“I made a bad decision, and I have to suffer the consequences,” Holland said. I’m trying to move forward as best I can and it’s been rough.”

He added that he’s worried about his family, who’ve been collateral damage due to backlash from his actions.

“I made a terrible mistake,” Holland said. “The lack of moral character — I can take the banter and the chatter and the heat because I deserve that from a golf perspective.

“What I am most worried about is my family. … It’s not fair to them for me to put them in that situation where when they walk through a room, there is a stigma there that your dad is a [cheater]. So questions that they may get asked or be getting asked down the road, that’s the worst part. The golf is secondary.”

Nathan Charnes, the acting PGA of America president and general manager at WingHaven, said that the club “promptly addressed the matter” and the incident is closed.

“WingHaven Country Club is aware of the recent attention surrounding an incident involving a former member during a Club event,” Charnes told GOLF.com. “The Club promptly addressed the matter.

“We care deeply about the integrity of the game and the experience we provide for our members and guests. Because this situation involved the actions of an individual and has been resolved, we consider it closed and have no further comment.”

Nurse Julie Paul expected to return to stand

Democratic U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar recently revealed that an agent from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was stationed outside her regular town hall gathering in Richfield, Minnesota, last Thursday.

In a letter made public on social media Monday, Omar addressed Michael McCarthy, the interim special agent leading HSI’s St. Paul office, expressing concerns about the event. Omar’s letter detailed how a young woman, seated in a Ford Explorer, seemed out of place as she observed arrivals at a local community center where the meeting was convened. A Richfield police officer found her behavior questionable, prompting further investigation.

The letter explained that the officer decided to check the vehicle’s license plates and discovered they were registered to a different car. Subsequently, the officer approached the woman for clarification.

Initially, the woman identified herself as part of a security team. However, when Richfield Police verified with Omar’s security detail and found no association, she contacted her supervisor. At that juncture, it was disclosed she was an undercover HSI agent engaged in a local drug operation, according to Omar’s letter.

Following the interaction with her supervisor, the woman left the premises, as stated in the letter from Omar.

“Instead of monitoring the area for those who might wish harm to me and my constituents, Richfield Police were required to devote time to investigating why an HSI agent was outside of a Congressional event in a vehicle with mismatched plates,” Omar said in a written statement on Monday. “It also raises serious and uncomfortable questions about the purpose of HSI’s presence outside of my event.”

According to Omar’s letter, the Richfield Police Department said they had no advance communication of an undercover operation from HSI that would have “allowed them to ensure the safety of the officer and the community, as well as support HSI’s broader work to combat drug trafficking.”

WCCO has reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment.

Omar said the incident “raises concerns” about practices at HSI and its parent agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She’s asking McCarthy to explain why the agent was stationed outside the community center, how the agency learned of the meeting and what training the agent had completed.

Omar also requested information from McCarthy about any other official events or Minnesota leaders HSI agents may have observed this year.