Alex Murdaugh back in court after subpoenaing South Carolina agents for testimony on murders of wife, son
Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to the June 2021 killings of his wife and son
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh is to appear in court on Monday after subpoenaing South Carolina law enforcement agents for evidence allegedly connecting him to the murders of his wife and son.
Murdaugh, who has pleaded not guilty to the double homicides, is expected to appear during a 10 a.m. hearing at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro.
State prosecutors and defense will go head-to-head on several motions connected to discovery.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After subpoenas from defense, four agents with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) are expected to testify on the murder case.
On July 14, A Colleton County Grand Jury indicted Murdaugh for two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection to the June 7, 2021, deaths of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22. (Richland County Detention Center)
Murdaugh’s attorneys have also subpoenaed SLED to hand over related incident reports, notes, search warrants and affidavits. Meanwhile, the state is expected to seek a protective order to prevent involved parties from discussing details of the murder case outside the courtroom, citing high pre-trial publicity and the sensitive nature of some evidence.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This comes after Judge Clifton Newman already denied a gag order in the case earlier this month.
The mysterious double homicides of Murdaugh’s college sweetheart wife, 52-year-old Maggie, and their youngest son, 22-year-old Paul, on their sprawling estate in the state’s Low Country on June 7, 2021, unleashed a slew of investigations into the finances of the powerful legal family that ran a prominent personal injury law firm for a century and had controlled the local prosecutors’ office for generations.
Murdaugh, 54, wasn’t formally charged for the killings until 13 months later by a Colleton County grand jury on July 14. The bare-bones indictments say Murdaugh, who dialed 911 himself to report the murders, fatally shot Maggie using a rifle and Paul with a shotgun but provide no further details.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges.
Alex Murdaugh appears for a hearing at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on Wednesday, July 20, 2022. The once-powerful and now disbarred South Carolina lawyer pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to murdering his wife and son 13 months ago. (Gavin McIntyre/The Post And Courier via AP)
His defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, hosted a press conference on Aug. 17 accusing state prosecutors of delaying discovery.
By the time the bombshell murder charges dropped, Murdaugh had already been charged with plotting a botched suicide-for-hire plot so that his surviving son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance policy, embezzling large swaths of money from the law firm that once bore his name, the heirs of his own housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, and a laundry list of former legal clients turned alleged victims.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}So far, Murdaugh has been indicted for schemes to defraud victims of nearly $8.5 million.
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Law enforcement has also since reopened criminal probes into the mysterious deaths of Satterfield, as well as 19-year-old Stephen Smith, a former high school classmate of Buster Murdaugh.