Judge picks new location for Alex Murdaugh's double-murder retrial
A South Carolina judge has selected the location for Alex Murdaugh's retrial on charges alleging he killed his wife and son, ordering it to occur some 80 miles from the site of the original trial.
Judge Debra McCaslin ruled last month that the retrial cannot take place anywhere in the 14th Circuit, finding that Murdaugh would be unable to receive a fair and impartial trial in Colleton County, where the original trial occurred.
On Tuesday, she ordered that the retrial take place in Sumter County, finding that it is "best suited to accommodate the needs of this case," including for Murdaugh to receive a fair trial.
Sumter County also "possesses the security measures, courtroom facilities, technological capabilities, and supporting infrastructure necessary to conduct these proceedings safely and efficiently," McCaslin wrote in her order issued Tuesday.
McCaslin has scheduled the retrial for April 5, 2027.
The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh’s 2023 murder convictions earlier this year -- citing "shocking jury interference" by the court clerk in the Colleton County trial.
Murdaugh remains in prison after pleading guilty to separate financial crimes. He was sentenced to 27 years on state charges and 40 years on federal charges.
The disgraced attorney admitted to stealing from his clients, though he has denied killing his wife, Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and younger son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, who were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds at the family's hunting estate in 2021.
