Lawyers for Alex Murdaugh accuse prosecutors of hiding evidence and leaking information to press
Lawyers for Alex Murdaugh are accusing prosecutors of allegedly hiding evidence – including blood splatters and phone records – and leaking information about the South Carolina family murders to the press ahead of his looming trial.
The disbarred South Carolina lawyer, 54, was indicted in July on murder charges in the deaths of his wife Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, who were killed on June 7, 2021, at the family’s home. He has adamantly denied killing them.
Murdaugh’s trial is not set to happen until next year, but drama in the courtroom is already in full swing.
This week, Murdaugh’s legal team blasted prosecutors of leaking details to the media instead of handing it over to the defense as required.
‘Gotcha prosecution. It’s trial by ambush,’ attorney Dick Harpootlian said. ‘Give us the stuff. I don’t have a shred of paper. I don’t have an email. I don’t have an exhibit. I don’t have any evidence.’
The lawyers say they have never received any reports on blood splatter or evidence found on phones.
‘We’re ready to work. Ready to hire investigators, ready to hire experts,’ he said. ‘All I know is what I read in some blog. I’ve never seen any blood spatter evidence. I’ve never seen any phone downloads. I’ve never seen any witness statements. 32 days after we make the request, we still don’t have anything.’
The defense has filed a motion asking the judge to compel the state to turn over the evidence immediately and to unseal the details of the grand jury indictment.
In a response filing, the state calls the motion a ‘blatant attempt to create drama where formerly there was none, saying the state has no desire to preclude the defense from any discovery, and they will send it over when the court green lights it.’
If convicted of murder, Murdaugh would face 30 years to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors could also choose to seek the death penalty under state law because more than one person was killed, but haven’t made any indication that’s what they might do.
Alex Murdaugh is escorted out of the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.His lawyers are now accusing prosecutors of hiding evidence and leaking information about the murders of his wife and son to the press
Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found dead at the family home on June 7, 2021. Alex Murdaugh called 911 claiming he found them there, shot dead
The June 2021 deaths prompted authorities to look into all corners of Murdaugh´s life. At least a half-dozen investigations resulted in charges that he stole $8.5 million from people who hired him and that he lied to police by saying he was shot by a stranger on a roadside.
Officials say he actually asked a friend to kill him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy just days after the family firm determined he was stealing money. The friend said the gun went off as he tried to wrestle it from a suicidal Murdaugh’s grip.
Murdaugh is familiar with legal wrangling. His family has dominated the legal scene in tiny, neighboring Hampton County for nearly a century with his father, grandfather and great-grandfather the area´s elected prosecutors for 87 years straight.
Defense attorneys want to take Murdaugh to trial as soon as possible to clear his name. Both sides appear to have agreed on January, with Harpootlian saying at the news conference outside his law office that he wants to stick to that timetable ‘come hell or high water’ and will have lawyers and the rest of his firm doing whatever is necessary to review the evidence whether it is five pages or 5 million pages.
