Alex Murdaugh’s defense team is gambling on a "high risk" DNA test in its bid to point to another killer, a prosecutor said, citing the defense’s own expert.Judge Debra McCaslin sided with the defense over prosecutors’ objections Friday, allowing new testing on swabs from Maggie Murdaugh’s cellphone and clippings from under her fingernails, even though the process will likely use up the last of the testable samples.McCaslin said due process requires that a defendant be given "a meaningful opportunity to present a full and complete defense."Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the family's Moselle property in Colleton County.
The South Carolina Supreme Court later overturned the convictions after finding that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly influenced the jury.His retrial is scheduled to begin April 5, 2027.Murdaugh has maintained his innocence in the killings.MURDAUGH WANTS IDAHO MURDERS DNA DREAM TEAM BEHIND KOHBERGER CASE TO HELP REWRITE SECOND MURDER TRIALAlex Murdaugh at a pretrial hearing in Lexington, South Carolina on Oct.
16, 2026.(Tracy Glantz of The State and Henry Taylor of The Post and Courier.)The defense team plans to employ Othram to conduct a Y-STR test, a method that isolates DNA from the Y chromosome to generate a profile of a male contributor in samples where female DNA is predominant.Murdaugh's attorneys contend that all three samples contain unidentified male DNA and are seeking to determine whether a single man was the source.
Defense attorney Phil Barber said the findings could rule out certain individuals as contributors and may provide ancestry information, although the test cannot differentiate between men who share the same paternal ancestors.MURDAUGH DEFENSE SAYS NEWLY DISCLOSED RESERVE DNA SAMPLES SHOULD GO TO OTHRAM BEFORE STATE ANALYSISAlex Murdaugh's attorney, Dick Harpootlian, speaks at a pretrial hearing on Oct.16, 2026.
(Tracy Glantz of The State and...