Alex Murdaugh wants murder indictments dismissed, saying agent lied to grand jury

Attorneys for disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh are set to argue in court on Friday that the original murder indictments for the 2021 killings of his wife and son should be dismissed. They claim that the chief investigator in the case, State Law Enforcement Division agent David Owen, provided misleading information to the grand jury.

Murdaugh faces a retrial on the murder charges after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his convictions and life sentence in 2023. The court ruled that a court clerk improperly influenced jurors during the 2023 trial. Even if the request to dismiss the indictments is granted, a retrial could still be scheduled for April, as prosecutors can request new grand jury indictments as soon as next month.

Owen, who retired in 2024, is under scrutiny after being honored as State Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. He told the grand jury that blood spatter was found on a T-shirt Murdaugh was wearing the night of the killings, and that the same ammunition load found on Murdaugh's weapons was loaded in the chamber used to kill his son. However, earlier reports stated that no blood stains were present, and these details were not introduced at trial.

Murdaugh, 58, is currently serving a decade-long prison sentence for embezzlement. He has admitted to being a thief, insurance cheat, bad lawyer, and long-time opioid addict. However, he denies being a killer. Defense lawyers argue that while Murdaugh might have orchestrated the killings, the lack of physical evidence and the discrepancies in the investigation cast doubt on the prosecution's case.