Alex Murdaugh moves for new home for double-murder retrial
Alex Murdaugh’s retrial could be headed to Richland County, South Carolina, as his defense presses to move the double-murder case from the Lowcountry, arguing the new venue would offer a larger jury pool and reduce costly logistical challenges.
Court documents filed Monday by Murdaugh’s defense team, obtained by WIS in Columbia, and reviewed by Fox News Digital, show the attorneys are asking the court to select Richland County for the retrial.
The filing comes after Judge Debra R. McCaslin ruled Friday that Murdaugh’s retrial must move out of Colleton County but did not choose a new location.
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During the hearing, defense attorney Phillip D. Barber argued Charleston would not cost more than other parts of South Carolina.
"You don’t think the cost of living is higher in Charleston?" prosecutor Creighton Waters asked.
"McDonald’s is the same price in Charleston as anywhere else," Barber replied.
In their latest filing, Barber and the defense team ask that the trial be moved to Richland County.
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Murdaugh was granted a new trial after the South Carolina Supreme Court found former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly influenced jurors during his 2023 murder trial, undermining his right to a fair proceeding.
"The size of the potential jury venire is on a scale comparable to Charleston, thus giving a much greater opportunity to find an impartial jury," the defense wrote. "Further, although not an absolute requirement, the racial demographics are similar to Colleton."
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Murdaugh’s team said a Richland County trial would eliminate the need for either side to book hotel rooms for attorneys, staff or South Carolina Law Enforcement Division witnesses.
The April 5, 2027, trial is scheduled during the Masters Tournament. Prosecutors argued the event could make it harder to find hotel rooms in Richland County, but the defense said the first week would likely be spent selecting jurors, reducing the need for lodging.
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"The State objected that the Masters golf tournament during the first trial week might make Richland County accommodations unavailable, but it is unlikely witnesses would need hotel rooms during the first trial week because that week will be mostly or entirely consumed by jury selection," the defense wrote.
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The defense also asked McCaslin to consider its costs, arguing it does not have the State’s "nearly limitless resources."
"It was Defendant’s constitutional rights, not the State’s, which were violated by the intentional conduct of Becky Hill, an elected state official," Murdaugh’s team wrote. "One reason Defendant suggested Charleston is that the defense has access to offices near the courthouse."
"The State of course has offices at every courthouse in South Carolina," the defense continued. "It is appropriate that the Court act to protect the people of Colleton County from costs created by their own elected official’s unexpected criminal conduct, but it would be inappropriate to do so by imposing excessive and avoidable costs on the victim of her conduct."
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At his 2023 trial, Murdaugh acknowledged misleading investigators about his location shortly before his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, were shot, but he has consistently denied killing either of them.
Fox News Digital has reached out to both the defense and prosecution for comment.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.