LEXINGTON, S.C. (Court TV) — Attorneys for disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh insist that the lead case investigator lied to the grand jury, but prosecutors stood by the testimony in court on Friday, urging a judge not to dismiss the indictment.
Alex Murdaugh, 58, was convicted of murdering his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and their son, Paul Murdaugh, at trial in 2023. That conviction, and his two life sentences, were overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court after the justices found that inappropriate comments made by the clerk of court to the jury during the trial prevented him from getting a fair verdict.
Alex Murdaugh appears in court on Nov. 13, 2026. (Court TV)
The defendant appeared in court alongside his attorneys on Friday, as they argued a motion to dismiss the indictment entirely, claiming the grand jury was misled by false testimony. In their motion to dismiss, Murdaugh’s attorneys said that Agent David Owens, assigned as the lead case agent by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), lied when he told the grand jury that there was blood spatter from the victims on the defendant’s shirt, and lied again when he said that other guns on the family’s property were loaded with the same ammunition that killed the victims.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin went through the evidence in the case, detailing how, despite initial tests on the defendant’s clothing showing no human blood, SLED reached out to blood spatter experts. Griffin said the testing showed the only staining on the shirt was likely transfer, not spatter, and that only Alex and Maggie Murdaugh’s DNA was found on the shirt—not Paul’s.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters, meanwhile, said that two early tests done on the shirt came back as presumptively positive for blood and that SLED reached out to a spatter expert simply because they didn’t have one on staff. Waters denied Griffin’s claim that Paul Murdaugh’s DNA was not present on the shirt, arguing that identifying and separating DNA profiles in the case was extremely difficult because of the fact Paul and Alex Murdaugh were father and son.
Just as Waters stood by the expert’s belief that the blood markings on the shirt could be spatter, he also defended Owens’ comments to the grand jury about ammunition found in the house. The weapons used to kill Maggie and Paul Murdaugh have never been found, but Owens told the grand jury that other guns in the home were loaded in a similar fashion, a claim that the defense said was false.
On Friday, Waters said that the ammunition used to kill the victims was mixed, just like the ammunition scattered throughout the property. “The fact of the matter is that mixed loads being found in multiple weapons, mixed loads being found on the property, that is all very true,” Waters said. “This was not overtly false. This is what the agent understood at the time, and it’s ultimately not something that would cause a substantial effect on the grand jury or cast grave doubt when we look at all the other evidence that was presented during this presentation.”
Judge Debra McCaslin said she would issue a written ruling on the motion and promised to have it ready by Nov. 20. Before adjourning, she asked Waters whether the state could reindict Murdaugh and maintain the current April 5, 2027, trial date if she granted the defense’s request. “I’m always full steam ahead,” Waters answered.
Murdaugh’s next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2027, in Sumter County, where the trial will be held.
