Alex Murdaugh's judge warns she will not let retrial 'become a circus' as defence wins DNA fight

A South Carolina judge rebuked feuding attorneys at a key evidence hearing Friday, ruling that Alex Murdaugh's retrial will proceed under strict order. Murdaugh, 58, secured the right to dispute DNA evidence but failed in a bid to challenge ballistics, as both sides jostle ahead of his April murder retrial. His original 2023 convictions were thrown out after the state Supreme Court determined that a court clerk had wrongly tampered with the jury.

Murdaugh's defence team is pressing prosecutors over a police officer — a friend of Murdaugh's — who allegedly arrived at the crime scene before other officers and may have helped conceal bloody clothing or weapons.

His wife Maggie and younger son Paul were killed by gunfire at the family's Colleton County estate in June 2021; Murdaugh is scheduled to face a fresh jury in April.