Murdaugh Wants Fresh Look at Male DNA Found on Wife

Alex Murdaugh's lawyers are seizing on a piece of DNA they say was barely explored the first time around. In new court filings, his legal team describes genetic material from an unidentified man reportedly found under Maggie Murdaugh's left-hand fingernails—evidence the state crime lab labeled unrelated to her murder and did not further analyze—as "crucial to the defense" and asks a judge to send it to a private lab that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy, per the State and Fox News. The firm, Othram Inc., has told the defense it can perform more extensive testing; Murdaugh's team says he'll pay for it.

Two other requests aim to reshape the former attorney's upcoming retrial for the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. One motion asks to move the case out of Colleton County and the four other counties that make up South Carolina's 14th Judicial Circuit, arguing years of "saturating, sensational and continuous media coverage" and the Murdaugh family's deep ties to the local justice system make a fair jury there unrealistic. Another motion asks that Murdaugh, imprisoned for financial crimes, be allowed to review the massive case file on a secure, offline laptop instead of through stacks of paper. A case hearing is set for Monday, though the judge is unlikely to rule on the new motions until prosecutors have a chance to respond, per the State.