Former attorney Alex Murdaugh may face a retrial for the murders of his wife and son after the South Carolina Supreme Court agreed to evaluate an appeal concerning alleged jury tampering during his initial trial.
The court’s ruling, issued on Tuesday, allows the case to move straight to the high court, bypassing the typical appeals process. This development comes after a request for retrial was previously denied.
Murdaugh, who was found guilty of murdering his 52-year-old wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul in March 2023, is currently serving two consecutive life sentences. The killings occurred at their home in 2021, with both victims suffering multiple gunshot wounds.
Initially, Murdaugh reported finding the bodies, but later became a person of interest in the investigation.
In addition to his murder convictions, Murdaugh is also serving a 40-year sentence for federal financial fraud, which he pleaded guilty to.
His defense team has accused former Colleton County Clerk Rebecca Hill of tampering with the jury, claiming she sought a conviction to boost sales for her book, “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders.” The book was later withdrawn after Hill admitted to plagiarizing parts of it, WCSC reported.
Following allegations of misuse of her office, Hill resigned in March. She has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
In January, former South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal stated there wasn’t enough evidence to warrant a new trial, asserting that “the strength of some fleeting comments” made by a clerk couldn’t overturn Murdaugh’s conviction.
However, Murdaugh’s attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, maintain that the circumstances warrant another look, claiming the involvement of a state official in jury tampering raises serious questions about the integrity of the verdict.
“The public has a significant interest in determining whether such a highly publicized trial’s outcome should be reconsidered due to unprecedented jury tampering,” the lawyers stated in a July filing.