The Re-Trial Of Alex Murdaugh

Alex Murdaugh’s retrial is officially on the calendar — April 5, 2027 — and the first hearing made one thing immediately clear: the defense is not running the same playbook. Harpootlian walked into a Lexington County courtroom with first-responder transcr

The first retrial hearing in the Murdaugh case produced a moment that deserves more attention than it received. Dick Harpootlian presented the court with transcripts from interviews conducted with the first people to arrive at the Moselle property after Maggie and Paul were found dead. He told Judge McCaslin the accounts contain conflicting information about who was present at the property that night — and that the defense has received tips from people claiming to have case information that were forwarded to SLED with no confirmation they were ever investigated.That revelation came alongside a barrage of defense moves at the June 29 hearing. The team has eight new expert witnesses who need six months to prepare. They want Othram — the forensic genetic genealogy lab that worked the Kohberger case — to analyze the unknown male DNA recovered from under Maggie’s left-hand fingernails, designated as Item No. 70. Jim Griffin told the judge the DNA was catalogued by SLED and never further analyzed. He cited the David Camm case from Indiana, where untested crime scene DNA ultimately identified the actual killer and led to the defendant’s acquittal at a third trial.Judge McCaslin set the retrial for April 5, 2027. She denied Murdaugh a laptop in prison but arranged a conference room compromise. She deferred the DNA ruling to the next hearing on August 14 after ordering both sides’ experts to confer. The venue motion is unresolved. And the death penalty — never sought in the first trial — is now allegedly on the table. Everything about this retrial is different from the first.End Links:Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitterhttps://x.com/TrueCrimePodDisclaimer:This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.Hashtags:#AlexMurdaugh #MaggieMurdaugh #MurdaughRetrial #Moselle #MurdaughHearing #ItemNo70 #OthramDNA #DavidCamm #DickHarpootlian #TrueCrime

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Alex Murdaugh’s Prosecution Has WHAT Missing This Time?!

3w ago00:15:31Tap to summarize

For case followers tracking every strategic detail: the prosecution’s position heading into the April retrial is fundamentally different from 2023. The 12.5 hours of financial crimes testimony that defined how the first jury understood Alex Murdaugh — before they heard any murder evidence — has been restricted by the Supreme Court. The motive theory faces a jury that knows Murdaugh already pleaded guilty to the financial crimes and is serving concurrent state and federal sentences.Bob Motta examines whether the death penalty threat is genuine or leverage, whether Creighton Waters can present a streamlined motive case that still lands, and what the Becky Hill federal lawsuit’s parallel timeline means for both sides. The defense has the prosecution’s entire playbook. The prosecution has to win with less. The question is whether “less” is still enough. Tony Brueski and Bob Motta.End Links:Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitterhttps://x.com/TrueCrimePodDisclaimer:This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.Hashtags:#AlexMurdaugh #MaggieMurdaugh #MurdaughRetrial #BobMotta #DefenseDiaries #CreightonWaters #DeathPenalty #Motive #BeckyHill #TrueCrime

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Alex Murdaugh Can’t Access His Own Evidence Before April

3w ago00:14:37Tap to summarize

The first retrial hearing produced a ruling that goes directly to the defense’s ability to prepare. Judge McCaslin denied Murdaugh a laptop after the prison warden refused. The conference room compromise means every discovery review session requires his attorneys to physically visit the facility with their own equipment. Harpootlian warned the court that without better access, preparation could take longer than the April 5 deadline allows.For case followers: the defense revealed its hand at this hearing in ways that hadn’t been public before. Transcripts from first responders with conflicting accounts about who was present at Moselle. Confirmation that eight new experts are being brought in. A public acknowledgment that whether Murdaugh takes the stand again is undecided. And the DNA motion — Item No. 70, the unknown male DNA from under Maggie’s fingernails — deferred to August 14.Bob Motta evaluates what the defense showed and what they clearly held back. Tony Brueski and Bob Motta.End Links:Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitterhttps://x.com/TrueCrimePodDisclaimer:This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.Hashtags:#AlexMurdaugh #MaggieMurdaugh #MurdaughRetrial #BobMotta #DefenseDiaries #JudgeMcCaslin #KennelVideo #ItemNo70 #DickHarpootlian #TrueCrime

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The Untested DNA in the Alex Murdaugh Case Could Rewrite Everything at Retrial

3w ago00:16:49Tap to summarize

The defense is building Alex Murdaugh’s retrial around evidence SLED collected and never fully analyzed: DNA from an unknown male found under Maggie Murdaugh’s left-hand fingernails. They want Othram — the lab behind the Kohberger identification — to run an independent analysis on a rush order.Tony Brueski and Robin Dreeke take the audience’s hardest questions head on. Is a proven liar’s denial worth anything? Does his voice on Paul’s phone at the kennels prove he’s the killer, or just that he was concealing something? The first trial stayed in his home county, and he was convicted. Now his lawyers want out. What went wrong with his read on that room?From prison, he’s filed a federal suit against Becky Hill. Listeners smell a fishing trip through discovery to drag others down. Tony and Robin work through whether that’s desperation or instinct — and whether a clean jury can even exist after three years of wall-to-wall coverage. A Hidden Killers investigation.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#AlexMurdaugh #MurdaughRetrial #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #RobinDreeke #MaggieMurdaugh #PaulMurdaugh #SLED #SouthCarolina #DNA

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What Alex Murdaugh's Defense Found Under Maggie's Nails

3w ago00:14:46Tap to summarize

Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions were overturned, and the retrial is now moving forward in front of a newly assigned judge. Before the first hearing, his defense team made its opening moves — and they tell you a lot about how this second trial is going to be fought.There are three motions. The defense wants the trial moved out of the five-county circuit where the Murdaugh name dominated the courts for generations. They want Murdaugh given a secure laptop to work through a mountain of sealed discovery. And they want the court to release DNA recovered from under Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails for independent testing.That last one is the headline. When Maggie was killed in June 2021, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division recovered DNA from beneath her left-hand fingernails, determined it came from an unknown, unrelated male, and — the defense says — never tested it any further. Murdaugh's lawyers want it sent to Othram, the genetic genealogy lab known for putting names to people other labs couldn't identify.In the same filing, the defense reaches for David Camm — a former officer wrongly convicted on blood-spatter evidence, later cleared after DNA pointed to someone else. It's a pointed comparison, because the blood-spatter analyst from the Camm case is the same one who examined Alex Murdaugh's shirt.None of this means the DNA is the answer. A trace under a fingernail can come from anywhere, and the state has strong evidence of its own. But the defense's argument is simple: the state never bothered to find out whose DNA it was. This breakdown covers all three motions, the lab and the case the defense cite, and what it could mean as Murdaugh heads toward his second trial.END_LINKSJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodDISCLAIMERThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.HASHTAGS (10)#MurdaughRetrial #AlexMurdaugh #TrueCrime #MaggieMurdaugh #PaulMurdaugh #MurdaughCase #BeckyHill #DNAEvidence #SouthCarolina #ColdCase

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Who Is the Only One Still Looking Into Becky Hill?!

3w ago00:34:24Tap to summarize

When the Supreme Court erased Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions, Blanca drove straight to Maggie’s grave. Twenty years inside that household. Not staff — family. The person Maggie cried to behind closed doors. Blanca fixed Alex’s collar the morning of June 7th. She found the wet towel the next day. She gave every detail to a jury that convicted in three hours. Then Becky Hill destroyed the verdict.In her most revealing interview since the reversal, Blanca goes where the trial never went. She describes what the house looked like the morning after. The things that were moved. The things that were missing. And she delivers a reading of the murders that nobody in the defense camp wants to hear — twenty years of watching Alex use other people for everything is exactly why these killings fit his pattern.Five days after the reversal, Murdaugh’s own defense team sued Becky Hill in federal court. Not for the money. For the subpoenas. For the depositions. For the ability to drag people under oath. Nobody else — not the state, not the attorney general — is investigating the woman who corrupted the first trial. Only the man she helped convict.A look back at the most compelling stories of the week.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#AlexMurdaugh #BlancaSimpson #MurdaughRetrial #MurdaughCase #BeckyHill #MaggieMurdaugh #PaulMurdaugh #Moselle #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers

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The Evidence Under Maggie Murdaugh’s Nails That Nobody Ever Identified

3w ago00:43:47Tap to summarize

The kennel video convicted Alex Murdaugh the first time. His voice at the dog kennels minutes before Maggie and Paul were shot. Multiple people identified that voice under oath. He admitted he lied about being there. The jury came back in three hours. Now Dick Harpootlian says his team has a counter. He won’t say what it is. But he said it on national television, which means he wants the potential jury pool to know it’s coming.On the other side, Creighton Waters just lost the narrative that told the first jury why. The Supreme Court said twelve and a half hours of financial crimes testimony was too much. The stolen money, the defrauded clients, the insurance fraud — the story of a man whose professional life was a lie — has to be compressed into whatever the new judge allows. The defense also claims untested DNA under Maggie’s fingernails and has filed a lawsuit against Becky Hill that opens sworn deposition channels the murder case never had.Both sides are rebuilding. This episode maps exactly what each side kept and what each side lost.A look back at the most compelling stories of the week.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#AlexMurdaugh #MurdaughRetrial #MurdaughCase #DickHarpootlian #KennelVideo #CreightonWaters #BeckyHill #MaggieMurdaugh #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers

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Alex Murdaugh’s Retrial Hasn’t Started and Another Witness Is Already Gone

4w ago00:20:30Tap to summarize

The retrial hasn’t begun and the prosecution is already losing the people who built its case. Ryan Kelly, the SLED agent who testified as one of the state’s final witnesses at the 2023 murder trial, was fired from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office on June 8, 2026. Kelly had been running the office’s internal affairs unit — investigating other officers’ misconduct — when allegations of harassment, unbecoming conduct, and improper procedures ended his tenure after a little over a year.At SLED, Kelly was the lead investigator on Alex Murdaugh’s staged roadside shooting. His testimony helped prosecutors argue that Murdaugh’s lies about the shooting paralleled his lies about the night Maggie and Paul were killed at Moselle. Kelly told the jury that Murdaugh never identified Curtis Smith during the 911 call, the ambulance ride, or his hospital interviews. He also testified that SLED found no evidence connecting Smith to the June 7 murders — shutting down alternative-suspect theories.Kelly is now the latest in a line of prosecution-connected figures whose credibility has fractured. David Owen admitted to misleading the grand jury about blood evidence and has since been named in a separate murder case for concealing exculpatory information. Becky Hill pleaded guilty to perjury and obstruction. Owen and Ryan Neill both quietly retired after the trial.The first retrial hearing is June 29. Harpootlian told the Post and Courier his team will be investigating developments since the trial. He has called the SLED investigation riddled with holes and told reporters the defense has evidence it didn’t have before. The state is heading back into court to retry Alex Murdaugh for the murders of Maggie and Paul — and the witnesses it needs to get there keep disappearing from positions of authority.Links:Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodDisclaimer:This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.Hashtags:#AlexMurdaugh #RyanKelly #MurdaughCase #MurdaughRetrial #SLED #TrueCrime #SouthCarolina #DickHarpootlian #MaggieMurdaugh #PaulMurdaugh

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Murdaugh Retrial: What the Defense and Prosecution Are Really After

4w ago01:01:39Tap to summarize

The retrial of Alex Murdaugh for the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh is being shaped right now — in press conferences, in federal court filings, and in strategy signals neither side would normally make public. Criminal defense attorney Bob Motta reads all of it through a lens most commentators don’t have.On the defense side: a stated plan for the kennel video, unknown male DNA under Maggie’s fingernails that was never submitted to CODIS, new forensic cell phone experts, eight thousand pages of locked testimony from the first trial, and a federal lawsuit against Becky Hill that opens up sworn interviews the criminal case never allowed. The defense is asking whether Hill acted alone — and building the tools to find out.On the prosecution side: the Supreme Court gutted the financial crimes presentation that made the first conviction feel like a formality. Creighton Waters has to prove motive efficiently and win a circumstantial case without the emotional narrative doing the heavy lifting. No weapon. No confession. No DNA. The death penalty is on the table for the first time. And if Alex takes the stand again, prosecutors can use everything he said the first time against him. Bob Motta on the full picture. Tony Brueski, Robin Dreeke, and Bob Motta.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

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Murdaugh Case: What the Federal Suit Against Becky Hill Opens Up

4w ago00:18:41Tap to summarize

There’s a reason the defense filed this lawsuit in federal court instead of state court. Federal rules let them run their own investigation in a way the murder case never allowed. They can force sworn interviews. They can demand documents that haven’t been made available through the criminal process. And they can pull in anyone connected to the Colleton County courthouse during the first trial — not just Becky Hill.Hill already pleaded guilty criminally. That established what she did. This lawsuit is about finding out what everybody else knew. If Hill gets put under oath in the federal case and refuses to answer certain questions, that creates its own set of problems. If she answers and names other people, the defense has a story to tell the second jury that’s bigger than one clerk gone rogue.The defense also has to decide how far to push this before the retrial starts. If the lawsuit settles, the sworn interviews and document demands go away. That means the defense loses the only tool it has for finding out whether Hill acted alone. Criminal defense attorney Bob Motta on whether the information is worth more than the settlement. Tony Brueski, Robin Dreeke, and Bob Motta.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#AlexMurdaugh #BeckyHill #MurdaughRetrial #FederalLawsuit #BobMotta #DefenseDiaries #ColletonCounty #JuryTampering #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers

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All episodes

Alex Murdaugh’s retrial is officially on the calendar — April 5, 2027 — and the first hearing made one thing immediately clear: the defense is not running the same playbook. Harpootlian walked into a Lexington County courtroom with first-responder transcr

Alex Murdaugh’s Prosecution Has WHAT Missing This Time?!

Alex Murdaugh Can’t Access His Own Evidence Before April

The Untested DNA in the Alex Murdaugh Case Could Rewrite Everything at Retrial

What Alex Murdaugh's Defense Found Under Maggie's Nails

Who Is the Only One Still Looking Into Becky Hill?!

The Evidence Under Maggie Murdaugh’s Nails That Nobody Ever Identified

Alex Murdaugh’s Retrial Hasn’t Started and Another Witness Is Already Gone

Murdaugh Retrial: What the Defense and Prosecution Are Really After

Murdaugh Case: What the Federal Suit Against Becky Hill Opens Up