{"id":1552,"date":"2026-05-18T15:39:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1552"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:39:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:39:38","slug":"alex-murdaugh-retrial-ruling-offers-twist-in-tangled-tale-of-murder-in-us-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1552","title":{"rendered":"Alex Murdaugh retrial ruling offers twist in tangled tale of murder in US south"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"54ac92f6-428a-4a2b-8eef-df0ecd2d3092\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man wearing an orange jump suit and glasses clasps his hands together\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b5f22895bf97b89810c26ccfd7cb927c30c6ab4e\/0_0_2477_1722\/master\/2477.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"323.2660476382721\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Alex Murdaugh will remain in prison whatever the outcome of his retrial: he is serving a 40-year sentence for a string of financial crimes.<\/span> Photograph: Gavin McIntyre\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"54ac92f6-428a-4a2b-8eef-df0ecd2d3092\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Alex Murdaugh will remain in prison whatever the outcome of his retrial: he is serving a 40-year sentence for a string of financial crimes.<\/span> Photograph: Gavin McIntyre\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Alex Murdaugh retrial ruling offers twist in tangled tale of murder in US south<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-b3fmmo\">\n<p>Can a new trial bring justice in the case of the disgraced South Carolina lawyer whose conviction for killing his wife and son has been vacated after court clerk\u2019s misconduct?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/alex-murdaugh\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Alex Murdaugh<\/a> was not in court last Wednesday when a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/south-carolina\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">South Carolina<\/a> appeals court vacated his 2023 double-murder conviction in the latest stunning twist in a legal saga that has captivated America and the world with its southern gothic tale of murder, betrayal and financial skullduggery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Prison regulations had prevented the disgraced lawyer from watching a live stream at the high-security McCormick correctional institution. Nor were any of his relatives present, including son Buster, the only surviving member of his immediate family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But Murdaugh, 57, will be heading back to court at some point, although not necessarily to Colleton county, where the court clerk, Becky Hill, was found to have improperly influenced the jury, including telling them to \u201cwatch his body language\u201d and not be \u201cfooled by evidence\u201d, causing Murdaugh\u2019s double-murder conviction to be thrown out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The five justices of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/south-carolina\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">South Carolina<\/a> supreme court unanimously ruled that Hill \u201cplaced her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"6c4a5000-5303-459c-adcf-559d9f39d1b1\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a woman raises her hand in the witness stand\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1fe2411875e2c85cfe8361d44d95dd24aab53b48\/0_0_3349_2233\/master\/3349.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.71095849507316\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"6c4a5000-5303-459c-adcf-559d9f39d1b1\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Becky Hill, the Colleton county clerk of court, is sworn in at a jury-tampering hearing in Columbia on 29 January 2024.<\/span> Photograph: Andrew J Whitaker\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The mistrial ruling sets the stage for another courtroom chapter in a case that has generated intense media interest, endless headlines and multiple TV documentaries. But can a second murder trial for the killings of Murdaugh\u2019s wife and son elicit the same interest?<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">After the appeals court ruling came down, South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson indicated he may raise the stakes, telling NBC News he may seek the death penalty at a second Murdaugh trial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIn light of the supreme court\u2019s decision, we\u2019re back to square one on this case, and that means all our legal options are on the table, including the death penalty,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Even if Murdaugh is found not guilty in a retrial, he won\u2019t be freed \u2013 he is already serving a 40-year sentence for financial crimes including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, forgery and embezzlement, including $3.4m from the family of his former housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, who died after falling down stairs at the Murdaugh home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Still, the vacation of Murdaugh\u2019s conviction is a striking twist in the tale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Questions about juror tampering arose almost immediately after they deliberated for just two hours following a six-week trial during which the prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence, suggesting that jurors had made up their minds before deliberations, or potentially something else.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The gun or guns used to kill had never been recovered, nor had physical evidence ever placed Murdaugh at the kennels on the family property at the time his wife, Margaret, \u201cMaggie\u201d Murdaugh, 52, and his younger son Paul Murdaugh, 22, were shot dead in June 2021.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"5055bd18-7ac5-4254-8fb8-bdf7a462d933\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-12 | 12\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-1bg5532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/sep\/10\/alex-murdaugh-case-mistrial-south-carolina\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">Murder, mystery \u2026 mistrial? Stage set for another chapter in Murdaugh case <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Prosecutors also hinted that Murdaugh\u2019s financial problems were his motive in the killings, but that won\u2019t be permitted in a new trial after the appeals court ruled it had created unfair prejudice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe were very gratified,\u201d Murdaugh\u2019s lawyer Dick Harpootlian said after his client\u2019s conviction was vacated. \u201cOne thing this decision says is that the rule of law is alive and well in South Carolina, even if it\u2019s on life support elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But can a court seat a jury panel in the lowlands of South Carolina that is not already immersed in the case? South Carolina\u2019s attorney general, Alan Wilson, wants to retry Murdaugh before the year is out. The defendant\u2019s lawyers says that\u2019s not possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cNo way this gets to trial this year,\u201d Harpootlian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestate.com\/news\/local\/crime\/article315752812.html#storylink=cpy\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">told the State.<\/a> \u201cWe have no judge assigned yet, the venue issue still needs to be worked out. We\u2019re basically halfway through the year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sam Bassett, a Texas criminal defense attorney, argues that Murdaugh deserves a new trial not because the verdict was necessarily wrong but because the trial process was jeopardized when jurors were invited by Hill to consider evidence outside the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt\u2019s an interesting and unfortunate situation,\u201d he says. Selecting a jury for a new trial, he says, \u201cis going to be a challenge. It\u2019s going to be worse than before because of the amount of media. A change of venue is one option a trial judge could grant, but given the level of publicity that may or may not solve the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But the question for future jurors may not be whether they have been exposed to publicity around the case, but whether that exposure predisposes them to a decision. More broadly, the prosecution in a retrial has an advantage because they are aware of the Murdaugh defense team\u2019s prior strategies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIn this case, they have the defendant\u2019s prior sworn testimony. So that\u2019s a real disadvantage, generally speaking. As a defense attorney, you need to reevaluate everything you did in the first trial and likely try to do something different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But Murdaugh\u2019s co-counsel Jim Griffin told the State that a retrial gives the defense advantages. \u201cYou\u2019ll have witnesses from the first trial and a transcript of what they said. So if they shade their testimony at all and try to be consistent, you can use that to cross-examine them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Griffin said a new trial would allow more things \u201cto come to light, which we\u2019re not ready to share\u201d, but he would not be drawn on whether Murdaugh would again take the stand. That, he said, would be a \u201cgame day decision\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The unravelling of the trial verdict came after Harpootlian and Griffin spoke to a juror and learned what Hill had been saying during the trial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In their appeal, Murdaugh\u2019s lawyers submitted two affidavits alleging that Hill had told jurors not to trust the defendant when he testified, held one-on-one conversations with the jury foreperson in a bathroom, gave jurors reporters\u2019 business cards, and put pressure on them to return a quick verdict by denying them smoking breaks or threatening them with sequestration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Hill later pleaded guilty to showing graphic crime-scene photos sealed as court exhibits to a photographer, two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting her book through her public office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Hill\u2019s book, Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders, had already stirred controversy when she was accused by co-author Neil Gordon of plagiarizing passages from a BBC article.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In a foreword, author Rona Rich described how Hill ran the Colleton county court \u201cwith an iron fist deceptively wrapped in the softest silk\u201d. Others said the Lowcountry grandmother was dubbed \u201cCommand Central\u201d of the trial. She was known to banish anyone she considered improperly dressed to sit in the public galleries from court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">At last week\u2019s hearing, South Carolina\u2019s chief justice, John Kittredge, called Hill a \u201crogue clerk of court\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">That Hill may have been caught up in the sensationalism of the Murdaugh case and sought in turn to profit from it may be an outlier but there are indicators that media and influencer attention, together with protesters and supporters, can have a warping effect on the process of justice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Hill was also said to have hurried jurors to reach a verdict, in part because she was booked to appear on a morning TV broadcast in New York soon after.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cPerhaps the trial judge should get some advisories from other judges who handle these kinds of cases and what they do to limit extraneous influences without trampling on people\u2019s rights,\u201d says Bassett.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But there\u2019s a rich irony to the trial of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/alex-murdaugh\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Alex Murdaugh<\/a>, a descendant of a family that in various ways held a long and controversial sway over jurisprudence in South Carolina\u2019s Lowcountry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">After the ruling came down, Griffin told the State that Murdaugh was \u201cin disbelief, because every legal ruling has gone against him, in civil cases, in criminal cases\u201d, and was \u201chaving a hard time believing it\u2019s true. He\u2019s very grateful to no longer be convicted of murdering his wife and son, which he did not do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/alex-murdaugh\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Alex Murdaugh<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/south-carolina\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">South Carolina<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-crime\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US crime<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/features\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">features<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Alex%20Murdaugh%20retrial%20ruling%20offers%20twist%20in%20tangled%20tale%20of%20murder%20in%20US%20south&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/alex-murdaugh-retrial-ruling-south-carolina?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F18%2Falex-murdaugh-retrial-ruling-south-carolina&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/alex-murdaugh-retrial-ruling-south-carolina\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Murdaugh will remain in prison whatever the outcome of his retrial: he is serving a 40-year sentence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1555,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions\/1555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}