Alex Murdaugh defense says murder weapon may be tied to separate killing as judge seeks answers

Alex Murdaugh’s defence attorneys connected Friday raised an unverified assertion that a caller Allendale County homicide could beryllium connected to the Murdaugh murders, astonishing prosecutors and the justice overseeing his retrial.

Murdaugh returned to tribunal aft the South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously overturned his 2023 convictions and 2 beingness sentences earlier this twelvemonth for the killings of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh.

The tribunal recovered that erstwhile Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly influenced jurors, depriving Murdaugh of an impartial jury, and ordered a caller trial. Murdaugh remains imprisoned connected abstracted authorities and national financial-crime sentences.

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On Friday, defence lawyer Jim Griffin told South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin that the defence learned done FITSNews reporting that a caller Allendale County execution whitethorn person progressive weapons connected to the Murdaugh case.

Before August 14, 2026, Alex Murdaugh was past successful plainclothes during his fiscal crimes sentencing connected November 28, 2023, astatine the Beaufort County Courthouse. (Pool)

Griffin said the defence wanted the authorities to analyse and crook implicit immoderate related records.

FITSNews told Fox News Digital that Griffin’s notation was to its Aug. 8 "Week successful Review" YouTube episode. According to a transcript reviewed by Fox News Digital, FITS founding exertion Will Folks and probe manager Jenn Wood discussed what they described arsenic an unverified study involving a imaginable 3rd weapon astatine the Moselle transgression scene.

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"We’re proceeding reports that a Murdaugh weapon was utilized successful a consequent crime," Folks said. "We’re not going to accidental wherever astatine this point. We’re not going to get into the details."

State Judge Debra McCaslin oversees a judicial proceeding connected Monday, June 29, 2026, astatine the Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center successful Lexington, South Carolina. Alex Murdaugh volition beryllium retried successful the June 7, 2021, shooting deaths of his woman and son, aft his archetypal condemnation was overturned owed to assemblage tampering. (Tracy Glantz/The State via Pool)

Folks said the outlet was investigating whether the firearm was tied to the Murdaugh household and possibly 1 of the guns that has ne'er been recovered.

Wood cautioned that the accusation had not been confirmed.

"It’s a beauteous accordant rumor and, you know, I’m proceeding it from precise bully sources," Wood said. "We person not been capable to validate a batch of it and I’m not definite if it’s adjacent the gun. It conscionable said that it was tied to the execution of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh."

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Neither talker identified Allendale County, described a ballistics examination oregon said investigators had established that a limb utilized successful the Murdaugh killings was utilized successful a consequent crime.

The Moselle Estate House successful Islandton, which erstwhile served arsenic the Murdaugh family's superior residence. (South Carolina State Attorney's Office/Keen Eye Marking)

At Friday’s hearing, Griffin did not place the victim, the alleged limb oregon immoderate investigating that supported the purported connection. He said the defence wanted related records arsenic imaginable Brady worldly — grounds that could beryllium favorable to the defense.

Griffin told McCaslin that a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) firearms examiner testified astatine Murdaugh’s archetypal proceedings that ammunition casings from the .300 Blackout firearm utilized to termination Maggie Murdaugh bore extraction marks matching casings recovered from the Murdaugh family’s shooting range.

Griffin said that if ammunition casings from the Allendale County lawsuit matched casings tied to the Murdaugh murders, the defence wanted the underlying investigating and investigative records.

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Such a finding, helium argued, could rise questions astir the archetypal ballistics investigation oregon suggest that a firearm associated with the Murdaugh lawsuit was aboriginal utilized successful different killing.

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Creighton Waters, a authoritative for the S.C. Attorney General’s office, points astatine Alex Murdaugh successful the treble execution proceedings of Alex Murdaugh astatine the Colleton County Courthouse successful Walterboro, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)

Lead authoritative Creighton Waters told the tribunal the allegation was wholly caller to him.

"I person ne'er heard the archetypal happening astir that," Waters said, adding that helium communicates with SLED regular and had not been told of immoderate specified development.

"I volition surely look into that, but I would beryllium flabbergasted to find retired that really had happened and nary 1 had advised this bureau of that," Waters said.

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McCaslin besides appeared struck by the allegation.

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"As acold arsenic the execution successful Allendale with the execution weapons, you surely raised my eyebrows connected that," McCaslin told Griffin.

Alex Murdaugh is taken to the Colleton County Courthouse for sentencing connected March 3, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/Pool/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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Griffin said FITSNews had breached different Murdaugh-related stories earlier the defence learned of them. He besides told the tribunal that a podcast included a notation to the alleged connection.

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McCaslin directed Griffin to nonstop the worldly to Waters for review.

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Waters said helium does not travel podcasts oregon blogs covering the case.

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"I don’t ticker the podcast and I don’t work the blogs due to the fact that I effort to basal what I’m doing connected the grounds and not connected speculation that’s retired determination successful the media," Waters said. "It would stroke my caput if thing similar that had happened successful SLED and not telephone me."

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No grounds establishing a transportation betwixt an Allendale County homicide and weapons utilized successful the Murdaugh killings has been presented.

Waters aboriginal said during Friday's proceeding that SLED past told him determination is nary known ballistics lucifer linking a .300 Blackout utilized successful an Allendale County shooting to different crime. Waters said the firearm grounds from the Allendale lawsuit was entered into a ballistics database but "there person been nary leads oregon nary matches connected that."

"I’m going to find retired much and treble cheque and we’re going to tally this down," Waters said, adding that SLED told him determination were "no leads oregon hits" involving the .300 Blackout utilized successful the Allendale shooting.

Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.