Alex Murdaugh’s retrial moved to a different county

Aug. 14 (UPI) — The second trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh will take place outside of his home county, a judge ruled Friday.

Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin said the double-murder trial in the 2021 deaths of Murdaugh’s wife and son will be moved over concerns he cannot get a “fair and impartial trial in Colleton County,” CNN reported.

“The Murdaugh case is a local freak show,” defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said in court. “People were interviewed on the street giving their opinions on whether he was guilty.”

Murdaugh, 58, was convicted in 2023 in the slaying of his wife, Maggie, 52, and youngest son, Paul, 22. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But the state’s Supreme Court in May ruled that the first trial was tainted by improper contact between members of the jury and Becky Hill, the county’s clerk of courts.

Murdaugh’s conviction was struck and he is now scheduled for an April 2027 retrial.

In court Friday, McCaslin ruled that prosecutors will be allowed to use testimony Murdaugh gave at his first trial, so long as they’re related only to the murders and not a host of other financial crimes of which he’s also been convicted.

In a separate case, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to dozens of financial crimes and is serving a sentence of up to 40 years in prison.

Prosecutors said he killed his wife and son outside their home in Islandton to divert attention from those crimes, which were committed against his law firm and clients.

“When you testify in a case, there’s consequences,” McCaslin said.

The judge is yet to decide where the trial will take place.