Why Murdaugh's Retrial Is Leaving Colleton County

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
This is The Big Breakdown, a long look back at some of the biggest stories we're covering for you at the HiddenKillers Podcast and True Crime Today.

**Tony Brueski** (0:20)
Alex Murdaugh, lots of news there. Lots of things have been happening in the the courtrooms as they prepare for what will be the Alex Murdaugh trial sequel. Where will it happen? When will it happen? What's going to be admissible? What's not? These are the fights that are happening right now.
If you're new to True Crime or new to court cases and stuff, the reality is so much of what happens in the actual trial happens before the actual trial starts. In motions hearings, that's what's going on right now. Alex Murdaugh walked into a courtroom in Lexington, South Carolina on August 14th of 2026 Dark blue suit, striped tie. He'd been weaving it in prison for the last however many months back there, getting his skills on as a professional tie weaver. Okay, I don't think he was doing that, but he has the time. The last time he wore civilian clothes in court was November 28th of 2023, the day he was sentenced for stealing roughly $12 million.
Wouldn't we all have those days?
He stole from clients, he stole from the family of a dead housekeeper, he stole from anyone who trusted the Murdaugh name long enough to write a check. He has pled guilty to all of it and is serving a 40-year federal sentence. That's all context, okay? Let's get into the meat of what's going on here with the hearing. And as we do, your thoughts in the comment section on SubStack and YouTube, I would love for you to weigh in. And if you've not done so yet, hey, you can take us with you beyond just YouTube. If you like listening to podcasts in the car, at work, at the gym, at your walks, while you're stalking your ex-lovers. We do highly discourage that, and we have a lot of cautionary tales about that on the program. But if you're looking for something to listen to while you're doing that, the podcast is here for you. There's the QR code. Just scan it, follow it to your favorite podcast player, and press subscribe. Hopefully we can talk you down off that ledge while you're stalking someone by going, you know what? This didn't work out well for anybody he's talking about. Maybe I shouldn't do that. We're here for you. Okay, Judge Debra McCaslin ordered the shackles off and the suit on her August 10th ruling said, you can't show a guy to potential jurors in an orange jumpsuit for crimes that aren't even on trial. So there you go.
Make him look nice.
And people, I know this is one of those cases where everybody's like, I want to see him burn. And I get it. I get it. I agree. I think this for the financial crimes alone, absolute piece of shit. There's no redeeming Alex Murdaugh as a decent human being. But in the interest of us not having Alex Murdaugh trials for the next 25 years, consecutively, because they get dismissed or they get thrown back over stupid things. And they can happen over the way you present someone in court. Your Honor, my client didn't have a fair trial because he was already presented as a criminal before the jury even had a chance to make their judgment. Cases have been reversed on that sort of shit before, so that's why it's important. Cross every T, dot every I. Give him all the regular advantages that any person who's being accused of a crime would be afforded because you don't want to be able to go back on any technicality and have to do a Murdaugh trial, part three. So understand some of that. When you're hearing some of these things, you're like, that's bullshit. Yeah, but let's play the long game here. Not that what makes us feel best in the moment game.
That's important. Murdaugh obviously has pled not guilty to the murders of his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul. In McCaslin's courtroom for the murder case, he gets the suit. The defense team spent the next three hours getting nearly everything else they asked for. What? Yeah. Late in the hearing, they raised a claim that left prosecutor, Creighton Waters, telling the court he'd never heard of it. We'll get to that in just a little bit. Is it anything? Or is it posturing? Is it grandstanding in a courtroom? It could be. Or it could be like genuine shock on the part of Creighton Waters. Murdaugh is 58 years old. He was convicted in March of 23 of murdering Maggie and Paul in the family's Moselle estate. That's, you hear Moselle, that's the family's house in case you didn't name your house. Well, they did. There's Moselle in Colleton County. Maggie was 52, Paul was 22 The killings happened in June 7th of 21, and prosecutors allege they were meant to distract from financial crime investigations, closing in on Alex Murdaugh. The South Carolina Supreme Court threw out that conviction in May of 26 The court ruled that clerk Becky Hill had tainted the jury with improper contact during the trial. Hill had urged jurors to reach a guilty verdict. She was in the jury's ear the entire trial. She later pled guilty to perjury and obstruction. The woman responsible for managing the jury committed crimes actually against it, which is mainly why we're back here today talking about Alex Murdaugh and a new trial. McCaslin was appointed to oversee the retrial, now set for April 5th of 2027