Judge McCaslin sets deadline to prosecutors to reply to Murdaugh lawyer complaints

John Monk, The State on Oct 3, 2026

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Debra McCaslin, the judge in Alex Murdaugh double murder case, has given prosecutors a deadline to reply to most defense lawyers’ concerns.

Prosecutors in the State Attorney General’s office must reply to issues raised by the Murdaugh’s defense lawyers by noon on Thursday, Oct. 8, according to an email by Judge McCaslin to lawyers in the case.

The contents of her email were released by defense lawyers Friday afternoon.

In recent weeks, Murdaugh’s lawyers have filed motions seeking information from prosecutors on DNA, cell phone extraction, ballistic data, and laser-scanning data of the crime scene.

A state Attorney General’s office spokesman said Friday afternoon, "We have no comment other than to say we’ll file our reply with the Court on or before the date set by Judge McCaslin.”

Prosecutors have been largely unresponsive, defense lawyers contend.

Defense lawyers they have a right to see all exculpatory evidence — evidence that might be favorable to Murdaugh — in the possession of the prosecution.

All other motions in the case will be held at a hearing scheduled for Nov. 13, according to the judge’s email.

Those motions presumably include a motion made this week by the defense about a possible “cover-up” involving weapons used in the killings of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh will be heard.

Murdaugh, 58, is scheduled to go on trial on April 5 for the second time in the double murder case involving the killings of his wife Maggie and son Paul. They were shot to death on June 7, 2021, at the Murdaugh 1,700-acre family estate in rural Colleton County.

Murdaugh was tried and convicted by a Colleton County jury in March 2023 of two counts of murder. Judge Clifton Newman sentenced Murdaugh to two life sentences.

Murdaugh’s convictions and sentences were overturned in May by the South Carolina Supreme Court, which ruled that Murdaugh’s rights to a fair trial had been compromised because of jury tampering by Becky Hill, former Colleton County clerk of court.

Murdaugh, 58, a disbarred lawyer from a prominent legal family, has pled guilty in state and federal court to numerous counts of fraud in connection with stealing more than $10 million from clients and his law firm. He is serving a 27-year state sentence at a state prison in connection with state embezzlements and a 40-year federal sentence in connection with federal frauds.