Alex Murdaugh Retrial Gets New Venue After Defense Raises Jury Bias Concerns

Murdaugh is being retried for the 2021 murders of his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22, as he maintains his innocence

NEED TO KNOW

• A judge approved moving Alex Murdaugh’s retrial to Sumter County to ensure a fair and impartial trial
• The venue change follows concerns raised by Murdaugh’s attorneys that the jury pool in Colleton County, where he was tried first, had been “tainted”
• Murdaugh’s double-murder conviction was overturned after allegations of juror tampering by a former court clerk

A judge has determined the new venue for Alex Murdaugh‘s retrial in the 2021 killings of his wife Maggie and their son Paul.

In the order obtained by PEOPLE, a South Carolina judge granted a transfer of Murdaugh’s murder retrial to Sumter County, S.C. from Colleton County, where it was initially tried, on Tuesday, Sept. 8. The new venue comes weeks after the judge approved Murdaugh’s request to move the trial on Aug. 14.

Presiding judge Debra R. McCaslin ruled that Murdaugh had adequately demonstrated numerous issues with seating an impartial jury in Colleton County, including an “exceptional rate of juror disqualification” in the jury selection for his first trial, and “community prejudice” stemming from the “long-standing association” between Murdaugh’s family and the court.

McCaslin also noted the “unprecedented breadth, persistence, and form of the publicity surrounding this prosecution” in her ruling, and said that Sumter County would be able to meet the trial’s logistical needs.

“The Court finds that Sumter County provides an appropriate venue in which Defendant can receive a fair trial, while also offering the security measures, courtroom facilities, and technological capabilities necessary for the safe, orderly, and efficient conduct of these proceedings,” McCaslin wrote.

During the Aug. 14 court hearing, Murdaugh’s defense had argued in favor of moving the retrial to Charleston, PEOPLE previously reported.

“Colleton County is poison,” Murdaugh’s defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said.

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters argued at the time that “the genie is out of the bottle” now that Murdaugh’s trial is one of the country’s highest-profile criminal cases, but insisted that state prosecutors would do everything to make sure they pick a jury that “will stick” and be fair to both sides.

In 2023, Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences after being convicted of murdering Maggie and Paul in June 2021 at the family’s hunting property in Colleton County, S.C. While there were no direct witnesses to the murders, a Snapchat video sent to Paul that was later introduced as evidence depicts Murdaugh at the scene of the crime, and was sent shortly before Maggie and Paul were shot and killed.

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After he was found guilty, Murdaugh’s defense team filed a post-conviction appeal accusing former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill of improperly influencing jurors during the trial, PEOPLE previously reported. In May, the South Carolina Supreme Court agreed, overturning Murdaugh‘s double-murder conviction and ordered a new trial.

Outside of the murder charges, Murdaugh is also currently serving a 27-year prison sentence on state charges and 40 years in prison on federal charges relating to various financial crimes he committed before and after the deaths of his family members.

Murdaugh’s next court date is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, and his retrial is currently scheduled to begin on April 5, 2027.

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