Could see Alex Murdaugh murder charges thrown out amid claims of police lies

Defense challenges the indictments

Murdaugh’s attorneys are due in court Friday to seek dismissal of the original indictments in the killings of his wife and son. They contend that State Law Enforcement Division agent David Owen lied to the grand jury.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned Murdaugh’s convictions and life sentence, finding that a court clerk improperly influenced jurors during his 2023 trial. That decision did not itself dismiss the murder indictments.

Disputed statements to jurors

Owen told grand jurors that ammunition matching the buckshot and large birdshot used to kill Paul was loaded in weapons across the Murdaugh property. The article says that was not the case.

An earlier report by state agents found no blood stains, and no such evidence was presented at trial. Prosecutors maintain that other evidence supports the murder charges.

Questions about Owen’s conduct

In a separate case, a judge last year dismissed a murder charge involving Owen. The article says the victim’s mother had told him her daughter made a suicide threat days before her death, but he did not pass that information to prosecutors or defense attorneys. Owen retired abruptly in 2024, not long after being named State Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. Prosecutors argued that “a single mistake is not bad faith.”