I sat feet away from Alex Murdaugh… what I saw has me convinced this retrial is about to explode in chaos

It quickly became known as the Lowcountry’s ‘trial of the century.’

When Alex Murdaugh went on trial for the murders of his wife and son in the spring of 2023, dozens of true crime fanatics descended upon the South Carolina courthouse to snag a seat inside, while thousands more tuned in from the comfort of their homes.

Journalists, including myself, reported on the proceedings gavel-to-gavel as explosive evidence stunned the jury into silence.

The spectacle fanned out far beyond the testimony with everything from a hoax bomb threat at the courthouse to a Covid outbreak, bad behavior from the Murdaugh family and even a juror being dramatically struck from the panel at the 11th hour.

The rigmarole of the trial became even more sensational than the case itself. 

And now, after sitting inside the courtroom during the first hearing in Murdaugh’s murder retrial, it is clear to me that his second trial is shaping up to become an even bigger circus than before. 

On Monday morning, the disgraced ex-attorney appeared in court in Lexington County for the first time since his murder convictions were overturned by the state Supreme Court because of jury tampering by then-Colleton County Court Clerk Becky Hill.

Murdaugh nodded in approval as his new trial date was set. On April 5, 2027, he will stand trial for a second time over the June 7, 2021 slayings of Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, on the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre Moselle estate in Islandton.

Outside the courtroom, around 30 members of the public had lined up before the courtroom opened its doors, all hoping to get a seat inside.

One woman named Caitlin had driven nine hours from Mississippi to be there.

‘I’m just so intrigued with this case that I just have to get more of it,’ she told the Daily Mail, adding that she didn’t know the case until after the first trial ended but had since watched every minute of the six-week’s worth of proceedings.

When the hearing ended and everyone piled out of court, she shared excitedly that the second trial will begin on her birthday and was shocked at how ‘big and tall’ Murdaugh stood. 

Others among the largely female crowd of attendees were more local.

Summer told the Daily Mail she has followed the case ‘from the get-go’ and is ‘really into true crime.’ ‘It just kind of sucks that we’re here again,’ she added.

While many spectators were new to witnessing Murdaugh’s court proceedings, some were familiar faces.  

Reverend Raymond Johnson was a fixture at Murdaugh’s first trial in Colleton County, turning up every day in his full preacher robes, large crucifix and banners reading: ‘Justice.’

Outside the Lexington County Courthouse on Monday, he held a banner that read: ‘Murdaugh, Still Here, Still Marching.’

‘One night, Maggie came to me in a dream when it first happened and I said I’ll be there, and I’m here,’ he told the Daily Mail. 

While he declined to share what he thinks justice would look like in this case, the reverend said that he believes ‘no man should be in prison without a fair trial.’

‘It’s sad that a man has been found guilty by a jury of killing his wife and son. As a minister of God, sometimes you’ve got to come from behind the pulpit and get on the foot patrol, like Jesus, and stand up for what’s right,’ he said. ‘And that’s what I’m here for.’

Inside the courtroom, there were familiar faces too.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters, who led the state’s case at the first trial, had returned to pick up the mantle once again, as did Murdaugh’s defense, his longtime attorneys and friends Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin. 

There was however no sign of Murdaugh’s surviving son Buster or his other family members, who supported him in court every day during his first trial.

Attorneys Eric Bland shook hands with the prosecution members before the hearing got under way. He represented the sons of Murdaugh’s housekeeper Gloria Satterfield who died in a mysterious trip-and-fall at the family’s estate. Murdaugh stole millions of dollars in wrongful death settlement money from them.

Joe McCullough, who represents the dismissed juror Myra Crosby and is fighting for the release of records in Hill’s jury tampering investigation, was spotted chatting to the defense.

Dozens of veteran journalists from South Carolina and further afield who had followed the case for the past five years were also there, all united in a resounding sense of ‘I can’t believe we’re back here again.’

While the public filled five rows, the media filled six, with the large courtroom close to capacity. 

‘I see we have a full house,’ Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin noted when she entered the courtroom.

The fanfare was palpable for a hearing as simple as a status conference – a roughly hour-long hearing to set a trial date and iron out some of the logistics of the case.

To me, this is no doubt a sign of what’s to come.

The defense and prosecution also appeared to set the tone to revive the legal spats seen in round one.

In the first trial, there was a particularly wild moment where Murdaugh’s attorney pointed a firearm at the prosecution table and quipped ‘tempting.’

On Monday, while there was no brandishing of guns just yet, there was an argument over clothing.

Murdaugh’s defense argued that the convicted felon should be allowed to wear civilian clothes during his court hearings and upcoming trial.

Harpootlian accused the state of ‘parading him around in a jumpsuit and shackles like an animal,’ bizarrely saying: ‘This guy is not a serial killer. This is not Ted Bundy.’

Murdaugh then obligingly stood up from his seat at the defense table to show off his outfit of bright orange prison scrubs and shackles on his wrists and waist.

Waters responded that it is policy in South Carolina for a convicted inmate to appear in court in prison clothing and shackles, reminding the court that Murdaugh is still serving 27-year state and 40-year federal sentences for financial crimes.

While much of the day appeared to draw from the same playbook as last time, there was also a strong sense that his second trial could be hugely different.

Murdaugh’s defense laid out their arguments for new testing of DNA evidence and for moving the trial far out of Colleton County.

The defense revealed that DNA from an unknown, unrelated man was found under Maggie’s left-hand fingernails but was never tested during the original investigation. It does not match Murdaugh.

Griffin said that the defense needs the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to hand over the evidence so it can be sent for testing at genetic genealogy lab Othram – the same lab that identified Bryan Kohberger as the perpetrator of the University of Idaho murders.

Waters rubbished the evidence as a ‘red herring’ saying that there is ‘no evidence that Maggie Murdaugh was in a struggle with anyone,’ with no scratches or defensive wounds on her body.

He also pointed out that it is ‘very common to have touch DNA’ on the hands from general day-to-day interactions.

The defense hit back, saying that a shell casing being found under Maggie’s body and her cell phone being taken could indicate a struggle.

While this DNA is being touted by the defense as a possibly crucial element of the second trial, we already know that some key evidence from the first will be missing.

As part of the state Supreme Court’s ruling granting Murdaugh a new trial, the justices ruled that the scope of evidence related to Murdaugh’s financial crimes should be more limited.

That financial crime evidence was a key part of the prosecution’s motive.

The defense is also asking for the trial to be moved away from Colleton County – and even beyond the 14th Judicial Circuit where Murdaugh’s family members dominated the prosecutor’s office for almost a century. 

The two sides revealed they are in discussions about the potential move.

As for the man himself, Murdaugh nodded in approval at the new trial date, which will give his team 10 months to prepare.

Sitting a few rows behind him in the courtroom, I watched the 58-year-old throughout, trying to read his reactions.

After being whisked into the courthouse in a blacked-out minivan through the underground parking lot, the six-foot-four ex-attorney loomed over his team as he flashed smiles at them entering the courtroom.

During the hearing, he stared intently at the judge, prosecutors and his own attorneys as they spoke – conferring with his defense at various moments.

At several points, he sat expressionless, rocking back and forth in his chair.

The last time he was inside a courtroom over the murders of Maggie and Paul, he had looked stricken as he was sentenced to life in prison and was told that his murdered loved ones would likely haunt his dreams.

Now, four years after that day, he will be heading into his second trial, given a second chance at convincing a jury that yes, he is a liar, a thief and a fraudster, but not a family annihilator.