Murdaugh lawyers seek change of venue, delay in upcoming financial crimes trial

Lawyers for convicted killer Alex Murdaugh are asking that the location of his trial later this month on state financial crimes charges be moved to a county where a “fair and impartial” jury can better be found.

If the trial cannot be moved from Beaufort County, or a jury cannot be brought in from another part of South Carolina, Murdaugh’s attorneys ask for a one-year delay.

Currently, Murdaugh’s trial on various state financial crimes is scheduled to state Monday, Nov. 27, in Beaufort.

Prosecutors from state Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office had no immediate response. A spokesman said the response will come in court or in filings.

Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son Paul in June 2021. He was sentenced to two life sentences in prison. He is appealing the verdicts.

“Defendant has received unprecedented media coverage since the murder of his wife and son in 2021,” a defense motion says.

“Defendant’s trial on the murder charges was broadcast live to multiple media outlets and seen by millions. Since then, there have been two docuseries devoted to the trial, and two movies about the Defendant have been released.”

A hearing on the motion is expected to be held Friday morning at the Beaufort County courthouse.

The motion also says that of 167 questionnaires returned by prospective jurors in the upcoming financial crimes trial, “at least 147 panel members admitted having prior knowledge about the Defendant and his criminal charges.”

The motion adds that “exhaustive media coverage about the Defendant has permeated Beaufort County, as reflected by the jurors’ responses received thus far.”

Although state law allows trials to be transferred to other counties in the 14th Judicial Circuit, prospective jurors in the circuit’s other four counties — Colleton, Hampton, Jasper and Allendale — have likely been exposed to the same amount of media coverage, the motion says.

“Transferring venue to another county in the circuit would not be an option,” the motion says. “There are perhaps counties located in the Upstate whose citizens have not followed the coverage of the Defendant as closely as the citizens in the Low Country; however, this is very doubtful in the present media climate.”

The motion closes by saying “the better course of action is to simply continue this case, and the other financial fraud cases, until at least one year after the conclusion of the murder trial.”

Murdaugh has already pled guilty to a host of financial crimes in federal court, including the theft of $4 million from the heirs of Gloria Satterfield after her death from injuries received in a 2018 fall at the Murdaugh family house. The Satterfield case is up for trial on Nov. 27.

A sentencing date has not yet been set in federal court for Murdaugh’s guilty pleas in the financial crimes cases.

“The victims (of Murdaugh’s financial crimes) will have their day in court at the Defendant’s federal sentencing,” the motion says.

“What is the rush to dispose of this case before the end of 2023?”

Murdaugh attorneys are Dick Harpootlian, Jim Griffin, Phil Barber and Margaret Fox.

This story was originally published November 13, 2023 at 11:34 AM.