Alex Murdaugh's Defense Set A Deadline For The State

There is a limited amount of DNA left from under Maggie Murdaugh's left hand, and both sides want to test it first. Tony Brueski takes your questions on that fight with retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke.

SLED previously determined the material belonged to an unknown, unrelated male, but did not identify him. The state uses STR analysis, which checks samples against law enforcement databases and cannot name someone who is not already in the system. The defense wants the reserve samples sent first to Othram, a Texas laboratory that runs SNP testing and forensic genetic genealogy, the approach that can build out a family tree from an unknown contributor.

In a July filing, Murdaugh's attorneys told the court something new. Prosecutors had just disclosed that reserve samples from two evidence items remain unprocessed, and that SLED wants to run repeat testing on them. Every test consumes material. The defense argues a retest risks exhausting the only sample capable of producing a name. Othram, they say, could finish in sixty to ninety days.

The same filing accuses SLED of mishandling the white T-shirt Murdaugh wore the night of the killings. Testing returned negative for human blood on the stained areas, and the shirt was later rendered unavailable for additional testing after a chemical enhancement agent was applied. The defense calls that a reason to doubt the agency's good faith. That is their allegation, not a court finding.

Prosecutors oppose the defense's access request. Judge Debra McCaslin decides the sequence. A July conference on the testing brought defense attorneys, prosecutors, SLED forensic scientists and Othram's chief executive into the same call.

The verdicts against him were reversed on appeal, and Murdaugh returns to trial presumed innocent. Robin Dreeke takes the mail on what a name under those fingernails would and would not prove.

END LINKS

Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

DISCLAIMER

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

HASHTAGS

#AlexMurdaugh #MurdaughRetrial #HiddenKillers #SLED #BradyMotion #MaggieMurdaugh #DickHarpootlian #TrueCrime #MurdaughMurders #SouthCarolina