Alex Murdaugh's Retrial Hinges on a Test Prosecutors Tried to Block

The fight over Alex Murdaugh's retrial is being shaped months before the first witness takes the stand — and at the center of it is a DNA sample recovered from Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails. SLED tested it years ago, identified it as belonging to an unknown male with no connection to the family, and according to defense filings never pursued it further. The defense wants the remaining reserve sample sent to Othram, a forensic genetic genealogy laboratory that has helped solve cases standard law enforcement DNA testing couldn't crack — including helping to identify Bryan Kohberger in the Idaho student murders. The state opposed the request. Prosecutors argued that trace DNA under fingernails can transfer through casual contact and that Maggie had her nails done the day she was killed. The defense counters that SLED's testing method already failed to produce an identification and that running the same method again risks destroying the last of the evidence before a more advanced lab can try. The defense's filing also accuses SLED of a pattern of mishandling biological evidence in this case — pointing to allegations that exculpatory test results on a key piece of evidence were suppressed by SLED's own forensic leadership and the evidence itself was destroyed. Judge Debra McCaslin has set the retrial for April 2027. The DNA question is expected to be addressed at the August 14th pretrial hearing.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=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodDisclaimer: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.#AlexMurdaugh #MaggieMurdaugh #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #MurdaughRetrial #SLED #Othram #SouthCarolina #ColdOpen #JusticeForMaggie