Murdaugh Prosecutors Deny Withholding Cellphone Evidence, Label Claims 'Manufactured'

Prosecutors in the Alex Murdaugh murder case have rejected the defense's assertion that the state withheld critical cellphone evidence, arguing in a new court filing that the claims are "false" and "manufactured."

Murdaugh's legal team had previously alleged in September that they never received essential data, including extraction files, keychain files, and extraction logs from seized smartphones. However, the state's response, filed Tuesday, presents emails, file folder screenshots, and signed discovery receipts dating from late 2022 to early 2023.

According to court records, investigators from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) provided full, unredacted raw extractions, password logs, keychain files, and reports to defense experts as early as October and November 2022. Prosecutors also produced emails from Jan. 20, 2023, just three days before jury selection began for the initial trial, which show the defense requesting a duplicate copy of Murdaugh's phone extraction due to misplacing the original.

"The State will be glad to send the cell phone evidence to the defense yet one more time if they have somehow messed up or lost their copies again," the motion states, underscoring the prosecutors' view that the defense's account is contradicted by its own correspondence.

Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 for the 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. He received two life sentences. However, his conviction was overturned in May 2026 by the South Carolina Supreme Court, which cited improper influence on jurors by the former Colleton County Clerk of Court, Rebecca "Becky" Hill. A new trial for Murdaugh is scheduled for April 2027.

The state's motion indicates a readiness to provide the evidence again, suggesting that if the defense has indeed lost the materials, the prosecution is prepared to resend them.