Episode
Whose DNA Was Found Under Maggie Murdaugh's Fingernails?
- Published
- May 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2988
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://audioboom.com/posts/8906377
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Summary
Unknown male DNA was found under Maggie Murdaugh's fingernails. It was never run through CODIS. Jim Griffin said it at the press conference like he'd been waiting to — physical evidence from the person who was fatally shot, collected by investigators, documented in the case file, and never matched through the federal database. The defense has plans for it. They're not hiding that. But untested DNA is only one piece. The defense laid out a list of alleged SLED failures that got buried under twelve hours of financial crimes testimony the first time. Tire tracks never processed. GPS data from Maggie's phone overwritten. A crime scene sitting in the rain while family members walked through it. A coroner who estimated time of death by touch. Every one of those gaps is now exposed because the Supreme Court stripped away the financial testimony that filled them. The retrial is going to be massive. Eight thousand pages of locked-in trial testimony gives the defense a built-in impeachment roadmap — every prosecution witness is stuck with what they said under oath the first time. New expert witnesses are being brought in. The defense doesn't expect the retrial before next year and says there will never be a plea deal. Venue is already contested. The defense is considering a change-of-venue motion, but the receiving county has to match Colleton's demographics. The death penalty threat from the Attorney General may have backfired — capital charges automatically trigger individual voir dire, which is exactly what Harpootlian wanted. The Becky Hill federal lawsuit gives the defense civil discovery tools to investigate whether she acted alone during the first trial. And the question that hung over the entire press conference: if Alex Murdaugh didn't do it, why is there no alternative…