True-crime saga continues as Alex Murdaugh returns to court for murder retrial hearing

Alex Murdaugh was back in court Monday on charges he killed his wife and son, appearing silently at a pretrial hearing that was mostly short on substance but long on spectacle as the true-crime sensation continues to captivate.

Murdaugh’s murder convictions and sentence of life in prison were overturned last month by the South Carolina Supreme Court. On Monday, a new judge laid out a timeline for hearings set the retrial to begin April 5. She also nailed down deadlines for making sure the defence and prosecution have exchanged evidence, a process called discovery.

Dozens of media outlets, from international agencies and local television stations to podcasters, were inside the 200-person Lexington County courthouse to again chronicle every forehead rub and quizzical look from the once-rich and imposing Southern lawyer.

“I see we have a full house,” Judge Debra McCaslin said as the hearing began.

For many, it was a rare glimpse of how life in state prison has changed the 58-year-old Murdaugh. After pleading guilty to stealing about US$12 million from clients and his family’s law firm, he is serving a 40-year federal sentence at the same time as a 27-year state sentence.

Unlike just about everyone else in the courtroom, the judge said she was new to the story, which combines a grisly double murder with the fall of a powerful legal dynasty.