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The lawyer defending the once powerful and now disbarred attorney, Alex Murdaugh, blasted South Carolina prosecutors on Wednesday for allegedly withholding evidence from the defense connecting the legal scion to the mysterious murders of his wife and son following a 13-month investigation.
At a press conference he organized, Dick Harpootlian, a Democratic state senator, made a weak comparison to the unprecedented FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago, and calls since then to have the warrant unsealed to understand the grounds for the search.
In a motion of his own Wednesday, the state’s lead prosecutor on the Murdaugh case, Creighton Waters, dismissed Harpootlian’s press event as "manufactured drama" delaying the case.
Harpootlian accused South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office of failing to produce discovery before the 30-day maximum period allotted by law since Murdaugh’s murder indictment.
Alex Murdaugh is escorted out of the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife and son 13 months ago. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP)
"There was no reason, as I point out, that they couldn’t turn almost all of this over to us 32 days ago," Harpootlian told reporters Wednesday. "A number of search warrants have sealed affidavits – now sealed affidavits I shouldn’t have to explain to any of you because you turn on the news right now, they’re talking about sealed affidavits on a certain search warrant in Florida. The question is – after the indictment is brought, should they still be sealed? The answer is no."
Murdaugh, 54, was indicted on July 14 by a Colleton County grand jury on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime in connection to the double homicide of his college sweetheart wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and their 22-year-old son, Paul.
The bare-bones indictment accuses Murdaugh of shooting his 52-year-old wife with a rifle and his younger son with a shotgun on June 7, 2021. He has pleaded not guilty.
"This is again ‘gotcha’ prosecution. Trial by ambush. Give us the stuff," Harpootlian said Wednesday. "You went to a grand jury and said you have enough evidence to convict Alex Murdaugh and convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Where is it? I don’t have a shred of paper! I don’t have an email, I don’t have an exhibit, I don’t have any evidence."
"Somebody wants to know about blood spatter. All I know about blood spatter is what I read in some blog. I’ve never seen any blood spatter evidence," he said, referencing local media citing unnamed sources. "They want to obscure this by saying, ‘well, you know, we need to get this sealed, this needs to be protected, we don’t want crime scene photos left out on tables.’ That is hooey!"
Murdaugh’s lawyer also seemed to defend his own reputation for working the case.
"This case needs to be resolved. Not just for Alex Murdaugh, but for the judicial system, for the state of South Carolina. We need to put this behind us and move on," Harpootlian said. "People say to me – How could you represent this guy? John Adams, the second President of the United States, represented the British soldiers who massacred the colonial protesters on the Boston Common, 4 were acquitted, two were hung. It is my duty to do that. It’s what keeps this country free. Abraham Lincoln defended 22 murder cases… Don’t they teach civics in high school anymore?
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Dick Harpootlian, Alex Murdaugh's defense lawyer, hosts a press conference criticizing prosecutors for delaying discovery in the murder case. (Fox News)
In a 27-page motion provided to Fox News Digital, Waters defended his team’s handling of discovery.
"Defendant Murdaugh’s motion is unfortunately a not unexpected but completely blatant attempt to create drama where formerly there was none. It is clearly aimed at generating content for the press conference defense counsel has called on this matter rather than actually doing anything meaningful to move forward litigation of the case," the motion outlining prosecutors’ stance says.
"As with the rest of their motion, their claims of prosecutorial ‘coercion’ may make for exciting reading or content for a press conference, but they are detached from reality," Waters adds.
The motion included emails between Waters to Judge Clifton Newton explaining that he agrees with the defense that an order must be issued unsealing the search warrants sealed by other judges early in the murder investigation. However, prosecutors – in disagreement with the defense – are proposing a protective order for some murder evidence, citing pre-trial publicity and the sensitive nature of the crime scene photos.
"There is simply no last-minute effort to delay discovery," Waters wrote in one email.
Alex Murdaugh, right, is shown here with his family. (Fox News)
"This manufactured drama is just a well-known part of defense counsel’s playbook," the motion says. "The State has no desire to preclude the defense from any discovery and has every intent of moving this case to a public trial as soon as practicable. As soon as these two discovery issues are addressed and the Court green lights it, discovery will be sent."
At the time of the bombshell murder charges, Murdaugh already was facing 81 financial and related criminal charges alleging he misappropriated $8.1 million from friends, former legal clients and the prominent personal injury law firm founded by his great-grandfather nearly a century ago.
Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found shot to death next to dog kennels on the family’s sprawling hunting in South Carolina’s rural Low Country when authorities responded to a frantic 911 call from Murdaugh himself.
The double homicide prompted a slew of investigations into Murdaugh and his financial dealings, and law enforcement has since reopened criminal probes into the mysterious deaths of Murdaugh’s former housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, as well as 19-year-old Stephen Smith, a former high school classmate of the Murdaugh’s surviving elder son, Buster Murdaugh.
Murdaugh, also a former assistant prosecutor at the office his family previously controlled for generations, is also charged with orchestrating a botched suicide for hire plot for his distant cousin, former legal client and recently accused conspirator in an alleged opioid trafficking ring, Curtis "Eddie" Smith, to shoot on the side of a rural road so that Buster could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.
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Recently, Russell Laffitte, the fired CEO of Palmetto State Bank, which was founded by his family in the early 20th century, was federally indicted for allegedly helping Murdaugh steal and launder money from legal clients. A lawyer and Murdaugh’s former college roommate, Cory Fleming, has also faced state charges in connection to Murdaugh’s long-spiraling fall from grace.
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An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to stalking and threatening a U.S. Representative from his state.
Keith Eisenberger, 39, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and threatening to kidnap and assault Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and threatening to kidnap and assault his spouse, the Justice Department said.
"The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will not tolerate online threats of violence meant to intimidate elected officials or members of our community. Keith Eisenberger now understands there are legal repercussions to committing these criminal acts," U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson said in a press release on Wednesday.
Hern represents Oklahoma’s first congressional district.
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Rep. Kevin Stern, R-Okla., speaks during a town hall event hosted by House Republicans on March 1, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
In a statement, FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Gray clarified that the First Amendment does not protect individuals who threaten violence.
"While the First Amendment gives us the right to express our own opinions, it does not protect those who cross the line of making violent criminal threats," Gray said. "The FBI will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure elected officials can perform the duties of their office safely."
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In the deal, Eisenberger admitted to sending "concerning statements" between Nov. 27, 2018, and May 11, 2022, including a message that said he was going to kidnap Hern and his wife, the Justice Department said.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., speaks during a House Small Business Committee hearing on July 17, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Erin Scott-Pool/Getty Images)
Eisenberger now faces up to a maximum felony sentence of 25 years in prison.
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The deal came amid a years-long investigation into Eisenberger, who frequented political events in his state to meet with lawmakers. The uninvited admiration then swiftly turned into harassment, the Justice Department said.
After Hern won the general election in 2018 and was sworn in in January 2019, Eisenberger traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet the lawmaker.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., arrives for the House Republican leadership elections at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, November 17, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Once there, he demanded Hern resign. During the incident, Eisenberger reportedly told Capitol Police that he bought a one-way ticket and would not leave until Hern vacated his position.
In 2020, Eisenberger took to social media to call for Hern to be "federally executed." He also said Hern should face resignation, death or expulsion. In another post that same year, he threatened to assault the Republican lawmaker.
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The Justice Department also said Eisenberger continued his harassment in 2021, in a social media post where he threatened to kidnap Hern and his wife, Tammy Hern.
The FBI conducted the investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar is prosecuting the case.
