Hidden Text Drama: Prosecutors Push Back At Murdaugh Defense Attorneys

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by WILL FOLKS

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South Carolina’s attorney general is firing back at convicted killer Alex Murdaugh‘s defense attorneys – claiming they received even more information than prosecutors did about phone calls and text messages sent and received by the disgraced trial lawyer in the days and weeks surrounding the graphic 2021 murders of his family members.

Last week, our Jenn Wood reported exclusively on text messages that were never shared with jurors in Murdaugh’s 2023 double homicide trial. Those proceedings ended with Murdaugh being found guilty of killing his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and the couple’s younger son – 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh.

Murdaugh is currently appealing those convictions – and the life sentence he received for them – on multiple grounds, including documented jury tampering (and alleged jury rigging).

The texts obtained by FITSNews included cryptic messages exchanged between Murdaugh and his his alleged drug dealer, Curtis “Eddie” Smith – who was identified by the defense as a possible suspect in the double homicide. Smith was subpoenaed to testify in Murdaugh’s murder trial but was never called to the stand by either side. Had he testified, he was widely expected to claim that Murdaugh confessed to committing the murders to him months later during a bizarre roadside shooting allegedly orchestrated by Murdaugh as an insurance scam.

It is not clear whether Smith’s attorneys received the text messages obtained by FITSNews.

To be clear, our reporting never suggested these materials were not turned over to Murdaugh’s attorneys (or Smith’s attorneys) – only that they were not included in the official timeline of the case provided to jurors. Our coverage was focused exclusively on how investigators and prosecutors selectively shared information with the jury.

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In the aftermath of Wood’s reporting, though, Murdaugh’s lead attorney – Dick Harpootlian – appeared on Fox News and claimed he and his fellow defense attorneys had never seen the text messages. Not only that, Harpootlian said that if Murdaugh’s lawyers been aware of them, it might have impacted their decision to call Smith to the stand.

“We were not aware of these texts,” Harpootlian told the network. “Had we been, it may have made a difference in our decision not to call Eddie Smith to the stand.”

Were the messages buried someplace deep in the massive amount of data provided to Murdaugh’s lawyers? Because based on the prior history of certain key pieces of “evidence” in this case, that wouldn’t be a surprise…

Prosecutors in the office of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson – who hand-picked the team that tried Murdaugh and actively participated in the trial – pushed back against Harpootlian’s comments.

“We absolutely gave the defense unredacted copies of all cell phone dumps the state possessed,” said Robert Kittle, spokesman for the attorney general.

That unredacted data was more information than the state’s own prosecutors received, Kittle said.

“The prosecution was only provided redacted copies of cell phone dumps in which communications with clients were removed after a privilege review,” Kittle noted. “We are still verifying, but it appears these texts may have been redacted from the copies provided to the investigators and prosecution after an appropriate review was conducted to remove attorney client communications.”

Kittle is referring to the work of a so-called “taint team” – special group of investigators or attorneys who review evidence collected to ensure that the attorneys who prosecute a case are not exposed to information that is protected by attorney-client privilege.

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RELATED | WHAT ALEX MURDAUGH’S JURY DIDN’T HEAR

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While those messages would have been withheld from prosecutors, defense attorneys would (or should) have had access to them.

According to Kittle, “the defense had these texts.”

Did investigators? Renée Wunderlich, public information director for the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) – which led the Murdaugh inquiry – referred questions to Wilson’s office.

“We are double checking, but it does not appear investigators had these texts because a privilege review was conducted to protect the defendant and his clients,” Kittle said.

Given the sheer number of cases in which Murdaugh was involved as both a lawyer and assistant solicitor – to say nothing of the many investigations into criminal activity involving him and his associates – the potential breadth of privileged material in this case is staggering. Accordingly, we asked Kittle which specific attorney-client relationships served as the “filter” for the taint team’s review.

Kittle declined to specify, but did affirm that all information from Murdaugh’s devices was provided to his attorneys.

“All texts in information gathered from Alex Murdaugh’s devices were timely provided to the defense prior to trial,” he said. ” A record was kept of when discovery was provided.”

While attorney for both sides sort out who knew what – and when – FITSNews is continuing to conduct a thorough review of the various Murdaugh-related files we have obtained over the course of this investigation. Stay tuned for additional reports in the days and weeks to come.

Also, stay tuned for coverage of the attorney general’s highly anticipated (and oft-delayed) response to Murdaugh’s appeal. That response is due next month.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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