On May 13, 2026, the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed Alex Murdaugh’s 2023 murder conviction and remanded the case for a new trial. Within hours, the word “overturned” was everywhere – and almost everywhere, it was misunderstood.
“Reversed and remanded” does not mean acquitted. It means the justices found errors in the first trial serious enough to undermine confidence in the verdict, and that the State must now prove its case again – from the beginning, in front of a jury that has heard three years of noise about it. I’ve read the full opinion more times than I can count, and the language the Court chose matters as much as the result.
For readers of my upcoming book, this ruling is the hinge of everything. The questions I sat with in the Colleton County courthouse – about the DNA testimony, about the jury instructions, about what was never asked – are no longer academic. They are now the questions a second jury will have to answer.
The retrial begins April 5, 2027. Between now and then, I’ll use this space to track what changes, what leaks, and what the coverage gets wrong.