Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
2 of 21 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Lawyers for Alex Murdaugh are due in court on Friday to ask that the original murder indictments against him, for the killings of his wife and son, be thrown out.
asserted
indictments → ask → wife
They now argue that the chief investigator in the case lied to the grand jury.
asserted
investigator → argue → jury
The South Carolina Supreme Court has already thrown out Murdaugh's convictions and his life sentence, ruling that a court clerk improperly influenced jurors against him during his 2023 trial.
asserted
clerk → throw → trial
That decision means Murdaugh faces a retrial on the murder charges.
asserted
Murdaugh → mean → charges
Judge Debra McCaslin will consider the request to dismiss the indictments at Friday's pretrial hearing.
asserted
McCaslin → consider → hearing
Even if the long-shot request is granted, it may not stop, or even postpone, an April retrial for the disgraced lawyer.
uncertain
it → grant → lawyer
Prosecutors can seek another set of grand jury indictments as soon as next month, and defense attorneys said they won't stop them.
asserted
they → seek → them
A judge last year threw out a different murder case Owen was involved in.
asserted
Owen → throw → case
The dead woman's mother had told the agent about a suicide threat her daughter made days before she died, and Owen never relayed it to prosecutors or defense attorneys.
asserted
Owen → tell → prosecutors
Owen abruptly retired in 2024, not long after he was honored as State Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.
asserted
he → retire → Year
Prosecutors said Murdaugh, 58, killed his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, on their sprawling property in the South Carolina Lowcountry in 2021.
asserted
Murdaugh → say → 2021
Murdaugh is spending decades in prison for stealing millions of dollars from clients.
asserted
Murdaugh → spend → clients
He has admitted in court that he is a thief, insurance cheat, bad lawyer and longtime opioid addict.
asserted
he → admit → court
But he denies being a killer.
asserted
he → deny → ?
Defense lawyers said that as prosecutors sought the indictments, Owen told the Colleton County grand jury that blood spatter was found on a T-shirt Murdaugh was wearing the night of the killings.
asserted
Murdaugh → say → killings
An earlier report from state agents said there were no blood stains, and no such evidence was introduced at trial.
asserted
evidence → say → trial
Owen also told grand jurors that the same ammunition load of buckshot in one chamber and large birdshot in the other used to kill Paul Murdaugh was found loaded in weapons all over the Murdaugh property, which wasn't the case.
asserted
which → tell → property
Prosecutors said they had plenty of other evidence supporting the murder charges, and wrote that “a single mistake is not bad faith.”
asserted
mistake → say → charges
Owen told grand jurors about the video Paul Murdaugh recorded in which Alex Murdaugh's voice could be heard at the scene, contradicting his denials.
uncertain
voice → tell → denials
He also told them about the family's mounting debts and how Murdaugh's schemes to steal from clients and his law firm were close to being discovered.
asserted
schemes → tell → clients
But Murdaugh's lawyers have repeatedly pointed out how little physical evidence prosecutors have.
asserted
prosecutors → point → evidence
The Aporia
