The Aporia · Alex Murdaugh prosecutors torch ‘manufactured’ cellphone claim, ‘glad’ to offer evidence again for 2TB drive

Alex Murdaugh prosecutors torch ‘manufactured’ cellphone claim, ‘glad’ to offer evidence again for 2TB drive

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Cairns, K. (2026, October 7). Alex Murdaugh prosecutors torch ‘manufactured’ cellphone claim, ‘glad’ to offer evidence again for 2TB drive. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/us/alex-murdaugh-prosecutors-torch-manufactured-cellphone-claim-glad-offer-evidence-2tb-drive

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Quick Summary

South Carolina prosecutors have denied Alex Murdaugh’s defense claims that critical cellphone evidence was withheld, stating instead that the evidence had already been provided multiple times. Filed on Tuesday, the state’s response includes 40 pages of emails and screenshots showing the delivery of raw extractions, password logs, keychain files, and reports to the defense as early as October and November 2022. Prosecutors are “glad” to offer the evidence again if needed, suggesting the defense's claims may be false or manufactured.

Written by AI on 2026-10-07, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

South Carolina prosecutors are dismissing claims by Alex Murdaugh’s defense team that the state withheld critical cellphone evidence. The defense had argued in September 2023 that they never received extraction files, keychain files, and extraction logs from seized smartphones. In March 2023, Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in 2021, receiving two life sentences. However, his conviction was overturned in May 2026 due to improper juror influence by Rebecca "Becky" Hill, the former Colleton County Clerk of Court. Prosecutors now assert that emails from January 20, 2023, show the defense team requesting duplicate copies of Murdaugh’s phone extraction because they had misplaced the original. The state has provided 40 pages of documentation to refute the defense's claims and is prepared to offer evidence again on a 2TB drive for the upcoming April 2027 trial.

Written for “Alex Murdaugh Prosecution Update” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

25%

3 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

68/100

Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-07 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6453 article(s) · 12 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 12 correction(s)

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All 34 articles by Kelsie Cairns →

Topics

Colleton County SLED South Carolina South Carolina Law Enforcement Division the South Carolina Supreme Court

Subjects

Murdaugh PERSON · 5× Alex Murdaugh’s PERSON · 1× Colleton County GPE · 1× Maggie PERSON · 1× Paul PERSON · 1× Rebecca "Becky" Hill PERSON · 1× SLED ORG · 1× South Carolina GPE · 1× South Carolina Law Enforcement Division ORG · 1× the South Carolina Supreme Court ORG · 1×

Narrative

Furthermore, prosecutors produced emails from Jan. 20, 2023 — three days before jury selection began in the first trial — showing the defense team requesting a duplicate copy of Murdaugh’s phone extraction because they had misplaced the original.

framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-07

🔮 However, his conviction was overturned in May 2026 after the South Carolina Supreme Court found that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca "Becky" Hill improperly influenced jurors.

2026-10-07 · Fox News

Alex Murdaugh prosecutors torch ‘manufactured’ cellphone claim, ‘glad’ to offer evidence again for 2TB drive · mixed framing

Claims (12 extracted, 3 hedged)

New court documents reveal South Carolina state prosecutors are rejecting claims by Alex Murdaugh’s defense that the state withheld critical "raw" cellphone evidence. uncertain

state → reveal → evidence

The motion, filed Tuesday, is the state's response to a motion Murdaugh's legal team filed in September claiming it never received extraction files, keychain files and extraction logs from seized smartphones. asserted

it → file → smartphones

In March 2023, Murdaugh was convicted of the 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. asserted

Murdaugh → convict → wife

He was sentenced to two life terms. asserted

He → sentence → terms

However, his conviction was overturned in May 2026 after the South Carolina Supreme Court found that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca "Becky" Hill improperly influenced jurors. uncertain

Hill → overturn → jurors

Murdaugh is scheduled for a new trial in April 2027. asserted

Murdaugh → schedule → April

In this new round of court documents related to the case, prosecutors claim the defense already had the evidence — in some instances multiple times — and that its new account is "false," "manufactured" and contradicted by its own emails. uncertain

account → relate → emails

The state released 40 pages of emails, file folder screenshots and signed discovery receipts spanning late 2022 to early 2023. asserted

state → release → 2023

Court records reveal South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigators provided full, unredacted raw extractions, password logs, keychain files and reports to defense experts as early as October and November 2022. asserted

investigators → reveal → October

they → produce → original

"The State will be glad to send the cell phone evidence to the defense yet one more time if they have somehow messed up or lost their copies again," the motion states. asserted

motion → send → copies

Read the new motion: Fox News Digital has reached out to Murdaugh's defense team for comment. asserted

Digital → read → comment