Alex Murdaugh’s Retrial Hasn’t Started and Another Witness Is Already Gone

The retrial hasn’t begun and the prosecution is already losing the people who built its case. Ryan Kelly, the SLED agent who testified as one of the state’s final witnesses at the 2023 murder trial, was fired from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office on June 8, 2026. Kelly had been running the office’s internal affairs unit — investigating other officers’ misconduct — when allegations of harassment, unbecoming conduct, and improper procedures ended his tenure after a little over a year.At SLED, Kelly was the lead investigator on Alex Murdaugh’s staged roadside shooting. His testimony helped prosecutors argue that Murdaugh’s lies about the shooting paralleled his lies about the night Maggie and Paul were killed at Moselle. Kelly told the jury that Murdaugh never identified Curtis Smith during the 911 call, the ambulance ride, or his hospital interviews. He also testified that SLED found no evidence connecting Smith to the June 7 murders — shutting down alternative-suspect theories.Kelly is now the latest in a line of prosecution-connected figures whose credibility has fractured. David Owen admitted to misleading the grand jury about blood evidence and has since been named in a separate murder case for concealing exculpatory information. Becky Hill pleaded guilty to perjury and obstruction. Owen and Ryan Neill both quietly retired after the trial.The first retrial hearing is June 29. Harpootlian told the Post and Courier his team will be investigating developments since the trial. He has called the SLED investigation riddled with holes and told reporters the defense has evidence it didn’t have before. The state is heading back into court to retry Alex Murdaugh for the murders of Maggie and Paul — and the witnesses it needs to get there keep disappearing from positions of authority.

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

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