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Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys want a Texas forensic DNA lab known for helping crack some of the nation’s most notorious murder cases to test unknown male DNA found beneath Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails as the disgraced South Carolina attorney heads toward a new double-murder trial.
Murdaugh, once a powerful personal injury attorney in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, was convicted in 2023 of killing his wife, Maggie, 52, and their younger son, Paul, 22, at the family’s hunting estate in June 2021. His convictions were later overturned, and a new trial has been tentatively set for April 2027.
His attorneys have pointed to DNA found beneath Maggie’s fingernails that they say belonged to an unknown, unrelated male. They have asked for independent testing by Othram Inc., a Houston-area forensic genetic genealogy company whose technology has been used in high-profile murder investigations and decades-old cold cases.
Prosecutors disputed the significance of additional DNA testing, arguing that the evidence has already been tested by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and produced only a mixture of Maggie’s DNA and what the state described as a “very partial and incomplete” profile from another contributor. The unknown profile, prosecutors said, did not contain enough identifying information to be submitted to CODIS, the national DNA database.
Othram, based in The Woodlands, Texas, specializes in advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy, a method that can help investigators identify suspects or unknown victims when traditional law enforcement databases do not produce a match.
Here are some of the high-profile cases Othram has helped crack.
1. The University of Idaho murders
Othram’s work came under national scrutiny in the investigation into the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
Investigators recovered DNA from a knife sheath found near one of the victims inside the off-campus Moscow, Idaho, home where the students were killed. Othram has said Idaho State Police Forensic Services, Moscow police and the FBI teamed with the company to help identify Bryan Kohberger as the suspect.
Kohberger later pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
2. Rachel Morin murder
Othram also played a role in the investigation into the killing of Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five whose body was found near the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air in August 2023. Harford County authorities and the FBI worked with Othram after DNA evidence did not immediately identify the unknown male suspect through traditional methods.
Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was later arrested and charged in Morin’s rape and murder. He was convicted in 2025.
3. Carla Walker cold case
The 1974 murder of 17-year-old Carla Walker in Fort Worth, Texas, went unsolved for more than four decades before advanced DNA testing helped investigators identify her killer. Walker was abducted, raped, tortured and murdered after attending a Valentine’s Day dance with her boyfriend.
A break came in 2020 after crime scene DNA was uploaded to a public genealogy website, leading to the identification of then 77-year-old Glen Samuel McCurley. Authorities confirmed the match after obtaining his DNA from trash.
Othram worked with Fort Worth police to identify McCurley as the man responsible. McCurley later pleaded guilty to murder, giving Walker’s family answers after 46 years.
4. The Lady of the Dunes
One of New England’s most infamous unidentified victim cases was solved with help from Othram nearly 50 years after a woman’s body was found in the dunes of Provincetown, a summer vacation hot spot at the tip of Massachusetts in 1974. The 49-year-old cold case was eventually solved in August 2023.
The woman, long known only as the “Lady of the Dunes,” was found dead in 1974. For decades, authorities could not determine her name. The FBI, Massachusetts State Police, Provincetown police and prosecutors partnered with Othram to identify her as Ruth Marie Terry. Her husband at the time, Guy Rockwell Muldavin, was identified as her killer, Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois said.
Terry was a 37-year-old Tennessee native newlywed when her nearly decapitated body was found in the sand dunes. Muldavin and Terry were married only a few months before she vanished. For decades, she was only known as “Lady of the Dunes” until her jaw was tested using genetic genealogy at Othram.
5. A Gilgo Beach victim
Othram’s technology was also used to help identify Karen Vergata, previously known as “Fire Island Jane Doe,” in a case tied to the broader Gilgo Beach investigation on Long Island.
Vergata’s remains were found in 1996, but she was not publicly identified until decades later. In 2022, the Suffolk County Police Department in collaboration with the FBI teamed with Othram to determine if advanced DNA testing could help to identify “Fire Island Jane Doe.”
Vergata was 34 years old at the time of her death and she went missing on Valentine’s Day in 1996.
In April 2026, Rex Heuermann admitted that he intentionally killed Vergata, along with seven other women, as part of a plea agreement.
What Othram testing could mean in Murdaugh’s case
The request for Othram testing does not mean the unknown DNA will change the outcome of Murdaugh’s case. Still, Murdaugh’s attorneys are expected to argue the testing could support an alternate-suspect theory as they prepare for a second trial.
“They decided that night he was the guy and everything they did after that excluded any other thought,” Murdaugh’s lead defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, previously told Fox News Digital. “And that’s why they have no evidence connecting him with the murder scene.”
The state, however, characterized the request as unsupported and aimed more at “public consumption” than viable forensic evidence.
During Murdaugh’s first status hearing on Monday, June 29, Judge Debra McCaslin did not rule on the DNA evidence, telling defense attorneys to clarify if the sample was viable.
Fox News Digital reached out to Othram.
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