UMVA has learned that Ryan Kelly, a former top investigator for the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, was abruptly fired from his position as chief inspector on June 8, amid allegations of harassment and improper conduct.
Kelly, who previously led the sheriff’s office’s Office of Professional Standards, was a key figure in high-profile investigations, including those involving Alex Murdaugh, who is set to face a retrial for the murders of his wife and son.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Kelly's termination has raised questions about the potential impact on Murdaugh's upcoming retrial, and whether it could compromise past evidence and investigative work tied to cases in which Kelly played a significant role.
Murdaugh, 58, was convicted in March 2023 of murdering his wife, Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, at the family's sprawling hunting estate in Colleton County in June 2021, and was sentenced to life in prison.
However, his lawyers successfully argued that the jury had been improperly influenced, and the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the denial of Murdaugh's new-trial motion on May 13, sending the case back to the circuit court.
Murdaugh has consistently denied killing his wife and son, who were found shot to death near the dog kennels at the family's Moselle estate, a sprawling property in South Carolina's Lowcountry.
The prosecution argued that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his crumbling legal and financial world, while his defense team maintained that he was a loving husband and father who had been wrongfully accused.
Although Murdaugh's murder convictions were overturned, he remains behind bars on separate financial-crime convictions, after admitting to stealing from clients and his former law firm.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that Kelly's firing has sparked concerns about the integrity of the investigations he was involved in, and the potential repercussions for Murdaugh's retrial.
Murdaugh's lead defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, declined to comment on whether Kelly's termination could affect the upcoming retrial, saying only that it was not a concern at this time.
Kelly's role in the investigations has been scrutinized, particularly his involvement in a roadside shooting incident that prosecutors used to show jurors what they described as Murdaugh's pattern of deception.
The developments have added a new layer of complexity to the already dramatic case, as prosecutors prepare to retry Murdaugh on the murder charges.
