Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Alex Murdaugh Granted Venue Change for Double-Murder Retrial | Crime Alert 09.11.26

Episode Date: September 11, 2026

A South Carolina judge has ordered the double-murder retrial of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh moved to Sumter County due to concerns over a tainted jury pool in Colleton County. A Florida woman spent nearly two weeks behind bars after police misapplied license plate reader camera data following a hit-and-run crash that killed three people. North Carolina authorities have used advanced forensic genealogy to identify skeletal remains found in 1977 as fifteen-year-old Maryland runaway Cindy Marcell Blizzard. Sydney Silvagni reports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I'm Sidney Silvani. A South Carolina judge has officially granted Alex Murdaugh's request. to relocate his upcoming double murder retrial to a new venue. Judge Deborah McCaslin ruled on Tuesday that proceedings for the disgraced attorney will take place in Sumter County. Defense lawyers argued that the jury pool in Colleton County was hopelessly tainted by intense media coverage surrounding his original 2023 trial. In her written order, Judge McCaslin concluded Murdoch can receive a fair trial in Sumter County. She noted the court considered several factors, including including the financial impact on Colleton County, witness convenience, courtroom facilities,

technological capabilities, and Murdoch's security. Defense attorneys had suggested Charleston or Richland County courthouses before the judge chose Sumter County. Murdaugh was granted a new trial after the state's Supreme Court unanimously overturned his 2023 convictions and two-life sentences. Justices determined his right to a fair proceeding was violated when former Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill, improperly influenced jurors. Murdaugh faces murder and weapons charges in the June 2021 shooting deaths of his wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul at their family estate. Although Murdaugh admitted during his first trial to lying about his location shortly before the killings, he maintains he did not shoot his family. More crime and justice news after this.

Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. In Florida, 23-year-old Lindsay Brooke Isaacs was asleep at home when police arrived to tell her that her car was involved in a crash that killed three people. Isaacs knew officers had the wrong person. Her black Dodge Durango showed no collision damage and she had a receipt showing where she had been. The fatal crash occurred on October 4, 2025 along eastbound Interstate 4 near DeBerry, Florida. Motorcyclist Waukeen Dino was

killed alongside Flagler County Deputy Administrator Jorge Salinas and his wife, Nancy. Investigators tracked Isaacs using a flock automated license plate reader camera, which recorded her vehicle traveling eastbound near the Seminole and Volusia County line at 9.51 p.m., about three miles west of the 953 p.m. crash scene. However, a 911 caller described a maroon dodged d'ringo and investigators found maroon paint transfer on another involved vehicle. A specialized highway patrol team inspected Isaac's vehicle and found no damage. Yet authorities impounded her SUV and forced her to turn herself in on eight felony charges, including three counts of vehicular homicide. Speaking on the Cyber Guy Report podcast, Isaacs recalled receiving the call from her attorney.

It was, I say it's a nightmare. It was worse than a nightmare. It's the worst nightmare you can. I got a phone call April 17th or 10 a.m. I thought it was just going to be good news or something else. But my attorney had told me, you have to turn yourself in today or they're going to come and get you for this crime. They, they are arresting for this crime. And he was just, just in the same amount of shock that I was in. Isaac spent 13 days in jail, spending her first several days locked away in solitary confinement with only a metal sleeping slab in thin mat, fearing her life was over. They said my charges were so severe that I was not allowed to go near any other people yet in the jail.

On May 22nd, the state attorney's office formally dropped all eight charges after a time-distance analysis performed by her defense team proved she was already past the crash location when the collision occurred. Authority subsequently arrested Alyssa Mi Montalvo, who prosecutors alleged was driving a maroon, Dodge Durango. Montalvo faces nine charges, including vehicular homicide and tampering with physical evidence. Isaacs, who received a face-to-face apology from the head of the Florida Highway Patrol, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against two troopers, alleging false arrest, wrongful imprisonment, in malicious prosecution.

Meanwhile, flock safety maintained its technology provided exculpatory evidence. The case has sparked major regulatory changes across Florida. On August 31st, the Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for license plate reader systems within state highway rights of way, ordering their removal within 30 days. Finally, in North Carolina,

state investigators have solved a nearly 50-year-old cold case, identifying skeletal remains discovered in a wooded area on December 29th, 1977. The remains in clothing were found near a former firestone plant in Wilson. The medical examiner determined the victim was a white female between 16 and 23 years old who had been dead between six months and two years. While her manner of death was classified as undetermined, the State Bureau of Investigation treated the case as a homicide due to the suspicious location. Dental record comparisons in 1977 and CODIS database entries in 2010 yielded no

matches. The breakthrough came in 2024 when SBI Special Investigator Andy Murr reviewed the case using modern forensic tools. DNA extracted from a bone sample generated a single nucleotide polymorphism profile, allowing a genealogy service to trace potential relatives. Investigators successfully identified the victim as Cindy Marcel Blizzard, a 15-year-old girl who ran away from Moncton, Maryland in the spring of 1977. Although her identity is confirmed after more than 49 years, her murder remains unsolved. Authorities urge anyone with information to contact the SBI Cold Case Tip Line or the Wilson County Sheriff's Office. For more Crime and Justice News, be sure to join us for crime stories with Nancy Grace on Fox 1, YouTube, Sirius XM and now streaming on 2B.

With this crime alert, I'm Sidney-Silvani. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.