Veteran murder trial prosecutor hired by SC attorney general. Will he join Murdaugh team?

Weeks before the Jan. 23 start of one of South Carolina’s biggest murder trials — when a jury will decide whether disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh is guilty of murdering his wife and son — the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office has hired a veteran homicide prosecutor.

John Meadors, who has prosecuted dozens of murder cases in the trial-by-fire arena of a courtroom, boasts another credential: He has beaten one of Murdaugh’s two top lawyers, Dick Harpootlian, in a high-profile murder case involving a prominent lawyer as a defendant.

In 2007, Meadors and then-5th Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese were pitted against Harpootlian, who represented Columbia attorney Dewain Herring, who was charged with fatally shooting a nightclub manager who ejected Herring from his strip club. Herring claimed the killing was an accident.

The event was captured on video. It took a jury two hours to find Herring guilty of murder. The judge gave him 30 years in prison. Herring, now 79, will be in prison until 2037.

Meadors, now in his early 60s and known for a homespun and humble manner, wasn’t snowed by Harpootlian, telling the Richland County jury in a closing argument that Harpootlian “is a smoke-screen machine, if not a semi-automatic and automatic smoke-screen machine.”

“Meadors is as talented as they come,” Giese said, saying he didn’t know what Meadors’ role will be with the S.C. Attorney General’s Office. “We tried a bunch of big cases together.”

The S.C. Attorney General’s Office declined to say whether Meadors will be involved in the Murdaugh case.

In response to a series of questions, a spokesperson said, “John Meadors was not hired for Alex Murdaugh’s upcoming murder trial. The Attorney General’s office has been looking to bring on more talent and grow our already skilled prosecution team before ‘Murdaugh’ was even on anyone’s radar. We have complete and utmost confidence in our experienced prosecution team.”

Meadors’ participation on the Murdaugh team is likely, however, given his trial experience, multiple sources familiar with the prosecution team told The State newspaper.

Meadors declined to say whether he will be in the courtroom Jan. 23, saying only, “I look forward to working with some outstanding prosecutors and support staff. ... I’m honored to be part of the team.”

Murdaugh is charged in the June 2021 grisly shootings of his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, at the family’s 1,700-acre Colleton County estate.

Unlike other South Carolina murders where evidence, such as video footage, confessions or other facts are available — such as in the 2015 case of Dylann Roof, who murdered nine Black worshippers in Charleston and whose video confession, gun and diary were shown to the jury — similar substantial evidence has not been made public in the case against Murdaugh.

So far, there have been no public disclosures of any eye witnesses, confessions or video footage linking Murdaugh to the murders. The two weapons used — a shotgun was used to kill Paul, 22, and a rifle was used to kill Maggie, 52 — are not known to have been found.

Murdaugh, 54, is currently in jail without bond

His lawyers asked for a speedy trial so that, they said, the State Law Enforcement Division can find “the real killer.”

Who are the defense attorneys involved in the trial?

Murdaugh’s two lawyers, state Sen. Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, both of Columbia, are acknowledged legal heavyweights.

Harpootlian, who turns 74 on the trial’s opening day and is known for a charismatic courtroom presence and slashing humor, has tried hundreds of murder cases as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney, including 12 death penalty cases.

Griffin, the more cerebral of the pair, has been a defense lawyer in numerous high-profile criminal trials, including when he helped win an acquittal for accused killer Grover Rye in 2009.

In that case, Rye claimed self-defense in the killing of a law enforcement officer. The trial was broadcast nationwide on Court TV, which will carry the Murdaugh trial.

“Harpootlian and Griffin will give any set of prosecutors a good fight,” said Columbia attorney Dennis Bolt, the lead defense lawyer on the Rye case. “Murdaugh couldn’t have a better defense team.”

Who are the prosecutors involved in the trial?

The main prosecutors from the S.C. Attorney General’s Office are lead attorney Creighton Waters, 52, and his co-counsel, veteran appellate lawyer Don Zelenka, 70.

They both are among that agency’s highest-paid lawyers and have worked together for decades. Waters, who joined the office in 1998, makes $130,000 a year. And Zelenka, who has been in the office since the late 1970s, makes $163,963 a year.

The S.C. Attorney General’s Office historically does not handle murder cases. Its prosecutors generally handle, for example, cases of human trafficking, Medicaid fraud, white-collar crime, multi-county drug rings and domestic violence.

Waters and Zelenka have both spent months working with SLED agents investigating the June 2021 double murders.

Murdaugh was indicted last July.

Waters, the chief attorney of the S.C. Attorney General’s State Grand Jury division, has worked with SLED to bring 19 indictments against Murdaugh that include about 99 financial-related charges including money laundering, breach of trust, forgery, computer fraud and tax evasion.

In all, Murdaugh is alleged to have stolen $8.7 million and avoided paying $486,819 in state taxes.

The S.C. Attorney General’s Office declined to detail Waters’ murder trial experience.

The State did learn Waters was a prosecutor with Heather Weiss, a lawyer with the S.C. Attorney General’s Office, in a 2011 Lexington County homicide by child abuse case, in which the defendant, Lexie Dial III, received a life sentence.

“Heather and Creighton are good lawyers. They were prepared to try the case,” said retired state Judge Knox McMahon, who presided over that trial.

Waters last week told The State newspaper outside a Jan. 12 press conference that he has tried five murder cases in the last 10 years. Waters, who was with Attorney General Alan Wilson at the time, declined to say how many resulted in guilty verdicts. Wilson and Waters then ended the interview, saying they were busy.

Waters and Zelenka are both respected for their brains and work ethic.

Zelenka’s major legal work has included mostly appeals, often of murder cases, in the S.C. Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court. The S.C. Attorney General’s Office declined to say how many, if any, murder trials Zelenka has tried.

“No one is more knowledgeable in the area of murder case law (in appeals) than Don Zelenka.,” said 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who has tried and won more than 20 murder cases, including when he put two people on death row. “As for Creighton, he is a very capable prosecutor.”

Rick Hubbard, solicitor of the 11th Circuit, described Waters as “extremely bright and hard-working” and Zelenka as a “guru” on matters of law and ethics.

He’s “my go-to guy,” Hubbard said.

Who is attorney John Meadors?

The son of Jack Meadors, a prominent South Carolina Methodist minister and bishop, John Meadors once wrote that he, his sister and two brothers were taught “that there are rules, and there are consequences when the rules are not followed.”

Over the years, Meadors has unsuccessfully run for office of 5th Circuit solicitor three times, in 1994, 2010 and 2018. He also unsuccessfully ran for state judge in 2002 and 2011.

In his 2011 application to be a state judge, Meadors highlighted his vast experience, listing 27 murder cases that, he said, have given him deep experience in “all aspects of criminal law.”

In that same application, he wrote he had tried five death penalty cases.

Veteran criminal defense attorney Jack Swerling said Meadors, with his combination of murder trial expertise and down-home nature, would serve the Murdaugh prosecution team well in rural Colleton County.

“He’s more like somebody they (Colleton County jurors) would know: very social, very friendly, very warm and folksy,” Swerling said.

Experience can vary on murder trial defense and prosecution teams, veteran lawyers said.

“Trying a case is trying a case,” said Greg Harris, a former prosecutor who now works as a defense attorney. “I don’t care if it’s white-collar crime or murder. Trying cases is all about calling witnesses and telling the jury what happened.”

Swerling, whose resume includes trying infamous serial killers Pee Wee Gaskins and Larry Gene Bell, said murder trials are special.

“A murder trial is unique, unlike any other kind of trial,” Swerling said, adding they’re high pressure, where the slightest mistake can be costly.

“Some things are not learned; you have to experience them,” Swerling said. “The more experience you have, the more aware you are to issues that may come up.”