A timeline of events in the cases against Alex Murdaugh

A judge has set April 5 as the start date for the retrial of disgraced ex-lawyer Alex Murdaugh on two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and son. The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the murder convictions in May, ruling the court clerk at the trial “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted.

The once-prominent lawyer was known for his family lineage and million-dollar judgments in rural South Carolina. He worked for his family's century-old law firm and his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were elected county prosecutors. Murdaugh, the subject of numerous documentaries and true crime podcasts, will remain imprisoned on federal convictions for stealing millions from clients.

Here is a look at the events leading up to Murdaugh's retrial:

June 7, 2021: Murdaugh calls police to report his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22, have been fatally shot near dog kennels on their property.

Sept. 4, 2021: Alex Murdaugh attempts to arrange his own death in a plan to secure his surviving son a $10 million life insurance payment, officials say. The plot fails when the gunshot by a Murdaugh associate only grazes Murdaugh’s head.

Oct. 14, 2021: Police arrest Murdaugh at a drug rehab facility in Florida on charges he stole insurance settlements totaling more than $4 million intended for the sons of his late housekeeper.

Nov. 17, 2021: Prosecutors reveal 27 new charges against Murdaugh, saying he stole nearly $5 million in settlement money. Prosecutors allege Murdaugh was hiding money from lawyers who sued him over the death of a teenager killed when authorities say an intoxicated Paul Murdaugh wrecked the boat he was driving.

Jan. 18, 2022: Additional indictments mean Murdaugh now faces 71 charges that he stole nearly $8.5 million in wrongful death and wreck settlements from more than a dozen people.

May 4, 2022: Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank before his firing earlier that year, is indicted on charges that he conspired with Murdaugh to defraud victims of $1.8 million.

June 28, 2022: Prosecutors outline an eight-year money laundering and painkiller ring in new indictments.

July 14, 2022: Murdaugh is charged with murder in the deaths of his wife and son. The indictments issued by the grand jury contend Murdaugh killed his wife with a rifle and his son with a shotgun.

Jan. 23, 2023: Murdaugh goes on trial for double murder in the killings of his wife and son.

Feb. 23, 2023: Murdaugh denies killing them after taking the witness stand at his murder trial. But he admits lying to investigators about when he last saw them alive.

March 2, 2023: A jury convicts Murdaugh on two counts of murder after a six-week trial. The jury deliberated for less than three hours.

March 3, 2023: A judge sentences Murdaugh to life in prison.

Jan. 29, 2024: A South Carolina judge denies Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial after his defense team accused a clerk of court of tampering with a jury.

April 2, 2024: Murdaugh is sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for stealing from clients and his law firm.

Feb. 11, 2026: Murdaugh asks the South Carolina Supreme Court to throw out his murder convictions.

May 13, 2026: The South Carolina Supreme Court overturns Murdaugh's murder convictions and life sentence. In a unanimous ruling, the justices said the conduct by the court clerk “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted.

June 29, 2026: Newly appointed Judge Debra McCaslin sets an April 5 date for the start of jury selection in Murdaugh's retrial on the two murder charges as well as an August 14 date to hear pretrial motions. The defense has requested Murdaugh be allowed to wear regular clothes in court, not an orange prison jumpsuit and shackles. They also want to move the trial out of Colleton County, where the killings and the first trial took place.

Prosecuting attorney Creighton Waters participates in a judicial hearing on Monday, June 29, 2026, at the Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center in Lexington, S.C. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool)

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian represents his client, Alex Murdaugh, on Monday, June 29, 2026, at the Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center in Lexington, S.C. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool)

State Judge Debra McCaslin oversees a judicial hearing on Monday, June 29, 2026, at the Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center in Lexington, S.C. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool)

Members of media outlets and the public fill the courtroom during a status hearing involving Alex Murdaugh, on Monday, June 29, 2026, at the Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center in Lexington, S.C. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool)

Alex Murdaugh arrives for a judicial hearing on Monday, June 29, 2026, at the Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center in Lexington, S.C. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday and recovered some of their losses from a rare losing week.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% and broke a five-day losing streak. It was coming off just its second losing week in the last 13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 306 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 2.1%.

Several stocks boosted by the artificial-intelligence boom rose after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix said they will invest roughly $518 billion in a new chipmaking hub in South Korea, as its president hopes to capitalize on surging AI demand.

Applied Materials, whose equipment helps make semiconductors, rallied 10.8% to vault its gain for the year so far above 170%.

AI stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride recently after soaring to tremendous heights. They’re under pressure because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the huge gains for their stock prices. And the moves have an outsized effect on investors because AI stocks have become some of Wall Street’s largest and most influential, giving them more weight on indexes than others.

Nvidia was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500, for example, after its stock rose 1.3%. That’s because it’s Wall Street’s biggest stock with a total value of more than $4.7 trillion.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business along with rockets, has already become worth more than $2 trillion after its stock's ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month, with sharp rises and falls along the way. It’s become big enough that Nasdaq said Elon Musk’s company will join the Nasdaq 100 index before trading begins on July 7, which will force funds tracking the index to buy the stock.

SpaceX climbed 7.2%.

Outside of AI, Comcast rose 4.5% after saying it will split off its NBCUniversal media business and Sky from its broadband and wireless business. Its stock came into the day with a loss of 17.3% for the year so far.

That helped offset a 5.2% drop for Verizon Communications, which said it’s paying $625 million as part of a deal to combine its international wireline connectivity and managed network services business with some of London-based BT Group’s subsidiaries in a joint venture.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 86.41 points to 7,440.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 306.63 to 52,182.74, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 522.53 to 25,820.14.

The gains for the stock market came even though oil prices rose. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8% to $73.91, pulling back above where it was before the war with Iran began. Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery rose 2.2% to settle at $70.75 per barrel.

Following attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend, the United States and Iran on Monday separately announced they will send delegations to Qatar this week, though Tehran insisted it has not agreed to meet with the United States “at any level.”

The hope is that an end to the war with Iran will give oil tankers full access again to the Strait of Hormuz, allowing them to exit the Persian Gulf and deliver crude to customers worldwide. That would help lower the price of oil, whose jumps because of the war have sent a punishing wave of inflation around the world.

If oil prices do recede and stay low enough, it could keep enough pressure off inflation to allow the Federal Reserve and other central banks to keep interest rates steady or even cut them instead of hiking them.

Higher interest rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments. High yields worldwide have been rattling investors after oil prices burst above $100 per barrel because of the war.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.37% from 4.38% late Friday and from 4.56% early this month.

In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped modestly in Europe following mixed performances in Asia.

Stocks jumped 1.6% in Hong Kong and 1.2% in Shanghai for two of the world’s biggest gains, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2%.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Specialist Philip Finale works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Ravi Bhandari, left, works with fellow options traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Media cover near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screen showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A member of media looks at the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A huge screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)