Why Did the SLED Agent From Alex Murdaugh’s Trial Lose His Job?

After spending more than a decade at SLED, Ryan Kelly took a position running the Office of Professional Standards at the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office. Internal affairs. The unit that investigates other officers. On June 8, 2026, he was terminated following allegations of harassment, unbecoming conduct, improper procedures, and unsatisfactory performance.Kelly was a Senior Special Agent at SLED during the Murdaugh investigations. He led the probe into the September 2021 roadside shooting — the staged incident where Alex Murdaugh arranged for Curtis Smith to shoot him so his son Buster could collect life insurance. At the 2023 murder trial, Kelly testified as one of the state’s closing witnesses, detailing Murdaugh’s failure to identify Smith and the investigative steps that exposed the scheme. Prosecutors used Kelly’s testimony to argue that Murdaugh’s deception after the roadside shooting mirrored his lies about the night Maggie and Paul were killed.His firing arrives at a precarious moment for the prosecution. The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh’s convictions after finding that court clerk Becky Hill committed jury interference. Hill later pleaded guilty to perjury and obstruction. Lead SLED investigator David Owen admitted to giving inaccurate grand jury testimony about blood evidence. Both Owen and fellow SLED captain Ryan Neill quietly retired after the trial.The retrial’s first hearing is June 29 before Judge Debra McCaslin. Dick Harpootlian has said publicly the investigation has “more holes than Swiss cheese.” When asked about Kelly’s firing, he told reporters his team needs time to investigate what has happened since the trial. The prosecution is heading into a second attempt to convict Alex Murdaugh with fewer credible witnesses than it had the first time.

Links:

Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

Disclaimer:

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Hashtags:

#AlexMurdaugh #RyanKelly #TrueCrimeToday #MurdaughRetrial #SLED #TrueCrime #SouthCarolina #MurdaughTrial #DickHarpootlian #MaggieMurdaugh