Alex Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. He is currently serving two consecutive life sentences without parole in a South Carolina prison. His defense team now is claiming jury tampering by the clerk of the court, who also wrote a book about the Murdaugh murders.
The Interview Room has exclusive information on what the South Carolina Ethics Commission told Becky Hill about writing a book on the Murdaugh murders.
If you haven’t heard, Alex Murdaugh’s defense team has come out with explosive allegations that Colleton County Clerk of the Court, a woman named Becky Hill, allegedly tampered with the jury and that Murdaugh should get a new trial.
Murdaugh’s attorneys claim that Ms. Hill instructed jurors that Murdaugh could not be trusted and that he was likely guilty, according to a new motion they filed on Sept. 5. Read it here. state-v-murdaugh-motion-to-stay
Murdaugh is currently serving two life sentences in prison for killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. Jurors returned a guilty verdict at the end of his trial in less than three hours. Now, Murdaugh’s defense team wants to reverse that. They held a press conference and released the 65-page motion in which they say shows jury tampering by the Clerk of the Court.
Allegations by Defense
Becky Hill allegedly instructed jurors not to be “misled” by evidence presented in Murdaugh’s defense. She told jurors not to be “fooled by” Murdaugh’s testimony in his own defense.
Ms. Hill allegedly told Juror No. 785 that “everything Murdaugh has said has been lies and that I should forget about the guns, they will never be seen again.” She told them that “this shouldn’t take us long” to reach a verdict. The defense also maintains that Ms. Hill told jurors if they deliberated past 11pm, they would be taken directly to a hotel even though none were prepared to stay overnight.
Should an elected official write a book about a trial they were part of?
It was only after Becky Hill’s new book, “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders,” came out on Aug. 1 that the defense started looking into this. Ms. Hill co-authored the book with Neil Gordon.
The defense claims that she enriched herself with a book deal at the expense of Murdaugh’s right to a fair trial. Murdaugh’s attorneys also say that she made up a social media incident that led a juror to be bounced off the jury.
Apparently, Ms. Hill claimed that she saw on a social media site (on a Friday during the trial) that the ex-husband of a juror posted that his ex-wife made statements about the trial. When pressed by Judge Clifton Newman the following Monday, she said she went back, could not find the post, and figured it was deleted. There was an apology post by the person who wrote the first statement.
When Murdaugh’s defense team looked into this — after Ms. Hill’s book came out — they said the person who made the post was named Timothy Stone. The name of the ex-husband of the juror was Tim Stone. It seemed clear that these were two different people.
The defense alleges that Ms. Hill made up the story so she could have the juror excused because she felt this juror would be favorable to Murdaugh.
Related post: https://theinterviewroom.net/stephen-smith-family-attorney-pleas-for-break-in-the-case/
Other Side of The Story
While we have not heard yet from Becky Hill on this, others are talking.
Her co-author, Neil Gordon, told a major news channel that they self published the book and spent $30,000 of their own money to get it published on Amazon, including paying a media attorney to examine the manuscript.
Gordon said before writing the book, Ms. Hill asked the South Carolina Ethics Commission if she, as an elected official, was permitted to write a book. Gordon said the commission said as long as no sealed documents or confidential info is shared, it was OK. The commission enforces ethics laws for elected officials.
But that’s not exactly what the Commission said.
What the South Carolina Ethics Commission told Hill about writing a book
The Interview Room has obtained a copy of the three-page letter from the South Carolina Ethics Commission to Becky Hill regarding whether she is permitted as an elected official to write a book about the Alex Murdaugh trial. Read the letter here 2023 05 02 Hill Informal (Book Writing)
Here’s how Ms. Hill described what her book would be about to the Commission.
“I am the clerk of court in [Colleton County]. I have a question about the writing of a book by a clerk of court about the process of trial from beginning to end, [f]ocusing on the process itself the history of it and of course the High profile cases that South Carolina has had. What would be the ethic procedures behind this?”
She makes no mention specifically of the Alex Murdaugh double murder case that had just concluded on March 2, 2023 with a guilty verdict. She refers to “high profile cases that South Carolina has had.” It could almost be inferred that she wanted to write a historical book about South Carolina trials. She wrote to the Commission on April 28, 2023.
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