This week, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh (pronounced “Murdock”), a now-infamous former attorney who was accused of killing his wife and son in 2021. The justices said their decision was due to “improper external influences on the jury” by a court clerk during the murder trial. They’ve ordered a new trial for Murdaugh.
In a unanimous opinion, the justices wrote, “Our justice system provides — indeed demands — that every person is entitled to a fair trial, which includes an impartial jury untainted by external forces bent on influencing the jury toward a biased verdict.”
What Went Wrong at Trial?
The opinion found that a court clerk named Rebecca “Becky” Hill tampered with the jury in several ways by:
- Telling them not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other defense evidence. One of the jurors testified that Hill had told her to “watch his actions” and to “watch him closely.” The juror explained that the clerk’s comments made it seem as if Murdaugh were already guilty. Hill allegedly also told the jury “not to be fooled” by the evidence presented by Murdaugh’s attorneys.
- Pressing them to reach a quick guilty verdict. One of the jurors testified that, when the jury began deliberating, Hill told them, “This shouldn’t take us long.” The juror testified that she had questions about Mr. Murdaugh’s guilt, but voted guilty because she felt pressured by the other jurors.
- Misrepresenting information to the trial court so that the court would remove a juror she believed favored Murdaugh. Juror 785 was dismissed the day deliberations began for discussing the case with others. The circumstances related to social media posts made by the juror’s ex-husband and a conversation she’d had with him. Allegedly, Hill speculated that “the Murdaughs probably got to” the ex-husband when he called Juror 785 on the morning of the verdict.
Who Is Becky Hill?
Becky Hill spent her whole life in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and had even been crowned Miss Walterboro in 1985. She worked as a middle school teacher for years before she transitioned to court reporting. In 2020, Hill ran for clerk of court and won by about 3,000 votes.
She was working as the Colleton County clerk of court during Alex Murdaugh’s double-homicide trial. As part of her duties, she was responsible for managing the jurors, handling the evidence and exhibits, and organizing events within the trial. An article in The Washington Post said that Hill was “Command Central for both jurors and the media,” and “was known to everyone as a pillar of calm during the state’s longest, craziest criminal trial."
A few months after the trial, Hill wrote a tell-all book, Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders, that contained dramatic passages about the case. Allegedly, plans for the book were in the works during the trial, and Hill believed a guilty verdict would help sell more copies.
The book itself was pulled from publication because Hill plagiarized parts of it, including the preface. In 2024, Hill resigned from her job as court clerk after she was charged with obstruction of justice for leaking confidential court information to a reporter. She later pleaded guilty to perjury and misconduct charges and was placed on probation.
Background on the Murdaugh Trial
Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was accused of shooting his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, outside the kennels at the Murdaughs’ seventeen-hundred-acre hunting estate in June 2021. (Read more about the Murdaugh trial.)
For years, rumors of corruption and crime surrounded the Murdaugh family in the rural Lowcountry of South Carolina, where they lived. Accusations came and went, but the family was well-respected. Since 1920, three generations of Murdaugh attorneys had served as solicitors (prosecutors) in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit. Alex’s father, Randolph Murdaugh, had received the Order of the Palmetto, the highest honor bestowed on a civilian by the governor of South Carolina. The family had also amassed a small fortune through the family law firm.
The Washington Post described Alex Murdaugh as the disbarred scion of a legal family who controlled a big chunk of South Carolina. And the details surrounding the murders were tumultuous. They included a drunken boating accident that killed one young woman, Murdaugh being pushed out of his law firm for allegedly misappropriating funds, a $50,000-a-week opioid addiction, and claims that Murdaugh himself had been shot in the head by a stranger while changing a flat tire on his car.
After the Conviction, Murdaugh Appealed and Filed a Motion for a New Trial
On March 2, 2023, Murdaugh was convicted of the murders of his wife and son, as well as two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. The trial court sentenced him to two life sentences.
After his conviction, Murdaugh’s attorney appealed. While the appeal was pending at the court of appeals, Murdaugh filed a motion to hold the appeal in abeyance to allow him to file a motion for a new trial. The court of appeals granted this motion. He then moved for a new trial, which was denied. The South Carolina Supreme Court reversed this denial and ordered a new trial. The case is now remanded for a new trial.
Murdaugh remains incarcerated, though. He separately pleaded guilty to dozens of federal and state financial crimes and is serving concurrent 40-year federal prison sentences for those crimes.
Related Resources
- Inside the U.S. Case Linking Mexican State Government to the Sinaloa Cartel (FindLaw’s Courtside)
- California Mayor Pleads Guilty to Acting for a Foreign Government (FindLaw’s Courtside)
- Ongoing Ohio State University Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Adds 30 Former Football Players as Plaintiffs (FindLaw’s Courtside)
