Former Colleton County court clerk Becky Hill, who presided over Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial, has been charged with multiple felony counts by South Carolina authorities. The charges, which include misconduct and obstruction of justice, stem from allegations of perjury and improper conduct during the case. Hill, 57, is facing two counts in Colleton County while a perjury charge is pending in Richland County.
Hill’s legal troubles emerged after she was accused of using her position as Colleton County clerk to promote her book about the Murdaugh case, which she admitted to plagiarizing. The state ethics commission accused her of misusing taxpayer funds for personal gain, including using federal bonuses to provide gifts to court staff and personal expenses. The SLED charging documents released Wednesday also highlighted these financial misconduct allegations.
Murdaugh’s defense attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, expressed confidence that these charges would lead to a new trial, emphasizing the need to protect the integrity of the judicial process. They stated that the arrest underscores the necessity of ensuring a fair and impartial trial for Murdaugh, who was convicted in the 2021 murders of his wife and son on his family’s hunting estate.
Justice Jean Toal, who denied Murdaugh’s request for a new trial on jury tampering allegations, ruled that Hill’s testimony regarding her interactions with the press was inconsistent with evidence. The defense argued that these inconsistencies, alongside her financial misconduct, warranted a new hearing. However, the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision was based on a state standard of evidence, which may differ from the federal standards Murdaugh’s attorneys sought to apply.
Myra Crosby, a dismissed juror known as the