For most of her career, Becky Hill was the kind of public official few people noticed. As clerk of court in Colleton County, S.C., she managed court records, filings and jury administration.
Then came Alex Murdaugh.
The once-prominent South Carolina attorney stood accused of murdering his wife, Maggie, and their youngest son, Paul, in June 2021 at the family’s hunting estate. The case became the subject of extensive national media coverage, spawning documentaries, podcasts and television coverage.
Hill was supposed to help manage one of the most heavily covered criminal trials in South Carolina history. Instead, she became a part of the story.
In May 2026, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh’s murder convictions and ordered a new trial after concluding that Hill's communications with jurors deprived Murdaugh of a fair trial. In a unanimous opinion, the court concluded that Hill had “placed her fingers on the scales of justice,” depriving Murdaugh of his constitutional right to a fair trial.
The ruling transformed Hill from a small town court administrator into a central figure in the legal battle over Murdaugh's convictions.
Alex Murdaugh Goes to Trial
On June 7, 2021, Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were found shot to death near the dog kennels on the family’s approximately 1,700-acre property, Moselle, in Colleton County. More than a year later, a grand jury indicted Murdaugh, then 54, on two counts of murder, to which he pleaded not guilty.
By then, Murdaugh's life had already unraveled.
During a trial that began on January 25, 2023, prosecutors presented evidence that Murdaugh stole millions of dollars from clients and law partners while battling a long-running opioid addiction. At the same time, his family was under pressure from a civil lawsuit arising from a 2019 boat crash in which Paul, then facing felony boating-under-the-influence charges, was accused of driving a boat that crashed and killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. Prosecutors argued those mounting pressures provided a motive for murder.
Defense attorneys countered that the state had no eyewitnesses, no murder weapons and no direct evidence showing Murdaugh pulled either trigger.
Six weeks later, after less than three hours of deliberation, jurors convicted Murdaugh of both murders. A judge sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences.
In 2024, Murdaugh was also sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for his financial crimes. He’d pleaded guilty to 22 offenses, including bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
Alex Murdaugh Seeks a Retrial
Just months after the verdict, Murdaugh’s attorneys filed a motion seeking a new trial.
Hill ended up at the center of the filing.
Hill had spent years working in the clerk’s office before winning an election as clerk of court in 2020, taking office just months before the killings that would bring international attention to Colleton County.
The defense pointed not only to her interactions with jurors but also to a book she had co-authored about the case, Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders. Published in July 2023 after the trial, the book described behind-the-scenes details of the proceedings, but the lawyers argued that the book raised questions about whether Hill had a financial and personal interest in the outcome of the trial.
Soon, their allegations expanded: According to court filings, jurors reported that Hill told them not to be “fooled” by testimony presented by Murdaugh's defense team and encouraged them to watch his behavior while he testified. Some jurors said Hill commented on the evidence and appeared eager for the case to conclude.
The defense also alleged that Hill maintained frequent communications with the jury foreperson and played a role in the removal of a juror shortly before deliberations began.
That juror was dismissed after allegations that she had discussed the case outside court. Murdaugh’s attorneys argued Hill exaggerated concerns about the juror because she feared the woman might not vote to convict.
Hill denied the accusations.
In sworn testimony, Hill said she never told jurors how they should view the evidence and never attempted to sway the verdict. She acknowledged speaking with jurors during the trial but maintained those conversations were administrative, not substantive.
What Did Becky Hill Do?
As scrutiny intensified, Hill found herself facing problems beyond Murdaugh’s appeals.
In early 2024, allegations surfaced that portions of her book closely resembled reporting previously published by journalists covering the trial. The book’s publisher later halted distribution. Hill resigned as clerk of court in March 2024.
Then came criminal charges.
In 2025, prosecutors accused Hill of misconduct in office, obstruction of justice and perjury. The allegations stemmed from claims that she improperly shared sealed crime-scene photographs from the Murdaugh case and later lied about it under oath. Prosecutors also alleged she used her elected position to promote and profit from her book.
Hill ultimately pleaded guilty to the four charges. She received probation and avoided prison.
Prosecutors never charged Hill with jury tampering.
Why the Supreme Court Threw Out Alex Murdaugh's Verdict
By 2026, Murdaugh’s appeal had reached the South Carolina Supreme Court.
There, the question before the justices was not whether Murdaugh killed his wife and son, it was whether Hill’s conduct deprived him of a fair and impartial jury guaranteed by the Constitution.
The court concluded that it did.
The justices found that Hill made comments about the evidence and Murdaugh's credibility to jurors during the trial. They wrote that she “egregiously attacked Murdaugh's credibility and his defense” and improperly inserted herself into the proceedings. And the remedy, the justices decided, was a new murder trial.
The court vacated Murdaugh’s convictions and sent the case back to the trial court.
