The justices agreed to consider whether interference by a Colleton County court clerk swayed the jury that convicted Alex Murdaugh of murdering his wife and minor son.
The South Carolina patriarch received two life sentences without parole last year for fatally shooting Maggie Murdaugh and her 22-year-old son Paul at his sprawling 1,800-acre hunting estate in June 2021.
His lawyers accused court clerk Becky Hill of telling jurors “not to be fooled by him” in an attempt to secure his conviction so she could make money from a book about the case.
His claims of “unprecedented jury tampering” were rejected by Judge Jean Toal in January, but that decision has now been overturned by the Supreme Court, which will now consider whether he should be granted a new trial.
Murdaugh has maintained that he did not kill his son Paul with a shotgun or his wife Maggie (both circled) with a rifle.
Alex Murdaugh received two life sentences without parole last year for shooting and killing Maggie and Paul, 22, at his sprawling 1,800-acre hunting estate in June 2021.
“Common sense says that when an elected state official walks into the jury room during a murder trial to argue for a guilty verdict because he wants to make money selling books about the guilty verdict, the result should be a mistrial,” his attorneys argued.
They said Hill regularly entered the jury room improperly, asked jurors about their opinions on Murdaugh’s guilt or innocence and held private conversations with jurors about evidence.
Alex Murdaugh claims he was visiting his parents at the time of the murders
One juror was dismissed after Hill claimed to have seen a Facebook post from the juror’s ex-husband suggesting she had told him she already knew what the verdict would be.
Hill denied telling a jury that Murdaugh had likely “reached out” to a witness and that “everything Mr. Murdaugh had said was lies.”
She also denied claims that she told the jury “this shouldn’t take long” as they began their deliberations.
“Ms. Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame,” Murdaugh’s attorneys said in their motion.
Murdaugh, a former attorney, has filed a separate appeal against his conviction, which has been put on hold while his jury tampering allegations are resolved in court.
During his six-week trial, it emerged that both his wife and son were shot in the head after initially being wounded near the kennels on the family’s rural estate in Islandton.
Paul was shot twice with a shotgun, each bullet loaded with a different size, while his mother, apparently running toward her son as he was being massacred, was shot multiple times with a .300-caliber Blackout semi-automatic rifle.
Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill wrote in her book: “I think he was lying and changing his story on the fly, making it up as he went along, trying to divert attention and distract.”
The murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh shocked South Carolina, where the family was known as a political and legal dynasty.
Family members had served as attorneys and district attorneys for the Low Country region for 85 consecutive years.
Hill’s book, Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders was based on the case
Murdaugh’s great-grandfather, Randolph Murdaugh Sr., was an elected attorney who died mysteriously when his car stalled on railroad tracks and was hit by a train in 1940.
Randolph’s son, Alex Murdaugh’s grandfather, then became the new attorney.
His son, Randolph Murdaugh III, Alex Murdaugh’s father, succeeded him as attorney from 1987 to 2005.
Murdaugh claimed he found the bodies of his wife and son after returning home from a visit to his parents, but prosecutors based their case on damning cellphone evidence that showed him at the crime scene near the time of the killings.
Hill’s book about the case, “Behind the Closed Doors,” earned her $100,000 but was pulled from shelves just weeks after she admitted plagiarizing portions of it.
In June, South Carolina officials filed 76 counts of ethics violations against Hill, alleging she arranged for a photograph of Murdaugh to be taken in her cell, gave herself bonuses and used county money to buy dozens of lunches for her staff, prosecutors and a caterer.
Attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian say they have sworn statements from two jurors that are sufficient cause for Alex Murdaugh to get a new murder trial.
She resigned in March, during the final year of her four-year term, citing public scrutiny of the Murdaugh trial and wanting to spend time with her grandchildren, and has not publicly addressed the ethics allegations.
Her attorney, Justin Bramberg, has previously said her resignation had nothing to do with the pending investigations against her.
Murdaugh’s attorneys argued that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Remmer v. United States set the precedent that it is up to the state to prove that unauthorized communication with a juror did not influence its verdict.
Judge Toal ruled in January that a separate precedent in the South Carolina case of State v. Green meant Murdaugh’s team had to prove that unauthorized communication led his jury to change its verdict.
But the state Supreme Court rejected Toal’s interpretation on Tuesday and could begin considering Murdaugh’s case for a new trial before the end of the year.
Even if Murdaugh is ultimately granted a new murder trial, he will still be serving 40 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from clients of his law firm, a punishment that will run concurrently with his 27-year sentence for his separate state fraud convictions.
The 40-year sentence will be added to the two life sentences the disgraced lawyer received for the murders of his family members.
Prior to the murders, Alex and Maggie’s marriage was reported to be in crisis, with Maggie constantly berating her husband over money and his alleged drug use.
He maintains his innocence of the murders, despite a police officer testifying that he admitted as much on the sixth day of the trial.
Jurors heard Murdaugh say on a recording: “I hurt her,” three days after his wife and son were killed.