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Major twist in Alex Murdaugh case as South Carolina Supreme Court makes bombshell ruling on murderer's appeal
Judges have agreed to consider whether interference from a Colleton County court clerk swung the jury which convicted Alex Murdaugh of murdering his wife and youngest son.
The South Carolina patriarch received two life sentences without parole last year for gunning down Maggie Murdaugh and their son Paul, 22, at their 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 a bid to secure his conviction so she could make money from a book about the case.
Their 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 retrial.
Murdaugh has remained adamant that he did not kill his son Paul with a shotgun and his wife Maggie (both circled) with a rifle
Alex Murdaugh received two life sentences without parole last year for gunning down Maggie and Paul, 22, at their sprawling 1,800 acre hunting estate in June 2021
'Common sense says that when an elected state official goes into the jury room during a murder trial to advocate for a guilty verdict because she wants to make money selling books about the guilty verdict, the result should be a mistrial,' his lawyers argued.
They claimed Hill would improperly enter the jury room on a regular basis, ask jurors about their opinions on Murdaugh's guilt or innocence, and hold private conversations with jurors about the 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 by the juror's ex-husband suggesting that she had told him she already knew what the verdict would be.
Hill denied telling a juror that Murdaugh had probably 'got to' a witness, and that 'everything Mr Murdaugh had said was lies'.
She also denied claims she told the jury 'this should not take long' as they began their deliberations.
'Ms Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame,' Murdaugh's lawyers claimed in their motion.
Murdaugh, a former lawyer himself, has lodged a separate appeal against his conviction which has been put on hold while his allegations of jury tampering play out in court.
His six-week trial heard that both his wife and son were shot in the head after initially being wounded near dog kennels on the family's rural estate in Islandton.
Paul was shot twice with a shotgun, each round loaded with different sized shot, while his mother, apparently running towards her son as he was slaughtered, was shot multiple times with a .300 Blackout semi-automatic rifle.
Colleton County court clerk Becky Hill wrote in her book, 'I believe he was lying and changing his story on the fly, making it up as he went along, trying to deflect and distract'
The murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh shocked South Carolina, where the family were well known as a political and legal dynasty.
Members of the family had served as solicitor and district attorney 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, who was an elected solicitor, died mysteriously when his car stopped on railway tracks and was hit by a train in 1940.
Randolph's son, Alex Murdaugh's grandfather, then became the new solicitor.
His son, Randolph Murdaugh III — Alex Murdaugh's father — succeeded him as solicitor 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 cell phone evidence that showed him at the crime scene near the time of the murders.
Hill's book about the case, 'Behind the Doors of Justice', made her $100,000 but was pulled from the bookshelves within weeks after she admitted plagiarizing parts of it.
South Carolina officials filed 76 counts of ethics violations against Hill in June, alleging she arranged a photo of Murdaugh to be taken in his holding cell, gave herself bonuses, and used county money to buy dozens of lunches for her staff, prosecutors and a vendor.
Attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian claim they have sworn statements from two jurors that are enough cause for Alex Murdaugh to get a new murder trial
She resigned in March during the last year of her four-year term, citing the public scrutiny of Murdaugh's trial and wanting to spend time with her grandchildren. She has not publicly addressed the ethics allegations.
Her lawyer, Justin Bramberg, has previously said that her resignation had nothing to do with the pending investigations against her.
Murdaugh's lawyers argued that a US Supreme Court ruling in the case of Remmer v. United States established the precedent that it is for the state to prove that unauthorized communication with a jury did not influence their verdict.
Judge Toal ruled in January that a separate precedent in the South Carolina case of State v. Green meant that Murdaugh's team had to prove the unauthorized communication led to his jury changing their verdict.
But the state's Supreme Court rejected Toal's interpretation on Tuesday and could begin considering Murdaugh's case for a retrial before the end of the year.
Even if Murdaugh is eventually granted a new murder trial, he's still serving 40 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from clients of his law firm, a punishment that will be served at the same time as his 27-year sentence for his separate state fraud convictions .
The 40-year sentence will consecutively with the disgraced lawyer's pair of life sentences for the murders of his family members.
Leading up to the murders, Alex and Maggie's marriage was reportedly on the rocks, with Maggie constantly haranguing her husband over money and his alleged drug use.
He maintains his innocence of the murders, even though a cop testified that he admitted to it on day 6 of the trial.
The jury heard Murdaugh say in a recording: 'I did him so bad,' three days after his wife and son were killed.