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We recently reported on a pair of ethics inquiries into embattled Colleton County, South Carolina clerk of court Becky Hill – investigations which could soon be referred for criminal investigation (and possibly a statewide grand jury probe). This week, our media outlet exclusively obtained a draft copy of Hill’s formal response to those allegations.
As expected, the draft copy is a sweeping and categorical denial – but it also painted a picture of what Hill insists are disgruntled county employees consumed by jealousy and engaged in a far-reaching conspiracy with external forces in the hopes of bringing her down.
Is that claim legitimate? Or is Hill creating a smokescreen?
According to the draft response (.pdf), these employees are lobbing “spurious allegations” against Hill as part of a “laundry list” of false claims – which Hill insisted were “easily disproven by a cursory review of the actual facts.”
Hill is currently under investigation by the S.C. State Ethics Commission (SCSEC). One complaint being probed by the agency accused Hill of “unethically and potentially unlawfully” using her office to enrich herself by obtaining and releasing confidential information – some of which later appeared in her book. The second complaint accused Hill of misappropriating public funds from multiple accounts – and then allegedly misrepresenting those misappropriations to county officials.
Regarding these specific allegations, Hill’s response insisted she “never used her office to promote her book” and “never misallocated funds.” Allegations to the contrary were dismissed by her as “unfounded, uncorroborated and unproven misinformation from a disgruntled former employee.”
Nonetheless, after an initial round of subpoenas from ethics investigators, both of these cases are expected to be referred to the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) – which was already probing allegations that Hill tampered with a Colleton County jury earlier this year in arguably the highest profile murder case in South Carolina history.
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As noted by our founding editor Will Folks, sources familiar with the inquiries made it clear they believe both of Hill’s pending ethics cases “will wind up at SLED … sooner rather than later.” Additionally, we reported that Hill’s son, Colleton County information technology director Jeffrey “Colt” Hill, had been arrested on one count of wiretapping for having “willfully and feloniously intercept(ed) electronic phone communication.”
Additional charges against Jeffrey Hill are expected to be filed, and Becky Hill’s cell phone was subpoenaed in connection with that investigation. Jeffrey Hill’s arrest appears to have been tied to an effort to keep Becky Hill abreast of the ongoing investigations into her conduct, sources close to the probe have told us.
As previously reported, the allegations against Becky Hill could have a significant impact on convicted killer Alex Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial.
To recap: Hill’s office oversaw Murdaugh’s six-week double murder trial earlier this year – an international spectacle which has been referred to as the ‘Trial of the Century’ in the Palmetto State. Murdaugh, 55, a disbarred attorney and confessed fraudster from Hampton, S.C., was found guilty by a Colleton County jury of the graphic 2021 murders of his wife – 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh – and younger son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh.
Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before handing down their verdicts.
Hill was the one who announced Murdaugh’s guilty verdicts to a waiting world on the evening of March 2, 2023. The following day, S.C. circuit court judge Clifton Newman handed down a pair of life sentences in the case. In early September, though, the script flipped. Murdaugh’s attorneys – led by Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin – dropped a bombshell motion accusing Hill of tampering with jurors who decided Murdaugh’s fate.
“Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame,” Harpootlian and Griffin alleged, accusing Hill of improperly influencing jurors against Murdaugh in an effort to sell copies of her book, Behind the Doors of Justice.
An evidentiary hearing into the tampering allegations is likely to take place sometime in February or March of 2024. Newman has rightfully recused himself from presiding over retrial motions – meaning another judge must be tapped to handle that hearing (and potentially a second trial). According to our sources, S.C. chief justice Donald Beatty has drawn up a list of judges and will soon choose one to inherit the Murdaugh mess. Be on the lookout for more on those moving pieces in a follow-up article …
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HILL’S RESPONSE …
Hill’s responses to the two complaints filed against her were dated August 21, 2023. They detailed both the individual allegations against her as well as her itemized responses.
Regarding allegations that she abused her authority and acted outside the scope of routine court business in writing her book, Hill responded that she “began to keep a journal which memorialized her impressions of the trial, the actors, and the evidence.” She noted this information “was not proprietary nor was it privileged to the litigants or in any way subject to being sealed from the public domain.”
Regarding an oft-discussed image of Murdaugh in his jail cell, Hill claimed that the allegation she used her position to obtain confidential information and images is “non-meritorious” as there is a public security camera located in the entrance hallway of the courthouse.
(Click to View)
Who took the image? According to Hill, the photo in question was snapped by Gary Hale – a former law enforcement officer who is now a member of the clerk of court’s staff. According to Hill’s response, Hale used his cell phone to take the picture from the public security camera – although sources familiar with the photo’s origin say it was snapped from a large-screen television located within Hill’s office.
Following the trial’s conclusion, Hill claims she forwarded the picture to her friend, Melissa Gordon, who placed the photo on a social media post. She further noted that she did not encourage or suggest that the photograph be released in a public forum.
Melissa Gordon is married to Neil Gordon, the co-author of Hill’s book.
Hill also addressed the allegation that she altered a $100 check written by a tourist as a donation following a courthouse visit. According to the complaint, the allegation that Hill had a staff member alter the check by striking through Colleton County and adding her name “is equally untrue and preposterous.” She further clarified she did not give any tours of the courthouse personally – that they were conducted by the Colleton County bailiffs. While the bailiffs did receive tips for conducting these tours, Hill stated she never asked about them – and that no records were kept (or requested) of the payments the bailiffs received.
Hill also responded to allegations leveled against her in a complaint that she says was filed against her by her former deputy clerk of court, Laura Hayes. This news outlet has not been provided with a copy of the complaint attributed to Hayes, but we have reviewed its contents. In her response, Hill specifically addressed allegations that she misappropriated child support enforcement funds routed by the federal government to county courts – money she is alleged to have used to purchase furniture and office supplies. The complaint also referenced its author’s supposed hesitation about issuing a bonus check to the clerk because she “didn’t want her to go to jail for unethical behavior.”
“Right … although I hear federal prison is pretty comfy,” Hill responded in a text thread submitted as an exhibit to her response.
(Click to View)
According to Hill, the complaint attributed to Hayes is politically motivated because she plans to run against Hill for clerk of court in the next election. Whatever its motivation, Hill asked ethics commissioners to dismiss the complaint so “she can get back to the business of serving Colleton County.”
While it is unclear whether Hill submitted her responses to ethics investigators on the date listed in the draft response (August 21, 2023), it is clear her denials did nothing to slow the momentum of the probe.
As we reported earlier this month, investigators demanded the production of records related to no fewer than seven different Colleton County accounts which flow through Hill’s office – including two accounts which contain federal funding. Those two accounts are tied to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) child support enforcement incentive program which provides bonuses for employees who work on these cases.
One of those accounts is the funding stream referenced in the text exchange between Hill and her former employee.
More ominously for Hill, her personal financial records have reportedly been sought by ethics investigators under a separate subpoena. This media outlet has also been informed that SLED agents have issued a subpoena for all of Hill’s county-issued emails, which reportedly show her conducting extensive business related to her book on a taxpayer-provided account.
Our media outlet previously requested Hill’s emails under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). We have yet to receive a response to that inquiry.
Count on FITSNews to keep you up-to-date on all the developments in this unfolding drama – especially its potentially to spill over into the Murdaugh retrial effort. In the meantime, to view Hill’s draft response for yourself, click on the document below …
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THE RESPONSE …
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Jenn Wood is FITSNews’ incomparable research director. She’s also the producer of the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts and leading expert on all things Murdaugh/ South Carolina justice. A former private investigator with a criminal justice degree, evildoers beware, Jenn Wood is far from your average journalist! A deep dive researcher with a passion for truth and a heart for victims, this mom of two is pretty much a superhero in FITSNews country. Did we mention she’s married to a rocket scientist? (Lucky guy!) Got a story idea or a tip for Jenn? Email her at jenn@fitsnews.com.
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15 comments
When this all blows up in HarmBo’s face (and it’s going too), will the GOB Club at the S.C. State Ethics Commission do anything about it? I bet there are some lawyers willing to take it on a civil matter!
Harpootlian (Harm) and Griffin (Bo – as in “JimBo”) have done irreparable harm to their own reputations and they’re working hard to screw up an already damaged SC Judicial system reputation.
What a cruel thing to say about who may be the last two criminal defense lawyers left in South Carolina (“SC”) who would do everything LEGALLY possible for their client!
First and foremost, Becky “Boo” Hill’s own book has enough information to vacate Alex Murdaugh’s (“AM”) conviction. Indeed, had Judge Clifton Newman read that book IN ITS ENTIRETY when it came out, he should have ON HIS OWN MOTION, gone back and granted AM’s Defense’s motions for a directed verdict of acquittal and/or for a new trial.
My late father always said that a true parent wants the child to be better than the parent. Judge Clifton Newman is often proud of Judge Jocelyn Newman being better than her father. And in at least one aspect, she is. In an important case, Judge Jocelyn went back, reconsidered, and granted a motion for a new trial after she had denied.
True greatness is not never making mistakes, but admitting the mistakes and correcting them ASAP.
Among the most disturbing revelations in Boo’s book is that a key guilty-voting male juror received “thousands of dollars” to stay on the jury instead of going back to work and getting replaced by an alternate.
THAT, not Harpootlian and Griffin, is what damages SC’s judicial system’s reputation, which (incidentally) FITSNews constantly attacks as corrupt.
Also disturbing is the excuse given for the publication of the photo of AM lying on his stone-slab-“bed” awaiting the verdict. Does that mean there were security cameras WHICH THE PUBLIC COULD SEE recording AM using the toilet in his holding cell?
Boo’s response insults the intelligence of those left with any after the Prosecution team sold SC on the strange theory of murder for sympathy.
I still want answers on who paid that juror those thousands of dollars and where that money came from.
Perhaps that is the reason Boo’s book has bee withdrawn from print, or at least from sale on the internet. Boo did not count on someone left with critical thinking.
I still say the real killers of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were two females with prior experience in hunting animals but no military or law enforcement experience in aiming at human beings.
I have been right so far in everything I commented in this case. God willing, you will see how right I was about this last item.
What’s it like living in your altered state of reality as sub zero IQ? Your primary premise is that AleX Murderer is innocent and two women EXECUTED Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh . . . LOL!
It has been stated that the juror who received the financial assistance received that assistance thru his friends who all came together and pitched in enough money for him to remain on the jury and be able to pay his bills which was his concern. That tells me that juror was discussing the trial with others which goes against what Judge Newman ordered them to not do. It also tells me that this juror had some really good friends who were concerned enough to put forth this money to make sure he didn’t have financial issues as a result.
It makes me really think more about the financial issues that face out jurors when they are forced to be in this situation by a government who isn’t even paying them a decent amount to where the financial obligations of that juror are an issue. I think our jurors should be paid the amount of whatever their loss would be by having to legally remain in that jury or they face imprisonment for failing to meet this forces obligation. It’s wrong on so many levels in my own personal opinion and probably the opinion of anyone who has had their bills not paid or their issues with child support as a result. Why is this even an issue?
Respectfully and succinctly, jury service (like voting) is NOT by conscription.
No one should be making money off voting or off jury service; nor should jury service be a paid vacation from a job.
The only possible non-corruptible (or less corruptible) way is some law for employers to grant employees paid leave for CONFIRMED jury service, which many civic-minded employers do anyway.
But what has happened here is WAY beyond the pale no matter how much lipstick is put on that pig.
Yes, you have to respond to a jury summons. But there are several mandatory and discretionary exemptions.
All that juror had to say at the initial jury selection OR as the trial went on was that jury service would impose a financial hardship on him.
Then that juror would have been excused from jury service to begin with OR he would have been replaced by an alternate. There were six alternates available. That is what alternates are for.
But for a juror to receive outside one, in the “thousands of dollars,” from unknown people is unheard of, at least by me.
I regret that you do not see this as an issue at all; but I am shocked to my core that it happened and even more shocked that Becky “Boo” Hill bragged about it.
Griff, Harpo and Murderer are the circus clown act of the South Carolina injustice system. They lost their defense case because Murderer was guilty, and they’re embarrassed as hell. Regarding Rebecca Hill, she is just a killing sport to them . . . like trapping hogs in a pit and then trying to hang them; and, if that doesn’t work, they’ll shoot ’em, like Paul Murdaugh did. Anything to win and abusing the system to do it. Rebecca Hill did nothing wrong and these three clowns know it.
Really “Veritas”?!? Nothing wrong by Becky “Boo” Hill?!? Did you even read her book?
First and foremost, Becky “Boo” Hill’s own book has enough information to vacate Alex Murdaugh’s (“AM”) conviction. Indeed, had Judge Clifton Newman read that book IN ITS ENTIRETY when it came out, he should have ON HIS OWN MOTION, gone back and granted AM’s Defense’s motions for a directed verdict of acquittal and/or for a new trial.
My late father always said that a true parent wants the child to be better than the parent. Judge Clifton Newman is often proud of Judge Jocelyn Newman being better than her father. And in at least one aspect, she is. In an important case, Judge Jocelyn went back, reconsidered, and granted a motion for a new trial after she had denied it.
True greatness is not never making mistakes, but admitting the mistakes and correcting them ASAP.
Among the most disturbing revelations in Boo’s book is that a key guilty-voting male juror received “thousands of dollars” to stay on the jury instead of going back to work and getting replaced by an alternate.
THAT, not Harpootlian and Griffin, is what damages SC’s judicial system’s reputation, which (incidentally) FITSNews constantly attacks as corrupt.
Also disturbing is the excuse given for the publication of the photo of AM lying on his stone-slab-“bed” awaiting the verdict. Does that mean there were security cameras WHICH THE PUBLIC COULD SEE recording AM using the toilet in his holding cell?
Boo’s response insults the intelligence of those left with any after the Prosecution team sold SC on the strange theory of murder for sympathy.
I still want answers on who paid that juror those thousands of dollars and where that money came from.
Perhaps that is the reason Boo’s book has bee withdrawn from print, or at least from sale on the internet. Boo did not count on someone left with critical thinking.
I still say the real killers of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were two females with prior experience in hunting animals but no military or law enforcement experience in aiming at human beings.
I have been right so far in everything I commented in this case. God willing, you will see how right I was about this last item.
I did read her book . . . twice. YOU read it, again.
“Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders,” by Rebecca Hill and Neil Gordon, is available on Amazon.
Why should I read Becky Boo’s book again? Will rereading it make the shocking stuff in it normal?
Explain to me how a guilty-voting juror receiving “thousands of dollars” to stay on the jury instead of returning to work and getting replaced by an alternate is not shocking. That is on pp 58-60 of Becky Boo’s book.
It is also somewhat confirmed by the very affidavits SLED got from the willing jurors. I assume it is the same one because it says he had financial difficulties and asked the clerk of court (Becky Boo) to bring them to the judge’s attention.
Even that is improper. The only proper thing would have been for the jury foreperson at the time to send a note DIRECTLY to the judge indicating a juror wishes to discuss his financial difficulties with the judge.
Now we also learn that bailiffs were accepting tips from giving tours of the courthouse!!!
How many abnormal and unethical things are you willing to brush off as normal, or even good, to keep in place the wrongful convictions of an innocent grieving widower and father?
I don’t know why you think it’s not for sale anymore. I clearly see it in both the website for the book and on Amazon as well.
I may have misunderstood; but I recall reading that the post with photo had a link to pre-order the book and that is no longer operable.
It’s still available on Amazon
Please see my reply to Kidd above. Thanks
After I learned the history of the City of Kherbert or Harpoot and its relationship to the Armenian Genocide, I am morally repulsed by anyone who tries to belittle an Armenian-rooted lawyer by associating the name of his city of origin with a child’s potty.
Would you make such fun of him if his name were Auschwitzer?
The time of death used to convict Alex Murdaugh (“AM”) is off by at least half an hour. When that SCIENTIFIC fact is accepted, it is clear that AM had an ironclad alibi which Becky Hill worked so hard to make the jury discount.
I pray that Jean Toal harkens back to everything good and just she was taught in Catholic school and holds true to the one thing I like most about her: her willingness to study the actual record, to the point of almost, if not actually, memorizing it, before taking the bench on any matter, big or small, before her.
Jean Toal, dogs are not gods. Wild boars are hunted at night. Victims who had a large dinner and a cup of coffee after 8:00 pm would have had WAY MORE than 500 ccs left in their stomacks if they had been killed as early as 8:45 pm on the same day. Ask any gastro-enterologist or pathologist. You know where to find at least one of each. God speed to you in exonerating the wrongly convicted.