Becky Hill Resigns

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Embattled Colleton County, South Carolina clerk of court Becky Hill resigned from office on Monday (March 25, 2024) with nearly a year left to go on her term – nearly a year after she presided over the Palmetto State’s ‘Trial of the Century.’

Hill announced her resignation just weeks after our media outlet reported that a multi-faceted criminal investigation into her had “picked up significant momentum in recent weeks.” However her attorney, Justin Bamberg, was adamant the announcement was not related to any looming criminal inquiry.

According to Hill, her decision to step down was based on a desire to spend more time with her husband, children and grandchildren.

“If you have grandchildren, you know what I mean,” she said.

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Hill also said she wanted to give “ample time for other Republican candidates” who might be interested in seeking the clerk’s office to submit their paperwork. Filing for partisan primary elections in South Carolina opened nine days ago. It closes next Monday (April 1, 2024) at 12:00 p.m. EDT.

Hill was elected to this post in November 2020, defeating Democrat Debra Bright with 55.83 percent of the vote. Several candidates have already indicated their intention to campaign for this seat in the current election cycle. One of them – deputy clerk Gary Hale – stood behind Hill at her press conference.

What happens once Hill’s resignation is formally submitted?

According to the S.C. Code of Laws § 14-17-30, Hill’s replacement – at least until voters elect a new clerk in November – will be chosen by governor Henry McMaster.

Within two hours of Hill’s press conference, McMaster had reportedly settled on former Colleton County clerk of court Patricia Grant – who held the office for twenty years prior to Hill’s election in 2020. Until Grant’s appointment is finalized, Colleton County probate court judge Arthur Cecil Utsey IV will run the office, per the statute.

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Hill, 56, of Walterboro, S.C., has been the focus of multiple ethics and criminal inquiries in the aftermath of the double homicide trial of convicted killer Alex Murdaugh – proceedings which attracted international attention. The most significant allegation against her? That she tampered with the jury that found Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and younger son – 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh – on the family’s hunting property near Islandton, S.C. in June of 2021.

Hill’s office managed Murdaugh’s double homicide trial in Walterboro, S.C. from January 23 through March 3, 2023. In fact, she read the guilty verdicts to a waiting world on the evening of March 2, 2023.

In her remarks, Hill cited the trial.

“Our small town came together and made everyone proud,” she said.

That’s true … although Hill quickly found her newfound fame to be a double-edged sword.

(Click to View)

On September 5, 2023 – six months after the guilty verdicts were announced – Murdaugh attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin filed a motion accusing Hill of tampering. According to the motion, this included the removal of a juror who was believed to be sympathetic to Murdaugh on the same day the verdicts were announced. Hill has also been accused of ignoring allegations involving a juror who allegedly violated the judge’s instructions and spoke in favor of convicting Murdaugh.

Her alleged motive? Selling copies of her book, Behind the Doors of Justice, portions of which she has since admitted to plagiarizing.

“Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame,” Murdaugh’s attorneys alleged.

Those allegations have also formed the basis of a pair of probes launched last summer by the S.C. State Ethics Commission (SCSEC). Last fall, Hill’s son – former Colleton County information technology director Jeffrey “Colt” Hill – was charged with wiretapping after “willfully and feloniously intercepting electronic phone communication.”

This alleged wiretapping was reportedly linked to an effort to keep his mother “abreast of the investigations into her conduct,” according to sources familiar with the investigation.

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RELATED | WALLS CLOSING IN ON BECKY HILL

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According to Bamberg, Hill’s resignation “could have occurred hiding behind a computer screen or hiding behind her lawyers,” but she was “committed to that not happening.”

As noted above, Bamberg cautioned reporters against correlating the timing of Hill’s resignation with the pending investigations into her conduct.

“Let me be extremely clear,” Bamberg said. “Today is not in response – whatsoever – to anything going on with any investigation or anything of that nature.”

Bamberg added the press conference was “not in response to any new development of some investigation or anything like that.”

In addition to the jury tampering allegations, Hill is also being investigated for abusing her office, obstructing justice and perjury. She has yet to be criminally charged in connection with any of those investigations, however.

Count on this media outlet to keep our audience in the loop on the latest developments related to Hill’s case.

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THE LETTER …

(Provided)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven (soon to be eight) children.

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