Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 5 Dramatic Moments from Alex Murdaugh's Hearing For New Family Murder Trial

Episode Date: January 30, 2024

Alex Murdaugh's motion for a new trial was denied Monday after a dramatic hearing in which jurors and the clerk of court accused of jury tampering testified. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy looks at the top five most dramatic moments from Monday's hearing along with the next step for Murdaugh's case in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show that delves into the biggest stories in crime.HOST:Angenette Levy: twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoAudio Editing - Brad MaybeGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@LawandCrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. I am the trial judge at this moment. I do not feel that I abuse my discretion when I find the defendant's motion for a new trial on the factual record before me must be denied. And it is so ordered. Alec Murdoch will not get a new trial after a day-long hearing where jurors and the clerk of court accused of trying to sway them took the stand. I find that the clerk of court is not completely credible as a witness. We have the top five moments from that day-long

hearing. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. It's Tuesday, and this is Crime Fix, coming to you from Columbia, South Carolina, right in front of the Richland County Courthouse. Alec Murdoch's bid for a new trial for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, is on its way back to the Court of Appeals after his request for a new trial was denied by Justice Jean Toll on Monday. The decision came after the jurors that found Murdoch guilty of the murders testified. Only one of those jurors said that Becky Hill's comments about Alec Murdoch influenced her decision to find him guilty. Did you hear Ms. Becky Hill make any comment about this case before your verdict? Yes, ma'am.

If yes, what did Ms. Hill say? To watch his actions. To watch his actions. What else? To watch him closely. To watch him closely. Anything else you remember? There it is, but I can't remember. Okay, that's fine. And was your verdict on March the 2nd, 2023, influenced in any way with any communications by the clerk of court, Becky Hill, in this case?

Yes, ma'am. Yes, please. All right. Was your verdict influenced in any way by the communications of the clerk of court in this case? Yes, ma'am. And how was it influenced? fluence? To me, it felt like she made it seem like he was already guilty. All right. And I understand that. That's the tenor of the remarks she made. Did that affect your finding of guilty in this case? Yes, ma'am. But then under further questioning by Justice Toll, juror Z admitted that she felt pressured by other jurors to find

Alec Murdoch guilty. She had actually made that statement in an affidavit filed last year. All of the jurors said Hill's comments, if they even heard them, did not influence their verdict. Of course, the really big moment in this hearing took place when Becky Hill, the Colleton County Clerk of Court, took the stand. At any time, did you instruct the jury to watch him closely and look at his actions? I did not. At any time, did you instruct the jury or tell the jury to look at his actions? I did not. At any time did you instruct the jury or tell the jury to look at his movements? No. At any time as the jury moved to deliberate did you tell the jury this shouldn't take long? No. At any time did you tell the jury that the defense case, watch out for the defense

case, they're going to try to throw you off, or anything along those lines that was meant to influence the jurors against Mr. Merkley. No. Hill was also asked whether she had conversations with the foreperson, something the defense claims happened many, many times throughout the trial, including during a tour of Moselle. During the time that you were on the property, traveling there, traveling back, did you have any conversation with the jurors where you made any comment about the substance of any testimony

or any comment about the merits or the strength of the case? No, no. Did you have a quick comment to the forelady about how the property was beautiful and there were tea olive trees there that bloom and smell good or words to that effect? I did. Then it was the defense's turn to question Becky Hill under cross-examination. Now, let's talk about this book for just a second. When did you first decide you were going to write a book?

I think a thought was there, a very fleeting thought, before the trial. Did you take any steps before the trial or at the initiation of the trial to begin writing this book or working with somebody on this book? Oh, no, sir. When did you and your co-author get together? It was several weeks after the trial. Did you talk to anybody about the fact you were gonna write a book before the trial? There were several anchors and several journalists that I did speak with about the possibility of writing a book. Now, did you ever tell her that you had given a juror a ride home, that you had accompanied Mr. Bill, what's his last name?

Bill Polk. Right. That you and he took a juror home one night. Did you tell her that? Did you take a juror home one night? I didn't take a juror home one night? I didn't take a juror home one night. Did Mr. Polk and you take a juror home one night? No, sir, we didn't.

You never gave a juror a ride in a car with Mr. Polk or without? No, sir. Justice Toll actually questioned Becky Hill quite extensively, actually impeaching her on some of her testimony and prior statements. Well, in your book, you suggest that the guilty verdict was what you wanted and you were fearful that a guilty verdict would not be rendered. You say that a lot about your feeling about wanting a guilty verdict, do you not? I do agree that that is said in the book.

And part of that is because I think it was a guilty verdict well this is way that you were describing a time way before the verdict was rendered when you wrote about those things in the book isn't that correct it is yes and you even have something where you say your eyes met with jurors and others at Moselle and y'all have an understanding, unspoken, that he was guilty. You said that in the book, did you not? I did say that in the book, and I would consider that part of the literary, the word that we

just said. But there was nothing spoken with a juror at all at Moselle or anywhere else at the courthouse or anywhere. I think that's part of that poetic license that we write to make something more apparent. But at no time did I read or try to read someone else's eyes. That was just one of those gut feelings that that I wrote in the book. Then the defense called a witness who said that guilty verdict was not just a gut feeling by Becky Hill. It was something she actually wanted to help sales of a book that she had planned to write. Rhonda McElvena is Barnwell County's clerk of court who helped Hill with the Murdoch trial. Before the trial, before we ever picked a jury,

did she ever discuss with you that she was going to write a book? Yes, sir. She wanted to write a book. She wanted to write a book. Did she indicate what the book was going to be about? About the trial? About the Murdoch trial? Yes, sir. And did she discuss with you, what if anything did she discuss with you about how she felt the verdict should turn out to be in the Murdoch trial? In reference to the book, what would help the book? Oh, a guilty verdict. McElveen said that Becky Hill made these comments several times throughout the trial, and she was actually concerned that Becky Hill was having contact with these jurors outside of the trial after hours.

Did you have a discussion with the clerk, Becky Hill, about her being with jurors on her own. Yes, sir, I did. One morning I showed up to Collin County, and I was told that she had taken a juror home the night before. And I was in the courtroom, and I saw her. It was between the pews and where the back row pews are. And I mentioned to Ms. Becky, I said, please tell me you didn't take a juror home last night.

And she told me, she says, I did, but I didn't talk about the case. I had a bailiff with me. Mr. Bill was with me. I said, Becky, you don't do things like that. I thought we had stopped everything. It wasn't far enough along to really cause a major problem, or I would have told Judge Newman. But I thought we had to understand that you did not spend time alone with the jurors.

OK. But in the end, McElveen, when she was questioned by prosecutors, said that there was nothing that she saw or heard that rose to the level of her needing to contact Judge Newman to inform her of Becky Hill's behavior. You mentioned a little bit about. well, let me ask you this. So there are all these conversations going on, and that's natural. That happens, private conversations with court staff behind closed doors. But you never once saw or observed or had anyone tell you that any of those conversations were being shared by Ms. Becky with any jury. Is that right? That is correct.

All right, and if that had happened, if you had observed anything untoward or improper going on at this particular trial, you would have immediately gone to Judge Newman as part of your obligation. Is that correct? That is correct. Justice Toll ruled very quickly from the bench,

taking just a short break before denying Alec Murdoch's motion for a new trial. Ms. Hill denies A, and so the question becomes, was her denial credible? I find that the clerk of court is not completely credible as a witness. Ms. Hill was attracted by the siren call of celebrity. She wanted to write a book about the trial and expressed that as early as November 2022, long before the trial began. She denies that this is so, but I find that she stated to the clerk of court, Rhonda McElveen and others, her desire for a guilty verdict because it would sell books. She made comments about Murdoch's demeanor as he testified.

And she made some of those comments before he testified to at least one and maybe more jurors. Despite that, Justice Tolles said that she found from the testimony that she heard that Becky Hill's actions did not impact the jurors when it came to deciding their verdict. Did Clark of Court Hill's comments have any impact on the verdict of the jury? I find that the answer to this question is no. Each member of this jury took their involuntary assignment very seriously. They obeyed the instructions of the court. They obeyed their oath.

These good and decent citizens of Colleton County stood to their duty and rendered their verdict without fear or favor. It was a difficult task. Eleven of the jurors very unconditionally said they either heard no comment or if they heard a comment, it had no effect. One juror was ambivalent in her testimony. The defense is vowing to appeal all the way to federal court if necessary. One of the things that was very heartening today was there are two things. The first is that Judge Toll found Becky Hill to be a liar. Okay, that's number one, which means we met our factual burden. Two, she made it very clear the law in this area is unsettled at best,

and that means it's ripe for appeal. So the facts are settled. Becky Hill's not credible. The judge found, in fact, that the statements were made to the jurors. She just found that we couldn't show prejudice, but conceded that we may not have to show that if she's wrong about the law and the law's unsettled. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson

did not speak after court, but he released a statement that read in part, We take very seriously the allegations in this situation. I immediately requested an investigation, committed to discovering the truth, regardless of what it might find. After that thorough investigation and a fair public hearing, it is clear that Alec Murdoch's convictions for the murder of Maggie and Paul are based solely on the facts and evidence in this case. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars because he was found guilty. It is time to move on from Alec Murdoch. So the next step for

Alec Murdoch, of course, is his appeal. He's going back to the Court of Appeals to appeal his conviction, arguing that there were mistakes made during the trial and probably mistakes made at the hearing that was held here yesterday. He will also be sentenced later this year in federal court for those financial crimes. That's it for this edition of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Until then, have a great night.

You can download Crime Fix on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your favorite podcasts and new episodes post each weeknight at 6 Eastern time on Law & Crime's YouTube channel. Daniel Camacho does our video editing. Our head of social media is Bobby Zoki. Our senior director of social media is Vanessa Bynes. Savannah Williamson is one of our producers.

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