Alex Murdaugh trial clerk hires lawyers after bombshell jury tampering claims – latest
Murdaugh’s attorneys accused South Carolina Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill of pressuring jurors to return a guilty verdict in his murder trial
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The court clerk who oversaw the murder trial of convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has hired high-profile lawyers after his attorneys accused her of pressuring jurors to return a guilty verdict against him.
The disgraced legal scion’s attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin filed a motion for a new trial on Tuesday, alleging that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill tampered with the jury because she was driven by fame and a desire to secure a book deal.
Ms Hill has now retained the counsel of State Rep Justin Bamberg and former assistant US attorney Will Lewis.
The clerk has yet to formally respond to the allegations against her and she is not currently facing any criminal charges.
Much of the 65-page motion centres around juror number 785 – who was infamously dismissed from the panel just hours before deliberations began. Judge Clifton Newman removed her for allegedly discussing the case with people outside of the court.
The woman then prompted some light-hearted relief when she asked to pick up her “dozen eggs” from the jury room before she left.
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Follow live as Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys hold a press conference to announce a motion for a new trial.
FULL STORY: Alex Murdaugh claims mystery evidence will prove need for new murder trial
Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has claimed that mysterious “newly discovered evidence” will pave the way for him to be granted a new trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Murdaugh’s attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin said in a statement that new evidence had come to light since his March conviction over the brutal 7 June 2021 slayings.
This evidence will form the basis of a new motion requesting a retrial in the high-profile case.
Read more...
Alex Murdaugh claims mystery evidence will prove need for new murder trial
Murdaugh’s attorneys plan to reveal new evidence and release motion requesting new trial at press conference on Tuesday afternoon
What time is the press conference?
Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin – who are longtime friends of the killer and represented him at his high-profile murder trial – will hold a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
The briefing is scheduled to take place on the grounds of the South Carolina State House near the Court of Appeals in Columbia at 2.30pm local time.
At the briefing, the attorneys will reveal what they claim is “newly discovered evidence” and release the motion requesting a new trial.
What is the mystery new evidence?
Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh claimed that mysterious “newly discovered evidence” paves the way for him to be granted a new trial.
For now, the details of this evidence remain a mystery – and will be unveiled at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
However, NewsNation’s Brian Entin has suggested that it could be linked to potential outside influence on jurors.
Buster Murdaugh breaks silence on Stephen Smith killing – and calls father Alex a ‘psychopath’
Buster Murdaugh has broken his silence to deny any involvement in the mysterious killing of gay teenager Stephen Smith – and insist that he still believes his father is innocent of the murders of his mother and brother.
Alex Murdaugh’s only surviving son spoke out in his first TV interview since his family was propelled to national attention, for the new three-part FOX Nation documentary “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh”.
In the interview, Buster slammed rumours that he too could have been involved in a heinous murder – that of 19-year-old Smith in July 2015 – and offered an alibi for his whereabouts on the night the teenager was killed.
Read on...
Buster Murdaugh breaks silence on Stephen Smith death and insists father is innocent
Despite insisting Alex Murdaugh didn’t kill Maggie and Paul, Buster said it was ‘a fair assessment’ to describe his father as a psychopath
How Alex Murdaugh lost prison privileges over new documentary
Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has lost some of his prison privileges after he fed information to a Fox Nation documentary without the permission of South Carolina prison officials.
South Carolina Corrections Department officials said on Wednesday that, during a jailhouse phone call back on 10 June, Murdaugh’s lawyer Jim Griffin had recorded him reading aloud entries from the journal he had kept during his double murder trial.
Mr Griffin had then handed over the recordings to producers working on the new Fox Nation documentary about his high-profile case titled “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh”.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has more:
Alex Murdaugh loses prison privileges over recorded phone call for documentary
South Carolina prison officials said Murdaugh’s lawyer Jim Griffin recorded the killer reading aloud journal entries in a jailhouse call and then handed the recording to documentarymakers
WATCH: Buster Murdaugh gives first TV interview since murders
RECAP: Key revelations from Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial
After six weeks of dramatic testimony at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, the jury took less than three hours to return a guilty verdict back in March. Alex Murdaugh was then sentenced to life in prison.
Here are the key revelations from the trial:
Who is Alex Murdaugh?
Alex Murdaugh was once a powerful figure in Hampton County, South Carolina, where his family has reigned over the local justice system for almost a century.
Three generations of the family – his father, grandfather and great-grandfather – all served as the solicitor in the 14th Judicial Circuit solicitor’s office.
His father Randy held the position until 2006 and was given the highest civilian award the Order of the Palmetto by the South Carolina governor in 2018 for his work. Randy died just three days after Maggie and Paul’s murders.
Due to the Murdaughs’ prominence in the judicial system in the lowcountry, the family held a reputation for being powerful and wielding their influence over matters.
Murdaugh continued with the family tradition working as an attorney in the local prosecutor’s office and also at his own law firm PMPED (the M standing for Murdaugh).
He was married to wife Maggie – whom he met at college - and the couple had two sons Buster and Paul.
After the murders of his wife and son, it transpired that Murdaugh had a two-decade-long opoiod addiction and he checked into rehab in September 2021.
Who was Maggie Murdaugh?
Maggie was Alex Murdaugh’s wife and the mother of their two sons Buster and Paul.
The 52-year-old met her husband when they were both students at the University of South Carolina.
She was shot five times with an AR-15-style rifle on the night of 7 June 2021.
According to testimony from the Murdaugh housekeeper Blanca Simpson, Maggie was concerned with the family’s finances – and feared her husband was not being truthful with her about the extent of their situation.
Ms Simpson testified that Maggie had got upset and confided in her a few months before the murders, saying that the family was being sued for $30m in the boat crash lawsuit.
Maggie told her that she felt “Alex was not being truthful to her about the lawsuit... she said ‘he doesn’t tell me everything’,” testified Ms Simpson.
Maggie’s sister Marian Proctor testified that Murdaugh had an affair about 15 years ago – and Maggie found out about it.
While it was years ago and the couple worked through it, she said it “bothered” Maggie and she had brought it up again around the time of the murders.
She also revealed that the family knew about Murdaugh’s opioid abuse.