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Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, also known as Becky Hill, who oversaw the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh and then co-wrote a book about the case, was recently accused of plagiarism by her co-author Neil Gordon.
Accusations leveled against Hill come weeks after multiple reports revealed the Colleton County court clerk, who announced disgraced attorney Alex Murduagh’s guilty verdict in March 2023, is currently the subject of ethics investigations by the state. Furthermore, Alex Murdaugh’s attorney also accused her of tampering with the jury by making inappropriate comments that allegedly swayed their decision.
The ethics complaint against Hill alleges she abused her office for personal gain and leveraged her position to publish a book about the Alex Murdaugh trial. While Hill denied any wrongdoing, 2,100 emails from her government work email account obtained through the Freedom of Information Act last week by News 4 reportedly show her conducting business related to her book during the trial.
What we know of court clerk Becky Hill and the plagiarism scandal surrounding Alex Murdaugh's book
Becky Hill, who has worked in the legal profession for over 25 years, is a married mother of two. While lobbying for the position as a Colleton County Clerk of Court in 2020, Hill revealed to voters that she had worked as an official court reporter for 12 years and was married to a man named Thomas Hill for 33 years. She also said that she was a colorectal cancer survivor and a sign language interpreter.
Shortly after Alex Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife and son near a dog kennel at their Low Country home, Becky Hill published a book alongside co-author Neil Gordon named Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders.
On Tuesday, December 26, Neil Gordon said the book had been unpublished and sales suspended after he discovered Hill may have plagiarized a 12-page passage in the book’s preface from a yet-to-be-published BBC article about the case.
According to a press release, Gordon reportedly made the discovery through the 2,100 emails from Hill's government work email account released on December 21. Gordon reportedly decided to stop the sales of the book after he discovered an email exchange between Hill and a BBC reporter, Holly Honderich, in which Honderich shared a portion from an upcoming article about the Murdaugh trial.
Gordon said that when he confronted his co-author, she admitted to plagiarizing portions of the book.
"Journalism has been my life’s work; my credibility and integrity are paramount to everything I do. I can’t be associated with anything like plagiarism and will no longer partner with Becky Hill on any projects. I’d like to apologize to our readers, and publicly to the BBC and the reporter," Gordon said.
In response to the recent plagiarism allegations, Becky Hill's attorneys, Justin Bamber and Will Lewis released a statement on Tuesday saying their client was "deeply remorseful" about her actions that were allegedly prompted by deadline pressure.
"The pressures of developing additional content under tight time deadlines resulted in Ms Hill took material written by BBC reporter Holly Honderich and submitted it to her co-author Neil Gordon as if it were her own words.”
The statement added that Hill had reached out to the BBC reporter and apologized for her momentary lapse in judgment.
"Ms. Hill accepts full responsibility for this unfortunate lapse in judgment and has personally reached out to Ms. Honderich to express her sincere apologies."
Alex Murdaugh court clerk Becky Hill's many controversies explored
Besides the plagiarism scandal, Becky Hill is also embroiled in multiple controversies stemming from the ethics investigation. One complaint is being probed by the S.C. The State Ethics Commission accused Hill of “unethically and potentially unlawfully” using her office for personal gain.
The complaint accused Hill of obtaining and releasing confidential information about the Murdaugh trial that allegedly later appeared in her book.
The second complaint accused Hill of misappropriating public funds and concealing expropriations from authorities. The 2,100 emails from Hill's government work email account also revealed that she rewarded herself with two bonuses this year.
Hill has also been linked to a scandal relating to her son, former Colleton County employee Jeff Hill, 34, who was accused of abusing his position to illegally wire-tap a phone conversation. Jeff Hill worked as an Information Technology Director in Colleton County before he was arrested in November on charges of wiretapping.
According to WYFF, a state police investigation discovered Jeff Hill abused his office to listen in on internal county discussions about the formal ethics complaint against his mother, Becky Hill, who is the subject of an ethics investigation.
Alex Murdaugh accused Becky Hill of influencing jurors
The allegations against Becky Hill come in the wake of defense attorneys for Alex Murdaugh demanding a new trial in September after authorities began investigating Hill for using her office for personal gain.
Alex Murdaugh’s Defense attorney alleged during the trial Hill spoke to three jurors. They claimed they had collected affidavits from two jurors alleging Hill had inappropriate discussions that influenced the jury. Hill allegedly also threatened the Jurors with sequestration if they failed to come back with a quick verdict.
In response to the defense contention, the South Carolina Court of Appeals granted Alex Murdaugh's petition to lobby a lower court for a new murder trial in October.
Meanwhile, Hill has maintained her innocence over the spate of rapidly escalating allegations leveled against her.
