Two jurors from Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial reacted very differently Wednesday after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial.
Juror Amie Williams called the decision to throw out the conviction “crazy” and said she never believed former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill tried to influence the jury.
“I never felt that the clerk of court was pushing an agenda or trying to push me to come to a certain verdict,” Williams told NBC News. “Never felt that way about her at all.”
Williams described Hill as “so gracious” and “super helpful” while overseeing the 2023 trial. But another juror, Mandy Pearce, said Hill’s actions denied Murdaugh a fair trial.
“I feel like justice wasn’t served, that he didn’t get a fair trial,” Pearce told NBC News.
In a unanimous ruling, South Carolina’s five Supreme Court justices said Hill “egregiously attacked” Murdaugh’s credibility through what they called “shocking jury interference.”
The court cited claims from Pearce, identified in the ruling as “Juror Z,” who said Hill told jurors to watch Murdaugh “closely” while he testified during the 2023 trial and warned them “not to be fooled” by the defense’s evidence. Pearce later said those comments influenced her verdict, making her believe Murdaugh was lying and guilty of the murders.
Murdaugh, a once-prominent South Carolina attorney from a powerful legal family, was convicted in March 2023 and sentenced to life in prison for the killings of his wife and son. He has consistently maintained his innocence, while prosecutors argued he killed his family to divert attention from mounting financial crimes that threatened his reputation and career.
Although the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned this double murder conviction and ordered a new trial, Murdaugh remains in prison due to separate state and federal convictions tied to financial crimes. Prosecutors accused Murdaugh of stealing millions of dollars from clients, charges he later pleaded guilty to.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a news conference that Hill acted inappropriately during the murder trial but argued her conduct did not affect the outcome. He hopes his office can retry Murdaugh before the end of the year.
The South Carolina Supreme Court’s opinion also referenced two other jurors who said Hill made comments about Murdaugh during the trial, though both said the remarks did not influence their verdicts, NBC News reports.
Hill’s attorneys did not immediately respond to the outlet’s requests for comment. During a court hearing on the allegations, Hill denied trying to sway jurors but admitted she gave them “a little talk” about Murdaugh’s decision to testify, according to the court’s opinion.
The Independent has contacted lawyers for Murdaugh and Hill for comment.
Outside the courtroom, Hill also faced criticism over a book she co-wrote about the case, which was later pulled from publication after the journalist she worked with accused her of plagiarism.
Hill pleaded guilty in December to obstruction, perjury and misconduct in office after prosecutors said she improperly showed a reporter photos from sealed court exhibits and then lied about it. She was also accused of using her position to help promote the book project.
Hill was sentenced to one year of probation. At the time, Judge Heath Taylor warned that the punishment would have been far more severe if prosecutors had proven she had directly tampered with the jury.
She told the court in a short statement, “There is no excuse for the mistakes I made,” adding, “I’m ashamed of them.”
