FACT CHECK: Clerk of Court Becky Hill’s testimony on Murdaugh trial

COLUMBIA, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill took the stand on Monday to testify during a hearing where she was accused of tampering with the jury that convicted Alex Murdaugh of murder.

One of the 11 jurors from the high-profile, 6-week trial says Hill made comments about Murdaugh that influenced her decision.

Judge Jean Toal said Hill’s testimony on the matter was “not entirely credible” but ruled that it didn’t warrant a new trial for Murdaugh, who was convicted of killing his wife and son.

FOX Carolina’s Grace Runkel looked through more than 2,000 of Hill’s emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and is fact-checking her answers given under oath.

CLAIM: Hill said she did not have any conversations with Barnwell County Clerk of Court Rhonda McElveen before the start of the trial.

Dick Harpootlian: “Was she working with you or consulting with you prior to the 23rd?”

Hill: “No sir.”

Harpootlian: “Did you have any conversation with her about the trial?”

Hill: “Not until she got to the trial on -- I can’t the exact date she came.”

FACT CHECK: False.

Emails show Hill and McElveen were having discussions about trial logistics prior to Jan. 23, 2023. On Jan. 17, 2023, Hill emailed McElveen about media coverage for the trial. More e-mails were exchanged in the following days. During McElveen’s testimony, she said the two talked about writing a book on the trial as early as December 2022.

CLAIM: Hill testified that she didn’t have clear plans to write a book before the trial.

Hill: “I think a thought was there, a very fleeting thought, before the trial.”

Harpootlian: “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?”

Hill: “Oh no, sir.”

FACT CHECK: False.

On Nov. 21, 2022, Hill emailed a French reporter who shared he was writing a book saying, “I think your book idea is great. Now is the time. I am also interested in writing a book ... If you are interested in a partnership, let me know.”

CLAIM: Hill said sealed exhibits were accidentally sent to Netflix as an error during the trial but she did not release sealed exhibits to Japanese media outlets or others.

Harpootlian: “What about a Japanese film crew? Did they get exhibits, the sealed exhibits?”

Hill: “They did not get any sealed exhibits.”

FACT CHECK: Disputed.

Sealed evidence was under Hill’s control after it was used in court. Hill sent the following email to a member of the Japanese crew:

“The Buford McDowell Bodycam should not have gone to you. Please get rid of it and do not use it. The Judge, Judge Newman, specifically ordered that that Bodycam not be used if it got out. Apparently it is still on the videos that are saved. after sending them body camera footage that showed Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s bodies. Images of the deceased were sealed by the court.”

Harpootlian brought the email up to Judge Toal after Hill’s testimony. Toal called it “an impeachment of her testimony to me.”

Murdaugh lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said the footage was not marked as sealed due to an error by another court employee. When officials learned about it, they immediately “clawed it back.”

CLAIM: Hill denied having a conversation about writing a book on the Murdaugh trial to make money for a lakefront property.

“She said we might want to write a book because she needed a lake house and I needed to retire,” McElveen testified about a conversation with Hill in December 2022.

Harpootlian while questioning Hill: “Did you tell her you’re going to write a book because you thought it would make a lot of money?”

Hill: “No sir.”

Harpootlian: “You never said that?”

Hill: “No sir.”

FACT CHECK: Disputed.

We couldn’t find evidence the conversation between McElveen and Hill happened.

Hill did discuss her desire to retire at the lake with others, though. In an email to co-author Neil Gordon on Apr. 16, 2023, she wrote:

“Just a little history ...as a child, I wanted to be a news person ... but there wasn’t much exposure to that ... And I want to retire and live at the lake, Lake Marion because it’s closer to my grandchildren, and because I grew up going as my mom and dad had a lake home there ... Tommy and I love the Upstate of SC, Lake Keowee, Lake Hartwell, so possibly would be open to upstate. Who knows? Only God does.”

Watch Hill’s full testimony here:

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