WALTERBORO, S.C. — Disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul five months ago, but the interest in the case continues even today. Now, the Colleton County Clerk of Court is ready to share what the six weeks were like from her perspective.
"There's word out there that this has been called the trial of the century," Clerk of Court Becky Hill explains. "So if that is the case, I just think it needed to have some words written down to go along with it."
When Hill took office in 2021, she had no idea what a big job it would be. Soon after, Hill realized when it came to the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial, she was in charge of making sure it ran smoothly.
"She's the one person who really understood the entire scope of what was happening," former TV journalist Neil Gordon says.
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Gordon has worked with Hill to write a book.
"I think this is a kind of a once in a lifetime story," Gordon smiles. "Everybody does have a book in them. And I know that I had a book in me, but it wasn't something consciously. I've just been grinding in the media business for 30 years. And sometimes you work hard and opportunities come your way if you do the right thing, and it presented itself and I just started to get to know Becky and get to understand different parts about how she was involved in this trial of the century and it fascinated me and I just kept asking her questions and trying to pull out anything she can think of, what she was thinking, what she was feeling."
Hill's experience with the Murdaugh family isn't limited to the six weeks of the trial. Instead, Hill has spent a lifetime in Walterboro, seeing Murdaugh and his family working inside and outside the courtroom.
"We put our trust in them. Their word was their bond," Hill explains.
Trust that was broken when Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife and son.
"The jury came out with their verdict, which I think they got it right," Hill shares.
The jury is a group of people that Hill helped lead through a tumultuous six weeks.
"The jury was so pleasant. They bonded immediately. They were perceptive, they were prayerful," Hill smiles. "They prayed from the very beginning. When they all settled in on that second day. They just all bonded together and agreed and they prayed from the first day, second day, and on until the end of the trial."
Hill was with them during what she believes was the most pivotal moment: the jury's trip to Moselle, the scene of the crime.
"That was kind of like sealing a deal when the jury went to Moselle and it wrapped up all of the loose seams, any unanswered questions, and I could tell just by looking at them that they had already made a decision pretty much just by visiting that place," Hill remembers.
"It sealed Alex Murdaugh's fate," Gordon explains about the chapter he helped write, using Hill's recollection. "I got chills just hearing from Becky, the heaviness of the air. How eerily quiet it was, even though the judge had ordered that there really shouldn't be any discussions…but even still, just hearing some bird chirping but the wind howling, eyes transfixed on one another."
Gordon's wife, Melissa, used her role as a photographer to document the visuals featured in the book alongside photographs from her friend Addie Strozier.
"As photographers, you document things. That's what you do," Melissa says. "To be able to see that with their eyes through how we felt when we took the photos…. It's humbling to know that you're able to give vision to other people who have interest in this."
Melissa met Hill while visiting the Colleton County Courthouse at the end of the trial.
"That was it for us where there was an immediate connection," Melissa remembers.
The two discussed Hill's idea to write a book and then exchanged business cards. Melissa explained her husband might be able to help.
Hill says she found the business card a few weeks after the trial ended and gave Melissa a card. Hill and Gordon spent four months working on the book, filled with pictures Melissa and Strozier took while in action.
In the pages, there's a recap of Hill's two months overseeing security, helping with media relations and working closely with Judge Clifton Newman.
"Our Judge Newman, we all know that he is wonderful. He should be the king. He should be president," Hill beams. "He had wisdom like Solomon. Very wise, and he knew just how the temperament needed to go. He set the mood for everything."
Hill answered questions from the public and helped guide the Murdaugh family in private.
"Dealing with the Murdaugh family was a whole area in itself," Hill shares. "They are a huge family. They are a big family. And they asked for requests in many different ways."
One request was for a private room, which Hill says they would congregate in when they weren't in the courtroom.
"They actually got moved back in the courtroom several times by the judge for things that we thought they should have known better than to do," Hill tells me about different instances in which the family tried to touch the defendant or pass things to him. "That was the reason they lost their place from being right behind the defendant to going into the last pew in the section of the first half, because the next step would have been out the door. And that was per the judge."
Hill wants to share all of these stories with people captivated by what was unfolding in her home.
More information on the book can be found on BehindTheDoorsOfJustice.com.
"Behind the Doors of Justice' just kept ringing in my thoughts," Hill says of the title. "So many things that had happened behind those doors, and justice was done in this case, I believe."