Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill pleads guilty to four charges — obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits and then lying about it. There are also two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting through her public office a book she wrote on the trial. Judge Heath Taylor sentenced Hill to three years of probation.
This as the South Carolina's Supreme Court granted Alex Murdaugh's request for a new trial in the murders of his wife and son. At the heart of the appeal and review is whether former South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal fairly denied Murdaugh a new murder trial. The Supreme Court could reverse or overturn that ruling – and could order the court to give him a new trial.
Claims that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, being involved in talking improperly to jurors. A hearing was held with Judge Jean Toal presiding one juror, identified as Juror Z, said Becky Hill told jurors to watch Murdaugh "closely" and "made it seem like he was already guilty." When asked if this influenced her vote to find Murdaugh guilty, the juror said “Yes, ma’am.” Toal said Becky Hill was not a credible witness and denied Murdaugh a new trial, but with Hill's plea, will Murdaugh be granted a new trial in February?
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson - Murdaugh's Former Housekeeper
- Regina Ward - Criminal Defense Attorney / Law Firm of Regina B. Ward; attorneyreginaward.com
- Caryn Stark - Psychologist, renowned TV and Radio trauma expert and consultant, www.carynstark.com, Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
- Chris McDonough - Director At the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective, Worked over 300 Homicides in 25 year career, & Host of YouTube channel, "The Interview Room," www.coldcasefoundation.org/chris-mcdonough
- Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University)
- Jennifer Wood - Director of research at FITSNews.com, Twitter: @IndyJenn
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Well, it's Friday night and
it is special.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Killer Attorney Alex Murdog retrial odds. That long and tortuous trial,
the investigations, the twists, the turns, the cross exams, Alex
Murdock on the stand line through his teeth crying. Now
the odds are sorry that Alex Murdog will have a
(00:33):
new trial.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Listen, Moil Road, I need.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
My wife and.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Here on the line.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I'm still here, Okay.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I have an Alex Murdock on the line hauler from
forty one.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
His wife's and child was shot.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Seven Mozille, No love it up through it now.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It is bad.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
They they shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Oh no, hell no, ma'am.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
I like my sworn.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
No bear bear on ground out at my perils.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So I'm really bad. Yeah, they're on the ground up
by the kettle, shot really back because I just shot him.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Apstead.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I say that with me an all star panel to
makes sense of what is happening right now.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
How does it go from that guilty verdict.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
To the judge on the bench trying to make a
determination whether there has been jury misconduct?
Speaker 5 (01:53):
Listen, I simply do not believe that the authority of
OURSI comana Supreme Court requires a new trial in a
very lengthy trial such as this on the strength of
some fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity influenced clerk
of court. This is a matter within the discretion of
(02:16):
the trial judge, and I am the trial judge at
this moment. I do not feel that I abuse my
discretion when I find the defendant's motion for a new
trial on the factual record before me must be denied,
and it is so ordered.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
That was Judge Toll. So how are we right here
right now? The former South Carolina Collington County Clerk of
Court on the murder trial of Alex Murdog, Becky Hill,
please guilty to showing sealed court exhibits to a photographer
and lying about it in court. Judge Heath Taylor sentences
Hill to three years probation, explaining our sentence with much
(03:00):
harsher if it were ever proofs he tampered with the jury,
that has not been proven.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Jennifer Gould has the details.
Speaker 6 (03:09):
Nancy, the woman whose distinctive trembling voice delivered the guilty
verdict that sealed Alex Murdo's fate, stood before a circuit judge,
admitting she secretly handed a photographer the sealed, blood soaked
photos of his slaughtered wife and son, then lied about
it under oath. Former Collection County Clerk of Court Becky
(03:33):
Hill fifty eight tearfully pleaded guilty to four felonies, two
counts of misconduct in office, obstruction of justice, and perjury
for slipping the graphic kennel crime scene images to media
in twenty twenty three and swearing she never did it.
During Murdo's failed bid for a new trial, Circuit judge
(03:54):
Heath Taylor spared her a single day though behind bars,
sentencing her instead to three years probation and one hundred
hours of community service, stating, quote, your sentence would have
been much harsher if we had found jury tampering end quote,
Confirming the investigation cleared Hill of swaying the twenty twenty
(04:15):
three jury that convicted Murda of murdering Maggie fifty two
and Paul twenty two. The disgraced clerk's misconduct extended beyond
the courthouse secrets. Hill also admitted to pocketing eleven thousand
dollars in unauthorized county bonuses and exploiting her position to
(04:37):
profit from her rushed out book on the case called
Behind the Doors of Justice. Reading the guilty verdict made
her famous. Leaking the photos and lying about it just
made her a convicted felon.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Flanked by her husband.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
And lawyer, Hill spoke to the court, Listen, there is.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
No excuse for our mistakes.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I am ashamed of them, and I will carry that
shame with me for the rest of my life.
Speaker 6 (05:04):
The conviction immediately drew fire from Murdoch's defense team. Attorney
Dick Harpoutlian fired off a statement questioning the integrity of
the jury tampering hearing, saying, quote, if Becky admittedly committed
perjury in the jury tampering hearing, what else did she
(05:24):
lie about?
Speaker 1 (05:25):
End quote?
Speaker 6 (05:26):
The disgraced legal sigh on fifty six is already serving
life without parole for the murders and another twenty seven
years for stealing millions from clients. His appeal reaches the
South Carolina Supreme Court in February, and Hill's newly minted
felony conviction is fresh potent ammunition for his defense. Hill
(05:48):
walked out of the Calhoun County court room of felon
but a free woman. As Murdochs fight rages on.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
The state's Attorney general is trying to hold that conviction.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I wrote most of the appellate briefs on murder cases
I tried, but the on murder cases the age would
also write an amicas curity brief friend of the Court
to bolster to go along with to partner with my brief.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So I guarantee you the States.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Brief asking the US the South Carolina Supreme Court to
do what they want, is going to be in.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Tandem with the prosecution brief. They don't want this case
heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
But what I'm asking you, Jennifer Wood, director of research
at fitznews dot com, who threw out the investigation and
the trial, isn't it true that the South Carolina Supreme
Court has given Murdock's defense the okay to file briefs.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
They want to consider it. They have okay.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Joining me again, an all star palell Regina Ward is
a high profile lawyer, criminal defense attorney there in this jurisdiction.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Of no South Carolina. And so it begins.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Alex murdog is headed for a new trial because the
Supreme Court did not have to say, yeah, I'll hear
your argument. That is a big indicator of Regina of
what the court's.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Going to do. I think that that's a possibility. But
the brief that they filed there were many, many more
issues there.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I think it was like one hundred and twenty something
or one hundred and thirty pages, and so there's more
just this issue. Of course, there were going on two
hundred points raised by Hart Putlan or the new defense team.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Of course there are Do they amount to a hill
of beans?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Probably not, But of course they're going to raise every
possible issue. But the South Carolina Supreme Court is limited
to the facts.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
In the transcript.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
If they are arguing factual issues or discrepancies, that's not.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
To be heard by the appellate court. They are hearing
legal issues. This is what I.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Think will likely be the single strongest case for Alex
Murlock to get a new trial. And it all goes back.
I never thought I'd have to say these words again to.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
The egg lady. Take a listen to her being questioned
by the courts.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Was your verdict based entirely on the testimony, evidence, and
law presented to you in this case?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yes, ma'am, did you hear miss Becky Hill make any
comment about this case.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Before you're verdict?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yes, ma'am?
Speaker 5 (08:46):
If yes, what did missus Hill say.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
To watch his actions?
Speaker 5 (08:56):
To watch his actions? What else?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
To watch them closely?
Speaker 5 (09:03):
To watch him closely?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Anything else?
Speaker 5 (09:07):
You remember?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
There? It is? But I can't remember.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Okay, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Oh okay.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
She's on the stand, the so called egg lady. And
I was there when this happened. A jurar was dismissed
because of alleged misconduct, and before she left the courthouse,
she said she wanted to go back in the jury
deliberation room and get the dozen eggs she had brought
to court that day. That's how she got that name. Okay,
wait a minute. She's on the stand. Let me understand this.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Jennifer wood Fitz News.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
She's on the stand to talk about everything the court
clerk did wrong, Becky Hill.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
And the judge says, can you think of anything else?
Is there anything else?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
She's under oath, sitting there prepared for this moment. She goes,
there is, but I can't remember.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Did she she did that? She did well? That didn't
help the defense. But wait a minute. They make a
little bit of a comeback. Listen, was your verdict.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
Influenced in any way by the communications of the clerk.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Of court in this case, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
And how was it influenced to me?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
It felt like she made it seem like he was
already guilty.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
All right, and I understand that that's the tenor of
the remark she made. Did that affect your finding of
guilty in this case.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So this is all about the clerk of court, Becky
Hill writing a book.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Jennifer wood Fitznie's explained.
Speaker 7 (10:49):
You know, I think, you know, like Virgina said, there
are one hundred and thirty two pages of issues, but
I think it's really going to come down to the
clerk of court's behavior and or not things that she
allegedly said futures during the course of the trial had
an impact on their verdict. You know, the tutors said
(11:09):
that she said before Alex Murdoch took the stand, watch
his body language.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
One of those jurors.
Speaker 7 (11:19):
Flighty or not about it, said that that did impact
her decision whether or not Alex was guilty or.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
In his n Maggie and Paul lose their lives, gunned
down and the dog candle out in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And guess who's on the scene. Alex Murdog.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
He claims he was at his mom's house a few
miles away, but video and cell phone data a GPS
data seemed to indicate he is nothing but a liar.
Back to Becky Heel, the court clerk allegedly affecting the jury.
(11:57):
And I guess Jennifer Woods is because the defense claims
that she wanted a guilty verdict because her book sales
would be greater and she would make more money.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Is that their claim?
Speaker 7 (12:08):
That's one of their claims. And you know, I've always
thought about that and thought, you know, I think the
book would have been just as interesting, if not more so,
if he was found not guilty. I mean, I don't
know if I necessarily buy that motivation, but yes, that
is that is one of their theories.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Well, I got to tell you something else, Jennifer Wood.
Judge Jane told kind of handed this up, sorted up
on a silver platter, because the judge comments on Baking
Hill's credibility.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Listen the facts, did Clark of court.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
He'll make comments to any jewel or which expressed her
opinion of what the verdict would be. Miss Heill denies
a and so the question becomes was her denial credible?
I find that the clerk of court is not completely
credible as a witness. Miss Hill was attracted by.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
The siren call of celebrity.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
She wanted to write a book about the trial and
express that as early as November twenty twenty two, long
before the trial began.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
So what does that mean in your mind, Jennifer Wood
joining us from Fitz News. The odds are escalating that
because of that one issue, and of course you've pointed
out there are many more that have been raised by
the defense, whether they amount to anything.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Or not, that there will be a new trial.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
How would that happen? How would that be executed? Where's
Murdoch right now?
Speaker 7 (13:43):
Murdoch is in the South Carolina Department of Corrections. He
is serving his two life sentences that he received as
a result of this verdict. They would you know, if
they do agree with his attorneys, they will romanda for
a new trial and we will start all over.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
After the so called egg Lady juror was dismissed.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
And remember, Jennifer.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Wood, isn't it true that Becky Hee was the one
that brought the attention of the court to the egg
lady to get her dismissed from the jury.
Speaker 7 (14:21):
Yes, that's absolutely true. It involved a alleged Facebook post
that she said she had seen in a local Facebook group.
Nobody has ever seen that Facebook post. When she brought
it to the judge's attention, she could not find it again.
The post that she did ultimately end up finding was
(14:41):
from the husband of somebody you know it was.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
It was from somebody with.
Speaker 7 (14:46):
The same name as her ex husband, in a different
state and totally unrelated. So, I mean, I still have
questions whether you know about this post?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Where is it?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Did it exist?
Speaker 7 (14:57):
I mean, it was what ultimately part led to her dismissal.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
So does this so called egg lady have an axe
to grind against the clerk Becky Wood?
Speaker 1 (15:09):
That aside.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
The issue is did the clerk affect the outcome of
the verdict?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Many legal legals like myself say it did not. But
even the.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Appearance of impropriety may be enough for Alex Murdog to
get a new trial. Doesn't mean he's innocent h W
l n O. But will that stop a new trial?
In no way listen.
Speaker 7 (15:40):
Okay, what is her name?
Speaker 8 (15:44):
Maggie?
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Please hurry, We're.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Getting somebody there to you man asking me these questions
on closing down?
Speaker 8 (15:51):
Okay, is he moving out?
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Your son?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I know he said that she was shot, but what
about your son?
Speaker 9 (16:01):
Nobody, they're not even one. Name's Maggie Murdoch, Okay, and
what's your son's first name?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Is Paul carry Murdoch? Where they are dead?
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yes, sir, that's what.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
That's what it looks like. If there is a new
trial for convicted killer lawyer Alex Murdock and the double
murder of wife Maggie's son Paul, what will the defense
do differently now.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
They've got the state's whole playbook for Pete's sake.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Well, for one thing, they're going to attack the video
taken by son Paul in the kennel the scene of
the double murder, just minutes, maybe even seconds before gunfire
rings out.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Listen.
Speaker 8 (16:51):
One of the biggest issues hearing Alex Murda on a
video on Paul Murdau's iPhone when they were down by
the kennel, minutes before Paul and Maggie murder were murdered.
By the time Alex claims he was not at the residence.
Paul's iPhone was found right away, but it was locked.
The phone was sent to the US Secret Service using
digital forensic technology designed to bypass iPhone encryption. The Secret
(17:12):
Service attempted to crack the passcode and failed. What finally
unlocked the phone and contradicted Alex Murdau's alibi Paul Murda's
birthday April fourteenth, nineteen ninety nine. The six digit passcode
zero four one four ninety nine, phone unlocked, alibi crushed.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Joining me is Chris McDonough, director Cold Case Foundation and
former homicide detective.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Chris question.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
They had to send Paul Murdoch's cell phone to the
Secret Service using digital forensic technology to bypass iPhone encryption.
They couldn't crack it, and finally they cracked it.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
It was Paul's day.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Really, that's one of the very first one of the
very first codes you try are various people close to
the individual's birthdays.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Yeah, Nancy, And what happens there nine out of ten
times is just that point you just made common sense.
It's like, let's try the first type of things first,
i e. You know, birthday, social security numbers, etc. But
in this case, they sent it off to the Secret Service,
and what ends up happening is they actually put it
(18:33):
in what they call a blank room, meaning they have
an algorithm that kind of runs through this phone over
and over and over again to try to make matches.
And remember they did that years ago in the shooting
in San Bernardino where they couldn't get into the suspects phone.
So in this case they were unsuccessful and they sent
(18:54):
it back and the SLED was able to get the
data birth.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
In there to joining me direct research fits news, Jennifer.
Why is the video on Paul Murdoch's phone so critical?
The defense has to have it ruled out or attack
it in some way.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
If they want to win the retrial.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
Yeah, that video is critical because it shattered his alibi.
He said he was not down at those dog kennels,
and when they got that phone open and saw that video,
they realize he was lying.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
You're absolutely correct. They've got to be able to attack
this video. Hey, let's see the video. Roll it, get it.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Get that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Quick, guess Quinn.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Sh push to get.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Hey you got burdens now, blah, Hey, buba, it's a guinea.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
There's a chicken, come cash quick.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
You have to know what you're listening for, Jennifer Wood.
The argument is made that you hear Alex Murdog on
that video.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
That is the argument.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
And I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 7 (20:40):
I listened to Alex testify for two straight days and
I heard that voice in the video. They are the
same voice.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
And what is Alex Murndad saying? Because this is this
is the point of the video. Paul Murdad, the murdered son,
had a friend's dog in the kennel at the friend's
requst The dog was going to be taken to the
vet and it had some kind of a laceration or
(21:08):
something or rash on its hind quarters or tail. So
Paul and Maggie were out there in the kennels after
she had been lured there by the way by Alex Murdad,
and they're taking the video to send to the friend
to send to the vet.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
That's why they're there. And what is it you hear
Murdog say in the background.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
So they had a dog named Bubba that had gotten
a hold of one of their either guineas or chickens,
and he's yelling at the dog trying to catch it.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You hear him say something about a guinea and then
say it's a chicken.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
You can hear him in the background, and I remember
you sitting there in court listening to murdog drone on
and it really only got good.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
When he started snodding and crying on the stand. But
that said, that's his voice, and the jury believe it.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Now.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Let's this is just what would you say a minute
or two before Maggie and Paul were shot at me?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
When he was saying that it's a chicken, it's a
guin me. Whatever he's saying. He had to have the
gun and the plan.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Ready to murder them, and you hear him talking to
Maggie and Paul like everything's fine. Within minutes those two
were shot dead. Paul I believe was shot first. Maggie
went to go defend Paul. And if she was murdered.
What is the time differential there?
Speaker 7 (22:31):
I mean it, like you said, it is within minutes,
like three to five minutes. I can't remember the exact
exact time framebody. I mean we're talking minutes.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace, that all starts here.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Paul dead, the son of Alex murdagg brutally gunned down
along with Maggie Alex Murnagu's wife. Where will the defense
go when a retrial occurs? They're going here attacking the
state's cell phone expert regarding Maggie's cell phone listen.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
Part of Murdad's appeal of his murder conviction centers around
the testimony of cell phone expert witness Paul mcmanagal of
the Charleston County Sheriff's office. He testified about using his
darkened office as a lab and tossing an iPhone around
the room to see if the backlight would come on.
He kept no records, took no measurements, then testified as
an expert about what it would take to make the
(23:41):
backlight come on. The importance is the state, says Alec Murda,
based on his suburban GPS data drove by the area
Maggie's iPhone was located at nine oh eight pm, saying
Murdaw tossed the phone out of his vehicle as he
drove down the road, but Maggie's iPhone indicated her backlight
did not come on again after nine oh seven pm.
(24:03):
The argument is that if Murdoch passed the location at
nine o eight pm and tossed out the phone. The
backlight would have come on, but Maggie's iPhone didn't light
up again after nine oh seven pm.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Jennifer Wood, that's a lot of speculation on the defense part.
But if they can get one jar to believe that
Maggie's cell phone light, the lamp would have come on
when Murdog threw it out the window, and, by the way,
Murdog's navigation equipment on his suburban shows where he let
(24:37):
the window down on the passenger side to throw the
phone out, by.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
The way, as he was dashing to his mother's house.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
To create an alibi, they would have to convince a
jury that the phone absolutely would have turned on as
it was thrown out in that soft grass.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
So tell me why this is so critical.
Speaker 7 (24:57):
Well, if the last time it lit up was before
before he drove by that spot, then he wasn't the
one disposing of that phone, and somebody else was there.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Hello, Yeah, can you have to pay?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Think she's having then she can't call?
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Okay, do you know he's corect.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
The head and there's broad on the concerte and you
breathe out of her left here.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Okay, you bring over here and out of her head.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Okay, all right, the other waiting for you, trying to
stand up.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
This all down again.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
No, I was holding her up.
Speaker 10 (25:35):
Okay, she told me to loosen she's trying to use
her but then she fell back over.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Okay.
Speaker 10 (25:40):
Do you guys know who she is here?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
She worked for? Okay? Do you know he's never had
a stroke or anything before?
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Then?
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Can you another death connected to the Murdog family, and
Alex Murdog orchestrates an extensive and intricate plot to steal
the insurance money from Gloria Saderfield's family. I'm talking about
millions of dollars stolen, a deadly fall and about four
(26:10):
million dollars stolen by Murdog. Oh, what a tangled web.
We weave another bombshell in the Murdach case. Joining me,
Jennifer wood fitz Niez, Jennifer. What's the latest in the
Gloria Sadderfield case? Right?
Speaker 7 (26:27):
So, Gloria Satterfield, the insurance company for that took Corey
Fleming and Alex Murdoch to federal court. That trial just
occurred and a jury ordered Alex Murdoch to pay fourteen
point eight million dollars in damages and his co conspirator
over three million dollars in damages, and.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
What we're talking about regarding a conspiracy. Gloria Sadderfield falls
down the steps at Murdoch's mansion. She dies, Then Murda,
I can correct me if I'm wrong. Jennifer wood murn
approaches Sanderfield's family and gets them to hire him to
represent them in an insurance claim.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Then proceeds to steal the money. Do I have that right, Jennifer.
Speaker 7 (27:17):
I have absolutely right.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
He stole the bunny.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Joining me is doctor Kendall Crown's chief medical Examiner, Ter County.
That's Fort Worth Esteemed, a lecturer at the Burnett School
of Medicine at TCU.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Doctor Kendall Crowns, thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Explain to me what happened to Glorias Sanderfield. There have
been so many theories. She was pushed down the stairs,
she tripped over dogs, there was a delay in reporting it,
no assistance was made. But you hear son Paul Now
did and wife Maggie Now did on the phone with nine.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
To one one. So what were the injuries?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Why did she have to die from a slip and
fall or some some have called it a fake and fall.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
What happened?
Speaker 10 (28:05):
So, what she had was injuries to her head. She
had a laceration of her right side of her head,
She had a right sided subdural hemorrhage, which is a
hemorrhage on the brain, as well as injuries to the
brain itself. And then she had left sided rib fractures.
So there's some comment that she fell, or she tripped
over a dog, or she fell downstairs. The problem with
(28:27):
these injuries is a right sided laceration with a right
sided subdural is often from a blow to the head
and it's not from a fall. Usually what you're seeing
as a right side laceration with a opposite side subdural,
so it's not consistent. And then with the left sided
rib fractures. I mean, if she fell downstairs, there'd be
(28:48):
multiple injuries about the skin and body that would show
that she was tumbling downstairs resulting in all these injuries.
So the injuries are inconsistent with the story that's provided.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Wow, when you put it like that, it makes the
fall seem very very nefarious, doesn't it. Doctor Guys joining me.
In addition, to medical examiner, not just medical examiner, chief
medical examiner, doctor Kendall Crowns.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
It's a very special guest joining us.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Blanca Simpson, the Murdog's former housekeeper and friend of Gloria Saderfield. Blanca,
what was your reaction when you learned Gloria had fallen
down those steep steps and died?
Speaker 3 (29:33):
It was heartbreaking. She was a very nice lady. She
would do anything for you.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
And you two were fairly close, weren't you.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Yes, While we were there, she would tell me about
her children, her life. She loved working for Maggie and
Alex Bloka.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I want to ask you about the days that preceded
Maggie and Paul's murder. A few months before the murder,
I believe Maggie told you about a lawsuit that was
demanding around thirty million dollars. Now that lawsuit, of course,
(30:12):
was the death of a nineteen year old girl, Mallory Beach,
who was in a boat with Paul driving drunk, horribly drunk.
Maggie was worried about that money, wasn't she She was.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Worried about the money, and Alec knew it because when
the first time she ever mentioned they ever mentioned it.
It kind of hushed up right there at the counter
in the kitchen. And then after that, that's when I
came in that morning, probably a couple of days later,
and I guess they had discussed it. I'm not sure,
(30:50):
but that's when I came in and she said, I
got to tell you something, and that's when we went
in there and she finished telling me everything else. You
know that where were they going to get that money?
They didn't have that kind of money, and she just
couldn't understand what was going on. And it wasn't that
(31:10):
she was trying to be that she was trying to
cover up anything. I listening to her, she really did
not know the total extent of the lawsuit. She didn't know.
She knew bits and pieces, but she didn't know exactly
(31:30):
what was going on.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
But she was crying and upset and told you confidentially
that there was a multimillion dollar lawsuit against some are
like family because of that boat crash, and that they
didn't have that kind of money.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
That's correct. Alec didn't like any crying. I remember her
telling me that if he ever says anything and you
feel bad or he makes you feel bad, just don't
let him see you cry. So I I believe that's
(32:05):
why we went in that room, even though he was
there at the house, but he was all the way
on the other side, and when we went in there,
she could express herself no judgment. I had no reason
to judge her. I just listened to her.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
So Maggie would have to walk off in another room
and shut the door so Murdoch would not see her cry.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Yeah, she didn't cry in front of him. That was
just one thing. Even if sometimes he would say something,
we just you just don't don't cry in front of him.
He didn't like that. It didn't you know, it wasn't
going to affect how he felt or whatever the situation was.
So I do that was from the very beginning. I
(32:47):
remember when I first started working there, when Gloria was
still there. Even Gloria made that comment to me, What
comment about it? If he says anything that might hurt
your feelings, don't let them see you cry.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
What was Murdoch like to work for?
Speaker 3 (33:05):
He was good to me? I never had an answer.
I can't. I know there's people that want me to
speak badly about him or say things. You know, as
far as when I work there. He was always he
was always very nice to me, anything that I needed, Milanka.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yes, I want you to understand that.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
I don't want you to say anything other than the truth, because,
believe me, I've seen plenty of killers, stone cold killers
that had everybody else charmed.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
So I'm not surprised at all. I mean, how do
you think.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
He got all those bank loans for millions and millions
of dollars?
Speaker 1 (33:45):
He charmed the bank into thinking that he could pay
it all off.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
He charmed all of his clients and stole their money,
I agree, even clients that were quadchipelegics. So I would
not expect anything different because.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
He needed you, He needed you to see him in
a certain way. Now I'm curious.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Many people have told me, hey, that's not in evidence,
that's not true.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
But isn't it true that the night.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Of the murders, Maggie told you she had been called
to the hunting lodge Mozille.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
She didn't want to go because she was at the
beach house and didn't.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Want to leave yet, but Murdoch called her and convinced
her to come to Moselle the night she was murdered.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
She did and I have the text where she said
she didn't really want to go. I still have her
text on my phone.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Tell me what she said.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
She had workers at She still had workers out there
at the beach house, and she felt that she needed
to just complete all the finishing touches in you know
that that were there was still some little projects that
had to be completed at Edistone, and she just wanted
(35:05):
to be there. She was very like I said in
my testimony, she was very detailed oriented. It had to
be you know, perfect in her eyes, and that's one
of the reasons she wanted to be there. She knew
that I had Moselle and if anything came up, I
was at Moselle and she felt comforted. So I handled
pretty much, you know, Moselle, whatever came up, whatever needed
(35:29):
to be done. I took care of Moselle, and she
felt comfortable staying at Edistone and we just used to
talk and if she needed for me to take care
of anything, she would just give me a call or
text me. But that that on June the seventh, she
texted me that Alex wanted her to come home and
Paul as well, and she and that was I meant
(35:53):
what I said? She was hesitant to come to Moselle.
She didn't want to come to Moselle despite the fact, Yes,
she did love mister Randolph. Mister Randolph was really good
to her, and.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
That would have been Alex Murdog's father. Is mister Randolph.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yes, you know I'm thinking about this call, the text
from Maggie at that time, Miss Simpson, did you have
any reason to suspect Alex Murdoch?
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Yea crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Alex Murdog, double killer, convicted lawyer gets a new trial.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Is that where we're headed?
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Joining me right now, Special Guests, Blanca Simpson, former housekeeper
for the Alex Murdock family, Blanca. Another critical point regarding
your perspective is that the night of the murders, but
just before Paul and Maggie were shot dead, you were
actually at the home at Maggie's request, and you made
(37:09):
supper right.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Yes, I did.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
And then the next morning you got a phone call
from Alex Murdogg.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
What happened?
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Alex called me as I was getting my husband ready
to go to work that morning, and I was getting
ready as well to go out to Moselle and that's
when he tells me they're gone, being you know they're gone.
And like I said in my testimony, I thought, I
was like, this should go back to edistone. She said no,
(37:37):
being they're dead. And I still I can still hear
him repeatedly saying that in my head, you know they're dead.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
What was his demeanor? How did he sound?
Speaker 3 (37:54):
He was jittery, crying, you know, having small episodes of crying.
You know, you could tell he sounded distraught. I was
in shock.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
To tell you, the crew, Blanka, he asked you to
come clean the house up.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
I know you found pots.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Of leftovers in the kitchen, but you've also noticed something
very odd about Maggie's pajamas.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
What her pajamas were in the middle of the doorway
going into the laundry room, which is usually the first
place that I went when I got there. I used
to drop off my keys in there and my phone
go straight in the laundry room. That morning, when I
walked through, I left all the lights off. I I
(38:45):
just walked in and it was just a cold, eerie
feeling that went through me. And it was just the
thought that, oh my god, you know, I still could
not grasp the concept that I was never going to
see them again, and you know I was never.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
When you're talking about her pajamas being laid out neatly
in a doorway, they also had with them underwear. Was
it were they laid out? What were they on the
floor or though they on a hangar? Where were they
they were on the floor. When you say laid out neatly,
what do you mean.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
Laid out flat, neatly? One on you it was like
the pants were spread out, laid out. Then you had
the underwear and then her pajama top stretched out on
top neatly. They weren't bold.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
We never have done that. Plus, she didn't wear underwear
to bed.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Right, That is correct. She didn't do that, and I
stand by that she did not do that. That was
not her.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Several weeks later, Alex Murda called you. Well, I actually
got together with you, and he was very agitated, pacing
back and forth asking you about what you remembered regarding
the night Maggie and Paul were murdered.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
What did he ask you?
Speaker 3 (40:12):
He was pacing back and forth in the living room,
and he kept going back and forth. He said, sit down,
be sit down. I got to tell you something. Something's
not right. And he said, I got a you know,
I got a bad feeling. And he at that point
he motioned and he touched his stomach. He said, I
got a bad feeling. I got a bad feeling. And
then he says, you remember what I was wearing that day,
(40:38):
you know, the Bennie Vines. And like I said, I
was kind of like, you know, no, that's not what
And I understand that people have said, well, Bennie Vines
also makes you know the fit. I should have described
it better on the stand when I said, no, you
(40:58):
weren't wearing the Vinnie Vines. He that Vinnie Vines also
makes the fishing star.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
Was he wearing.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
He was wearing a sea foamy green polo shirt when
he left that house.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Well, you got a wind memory.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
So Jennifer Wood joining me direct to research fits news.
That's critical because in these video that we're showing, the
video we're showing right now when the cops get there,
he is wearing a Vineyard Vine's Vinnie Vine's T shirt
that he was trying to convince Blanca to say he
was wearing when she taught to him.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Why is that so critical, Jennifer.
Speaker 7 (41:37):
You know it's just another another series. It's another lie
in a web of flies.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
I mean, why.
Speaker 7 (41:43):
Why ask her to verify something that wasn't true?
Speaker 2 (41:49):
The odds are soaring that Alex murdog will have a
new trial.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Becky Hill, please guilty.
Speaker 9 (41:58):
Former Callington County Clerk of Mary Rebecca Becky Hill pleaded
guilty to four charges obstruction of justice and perjury for
showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits and
then lying about it. There are also two counts of
misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting through her
public office a book she wrote. On the trial, judge
(42:21):
Heath Taylor sentenced Hill two three years of probation. Hill
was not convicted nor pleaded to tampering with Alex Murdall's
jury trial. The judge told Hill the sentence would have
been more harsh if investigators had found that she tampered
with the jury. Hill read a short statement asking the
judge for a chance to do better. Quote, there is
no excuse for the mistakes I made. I'm ashamed of
(42:44):
them and will carry that shame for the rest of
my life. Hill's position put her in charge of taking
care of the jury, overseeing exhibits, and helping the judge.
During Murda's six week trial, The judge heard testimony that
a journalist told investigators that Hill showed graphic crime scene
photos to several media members. The photos were briefly posted online,
(43:07):
and metadata from the images matched up with a time
where Hill's courthouse key guard said she was there. The
misconduct in the office charge involved money that investigators said
Hill took for herself. She brought a check to the
court to pay back nearly ten thousand dollars meant for
bonuses from federal money meant to improve child support collection
(43:28):
at about two thousand dollars in money from the Clerk
of Court's office. Hill was also accused of seventy six
counts of ethics violations. Officials said Hill allowed a photo
of Murda in a holding cell to be taken to
promote her book on the trial, and used county money
to buy dozens of lunches for her staff, prosecutors, and
a vendor. Hill's long awaited plea deal comes just before
(43:52):
the South Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear retrial
arguments in the new year. In February, Murdo's defense team
pointed to Hill's misconduct as evidence that jury integrity was compromised.
Some legal pundits have expressed opinions that Hill's plea is
not the strongest grounds for a retrial. Even if Murdall
(44:12):
were granted a retrial, he would remain incarcerated due to
his lengthy state and federal sentences related to his financial crimes.
In a statement to Fox News, Murdall's defense attorney said, quote,
the guilty plea is not surprising. More importantly, the agency
expected to impartially investigate these charges has a vested interest
(44:34):
in avoiding any outcome that would question the verdict of
the initial Alex Murdall murder trial. If Becky admittedly perjured
herself in the jury tampering hearing held by Judge Tole,
what else could she have lied about?
Speaker 1 (44:48):
End quote.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
We wait as justice unfolds and the Alex Murnoch double
murder case. Nancy Gray signing off, Goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Well, it's Friday night and
it is special.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Killer Attorney Alex Murdog retrial odds. That long and tortuous trial,
the investigations, the twists, the turns, the cross exams, Alex
Murdock on the stand line through his teeth crying. Now
the odds are sorry that Alex Murdog will have a
(00:33):
new trial.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Listen, Moil Road, I need.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
My wife and.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Here on the line.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I'm still here, Okay.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I have an Alex Murdock on the line hauler from
forty one.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
His wife's and child was shot.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Seven Mozille, No love it up through it now.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It is bad.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
They they shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Oh no, hell no, ma'am.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
I like my sworn.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
No bear bear on ground out at my perils.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So I'm really bad. Yeah, they're on the ground up
by the kettle, shot really back because I just shot him.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Apstead.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I say that with me an all star panel to
makes sense of what is happening right now.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
How does it go from that guilty verdict.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
To the judge on the bench trying to make a
determination whether there has been jury misconduct?
Speaker 5 (01:53):
Listen, I simply do not believe that the authority of
OURSI comana Supreme Court requires a new trial in a
very lengthy trial such as this on the strength of
some fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity influenced clerk
of court. This is a matter within the discretion of
(02:16):
the trial judge, and I am the trial judge at
this moment. I do not feel that I abuse my
discretion when I find the defendant's motion for a new
trial on the factual record before me must be denied,
and it is so ordered.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
That was Judge Toll. So how are we right here
right now? The former South Carolina Collington County Clerk of
Court on the murder trial of Alex Murdog, Becky Hill,
please guilty to showing sealed court exhibits to a photographer
and lying about it in court. Judge Heath Taylor sentences
Hill to three years probation, explaining our sentence with much
(03:00):
harsher if it were ever proofs he tampered with the jury,
that has not been proven.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Jennifer Gould has the details.
Speaker 6 (03:09):
Nancy, the woman whose distinctive trembling voice delivered the guilty
verdict that sealed Alex Murdo's fate, stood before a circuit judge,
admitting she secretly handed a photographer the sealed, blood soaked
photos of his slaughtered wife and son, then lied about
it under oath. Former Collection County Clerk of Court Becky
(03:33):
Hill fifty eight tearfully pleaded guilty to four felonies, two
counts of misconduct in office, obstruction of justice, and perjury
for slipping the graphic kennel crime scene images to media
in twenty twenty three and swearing she never did it.
During Murdo's failed bid for a new trial, Circuit judge
(03:54):
Heath Taylor spared her a single day though behind bars,
sentencing her instead to three years probation and one hundred
hours of community service, stating, quote, your sentence would have
been much harsher if we had found jury tampering end quote,
Confirming the investigation cleared Hill of swaying the twenty twenty
(04:15):
three jury that convicted Murda of murdering Maggie fifty two
and Paul twenty two. The disgraced clerk's misconduct extended beyond
the courthouse secrets. Hill also admitted to pocketing eleven thousand
dollars in unauthorized county bonuses and exploiting her position to
(04:37):
profit from her rushed out book on the case called
Behind the Doors of Justice. Reading the guilty verdict made
her famous. Leaking the photos and lying about it just
made her a convicted felon.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Flanked by her husband.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
And lawyer, Hill spoke to the court, Listen, there is.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
No excuse for our mistakes.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I am ashamed of them, and I will carry that
shame with me for the rest of my life.
Speaker 6 (05:04):
The conviction immediately drew fire from Murdoch's defense team. Attorney
Dick Harpoutlian fired off a statement questioning the integrity of
the jury tampering hearing, saying, quote, if Becky admittedly committed
perjury in the jury tampering hearing, what else did she
(05:24):
lie about?
Speaker 1 (05:25):
End quote?
Speaker 6 (05:26):
The disgraced legal sigh on fifty six is already serving
life without parole for the murders and another twenty seven
years for stealing millions from clients. His appeal reaches the
South Carolina Supreme Court in February, and Hill's newly minted
felony conviction is fresh potent ammunition for his defense. Hill
(05:48):
walked out of the Calhoun County court room of felon
but a free woman. As Murdochs fight rages on.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
The state's Attorney general is trying to hold that conviction.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I wrote most of the appellate briefs on murder cases
I tried, but the on murder cases the age would
also write an amicas curity brief friend of the Court
to bolster to go along with to partner with my brief.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So I guarantee you the States.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Brief asking the US the South Carolina Supreme Court to
do what they want, is going to be in.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Tandem with the prosecution brief. They don't want this case
heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
But what I'm asking you, Jennifer Wood, director of research
at fitznews dot com, who threw out the investigation and
the trial, isn't it true that the South Carolina Supreme
Court has given Murdock's defense the okay to file briefs.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
They want to consider it. They have okay.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Joining me again, an all star palell Regina Ward is
a high profile lawyer, criminal defense attorney there in this jurisdiction.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Of no South Carolina. And so it begins.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Alex murdog is headed for a new trial because the
Supreme Court did not have to say, yeah, I'll hear
your argument. That is a big indicator of Regina of
what the court's.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Going to do. I think that that's a possibility. But
the brief that they filed there were many, many more
issues there.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I think it was like one hundred and twenty something
or one hundred and thirty pages, and so there's more
just this issue. Of course, there were going on two
hundred points raised by Hart Putlan or the new defense team.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Of course there are Do they amount to a hill
of beans?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Probably not, But of course they're going to raise every
possible issue. But the South Carolina Supreme Court is limited
to the facts.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
In the transcript.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
If they are arguing factual issues or discrepancies, that's not.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
To be heard by the appellate court. They are hearing
legal issues. This is what I.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Think will likely be the single strongest case for Alex
Murlock to get a new trial. And it all goes back.
I never thought I'd have to say these words again to.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
The egg lady. Take a listen to her being questioned
by the courts.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Was your verdict based entirely on the testimony, evidence, and
law presented to you in this case?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yes, ma'am, did you hear miss Becky Hill make any
comment about this case.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Before you're verdict?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yes, ma'am?
Speaker 5 (08:46):
If yes, what did missus Hill say.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
To watch his actions?
Speaker 5 (08:56):
To watch his actions? What else?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
To watch them closely?
Speaker 5 (09:03):
To watch him closely?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Anything else?
Speaker 5 (09:07):
You remember?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
There? It is? But I can't remember.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Okay, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Oh okay.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
She's on the stand, the so called egg lady. And
I was there when this happened. A jurar was dismissed
because of alleged misconduct, and before she left the courthouse,
she said she wanted to go back in the jury
deliberation room and get the dozen eggs she had brought
to court that day. That's how she got that name. Okay,
wait a minute. She's on the stand. Let me understand this.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Jennifer wood Fitz News.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
She's on the stand to talk about everything the court
clerk did wrong, Becky Hill.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
And the judge says, can you think of anything else?
Is there anything else?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
She's under oath, sitting there prepared for this moment. She goes,
there is, but I can't remember.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Did she she did that? She did well? That didn't
help the defense. But wait a minute. They make a
little bit of a comeback. Listen, was your verdict.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
Influenced in any way by the communications of the clerk.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Of court in this case, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
And how was it influenced to me?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
It felt like she made it seem like he was
already guilty.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
All right, and I understand that that's the tenor of
the remark she made. Did that affect your finding of
guilty in this case.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So this is all about the clerk of court, Becky
Hill writing a book.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Jennifer wood Fitznie's explained.
Speaker 7 (10:49):
You know, I think, you know, like Virgina said, there
are one hundred and thirty two pages of issues, but
I think it's really going to come down to the
clerk of court's behavior and or not things that she
allegedly said futures during the course of the trial had
an impact on their verdict. You know, the tutors said
(11:09):
that she said before Alex Murdoch took the stand, watch
his body language.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
One of those jurors.
Speaker 7 (11:19):
Flighty or not about it, said that that did impact
her decision whether or not Alex was guilty or.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
In his n Maggie and Paul lose their lives, gunned
down and the dog candle out in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And guess who's on the scene. Alex Murdog.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
He claims he was at his mom's house a few
miles away, but video and cell phone data a GPS
data seemed to indicate he is nothing but a liar.
Back to Becky Heel, the court clerk allegedly affecting the jury.
(11:57):
And I guess Jennifer Woods is because the defense claims
that she wanted a guilty verdict because her book sales
would be greater and she would make more money.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Is that their claim?
Speaker 7 (12:08):
That's one of their claims. And you know, I've always
thought about that and thought, you know, I think the
book would have been just as interesting, if not more so,
if he was found not guilty. I mean, I don't
know if I necessarily buy that motivation, but yes, that
is that is one of their theories.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Well, I got to tell you something else, Jennifer Wood.
Judge Jane told kind of handed this up, sorted up
on a silver platter, because the judge comments on Baking
Hill's credibility.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Listen the facts, did Clark of court.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
He'll make comments to any jewel or which expressed her
opinion of what the verdict would be. Miss Heill denies
a and so the question becomes was her denial credible?
I find that the clerk of court is not completely
credible as a witness. Miss Hill was attracted by.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
The siren call of celebrity.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
She wanted to write a book about the trial and
express that as early as November twenty twenty two, long
before the trial began.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
So what does that mean in your mind, Jennifer Wood
joining us from Fitz News. The odds are escalating that
because of that one issue, and of course you've pointed
out there are many more that have been raised by
the defense, whether they amount to anything.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Or not, that there will be a new trial.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
How would that happen? How would that be executed? Where's
Murdoch right now?
Speaker 7 (13:43):
Murdoch is in the South Carolina Department of Corrections. He
is serving his two life sentences that he received as
a result of this verdict. They would you know, if
they do agree with his attorneys, they will romanda for
a new trial and we will start all over.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
After the so called egg Lady juror was dismissed.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
And remember, Jennifer.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Wood, isn't it true that Becky Hee was the one
that brought the attention of the court to the egg
lady to get her dismissed from the jury.
Speaker 7 (14:21):
Yes, that's absolutely true. It involved a alleged Facebook post
that she said she had seen in a local Facebook group.
Nobody has ever seen that Facebook post. When she brought
it to the judge's attention, she could not find it again.
The post that she did ultimately end up finding was
(14:41):
from the husband of somebody you know it was.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
It was from somebody with.
Speaker 7 (14:46):
The same name as her ex husband, in a different
state and totally unrelated. So, I mean, I still have
questions whether you know about this post?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Where is it?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Did it exist?
Speaker 7 (14:57):
I mean, it was what ultimately part led to her dismissal.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
So does this so called egg lady have an axe
to grind against the clerk Becky Wood?
Speaker 1 (15:09):
That aside.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
The issue is did the clerk affect the outcome of
the verdict?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Many legal legals like myself say it did not. But
even the.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Appearance of impropriety may be enough for Alex Murdog to
get a new trial. Doesn't mean he's innocent h W
l n O. But will that stop a new trial?
In no way listen.
Speaker 7 (15:40):
Okay, what is her name?
Speaker 8 (15:44):
Maggie?
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Please hurry, We're.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Getting somebody there to you man asking me these questions
on closing down?
Speaker 8 (15:51):
Okay, is he moving out?
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Your son?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I know he said that she was shot, but what
about your son?
Speaker 9 (16:01):
Nobody, they're not even one. Name's Maggie Murdoch, Okay, and
what's your son's first name?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Is Paul carry Murdoch? Where they are dead?
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yes, sir, that's what.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
That's what it looks like. If there is a new
trial for convicted killer lawyer Alex Murdock and the double
murder of wife Maggie's son Paul, what will the defense
do differently now.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
They've got the state's whole playbook for Pete's sake.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Well, for one thing, they're going to attack the video
taken by son Paul in the kennel the scene of
the double murder, just minutes, maybe even seconds before gunfire
rings out.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Listen.
Speaker 8 (16:51):
One of the biggest issues hearing Alex Murda on a
video on Paul Murdau's iPhone when they were down by
the kennel, minutes before Paul and Maggie murder were murdered.
By the time Alex claims he was not at the residence.
Paul's iPhone was found right away, but it was locked.
The phone was sent to the US Secret Service using
digital forensic technology designed to bypass iPhone encryption. The Secret
(17:12):
Service attempted to crack the passcode and failed. What finally
unlocked the phone and contradicted Alex Murdau's alibi Paul Murda's
birthday April fourteenth, nineteen ninety nine. The six digit passcode
zero four one four ninety nine, phone unlocked, alibi crushed.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Joining me is Chris McDonough, director Cold Case Foundation and
former homicide detective.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Chris question.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
They had to send Paul Murdoch's cell phone to the
Secret Service using digital forensic technology to bypass iPhone encryption.
They couldn't crack it, and finally they cracked it.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
It was Paul's day.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Really, that's one of the very first one of the
very first codes you try are various people close to
the individual's birthdays.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Yeah, Nancy, And what happens there nine out of ten
times is just that point you just made common sense.
It's like, let's try the first type of things first,
i e. You know, birthday, social security numbers, etc. But
in this case, they sent it off to the Secret Service,
and what ends up happening is they actually put it
(18:33):
in what they call a blank room, meaning they have
an algorithm that kind of runs through this phone over
and over and over again to try to make matches.
And remember they did that years ago in the shooting
in San Bernardino where they couldn't get into the suspects phone.
So in this case they were unsuccessful and they sent
(18:54):
it back and the SLED was able to get the
data birth.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
In there to joining me direct research fits news, Jennifer.
Why is the video on Paul Murdoch's phone so critical?
The defense has to have it ruled out or attack
it in some way.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
If they want to win the retrial.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
Yeah, that video is critical because it shattered his alibi.
He said he was not down at those dog kennels,
and when they got that phone open and saw that video,
they realize he was lying.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
You're absolutely correct. They've got to be able to attack
this video. Hey, let's see the video. Roll it, get it.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Get that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Quick, guess Quinn.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Sh push to get.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Hey you got burdens now, blah, Hey, buba, it's a guinea.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
There's a chicken, come cash quick.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
You have to know what you're listening for, Jennifer Wood.
The argument is made that you hear Alex Murdog on
that video.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
That is the argument.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
And I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 7 (20:40):
I listened to Alex testify for two straight days and
I heard that voice in the video. They are the
same voice.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
And what is Alex Murndad saying? Because this is this
is the point of the video. Paul Murdad, the murdered son,
had a friend's dog in the kennel at the friend's
requst The dog was going to be taken to the
vet and it had some kind of a laceration or
(21:08):
something or rash on its hind quarters or tail. So
Paul and Maggie were out there in the kennels after
she had been lured there by the way by Alex Murdad,
and they're taking the video to send to the friend
to send to the vet.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
That's why they're there. And what is it you hear
Murdog say in the background.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
So they had a dog named Bubba that had gotten
a hold of one of their either guineas or chickens,
and he's yelling at the dog trying to catch it.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You hear him say something about a guinea and then
say it's a chicken.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
You can hear him in the background, and I remember
you sitting there in court listening to murdog drone on
and it really only got good.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
When he started snodding and crying on the stand. But
that said, that's his voice, and the jury believe it.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Now.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Let's this is just what would you say a minute
or two before Maggie and Paul were shot at me?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
When he was saying that it's a chicken, it's a
guin me. Whatever he's saying. He had to have the
gun and the plan.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Ready to murder them, and you hear him talking to
Maggie and Paul like everything's fine. Within minutes those two
were shot dead. Paul I believe was shot first. Maggie
went to go defend Paul. And if she was murdered.
What is the time differential there?
Speaker 7 (22:31):
I mean it, like you said, it is within minutes,
like three to five minutes. I can't remember the exact
exact time framebody. I mean we're talking minutes.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace, that all starts here.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Paul dead, the son of Alex murdagg brutally gunned down
along with Maggie Alex Murnagu's wife. Where will the defense
go when a retrial occurs? They're going here attacking the
state's cell phone expert regarding Maggie's cell phone listen.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
Part of Murdad's appeal of his murder conviction centers around
the testimony of cell phone expert witness Paul mcmanagal of
the Charleston County Sheriff's office. He testified about using his
darkened office as a lab and tossing an iPhone around
the room to see if the backlight would come on.
He kept no records, took no measurements, then testified as
an expert about what it would take to make the
(23:41):
backlight come on. The importance is the state, says Alec Murda,
based on his suburban GPS data drove by the area
Maggie's iPhone was located at nine oh eight pm, saying
Murdaw tossed the phone out of his vehicle as he
drove down the road, but Maggie's iPhone indicated her backlight
did not come on again after nine oh seven pm.
(24:03):
The argument is that if Murdoch passed the location at
nine o eight pm and tossed out the phone. The
backlight would have come on, but Maggie's iPhone didn't light
up again after nine oh seven pm.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Jennifer Wood, that's a lot of speculation on the defense part.
But if they can get one jar to believe that
Maggie's cell phone light, the lamp would have come on
when Murdog threw it out the window, and, by the way,
Murdog's navigation equipment on his suburban shows where he let
(24:37):
the window down on the passenger side to throw the
phone out, by.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
The way, as he was dashing to his mother's house.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
To create an alibi, they would have to convince a
jury that the phone absolutely would have turned on as
it was thrown out in that soft grass.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
So tell me why this is so critical.
Speaker 7 (24:57):
Well, if the last time it lit up was before
before he drove by that spot, then he wasn't the
one disposing of that phone, and somebody else was there.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Hello, Yeah, can you have to pay?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Think she's having then she can't call?
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Okay, do you know he's corect.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
The head and there's broad on the concerte and you
breathe out of her left here.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Okay, you bring over here and out of her head.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Okay, all right, the other waiting for you, trying to
stand up.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
This all down again.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
No, I was holding her up.
Speaker 10 (25:35):
Okay, she told me to loosen she's trying to use
her but then she fell back over.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Okay.
Speaker 10 (25:40):
Do you guys know who she is here?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
She worked for? Okay? Do you know he's never had
a stroke or anything before?
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Then?
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Can you another death connected to the Murdog family, and
Alex Murdog orchestrates an extensive and intricate plot to steal
the insurance money from Gloria Saderfield's family. I'm talking about
millions of dollars stolen, a deadly fall and about four
(26:10):
million dollars stolen by Murdog. Oh, what a tangled web.
We weave another bombshell in the Murdach case. Joining me,
Jennifer wood fitz Niez, Jennifer. What's the latest in the
Gloria Sadderfield case? Right?
Speaker 7 (26:27):
So, Gloria Satterfield, the insurance company for that took Corey
Fleming and Alex Murdoch to federal court. That trial just
occurred and a jury ordered Alex Murdoch to pay fourteen
point eight million dollars in damages and his co conspirator
over three million dollars in damages, and.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
What we're talking about regarding a conspiracy. Gloria Sadderfield falls
down the steps at Murdoch's mansion. She dies, Then Murda,
I can correct me if I'm wrong. Jennifer wood murn
approaches Sanderfield's family and gets them to hire him to
represent them in an insurance claim.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Then proceeds to steal the money. Do I have that right, Jennifer.
Speaker 7 (27:17):
I have absolutely right.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
He stole the bunny.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Joining me is doctor Kendall Crown's chief medical Examiner, Ter County.
That's Fort Worth Esteemed, a lecturer at the Burnett School
of Medicine at TCU.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Doctor Kendall Crowns, thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Explain to me what happened to Glorias Sanderfield. There have
been so many theories. She was pushed down the stairs,
she tripped over dogs, there was a delay in reporting it,
no assistance was made. But you hear son Paul Now
did and wife Maggie Now did on the phone with nine.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
To one one. So what were the injuries?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Why did she have to die from a slip and
fall or some some have called it a fake and fall.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
What happened?
Speaker 10 (28:05):
So, what she had was injuries to her head. She
had a laceration of her right side of her head,
She had a right sided subdural hemorrhage, which is a
hemorrhage on the brain, as well as injuries to the
brain itself. And then she had left sided rib fractures.
So there's some comment that she fell, or she tripped
over a dog, or she fell downstairs. The problem with
(28:27):
these injuries is a right sided laceration with a right
sided subdural is often from a blow to the head
and it's not from a fall. Usually what you're seeing
as a right side laceration with a opposite side subdural,
so it's not consistent. And then with the left sided
rib fractures. I mean, if she fell downstairs, there'd be
(28:48):
multiple injuries about the skin and body that would show
that she was tumbling downstairs resulting in all these injuries.
So the injuries are inconsistent with the story that's provided.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Wow, when you put it like that, it makes the
fall seem very very nefarious, doesn't it. Doctor Guys joining me.
In addition, to medical examiner, not just medical examiner, chief
medical examiner, doctor Kendall Crowns.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
It's a very special guest joining us.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Blanca Simpson, the Murdog's former housekeeper and friend of Gloria Saderfield. Blanca,
what was your reaction when you learned Gloria had fallen
down those steep steps and died?
Speaker 3 (29:33):
It was heartbreaking. She was a very nice lady. She
would do anything for you.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
And you two were fairly close, weren't you.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Yes, While we were there, she would tell me about
her children, her life. She loved working for Maggie and
Alex Bloka.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I want to ask you about the days that preceded
Maggie and Paul's murder. A few months before the murder,
I believe Maggie told you about a lawsuit that was
demanding around thirty million dollars. Now that lawsuit, of course,
(30:12):
was the death of a nineteen year old girl, Mallory Beach,
who was in a boat with Paul driving drunk, horribly drunk.
Maggie was worried about that money, wasn't she She was.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Worried about the money, and Alec knew it because when
the first time she ever mentioned they ever mentioned it.
It kind of hushed up right there at the counter
in the kitchen. And then after that, that's when I
came in that morning, probably a couple of days later,
and I guess they had discussed it. I'm not sure,
(30:50):
but that's when I came in and she said, I
got to tell you something, and that's when we went
in there and she finished telling me everything else. You
know that where were they going to get that money?
They didn't have that kind of money, and she just
couldn't understand what was going on. And it wasn't that
(31:10):
she was trying to be that she was trying to
cover up anything. I listening to her, she really did
not know the total extent of the lawsuit. She didn't know.
She knew bits and pieces, but she didn't know exactly
(31:30):
what was going on.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
But she was crying and upset and told you confidentially
that there was a multimillion dollar lawsuit against some are
like family because of that boat crash, and that they
didn't have that kind of money.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
That's correct. Alec didn't like any crying. I remember her
telling me that if he ever says anything and you
feel bad or he makes you feel bad, just don't
let him see you cry. So I I believe that's
(32:05):
why we went in that room, even though he was
there at the house, but he was all the way
on the other side, and when we went in there,
she could express herself no judgment. I had no reason
to judge her. I just listened to her.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
So Maggie would have to walk off in another room
and shut the door so Murdoch would not see her cry.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Yeah, she didn't cry in front of him. That was
just one thing. Even if sometimes he would say something,
we just you just don't don't cry in front of him.
He didn't like that. It didn't you know, it wasn't
going to affect how he felt or whatever the situation was.
So I do that was from the very beginning. I
(32:47):
remember when I first started working there, when Gloria was
still there. Even Gloria made that comment to me, What
comment about it? If he says anything that might hurt
your feelings, don't let them see you cry.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
What was Murdoch like to work for?
Speaker 3 (33:05):
He was good to me? I never had an answer.
I can't. I know there's people that want me to
speak badly about him or say things. You know, as
far as when I work there. He was always he
was always very nice to me, anything that I needed, Milanka.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yes, I want you to understand that.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
I don't want you to say anything other than the truth, because,
believe me, I've seen plenty of killers, stone cold killers
that had everybody else charmed.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
So I'm not surprised at all. I mean, how do
you think.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
He got all those bank loans for millions and millions
of dollars?
Speaker 1 (33:45):
He charmed the bank into thinking that he could pay
it all off.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
He charmed all of his clients and stole their money,
I agree, even clients that were quadchipelegics. So I would
not expect anything different because.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
He needed you, He needed you to see him in
a certain way. Now I'm curious.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Many people have told me, hey, that's not in evidence,
that's not true.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
But isn't it true that the night.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Of the murders, Maggie told you she had been called
to the hunting lodge Mozille.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
She didn't want to go because she was at the
beach house and didn't.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Want to leave yet, but Murdoch called her and convinced
her to come to Moselle the night she was murdered.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
She did and I have the text where she said
she didn't really want to go. I still have her
text on my phone.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Tell me what she said.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
She had workers at She still had workers out there
at the beach house, and she felt that she needed
to just complete all the finishing touches in you know
that that were there was still some little projects that
had to be completed at Edistone, and she just wanted
(35:05):
to be there. She was very like I said in
my testimony, she was very detailed oriented. It had to
be you know, perfect in her eyes, and that's one
of the reasons she wanted to be there. She knew
that I had Moselle and if anything came up, I
was at Moselle and she felt comforted. So I handled
pretty much, you know, Moselle, whatever came up, whatever needed
(35:29):
to be done. I took care of Moselle, and she
felt comfortable staying at Edistone and we just used to
talk and if she needed for me to take care
of anything, she would just give me a call or
text me. But that that on June the seventh, she
texted me that Alex wanted her to come home and
Paul as well, and she and that was I meant
(35:53):
what I said? She was hesitant to come to Moselle.
She didn't want to come to Moselle despite the fact, Yes,
she did love mister Randolph. Mister Randolph was really good
to her, and.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
That would have been Alex Murdog's father. Is mister Randolph.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yes, you know I'm thinking about this call, the text
from Maggie at that time, Miss Simpson, did you have
any reason to suspect Alex Murdoch?
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Yea crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Alex Murdog, double killer, convicted lawyer gets a new trial.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Is that where we're headed?
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Joining me right now, Special Guests, Blanca Simpson, former housekeeper
for the Alex Murdock family, Blanca. Another critical point regarding
your perspective is that the night of the murders, but
just before Paul and Maggie were shot dead, you were
actually at the home at Maggie's request, and you made
(37:09):
supper right.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Yes, I did.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
And then the next morning you got a phone call
from Alex Murdogg.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
What happened?
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Alex called me as I was getting my husband ready
to go to work that morning, and I was getting
ready as well to go out to Moselle and that's
when he tells me they're gone, being you know they're gone.
And like I said in my testimony, I thought, I
was like, this should go back to edistone. She said no,
(37:37):
being they're dead. And I still I can still hear
him repeatedly saying that in my head, you know they're dead.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
What was his demeanor? How did he sound?
Speaker 3 (37:54):
He was jittery, crying, you know, having small episodes of crying.
You know, you could tell he sounded distraught. I was
in shock.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
To tell you, the crew, Blanka, he asked you to
come clean the house up.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
I know you found pots.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Of leftovers in the kitchen, but you've also noticed something
very odd about Maggie's pajamas.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
What her pajamas were in the middle of the doorway
going into the laundry room, which is usually the first
place that I went when I got there. I used
to drop off my keys in there and my phone
go straight in the laundry room. That morning, when I
walked through, I left all the lights off. I I
(38:45):
just walked in and it was just a cold, eerie
feeling that went through me. And it was just the
thought that, oh my god, you know, I still could
not grasp the concept that I was never going to
see them again, and you know I was never.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
When you're talking about her pajamas being laid out neatly
in a doorway, they also had with them underwear. Was
it were they laid out? What were they on the
floor or though they on a hangar? Where were they
they were on the floor. When you say laid out neatly,
what do you mean.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
Laid out flat, neatly? One on you it was like
the pants were spread out, laid out. Then you had
the underwear and then her pajama top stretched out on
top neatly. They weren't bold.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
We never have done that. Plus, she didn't wear underwear
to bed.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Right, That is correct. She didn't do that, and I
stand by that she did not do that. That was
not her.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Several weeks later, Alex Murda called you. Well, I actually
got together with you, and he was very agitated, pacing
back and forth asking you about what you remembered regarding
the night Maggie and Paul were murdered.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
What did he ask you?
Speaker 3 (40:12):
He was pacing back and forth in the living room,
and he kept going back and forth. He said, sit down,
be sit down. I got to tell you something. Something's
not right. And he said, I got a you know,
I got a bad feeling. And he at that point
he motioned and he touched his stomach. He said, I
got a bad feeling. I got a bad feeling. And
then he says, you remember what I was wearing that day,
(40:38):
you know, the Bennie Vines. And like I said, I
was kind of like, you know, no, that's not what
And I understand that people have said, well, Bennie Vines
also makes you know the fit. I should have described
it better on the stand when I said, no, you
(40:58):
weren't wearing the Vinnie Vines. He that Vinnie Vines also
makes the fishing star.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
Was he wearing.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
He was wearing a sea foamy green polo shirt when
he left that house.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Well, you got a wind memory.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
So Jennifer Wood joining me direct to research fits news.
That's critical because in these video that we're showing, the
video we're showing right now when the cops get there,
he is wearing a Vineyard Vine's Vinnie Vine's T shirt
that he was trying to convince Blanca to say he
was wearing when she taught to him.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Why is that so critical, Jennifer.
Speaker 7 (41:37):
You know it's just another another series. It's another lie
in a web of flies.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
I mean, why.
Speaker 7 (41:43):
Why ask her to verify something that wasn't true?
Speaker 2 (41:49):
The odds are soaring that Alex murdog will have a
new trial.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Becky Hill, please guilty.
Speaker 9 (41:58):
Former Callington County Clerk of Mary Rebecca Becky Hill pleaded
guilty to four charges obstruction of justice and perjury for
showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits and
then lying about it. There are also two counts of
misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting through her
public office a book she wrote. On the trial, judge
(42:21):
Heath Taylor sentenced Hill two three years of probation. Hill
was not convicted nor pleaded to tampering with Alex Murdall's
jury trial. The judge told Hill the sentence would have
been more harsh if investigators had found that she tampered
with the jury. Hill read a short statement asking the
judge for a chance to do better. Quote, there is
no excuse for the mistakes I made. I'm ashamed of
(42:44):
them and will carry that shame for the rest of
my life. Hill's position put her in charge of taking
care of the jury, overseeing exhibits, and helping the judge.
During Murda's six week trial, The judge heard testimony that
a journalist told investigators that Hill showed graphic crime scene
photos to several media members. The photos were briefly posted online,
(43:07):
and metadata from the images matched up with a time
where Hill's courthouse key guard said she was there. The
misconduct in the office charge involved money that investigators said
Hill took for herself. She brought a check to the
court to pay back nearly ten thousand dollars meant for
bonuses from federal money meant to improve child support collection
(43:28):
at about two thousand dollars in money from the Clerk
of Court's office. Hill was also accused of seventy six
counts of ethics violations. Officials said Hill allowed a photo
of Murda in a holding cell to be taken to
promote her book on the trial, and used county money
to buy dozens of lunches for her staff, prosecutors, and
a vendor. Hill's long awaited plea deal comes just before
(43:52):
the South Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear retrial
arguments in the new year. In February, Murdo's defense team
pointed to Hill's misconduct as evidence that jury integrity was compromised.
Some legal pundits have expressed opinions that Hill's plea is
not the strongest grounds for a retrial. Even if Murdall
(44:12):
were granted a retrial, he would remain incarcerated due to
his lengthy state and federal sentences related to his financial crimes.
In a statement to Fox News, Murdall's defense attorney said, quote,
the guilty plea is not surprising. More importantly, the agency
expected to impartially investigate these charges has a vested interest
(44:34):
in avoiding any outcome that would question the verdict of
the initial Alex Murdall murder trial. If Becky admittedly perjured
herself in the jury tampering hearing held by Judge Tole,
what else could she have lied about?
Speaker 1 (44:48):
End quote.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
We wait as justice unfolds and the Alex Murnoch double
murder case. Nancy Gray signing off, Goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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