During the trial, Murdaugh was found guilty of killing his wife Maggie, 52, and his son Paul, 22
Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers have submitted a request for a new trial in a motion filed in Columbia, South Carolina. The motion contains explosive allegations, suggesting that the court clerk, Rebecca Hill, tampered with jurors in order to secure a book deal.
Hill wrote a memoir titled “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders,” which was released on August 1st.
According to attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, Hill pressured jurors to quickly reach a verdict and had frequent private conversations with the jury foreperson to influence the panel towards a guilty verdict. The filing claims that Hill engaged in these actions to ensure she could secure a book deal and media appearances, which would not have occurred in the case of a mistrial. The lawyers argue that Hill betrayed her oath of office for financial gain and fame.
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In March, Alex Murdaugh, aged 55, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the murder of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and his 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh.
The new filing contains further allegations against elected official Rebecca Hill, accusing her of warning jurors “not to be fooled by” Alex Murdaugh before his testimony and of providing false information to the trial judge in order to have a sympathetic juror dismissed.
Attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin plan to provide more details regarding their accusations against Hill during a press conference scheduled for 2:30 p.m. outside the state’s Court of Appeals.
In addition to the court filing, the attorneys have sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina dated Tuesday, requesting a federal investigation into Hill’s alleged misconduct. They suggest that Alex Murdaugh may have been a victim of the very corruption he represents. Hill has not yet commented on these allegations.
The defense lawyers’ announcement comes shortly after the airing of the Fox Nation docuseries “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh,” which included an exclusive interview with Buster Murdaugh, the son of the disgraced patriarch.
Buster expressed his belief that his father’s murder trial was not conducted fairly. He mentioned, “I do not believe it was fair. I was there for six weeks studying it, and I think it was a tilted table from the beginning. Unfortunately, a lot of the jurors felt that way prior to when they had to deliberate .”
The trial, lasting six grueling weeks in the Colleton County Courthouse, concluded on March 2 when the jury delivered a guilty verdict on all counts in under three hours.
One of the jurors, James McDowell, shared with Fox News Digital that despite not finding the prosecution’s motive argument persuasive, the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming in their view.
During the trial, the state argued that Alex Murdaugh fatally shot his wife and son on the family’s hunting estate, known as Moselle, on June 7, 2021, as a desperate act of self-preservation.
At that time, Alex, who was once a powerful figure in a prominent Lowcountry legal dynasty, was on the verge of exposure for allegedly embezzling over $9 million from his law firm and clients.
On the day of the murders, the chief financial officer of his former law firm confronted him about missing fees, and he also had a scheduled hearing later in the week for a wrongful death lawsuit related to a fatal 2019 boat accident.
Paul Murdaugh had been involved in a tragic incident where he crashed his father’s boat into a bridge, resulting in the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach and injuries to four other friends. This incident led to Alex Murdaugh facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit that could potentially reveal his financial wrongdoing.
During his testimony on the witness stand, Murdaugh admitted to jurors that he had stolen the money, partly to support his severe opioid addiction. However, he vehemently maintained his innocence, asserting that he would never have harmed his wife and son.