The former Colleton County clerk who helped manage the Alex Murdaugh murder trial pleaded guilty Monday to charges alleging she showed sealed court exhibits to a reporter and lied about it in court.
Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill, 57, admitted guilt in Colleton County Circuit Court to four felony counts: obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter graphic, sealed crime-scene photographs and then denying it, plus two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and using her public position to promote a book she wrote about the trial. Hill also faced a misdemeanor perjury charge in Richland County and was arrested in May, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said.
Judge Heath Taylor sentenced Hill to one year of probation, telling her the sentence would have been much harsher if prosecutors had found she tampered with jurors. Hill read a brief statement asking for a chance to do better and saying, “There is no excuse for the mistakes I made. I’m ashamed of them.”
Hill had responsibility for the jury, managing exhibits and assisting the judge during the six-week trial that ended in the 2023 murder convictions of Murdaugh for killing his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, and their son Paul. Murdaugh is serving life without parole for the murders and an additional 27-year sentence for financial crimes.
During Monday’s hearing, solicitor Rick Hubbard said a journalist informed investigators that Hill had shown the graphic photos to several media members; he did not name the reporter. Hill has been a focal point in Murdaugh’s appeals, with his defense alleging she tried to influence jurors and was biased against him in her book. Hill has denied jury tampering.
Murdaugh’s defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, said Hill’s guilty plea “is not surprising” and questioned the impartiality of the agency investigating the charges, suggesting Hill may have lied in other matters. Harpootlian has sought a retrial for Murdaugh, but so far no judge has granted one.
Some of Hill’s other charges stem from alleged misuse of funds and leveraging her office for personal gain. Warrants allege she took nearly $10,000 in bonuses from federal funds earmarked to improve child support collection and about $2,000 from the clerk’s office. Investigators also said she used her role to promote her trial-related book on social media and allowed a photo of Murdaugh in a holding cell to be taken to promote that book.
Last May, Hill was accused of 76 counts of ethics violations, including using county money for staff lunches and striking a deal with a documentary maker to use the county courtroom in exchange for promoting her book. She later acknowledged her book included plagiarized passages, according to the South Carolina Ethics Commission complaint.
Hill resigned in March 2024 near the end of her four-year term, citing the public scrutiny surrounding the Murdaugh trial and a desire to spend time with her grandchildren.
Elizabeth Campbell and Jared Ochacher contributed to this report.