Feb. 22, 2026

"THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF MURDAUGH: THE CORRUPT CLERK & THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM - PART 2"

Show Notes
Transcript

Reid Carter concludes the Murdaugh special with the post-conviction chaos. Alex staged his own shooting so son Buster could collect $10 million life insurance - survived with a skull fracture. Pleaded guilty to 22 federal financial crimes, sentenced to 40 years. Then court clerk Becky Hill was accused of pressuring jurors to convict - retired Justice Toal called her "not credible" but denied new trial. Hill arrested on three felonies May 2025. February 11, 2026: South Carolina Supreme Court hears Murdaugh's appeal. Defense cites Aaron Burr's 1807 treason trial. Netflix, HBO, Hulu all made shows. Will the dynasty get one more chapter?

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Caaleroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter, Sunday, February

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twenty second, twenty twenty six. Yesterday we covered the rise

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and fall of the Murdaw dynasty, eighty seven years of

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legal power in South Carolina's Low Country. Then Alex Murdaw

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murdered his wife Maggie and son Paul at their hunting estate.

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Convicted in less than three hours, two consecutive life sentences,

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no possibility of parole today. What happened after the verdict?

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And trust me, it's just as insane as the trial

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itself because Alex Murdaw wasn't done making headlines, not even close.

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Before the murder trial even began, Alex had already staged

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his own shooting. Hired his former client and alleged drug dealer,

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Curtis Eddie Smith to shoot him in the head on

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a rural highway so his surviving son, Buster could collect

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a ten million dollar life insurance policy. Smith pulled the trigger, bullet,

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fractured Alex's skull, caused a brain bleed, but didn't kill him.

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Then came the financial crime reckoning over one hundred charges

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across state and federal indictments, money laundering wire fraud, bank fraud,

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breach of trust, stealing from clients, stealing from his dead

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housekeeper's family, stealing from his own law firm. Alex pleaded

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guilty to everything twenty seven years for state financial crimes,

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forty years federal eight point seven million dollars in restitution,

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all running concurrently with his two life sentences for murder.

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Alex Murdau wasn't just going to prison, He was being

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buried alive in convictions. But then something unexpected happened. The

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court clerk who managed his murder trial, Becky Hill, was

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accused of jury tampering, of pressuring jurors to vote guilty,

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of writing a book about the case while the trial

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was still happening, of using her position to influence the

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verse and now eleven days ago, on February eleventh, Alex

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Murdaw's attorneys stood before the South Carolina Supreme Court and

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argued their client deserves a new trial, citing Aaron Burr's

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eighteen oh seven treason trial, arguing that Becky Hill's behavior

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denied Alex his constitutional right to a fair trial. Nobody

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wants a new trial, not even his own attorneys. Dick

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Harputlian told the justices. We spent months getting ready for

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this trial, six weeks trying the trial, more months finding

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jurors to talk to. Nobody wants to do this again,

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less than we do. But that's not the issue. I'm

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read Carter. This is celebrity trials today. The corrupt clerk,

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the botched suicide, the financial collapse, the appeal, and the

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question America is asking, will Alex Murdog get a new trial?

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Part two of two. Let me take you back to

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September twenty twenty one, three months after the murders, before

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Alex was charged. September third, twenty twenty one, p MP

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ed the Murdall Family law firm forced Alex to resign.

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They discovered the missing money, not just the seven hundred

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ninety two thousand dollars the CFO confronted him about in

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June millions more stolen over years from clients, from settlements,

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from the firm itself. The Murdall family law firm, founded

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by Randolph Senior in nineteen ten, announced their own partner

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had lied and stole from us. The next day, September fourth,

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Alex drove to Old Salkahatchie Road in Hampden County, called

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Curtis Eddie. Smith asked him to come to the road.

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When Smith arrived, Alex allegedly handed him a gun and

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told him to shoot him in the head. Alex's plan

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die on the side of the road, make it look

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like a random shooting, maybe retaliation for Paul's boat crash.

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Buster collects the ten million dollar life insurance policy. The

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financial crimes die with Alex. Nobody finds out. Smith pulled

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the trigger. The bullet hit Alex in the head, fractured

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his skull, caused a brain bleed, but didn't kill him.

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Alex called nine one one, originally told dispatchers he was

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changing a flat tire when someone in a passing truck

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shot him a random attack. Then the story fell apart.

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Within days, Alex admitted the truth to SLED. He'd arranged

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his own murder, an insurance fraud scheme, a suicide by proxy.

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He was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud,

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and filing a false police report. Smith was charged with

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assisted suicide, assault and battery, pointing and presenting a firearm,

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insurance fraud, and conspiracy. He later claimed he was set

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up that Alex confronted him and tried to get Smith

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to shoot him, and the gun went off accidentally during

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a struggle. After the shooting, Alex check himse into a

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drug rehabilitation facility, said he'd been battling opioid addiction for years.

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His attorneys framed everything through the lens of addiction, the

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financial crimes addiction, the lies addiction, the fake suicide addiction.

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But addiction doesn't explain stealing from your dead housekeeper's children.

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Addiction doesn't explain creating a fake bank account called Forge

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to funnel insurance money away from Gloria Sadderfield's suns. Addiction

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doesn't explain the systematic, years long embezzlement from dozens of clients.

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The financial crimes were staggering state charges over one hundred

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counts breach of trust, money laundering, computer crimes, forgery, tax evasion.

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November twenty twenty three, Alex pleaded guilty to all twenty

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two state charges, sentenced to twenty seven years. Federal charges

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twenty two counts of money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud,

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and conspiracy. Alex pleaded guilty April twenty twenty four, sentenced

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to forty years in federal prison and ordered to pay

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eight point seven million dollars in restitution to his victims,

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including Gloria Saderfield's family, all sentences running concurrently with the

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murder convictions, meaning it didn't matter. Alex was already serving

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two consecutive life terms without parole. The financial sentences were

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just additional weight on a coffin that was already sealed,

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or so everyone thought. Three days after the murders, Alex's father,

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Randolph Murdau the Third, died peacefully at home age eighty one.

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The patriarch of the dynasty received the Order of the Palmetto,

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South Carolina's highest civilian honor, just three years earlier, died

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without knowing his son would be convicted of murder. Alex's

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brother Randy told reporters after the verdict that he believed

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Alex hadn't told the whole truth about what he knew

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about the killings. Even the family had doubts. The law

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firm renamed itself the Parker Law Group, scrubbed the Murdaw

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name from everything. Eighty seven years of dynasty gone, Your

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tax dollars at work. A family that controlled criminal prosecutions

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for nearly a century produced a son who committed more

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crimes than most of the people they ever prosecuted. September

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twenty twenty three, six months after the conviction, Alex Murdaw's attorneys,

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held a press conference and dropped a bombshell. They had

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evidence that Collington County Clerk of Court, Rebecca Becky Hill,

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had tampered with the jury. Becky Hill, the clerk who

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managed the courtroom during Alex's six week trial, who interacted

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with jurors daily, who had access to them in ways

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no one else did. She allegedly used that access to

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pressure them toward a guilty vers verdict. The allegations Hill

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made comments to jurors suggesting Alex was guilty, told them

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not to be fooled by his testimony, pressured them to

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reach a quick verdict, and she did all of this

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while writing a book about the case, behind the Doors

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of Justice, The Murdaw Murders, positioning herself to profit from

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a guilty verdict that would make her book more sensational.

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Murdaw's attorneys, Harputlian and Griffin requested an evidentiary hearing to

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determine whether there should be a new trial. They also

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sent a letter to the U. S Attorney for the

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district of South Carolina requesting a federal investigation into Hill's conduct.

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The South Carolina Supreme Court removed Judge Clifton Newman from

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all Murdaw matters at the defense's request, arguing he couldn't

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be impartial since Hill worked in his courtroom. Retired Chief

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Justice Gene Toll was appointed to handle the new trial motion.

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January twenty twenty four, the evidentiary hearing, Justice Toll heard

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from Hill and from jurors. Multiple jurors described interactions with

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Hill that raised questions. One juror said Hill made comments

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that made Murdaw seem guilty. Justice Toll's ruling was fascinating.

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She found Becky Hill was not a credible witness didn't

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believe Hill's denials about inappropriate contact with jurors. But Toll

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also concluded that Hill's comments, whatever they were, did not

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have a material impact on the jury's verdict. The evidence

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against Alex was overwhelming. The jurors would have convicted regardless

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of anything Hill said. New Trial denied. But the story

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didn't end there because s l e D, at the

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request of Attorney General Alan Wilson, was investigating Hills separately.

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March twenty twenty four, Hill resigned from her position as

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Collaton County Clerk of Court, stood with her attorney, State

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Representative Justin Bamberg, and submitted her resignation to the governor.

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Ma teenth, twenty twenty five, Becky Hill was arrested three

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felony charges obstruction of justice, misconduct in office, perjury. She

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had pleaded guilty to showing a reporter sealed court exhibits

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from the Murdau trial and then lying about it under oath.

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A court clerk charged with felonies for conduct during the

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most high profile trial in South Carolina history. This is

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the person who was supposed to ensure the integrity of

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the proceedings. Hill's arrest revived Murdaw's appeal efforts. His attorneys

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had filed a one hundred thirty two page appeal with

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the South Carolina Supreme Court in December twenty twenty four,

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arguing not just the Becky Hill jury tampering, but also

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that improper evidence was admitted at trial. The state initially

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asked for a ninety day extension to respond, then asked

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for another one hundred twenty day extension. Filed their brief

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in August twenty twenty five. Murdaw's team filed their reply

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in September twenty twenty five, then February eleventh, twenty twenty six,

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Eleven days ago, the South Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments.

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Dick Harputlien stood before the justices and described Hill's conduct

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as egregious. He cited Aaron Burr's eighteen oh seven treason trial,

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one of the earliest American cases addressing jury tampering, arguing

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that the precedent was clear. When a court officer improperly

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influences jurors, the defendant is denied a fair trial period.

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Nobody wants to do this again less than we do,

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Haputlien told the court, But that's not the issue. It's

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not about how much trouble it's going to be. The

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second half of the hearing focused on the trial evidence itself.

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Approximately half of the one hundred thirty two page appeal

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challenged the evidence used to convict Alex. Harputlien attacked a

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sled investigator who testified about tossing an iPhone around his

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office to test how Maggie's phone might have been damaged,

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calling the methodology absurd. He challenged a firearms examiner's testimony

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about what he called untested and unprecedented technology. But the

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Justices pressed prosecutor crichtoned Waters hard too. They questioned his

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use of financial crimes evidence during the murder trial, specifically

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the testimony of Tony Saderfield, Gloria's sun, who told jurors

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how Alex stole from his family. The justices suggested this

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testimony was extraneous, unnecessary, potentially prejudicial. Waters defended it. You

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can't understand the boiling point if you don't understand the

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slow burn leading up to that, argued, all the financial

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evidence was necessary to show the pressure that pushed Alex

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to murder his wife and son. The Justices didn't give

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a timeline for their ruling. Could be weeks, could be months.

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The entire case hangs in the balance. Here's the reality.

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Even if Alex gets a new trial, the evidence against

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him is devastating. The kennel video, the changed clothes, the

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law eyes about his whereabouts, the financial motive, the cell

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phone data, the twenty two minute window. A new trial

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doesn't mean acquittal. It means doing this all over again.

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But if the Supreme Court finds that Becky Hill's conduct

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and the admitted evidence violated Alex's constitutional rights. They have

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no choice. The integrity of the justice system demands it.

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You can't have a court clerk pressuring jurors and writing

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books about the defendant's guilt, even when the defendant is

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Alex Murdau. Make it make sense. The man who corrupted

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the justice system for decades is now arguing the justice

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system was corrupted against him. We'll be right back with

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the cultural phenomenon. How Netflix, HBO, and Hulu turned the

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Murdaw case into America's true crime obsession and the question

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everyone's asking what happens next? Cultural impact and what's next

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seven minutes. The Murdall case didn't just dominate courtrooms, it

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dominated screens. HBO Max was first with Low Country The

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Murdaw Dynasty in twenty twenty two, before the murder trial

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even began investigation. Discovery produced Murdaw Murders Deadly Dynasty. Then

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Netflix launched Murdaw Murders a Southern Scandal in twenty twenty three,

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which became one of their most watched true crime series.

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Lifetime made Murdaw Murders the Movie, and in twenty twenty five,

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Hulu released Murdaw Death in the Family podcasts proliferated. The

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Murdaw Murders podcast by journalists Mandy Mattney and Liz Ferrell

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was one of the most downloaded true crime podcasts in

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the country. Court TV broadcasts the entire trial gavel to gavel,

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millions watched daily. Why did this case captivate America because

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it had everything. A legal dynasty, generational power, a boat

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crash that killed a teenager, a mysterious housekeeper death, millions

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stolen from vulnerable clients, an opioid addiction, a botched suicide

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for hire, a double murder at a hunting lodge called Mozelle,

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a fifty second video of a dog that cracked the case,

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a six week trial, a verdict in under three hours,

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and a corrupt court clerk who may have tampered with

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the jury. Its Southern Gothic brought to life. William Faulkner

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couldn't write this, and the case keeps generating headlines. Buster Murdau,

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Alex's surviving son, recently settled a lawsuit against Warner Brothers

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and other producers of a documentary about the family terms undisclosed. Buster,

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who attended every day of his father's trial and testified

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for the defense has been rebuilding his life. He married

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his longtime girlfriend in twenty twenty five. Meanwhile, the connected

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cases continue. The Stephen Smith investigation, a Hampton Case County

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teenager found dead on a road in twenty fifteen, was

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reopened by SLED based on evidence found during the Murdaw

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murder investigation. Smith was found dead just six miles from

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his home. Originally ruled a hit and run, investigators now

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believe his body was staged. Rumors have long connected the

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case to the Murdaw family, though no charges have been filed.

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The Mallory Beach wrongful death litigation against the Murdaw estate

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resulted in settlements. Connor Cook, the boat crash survivor Alex

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allegedly tried to frame, filed his own lawsuit pmped. Now

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the Parker Law Group has moved on. The Murdaw name

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has been scrubbed, but the firm's reputation took a devastating hit.

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How do you represent clients when your most famous partner

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stole millions from his Alex Murdaw sits in prison multiple facilities,

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federal and state, serving two consecutive life sentences for murder,

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plus concurrent sentences for financial crime times. His legal team

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continues fighting. The South Carolina Supreme Court will rule on

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his appeal. The options affirm the conviction, and Alex dies

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in prison. Order a new trial and the entire circus

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starts again, or some middle ground, perhaps ordering a new

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hearing on specific issues. Legal experts are divided. The Becky

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Hill situation is genuinely troubling. A court clerk charged with

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felonies for conduct during the trial she managed. That's unprecedented.

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But Justice Toll already found that Hill's conduct didn't materially

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affect the verdict. The Supreme Court would need to disagree

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with that finding. The evidentiary arguments are a tougher cell

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for the defense. Trial judges have wide discretion in admitting evidence.

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The financial crimes testimony was ruled admissible by Judge Newman

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after extensive argument. Appellate courts rarely overturn those rulings, but

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you never know. Stranger things have happened in this case,

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much stranger things. Here's what I know. Alex Murdall murdered

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his wife and son. The evidence is overwhelming. A fifty

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second video changed clothes, lies upon lies upon lies, financial

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motive twenty two minutes even his own brother said he

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didn't tell the whole truth. Whether he gets a new

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trial is a question of legal process. Whether he did

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it isn't a question at all. The dynasty that prosecuted

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criminals for eighty seven years produced the most notorious criminal

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in South Carolina history. The family that was the law

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became the defendant. The courthouse where Murdall portraits hung on

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the walls became the place where the last Murdall was convicted.

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Truth is stranger than fiction. That's Part two of our

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Alex Murdaw Special. A legal dynasty spanning eighty seven years,

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A fourth generation son who stole millions, staged his own shooting,

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and murdered his wife and son. A six week trial

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that captivated sixty million Americans, guilty in under three hours,

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two life sentences, then a corrupt court clerk charged with

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three felonies, a one hundred thirty two page appeal, and

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the South Carolina Supreme Court hearing arguments just eleven days

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ago on whether to grant a new trial. Netflix made

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it a series, HBO made it a documentary, Hulu made

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their own court TV broadcast every moment. The Murdaw case

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became America's true crime obsession, and it's still not over.

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Mallory Beach was nineteen years old, killed in a drunk

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boat crash on Alex Murdaw's boat driven by Alex Murdaw's son.

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She should be twenty six today. Gloria Sadderfield was fifty

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seven years old. The Murdaw family housekeeper for over twenty years,

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died under suspicious circumstances. Her sons were robbed of their

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insurance money by the man their mother served. Maggie Murdaw

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was fifty two years old, texted her friend that Alex

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sound fishy drove to Mozelle Anyway, shot to death near

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the dog kennels. Paul Murdall was twenty two years old

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facing felony charges, but he was filming a video of

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his friend's dog when his world ended. Four lives, one

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family's corruption, and a justice system that's still trying to

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sort out the wreckage. Someone has to say their names.

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I'm reed, Carter, this is celebrity trials. We covered Alex

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Murdaw because sometimes the people who are supposed to protect

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the system are the ones who destroy it from the inside.

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Rest in peace, Mallory, Rest in peace. Gloria Rest in peace, Maggie,

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Rest in Peace, Paul. This is celebrity trials