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

0:03 Caaleroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter, Sunday, February twenty second, twenty twenty six. Yesterday we covered the rise and fall of the Murdaw dynasty, eighty seven years of legal power in South Carolina's Low Country. Then Alex Murdaw murdered his wife Maggie and son Paul at their hunting estate. Convicted in less than three hours, two consecutive life sentences, no possibility of parole today. What happened after the verdict? And trust me, it's just as insane as the trial itself because Alex Murdaw wasn't done making headlines, not even close.

0:45 Before the murder trial even began, Alex had already staged his own shooting. Hired his former client and alleged drug dealer, Curtis Eddie Smith to shoot him in the head on a rural highway so his surviving son, Buster could collect a ten million dollar life insurance policy. Smith pulled the trigger, bullet, fractured Alex's skull, caused a brain bleed, but didn't kill him. Then came the financial crime reckoning over one hundred charges across state and federal indictments, money laundering wire fraud, bank fraud, breach of trust, stealing from clients, stealing from his dead housekeeper's family, stealing from his own law firm. Alex pleaded guilty to everything twenty seven years for state financial crimes, forty years federal eight point seven million dollars in restitution, all running concurrently with his two life sentences for murder.

1:38 Alex Murdau wasn't just going to prison, He was being buried alive in convictions. But then something unexpected happened. The court clerk who managed his murder trial, Becky Hill, was accused of jury tampering, of pressuring jurors to vote guilty, of writing a book about the case while the trial was still happening, of using her position to influence the verse and now eleven days ago, on February eleventh, Alex Murdaw's attorneys stood before the South Carolina Supreme Court and argued their client deserves a new trial, citing Aaron Burr's eighteen oh seven treason trial, arguing that Becky Hill's behavior denied Alex his constitutional right to a fair trial. Nobody wants a new trial, not even his own attorneys. Dick Harputlian told the justices. We spent months getting ready for this trial, six weeks trying the trial, more months finding jurors to talk to. Nobody wants to do this again, less than we do. But that's not the issue. I'm read Carter. This is celebrity trials today. The corrupt clerk, the botched suicide, the financial collapse, the appeal, and the question America is asking, will Alex Murdog get a new trial?

2:52 Part two of two. Let me take you back to September twenty twenty one, three months after the murders, before Alex was charged. September third, twenty twenty one, p MP ed the Murdall Family law firm forced Alex to resign. They discovered the missing money, not just the seven hundred ninety two thousand dollars the CFO confronted him about in June millions more stolen over years from clients, from settlements, from the firm itself. The Murdall family law firm, founded by Randolph Senior in nineteen ten, announced their own partner had lied and stole from us. The next day, September fourth, Alex drove to Old Salkahatchie Road in Hampden County, called Curtis Eddie. Smith asked him to come to the road.

3:46 When Smith arrived, Alex allegedly handed him a gun and told him to shoot him in the head. Alex's plan die on the side of the road, make it look like a random shooting, maybe retaliation for Paul's boat crash. Buster collects the ten million dollar life insurance policy. The financial crimes die with Alex. Nobody finds out. Smith pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Alex in the head, fractured his skull, caused a brain bleed, but didn't kill him. Alex called nine one one, originally told dispatchers he was changing a flat tire when someone in a passing truck shot him a random attack. Then the story fell apart. Within days, Alex admitted the truth to SLED. He'd arranged his own murder, an insurance fraud scheme, a suicide by proxy.

4:34 He was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. Smith was charged with assisted suicide, assault and battery, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy. He later claimed he was set up that Alex confronted him and tried to get Smith to shoot him, and the gun went off accidentally during a struggle. After the shooting, Alex check himse into a drug rehabilitation facility, said he'd been battling opioid addiction for years. His attorneys framed everything through the lens of addiction, the financial crimes addiction, the lies addiction, the fake suicide addiction.

5:16 But addiction doesn't explain stealing from your dead housekeeper's children. Addiction doesn't explain creating a fake bank account called Forge to funnel insurance money away from Gloria Sadderfield's suns. Addiction doesn't explain the systematic, years long embezzlement from dozens of clients. The financial crimes were staggering state charges over one hundred counts breach of trust, money laundering, computer crimes, forgery, tax evasion. November twenty twenty three, Alex pleaded guilty to all twenty two state charges, sentenced to twenty seven years. Federal charges twenty two counts of money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy. Alex pleaded guilty April twenty twenty four, sentenced to forty years in federal prison and ordered to pay eight point seven million dollars in restitution to his victims, including Gloria Saderfield's family, all sentences running concurrently with the murder convictions, meaning it didn't matter. Alex was already serving two consecutive life terms without parole. The financial sentences were just additional weight on a coffin that was already sealed, or so everyone thought. Three days after the murders, Alex's father, Randolph Murdau the Third, died peacefully at home age eighty one.

6:38 The patriarch of the dynasty received the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest civilian honor, just three years earlier, died without knowing his son would be convicted of murder. Alex's brother Randy told reporters after the verdict that he believed Alex hadn't told the whole truth about what he knew about the killings. Even the family had doubts. The law firm renamed itself the Parker Law Group, scrubbed the Murdaw name from everything. Eighty seven years of dynasty gone, Your tax dollars at work. A family that controlled criminal prosecutions for nearly a century produced a son who committed more crimes than most of the people they ever prosecuted. September twenty twenty three, six months after the conviction, Alex Murdaw's attorneys, held a press conference and dropped a bombshell. They had evidence that Collington County Clerk of Court, Rebecca Becky Hill, had tampered with the jury. Becky Hill, the clerk who managed the courtroom during Alex's six week trial, who interacted with jurors daily, who had access to them in ways no one else did. She allegedly used that access to pressure them toward a guilty vers verdict. The allegations Hill made comments to jurors suggesting Alex was guilty, told them not to be fooled by his testimony, pressured them to

8:09 reach a quick verdict, and she did all of this while writing a book about the case, behind the Doors of Justice, The Murdaw Murders, positioning herself to profit from a guilty verdict that would make her book more sensational. Murdaw's attorneys, Harputlian and Griffin requested an evidentiary hearing to determine whether there should be a new trial. They also sent a letter to the U. S Attorney for the district of South Carolina requesting a federal investigation into Hill's conduct. The South Carolina Supreme Court removed Judge Clifton Newman from all Murdaw matters at the defense's request, arguing he couldn't be impartial since Hill worked in his courtroom. Retired Chief Justice Gene Toll was appointed to handle the new trial motion.

8:54 January twenty twenty four, the evidentiary hearing, Justice Toll heard from Hill and from jurors. Multiple jurors described interactions with Hill that raised questions. One juror said Hill made comments that made Murdaw seem guilty. Justice Toll's ruling was fascinating. She found Becky Hill was not a credible witness didn't believe Hill's denials about inappropriate contact with jurors. But Toll also concluded that Hill's comments, whatever they were, did not have a material impact on the jury's verdict. The evidence against Alex was overwhelming. The jurors would have convicted regardless of anything Hill said. New Trial denied. But the story didn't end there because s l e D, at the request of Attorney General Alan Wilson, was investigating Hills separately.

9:46 March twenty twenty four, Hill resigned from her position as Collaton County Clerk of Court, stood with her attorney, State Representative Justin Bamberg, and submitted her resignation to the governor. Ma teenth, twenty twenty five, Becky Hill was arrested three felony charges obstruction of justice, misconduct in office, perjury. She had pleaded guilty to showing a reporter sealed court exhibits from the Murdau trial and then lying about it under oath. A court clerk charged with felonies for conduct during the most high profile trial in South Carolina history. This is the person who was supposed to ensure the integrity of the proceedings. Hill's arrest revived Murdaw's appeal efforts. His attorneys had filed a one hundred thirty two page appeal with the South Carolina Supreme Court in December twenty twenty four, arguing not just the Becky Hill jury tampering, but also that improper evidence was admitted at trial. The state initially asked for a ninety day extension to respond, then asked for another one hundred twenty day extension. Filed their brief in August twenty twenty five. Murdaw's team filed their reply in September twenty twenty five, then February eleventh, twenty twenty six, Eleven days ago, the South Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments.

11:06 Dick Harputlien stood before the justices and described Hill's conduct as egregious. He cited Aaron Burr's eighteen oh seven treason trial, one of the earliest American cases addressing jury tampering, arguing that the precedent was clear. When a court officer improperly influences jurors, the defendant is denied a fair trial period. Nobody wants to do this again less than we do, Haputlien told the court, But that's not the issue. It's not about how much trouble it's going to be. The second half of the hearing focused on the trial evidence itself. Approximately half of the one hundred thirty two page appeal challenged the evidence used to convict Alex. Harputlien attacked a sled investigator who testified about tossing an iPhone around his office to test how Maggie's phone might have been damaged, calling the methodology absurd. He challenged a firearms examiner's testimony about what he called untested and unprecedented technology. But the Justices pressed prosecutor crichtoned Waters hard too. They questioned his use of financial crimes evidence during the murder trial, specifically the testimony of Tony Saderfield, Gloria's sun, who told jurors how Alex stole from his family. The justices suggested this testimony was extraneous, unnecessary, potentially prejudicial. Waters defended it. You can't understand the boiling point if you don't understand the slow burn leading up to that, argued, all the financial

12:38 evidence was necessary to show the pressure that pushed Alex to murder his wife and son. The Justices didn't give a timeline for their ruling. Could be weeks, could be months. The entire case hangs in the balance. Here's the reality. Even if Alex gets a new trial, the evidence against him is devastating. The kennel video, the changed clothes, the law eyes about his whereabouts, the financial motive, the cell phone data, the twenty two minute window. A new trial doesn't mean acquittal. It means doing this all over again. But if the Supreme Court finds that Becky Hill's conduct and the admitted evidence violated Alex's constitutional rights. They have no choice. The integrity of the justice system demands it.

13:21 You can't have a court clerk pressuring jurors and writing books about the defendant's guilt, even when the defendant is Alex Murdau. Make it make sense. The man who corrupted the justice system for decades is now arguing the justice system was corrupted against him. We'll be right back with the cultural phenomenon. How Netflix, HBO, and Hulu turned the Murdaw case into America's true crime obsession and the question everyone's asking what happens next? Cultural impact and what's next seven minutes. The Murdall case didn't just dominate courtrooms, it dominated screens. HBO Max was first with Low Country The Murdaw Dynasty in twenty twenty two, before the murder trial even began investigation. Discovery produced Murdaw Murders Deadly Dynasty. Then Netflix launched Murdaw Murders a Southern Scandal in twenty twenty three, which became one of their most watched true crime series.

14:32 Lifetime made Murdaw Murders the Movie, and in twenty twenty five, Hulu released Murdaw Death in the Family podcasts proliferated. The Murdaw Murders podcast by journalists Mandy Mattney and Liz Ferrell was one of the most downloaded true crime podcasts in the country. Court TV broadcasts the entire trial gavel to gavel, millions watched daily. Why did this case captivate America because it had everything. A legal dynasty, generational power, a boat crash that killed a teenager, a mysterious housekeeper death, millions stolen from vulnerable clients, an opioid addiction, a botched suicide for hire, a double murder at a hunting lodge called Mozelle, a fifty second video of a dog that cracked the case, a six week trial, a verdict in under three hours, and a corrupt court clerk who may have tampered with the jury. Its Southern Gothic brought to life. William Faulkner couldn't write this, and the case keeps generating headlines. Buster Murdau, Alex's surviving son, recently settled a lawsuit against Warner Brothers and other producers of a documentary about the family terms undisclosed. Buster, who attended every day of his father's trial and testified for the defense has been rebuilding his life. He married his longtime girlfriend in twenty twenty five. Meanwhile, the connected cases continue. The Stephen Smith investigation, a Hampton Case County teenager found dead on a road in twenty fifteen, was

16:03 reopened by SLED based on evidence found during the Murdaw murder investigation. Smith was found dead just six miles from his home. Originally ruled a hit and run, investigators now believe his body was staged. Rumors have long connected the case to the Murdaw family, though no charges have been filed. The Mallory Beach wrongful death litigation against the Murdaw estate resulted in settlements. Connor Cook, the boat crash survivor Alex allegedly tried to frame, filed his own lawsuit pmped. Now the Parker Law Group has moved on. The Murdaw name has been scrubbed, but the firm's reputation took a devastating hit.

16:45 How do you represent clients when your most famous partner stole millions from his Alex Murdaw sits in prison multiple facilities, federal and state, serving two consecutive life sentences for murder, plus concurrent sentences for financial crime times. His legal team continues fighting. The South Carolina Supreme Court will rule on his appeal. The options affirm the conviction, and Alex dies in prison. Order a new trial and the entire circus starts again, or some middle ground, perhaps ordering a new hearing on specific issues. Legal experts are divided. The Becky Hill situation is genuinely troubling. A court clerk charged with felonies for conduct during the trial she managed. That's unprecedented.

17:31 But Justice Toll already found that Hill's conduct didn't materially affect the verdict. The Supreme Court would need to disagree with that finding. The evidentiary arguments are a tougher cell for the defense. Trial judges have wide discretion in admitting evidence. The financial crimes testimony was ruled admissible by Judge Newman after extensive argument. Appellate courts rarely overturn those rulings, but you never know. Stranger things have happened in this case, much stranger things. Here's what I know. Alex Murdall murdered his wife and son. The evidence is overwhelming. A fifty second video changed clothes, lies upon lies upon lies, financial motive twenty two minutes even his own brother said he didn't tell the whole truth. Whether he gets a new trial is a question of legal process. Whether he did it isn't a question at all. The dynasty that prosecuted criminals for eighty seven years produced the most notorious criminal in South Carolina history. The family that was the law became the defendant. The courthouse where Murdall portraits hung on the walls became the place where the last Murdall was convicted.

18:42 Truth is stranger than fiction. That's Part two of our Alex Murdaw Special. A legal dynasty spanning eighty seven years, A fourth generation son who stole millions, staged his own shooting, and murdered his wife and son. A six week trial that captivated sixty million Americans, guilty in under three hours, two life sentences, then a corrupt court clerk charged with three felonies, a one hundred thirty two page appeal, and the South Carolina Supreme Court hearing arguments just eleven days ago on whether to grant a new trial. Netflix made it a series, HBO made it a documentary, Hulu made their own court TV broadcast every moment. The Murdaw case became America's true crime obsession, and it's still not over.

19:32 Mallory Beach was nineteen years old, killed in a drunk boat crash on Alex Murdaw's boat driven by Alex Murdaw's son. She should be twenty six today. Gloria Sadderfield was fifty seven years old. The Murdaw family housekeeper for over twenty years, died under suspicious circumstances. Her sons were robbed of their insurance money by the man their mother served. Maggie Murdaw was fifty two years old, texted her friend that Alex sound fishy drove to Mozelle Anyway, shot to death near the dog kennels. Paul Murdall was twenty two years old facing felony charges, but he was filming a video of his friend's dog when his world ended. Four lives, one family's corruption, and a justice system that's still trying to sort out the wreckage. Someone has to say their names.

20:24 I'm reed, Carter, this is celebrity trials. We covered Alex Murdaw because sometimes the people who are supposed to protect the system are the ones who destroy it from the inside. Rest in peace, Mallory, Rest in peace. Gloria Rest in peace, Maggie, Rest in Peace, Paul. This is celebrity trials