‘Criminal investigation’ delays Becky Hill’s ethics hearing on Murdaugh trial allegations

A long-scheduled S.C. Ethics Commission hearing into 76 alleged state ethics violations by Becky Hill — the clerk of court during Alex Murdaugh's murder trial — has been canceled.

The hearing, scheduled for Dec. 19, has been indefinitely postponed "due to a pending criminal investigation undertaken by the Attorney General's office," according to a document released by the commission.

The hearing would have given the public a detailed glimpse of the allegations and aired any defenses Hill might have.

The document said Hill's lawyers had asked for the commission to "hold this matter in abeyance" in light of the pending criminal investigation.

"Commission staff stated no objection," the document said.

The commission and the Attorney General's office declined comment. Will Lewis, Hill's lawyer, was not available for comment.

It is not unusual for the Ethics Commission to put its own investigations on hold and defer to the Attorney General's office, a legal source familiar with the commission's procedures said.

For one thing, it prevents an accused official from giving up their right against self-incrimination in an ethics proceeding while possibly wanting to invoke it in the Attorney General's criminal probe. For another, the Attorney General's office and state investigators have far greater resources than the Ethics Commission, the source said.

Last May, the ethics commission announced it had found probable cause in 76 different incidents to believe that Hill, former Colleton County clerk of court, repeatedly misused her position to enrich herself and promote a book she wrote on the Murdaugh murder trial.

Hill, who resigned her $101,256-a-year post in March, received national publicity as the the clerk of court at Murdaugh's six-week trial in the winter of 2023. She wrote a quickie book — "Behind the Doors of Justice," which came out in mid-summer 2023 just five months after Murdaugh was found guilty. In the book, she wrote about her insider experiences at Murdaugh's trial. Murdaugh is now serving two life sentences for murdering his wife, Maggie, and son Paul.

As clerk of court, Hill had behind-the-scenes access to jurors, prosecutors in Attorney General Alan Wilson's office, Judge Clifton Newman and others during the trial.

Wilson, who attended the six-week trial, publicly praised Hill for her help at the trial's end and affectionately called her "Becky Boo."

Perhaps because of Wilson's public praise of Hill, the Attorney General's office asked Rick Hubbard , the widely-respected 11th Judicial Circuit Solicitor and president of the S.C. Solicitors' Association, to help handle the case. Hubbard is assisted by his deputy solicitor, Suzanne Mayes. Both Mayes and Hubbard are veterans of numerous high profile complex criminal investigations and trials.

However, Wilson did not give Hubbard and Mayes complete independence and made it clear in a letter that his office is still in charge. In a letter to Hubbard, Wilson said that Assistant Attorney General Ben Aplin "has been assigned to assist you, and, of course, Chief Deputy Attorney General Jeff Young and Criminal Division Deputy Attorney General Don Zelenka will remain involved in any decisions."

Alleged ethics violations Hill faces include:

Using her position to direct a $2,500 bonus to herself in September 2022.

Using her position to direct a $2,500 bonus to herself in March 2023.

Using her position to negotiate the use of the Colleton County courthouse — apparently with a media company — in exchange for the promotion of her book.

Using her position to direct payments of hundreds of dollars in county funds to a company with which she had a business relationship, Community Innovations.

Using her position to buy hundreds of dollars worth of office decorations and presents for employees for birthdays, Valentine's Day, Easter and Mother's Day.

Using her position to buy hundreds of dollars worth of meals and gifts for other occasions for courthouse and judicial staffs.

Ethics violations are not the only controversy Hill is embroiled in.

After her book was published, Murdaugh lawyers Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian alleged that Hill had abused her position by influencing some jurors to return a quick guilty verdict so she could hype sales of her book.

Hill denied the allegation. After a hearing in which j ury tampering allegations against Hill were aired, Circuit Judge Jean Toal — a retired S.C. Supreme Court chief justice serving on senior status — ruled that although Hill may have made improper comments to jurors, there was not enough evidence to show that her comments had brought about the guilty verdict.

Last December, Hill admitted she plagiarized a portion of her book from an unpublished draft of an in-depth story on the Murdaugh murder saga by a BBC reporter. Her book was removed from publication. A co-author in the venture had no knowledge of her plagiarism, which although not a crime, is a significant transgression in the literary world.

Hill seemed an unlikely prospect for so many controversies. At Murdaugh's six-week trial, she was a popular helpful presence with lawyers, the media and the public alike, always willing to assist in sorting out any kind of problem.