Colleton County Court of Clerk Rebecca Hill and local writer Neil Gordon’s book titled “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders” is stirring a national controversy.
At least one of the authors, Hill, will have to appear as a witness in the pending appeal of the verdict in the sensational murder case.
Alex Murdaugh, 55, was found guilty of the June 2021 murders of his wife Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22.
Murdaugh was sentenced to two life sentences and later given 27 more years in a separate trial dealing with his admitted financial fraud.
The book, which was released in July, was promoted by Court TV’s Nancy Grace as: “From beginning to end, here is the true story of the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial from a courthouse insider, who witnessed it all…and more!”
Now, six months after the release, the book is gaining notoriety with allegations flying that Hill committed jury tampering, used her government position for financial gain and committed plagiarism.
According to The State newspaper, emails obtained through a freedom of information request show that Hill was using her government issued email account to solicit possible co-writers as early as November 2022.
Those same emails uncovered evidence that some portions of the book had been lifted and copied from the work of BBC reporter Holly Honerich, according to The State.
Once the allegations of plagiarism surfaced, Hill admitted to the theft and claimed that she was under pressure due to deadlines. The pair did not have a standard publishing company contract as the book is self-published through Amazon under a “print-on-demand” arrangement.
According to the Amazon website, authors can expect a 72-hour turn-around time for publication once an author has submitted material. The website makes it clear that Amazon is a publishing service, not a traditional publishing house.
Through her attorney, Hill issued the following statement: “Ms. Hill accepts full responsibility for this unfortunate lapse in judgment and has personally reached out to Ms. Honderich to express her sincere apologies.”
According to Columbia County Assistant District Attorney Natalie Paine, while the plagiarism charges are serious, the accusations of jury tampering and theft of government services could land Hill in the same cell that Murdaugh occupied during his murder trial.
“No one other than the judge is to have any contact with members of the jury, no one. So, if she somehow got a bailiff to sort of look the other way and made contact, not only does that open the door for the state to have to pay for another trial, but she could be charged with felonies,” Paine said.
According to the Post and Courier newspaper, Hill currently has two complaints lodged against her with the South Carolina Ethics Commission and was forced to hand over her city issued cell phone to authorities with the State Law Enforcement Division. The newspaper has also reported that Hill’s son, Jeffery Hill, who was the technology director for the county, was arrested and charged with wiretapping his boss.
A hearing is set for Jan. 29 in Richland County to hear motions on whether Murdaugh deserves a new trial.
Gordon, who is the publisher of the website Augusta Business Daily, declined to comment for this article, but he has been quoted in several national news media outlets as stating that he was “blindsided” by the plagiarism accusations and that he was immediately discontinuing the book for sale.
However, the web page advertising the book remains on Amazon with no indication sales of the book have been suspended, no disclaimer stating that the book contains copyrighted materials used without permission and the website takes the user all the way through the sales process, so the book remains available to the public.
While Gordon does not want to speak publicly about the book or his association with Hill, he has been quick to lash out at critics.
South Carolina attorney Lori Murray, a TikTok video producer with the handle of “Lawyer Lori,” released a video where she accused Gordon and his wife, Melissa Gordon, of colluding with Hill while the trial was underway.
Murray stated to her 596,100 followers that Melissa Gordon, who acted as photographer of the book project, was granted special access to attend the trial and was given an unauthorized photo of Murdaugh sitting in his jail cell. Murray claims that Melissa Gordon then posted the photo on Facebook.
Gordon responded by filing a complaint against Murray with the South Carolina Bar Association claiming Murray violated her oath of civility and truthfulness. Gordon told The Daily Beast that his wife was “victimized that Lori was talking falsely about her and so many saw it.”
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
