Colleton Court Clerk Becky Hill announces resignation amid state investigations

COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - Embattled Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, whose tenure was mired in scandal following Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial, resigned from her position on Monday, and said she will not seek reelection.

Hill, flanked by her attorney Justin Bamberg, made this announcement outside the courthouse in Walterboro where Murdaugh’s trial captivated the nation last year, and catapulted her into the spotlight.

“My resignation as Clerk of Court will be effective immediately,” Hill said. “I will now be able to focus on being a wife, a mother and a grandmother.”

Hill said she is looking forward to making room for other Republicans in Colleton County to run for the clerk position.

“It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as your Colleton County Clerk of Court over these past four years,” she said.

Bamberg said this decision is not related to any new development in state investigations into her.

“Having lived in small-town South Carolina my entire life, I can see where people’s minds may run after an announcement such as this,” he said. “So let me be extremely clear: today is not in response whatsoever to anything going on with any investigation or anything of that nature.”

The reasoning behind the resignation, according to Bamberg, was to ensure the citizens of Colleton County could make informed decisions about the clerk of court election without distractions.

Hill rose to prominence during Murdaugh’s high-profile, six-week trial as the affable court clerk, though controversy has surrounded her in recent months.

Two investigations by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) are looking into whether she tampered with jurors in the Murdaugh case, and whether she used her elected position for personal gain.

Bamberg emphasized that Hill refuses to address any questions regarding investigations by SLED or the State Ethics Commission into her conduct.

“If anybody asks, I’m going to dodge it,” Bamberg said.

In March 2023, Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the shooting deaths of his son, Paul, and wife, Maggie.

Murdaugh’s attorneys alleged that Hill tried to sway jurors towards a guilty verdict to help sell copies of her book, “Behind The Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders,” which had its publishing halted after a separate plagiarism scandal.

Monday was the first time Hill has spoken publicly since Murdaugh’s January retrial hearing.

During that hearing, retired South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal ruled that Hill’s interactions with jurors did not lead to Murdaugh’s conviction, but that her comments were inappropriate.

Toal said Hill was lured by the “siren call of celebrity.”

“I find that the clerk of court is not completely credible as a witness,” she said.

Neil Gordon, Becky Hill’s co-author, said he was interviewed on Friday by a SLED, who expressed concern that Hill used her office for personal gain by conducting book gs and interviews on county time.

“I sincerely hope her resignation lessens any potential action taken against her, and that it restores public trust in the office of clerk of court,” he said in a statement.

In an interview, Gordon stated that he does not want Hill to be prosecuted.

“I just think if she had to do some things over with different experiences, she may have made some different choices,” he said. “I don’t believe anything she did was malicious whatsoever. I think that it was an incredibly huge job that she undertook as a relatively inexperienced clerk of court, and then decided to want to write a memoir, and I think it was just a very difficult time period.”

Following Hill’s resignation, a SLED spokesperson said the state investigations into her are “active and ongoing,” but declined to comment further.

Hill served as Colleton County Clerk of Court since 2020 when she was elected with more than 55 percent of the vote.

Colleton County Probate Judge Arthur Utsey will take over for Hill until Governor Henry McMaster appoints someone to the seat, the governor’s office said.

An election will take place in November.

The filing period for county-level offices closes on April 1, which means anyone who wishes to succeed Hill has less than a week to announce their candidacy.

You can watch a livestream of Hill’s announcement below:

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