Territories, Canada: "Having some food and water in your
vehicle."
vehicle."
vehicle." THICK SMOKE SPEWING FROM THE
MURDAUGH MURDER TRIAL IS BACK IN
THE HEADLINES WITH A NEW PUSH
FOR A RE-TRIAL FROM THE DEFENSE.
IT ALL CENTERS AROUND THE
COLLETON COUNTY CLERK OF COURT--
SOMEONE OUR OWN HAYLEY SPITLER
INTERVIEWED A FEW WEEKS BACK.
SHE JOINS US NOW WITH A LOOK AT
THAT CONVERSATION.
THAT CONVERSATION. SIX WEEKS AGO ON MIDDAY--
WE WERE JOINED BY COLLETON
COUNTY CLERK OF COURT BECKY HILL
AHEAD OF THE RELEASE OF HER NEW
BOOK BEHIND THE DOORS OF
JUSTICE. IT WAS HER RECOLLECTION
OF WORKING ON THE MURDAUGH
TRIAL. NEVER DID WE THINK THIS
BOOK AND HILL WOULD BE THE
REASON MURDAUGH
BOOK AND HILL WOULD BE THE REASON MURDAUGH'S DEFENSE
ATTORNEYS ARE CALLING FOR A
RE-TRIAL-- ACCUSING HILL OF
TAMPERING WITH THE JURY. WE
WANT TO REVISIT THIS INTERVIEW--
FROM OUR MIDDAY NEWSCAST SIX
WEEKS AGO-- TAKE A LISTEN.
Murdoch
WEEKS AGO-- TAKE A LISTEN. Murdoch's life changed forever
when he heard that guilty
verdict back in March. Now read
it aloud is releasing a behind
the scenes look at the trial of
the century in her new book. And
joining me now is called the
county clerk of court. That is
Becky Hill. Thank you so much
for joining us, Becky.
Good to be here. Thank you. So
first off, what was it like just
being in that courtroom every
day for a trial gaining national
or really even international
attention?
attention? International was right. It was
the biggest news screener that
has ever happened to Walterboro
South Carolina and in the state
of South Carolina. I believe it
was bigger than OJ.
Was it like
to just treat this as any other
normal trial that we had and
amidst all the cameras that we
had there, it was a lot to deal
with. And I think we have
between teamwork with the city
and the county and so many
entities.
entities.
entities. You know, definitely out. Are
you guys there. Tell me a little
bit about what your story was
during the trial.
My role was clerk of court was
the liaison between the
attorneys, the general public,
my staff, my security, even had
a place across the street. That
was our media room number two
for people that couldn
was our media room number two for people that couldn't make it
into the courtroom. So I had to
have a close relationship with
tourism director Scott grooms
who was coordinating everything
live from there.
There was a lot of emails were
coming in. We were getting phone
calls from everybody. I mean,
having to be the person going
between all of these big
players, but certainly not, as
you mentioned a little bit I
already would tell me about the
impact on the town of Walterboro
you know, I laid it down those
last few days with trial and
this is a small town Tell me
more. I remember we have a
charming tale it was quite
small, that small town
atmosphere, and I
small, that small town atmosphere, and I'm sure you got
to see a good bit of that. But
with the four thumb that Scott
grooms had, and he brought in
the food trucks, which turned
out to be a fabulous idea. We
were able to be fed at different
times of the day from morning to
night that helped tremendously.
We had tourism that tomorrow for
our downtown district,
especially in the town center,
hotels that were full with
people coming in and people
going out. So I think all in
all, it was a big recipient of
that kind of financial
pretty to the front porch of the
low country and we dealt with in
the past we knew I think we
would have thought just from
being there. But you guys have
been on this stage. On the stage
before how seamlessly everything
when we talk about the tourism
there I remember talking to a
lady from from Kansas wanting to
be a part of his childhood
people really truly came.
I know Mike, you had a chance to
visit most out which is where
Paul is back and were murdered.
Can you kind of walk us through
what it was like being there in
person?
person?
person? Wow, yeah, that was a day that I
will never ever forget. I
Wow, yeah, that was a day that I will never ever forget. I've
never been there before I got
the chance to go with the jury.
And it was a very daunting, very
heavy place to be in that day.
And on the drive about 25 minute
drive from the courthouse.
We had sunshine clear skies all
the time. We all arrived at
Moselle. The wind had changed.
The sun had gone away, cloudy.
You could just tell a visible
difference in just that
atmosphere and just the weather.
We all stepped out of our cars
and vehicles and of course the
chariot was first and then the
rest of us came behind. You
could see the jury the jury is
when I
could see the jury the jury is when I'm doing their own
calculations and their math
everything they had heard from
the beginning of the trial. They
were walking out different feed
different footsteps and what it
look like in the feed room what
it looked like on the Kindle and
the famous water hose that
usually was put up very briefly,
even though it had been two
years since the actual tragic
murders of the Murdoch family.
It was almost as if we were
transported back in time and we
could feel whispers in the wind.
I know that
could feel whispers in the wind. I know that's an odd way to put
it but you can almost tell
Maggie and Paul whispering from
the grave that this is where it
happened. We were very close
when it happened. You saw a mom
laying forward going to board
her son who had just been shot.
And it was just very telling and
the property that we love so
much about that very few have
seen that. Yes, obviously that
verdict did come down and it was
guilty. So can you explain what
you were feeling in the
courtroom when that happened?
Just say that my stomach was
churning what the correct
statement.
statement. They
statement. They'd only been out for three
hours and 15 minutes. I was
hoping that they would get the
verdict.
verdict.
verdict. Correct.
Correct.
Correct. Whatever that would be. And they
came back with a guilty verdict
for guilties for everything that
he had been charged with Ali
Murdoch had been charged with
and it was very tense in the
courtroom again there was had a
heavy feeling everybody was
anticipating what it was going
to be you could have heard a pin
drop. It was very, very quiet.
It was also very very quiet. We
went outside that courthouse I
remember that moment. Were you
outside I was like, think that
we will all kind of remember
what it was like those moments
that we learned. Well, your book
touches on a lot it touches on
how this child empowers you and
touches on his grandfather, your
grandfather. There
touches on his grandfather, your grandfather. There's so much
that you want to read about. Can
you tell me when and where we
can get our hands on this book?
Yeah, so behind the doors of
justice is the book. My co
author is Gordon. He lives in
Augusta, Georgia. And his wife
Melissa Gordon is our
photographer along with her
friend Annie. And you
photographer along with her friend Annie. And you'll see a
lot of pictures in the book. It
has gone to Amazon now. So
anybody can go to Amazon and
typing backdoors in justice. You
can type in Alec Murdock to type
in murder, and it should come
up. We have a Kindle. We have an
ebook that will be available in
the next few days. So we have
paperback hardback and the
Kindle version. If you
paperback hardback and the Kindle version. If you're like
me you like to listen to books
being read or you
me you like to listen to books being read or you're doing other
things. And we
being read or you're doing other things. And we're very excited
for all of this to be coming
about. There will be a book tour
that I
about. There will be a book tour that I'm going to be on and
that
that I'm going to be on and that's coming up in the next 14
days. So stay tuned for where
all we will do that. Thank you
so much for taking the time to
chat today. Back in a viewer and
reading her book behind the
doors of justice be put on
borders is set to be released as
she said August 1 and we
AND
AND THAT'S COMING UP IN THE NEXT 14 DAYS, SO STAY TUNED FOR WHERE I'LL BE WILL DO THAT. THANK YOU
SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO
CHAT TODAY, BECKY, AND IF YOU
ARE INTERESTED, MUCH READING HER
BOOK BEHIND THE DOORS OF
JUSTICE. THE MURDOCH MURDERS IS
SET TO BE RELEASED. AS SHE SAID
AUGUST 1ST, AND WE WILL