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ALEX MURDAUGH MAJOR TWIST: DOUBLE KILLER TO WALK FREE? · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Does it ever end with
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: this guy Alex Murdogg? Major twist? Will this double killer
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: actually walk free? I'm Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us. I can see his brain. Gee.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I wonder why Alex Murdog because you shot him. That's
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: what a jury said. But now, in a stunning and
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: very upsetting twist, it looks like Alex Murdog could walk free.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: How How is that possible? Because it appears if I'm
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: reading the two leaves correctly, what the South Carolina Supreme
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Court is going to do is grant him a new trial?
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Is that going to happen? So what am I supposed
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: to believe him and his lawyers or the court clerk
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: who is accused of wrongdoing?
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Hmm?
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Speaking of lying and who to believe?
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  Speaker 2: Listen, moilbo, I mean my wife? And oh no, well
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: you know, Mariam, I bear my sword, no bear ground
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  Speaker 2: out at my perils. I'm really glad.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So let me understand I'm supposed to believe him
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: and his lawyers over the court clerk straight out to
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  Speaker 1: Mark Pepper, high profile lawyer joining us, uh joining US
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: out of Charleston with the Pepper Law firm, Mark, I'm
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: supposed to believe him. You can hear him lying. The
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: jury found him guilty. He did you do you hear that? Uh?
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: It's my wife and my son and I like you
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: and I'm screaming and the carrying on. It's all lies.
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  Speaker 3: I don't disagree, and certainly the jury didn't. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: as you may recall, he took the stand for what
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: seemed like forever. In everything that came out of his
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: mouth was a lie. I'm not so sure why anybody
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: would believe him at this point.
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  Speaker 1: Nancy, Okay, did anyone tell Mark Pepper he's supposed to
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: argue with me and take the other side.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: I'm happy to do that. Well, you may not necessarily
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: have to believe in Nancy. Maybe I don't either. But
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: if the Supreme Court of South Carolina believes that the
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: jury tampering affected the outcome of his trial, it may
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: not matter to them whether he was lying or not.
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  Speaker 3: If his sixth Amendment right to a fair and impartial
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: trial was violated, then they'll let him lie again on
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: the stand at a new trial. That's the issue this
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: before us, that's come out of this bombshell ruling last
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: week by our Supreme courts.
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  Speaker 1: I'm stunned. Hold on straight out to Jennifer Wood, joining US,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Director research at fitznews dot com, Fiitsnews fitznews dot com.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Who was really all up in this story from the
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  Speaker 1: beginning about three inches up Murdock's tailpipe. Jennifer, thank you
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: for being with us. What is happening? How is this happening?
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  Speaker 4: You know, this is the story that will just never end.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: But you know, really what we're looking at is the
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: allegations that Becky Hill, the Clerk of Court in Calleton
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  Speaker 4: County now former Clerk court, tampered with the jury by
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: talking to them about the about the merits of the trial,
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: and that Wonder said that that affected her decision.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: One juror said it affected her decision. Jennifer Wood joining
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  Speaker 1: us from Fiatznia's did that. One juror state it would
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: have changed her decision had that not happened, because that's
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: the standard, that is the legal standard.
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: It's interesting how she phrased it. She said that she
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: felt influenced to find mister Murdoch guilty by Becky Hill's
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  Speaker 4: remarks before she entered the jury room.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Well Jennifer Wood, You're absolutely right. Let's hear it from
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  Speaker 1: the horse's mouth. Listen.
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  Speaker 3: Was your verdict.
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  Speaker 2: Influenced in any way by the communications of the clerk.
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  Speaker 1: Of court in this case, yes, ma'am?
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  Speaker 3: And how was it influenced?
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  Speaker 2: To me?
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  Speaker 1: It felt like.
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  Speaker 5: She made it seem like he was already guilty, all right, and.
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  Speaker 6: I understand that that's the tenor of the remark she made.
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  Speaker 1: Did that affect your finding of guilty in this case? Yes, ma'am.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: That sound was from our friends at wlt X. Hmm. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: that is ger r Z who says that an offhand
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  Speaker 1: comment by the Clerk of court, Becky Hill, affected her decision.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: You know what, I find that really hard to believe.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Doctor Bethany Marshall joining US, high profile psychoanalyst and author
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: of deal Breaker. You can see you're on peacock right
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  Speaker 1: now and she's at doctor Bethany Marshall dot com. Doctor Bethany,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: how would an offhand comment by the calendar clerk, the
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  Speaker 1: court clerk just kind of erase the weeks and weeks
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  Speaker 1: of testimony you've had where alex Urla got up there
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  Speaker 1: on the stand and was proven to be a liar,
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  Speaker 1: proven to be a liar, and all that, all the
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: ballistics evidence, all the nav system evidence, all of the
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: digital evidence. Yeah, forget about that. It was because Becky Hill, Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: watched him on the stand. Wait, that made her vote guilty.
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  Speaker 5: Nancy, that's giving Becky Hill a lot of power, isn't it.
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  Speaker 3: You're right?
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: Weeks of testimony, blatant lying on Murdoch's part, him getting
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  Speaker 5: up and taking the scand himself and being so unbelievable.
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  Speaker 5: Besides the fact, Nancy, there's wader before they choose the jurors.
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  Speaker 5: These jurors are very well schooled and taught as to
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  Speaker 5: how to engage in critical thinking when it comes to
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  Speaker 5: a trial. It's not like they enter the jury pool
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  Speaker 5: with absolutely no instruction. They're also a part of a community.
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  Speaker 5: They talk to each other, they talk things over and then, Nancy,
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  Speaker 5: at the end of the day, there's just common sense
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  Speaker 5: when you hear all this testimony. Murdoch shot his wife
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  Speaker 5: and son, the heineous nature of the crime. Why would
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  Speaker 5: one comment from a court clerk override all of that.
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  Speaker 5: It doesn't make sense. So I would wonder, you know,
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  Speaker 5: what else is motivating this store. I'd have to examine
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  Speaker 5: her in person to know, but it's something other than
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  Speaker 5: the fact that she.
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  Speaker 1: Was in Okay, what exactly aren't the claims? Because yes,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Becky Hill, and I'm not taking her side, and I'm
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: not taking anybody's side, but it's really hard for me
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  Speaker 1: to think of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Hey,
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  Speaker 1: the Caniar clerk, the court clerk made an inappropriate comment.
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  Speaker 1: She told the jury to hurry up with a verdict,
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  Speaker 1: and that somehow translates into a new trial. Yes, the
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: court clerk made a book deal for one hundred grand,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: but does that mean Murdog is not guilty? How did
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: her having a book deal, which we may frown upon,
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  Speaker 1: But how does her having a book deal get him
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  Speaker 1: a new trial? Shouldn't she just be reprimanded? Why do
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  Speaker 1: we have to have a new trial and jeopardize a
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  Speaker 1: true verdict? I'm not getting it. What exactly are the
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: allegations because this is somehow turned into Becky Hill versus
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: Alex Murdogg. I mean, if that's my choice, I'm clearly
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  Speaker 1: going to rule against Murdog, but the law must be
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  Speaker 1: followed whether we like it or not. First, what are
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: the allegations listen.
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  Speaker 7: In a bombshell ruling, the South Carolina Supreme Court will
• 9:14
  Speaker 7: consider whether interference from a court clerk helped sway the
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  Speaker 7: jury in convicting Alex Murda of killing his wife, Maggie
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  Speaker 7: and youngest son Paul. Murdall. Lawyers say Becky Hill tried
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  Speaker 7: to get the jury to convict Murdall to help push
• 9:26
  Speaker 7: sales of a book she is writing about the case
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  Speaker 7: in general and specifically about the trial.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, I'm hearing that, But Jennifer Wood joining me, Director
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  Speaker 1: research Fitznews dot com. Yes, she had a book deal,
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  Speaker 1: Yes she published a book based on the Murdog saga.
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  Speaker 1: But what does that have to do with whatever she
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  Speaker 1: allegedly said to the jury. What does she say to
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  Speaker 1: them about a book deal? And how does she push
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  Speaker 1: them to get a guilty verdict? And how would a
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  Speaker 1: guilty verdict be more sensational than a not guilty. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I sat through the evidence as you did, Nifer Wood.
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  Speaker 1: I was not surprised when they found him guilty. It
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  Speaker 1: would have been much more of an explosion if they
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  Speaker 1: had found him not guilty, like Totmom, like OJ Simpson,
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  Speaker 1: like Robert Blake, the Shacker is they let him go.
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  Speaker 1: So how does her having a book deal somehow equate
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  Speaker 1: to them finding murdog guilty under duress?
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  Speaker 4: So testimony from Rhonda mcaleene, who is the Clerk of
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  Speaker 4: court in Barnwell County, South Carolina and was in Callton
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  Speaker 4: helping Becky out during the trial, was that Becky had
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  Speaker 4: told her that a guilty verdict would be better for
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  Speaker 4: her book sales. So that is the defense's argument that
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  Speaker 4: she was motivated to sell more books and was pushing
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  Speaker 4: the jury towards a guilty guilty verdict.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So because she made the comment, wow, my book
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  Speaker 1: is a lot better if they found guilty, that has
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: been used to claim her comments to the jury. I
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  Speaker 1: don't care if they were financially motivated. I don't like it.
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  Speaker 1: But what matters is under the law, and correct me
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  Speaker 1: if I'm wrong, Mark Pepper. What matters under the law
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  Speaker 1: is did her comments, whatever the motivation be, did they
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  Speaker 1: affect the outcome of the trial. But for those comments,
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  Speaker 1: would there have been a different verdict? Isn't that what matters?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it doesn't matter her motivation as to the comments.
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  Speaker 1: What matters is did it affect the verdict? Right?
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  Speaker 3: Mark, that's a great point. It doesn't necessarily matter what
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  Speaker 3: she said. What matters is whether it prejudiced mister Murdoch,
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  Speaker 3: the defendant in this case. How do we show prejudice, Well,
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  Speaker 3: we have one juror saying that, but for the comments
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  Speaker 3: made to me by Becky Hill. And let's keep in
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  Speaker 3: mind it wasn't just that one comment.
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  Speaker 1: That's not what she said, Mark Pepper, that is not
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  Speaker 1: what she said. Ah h, hold on, She did not
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  Speaker 1: say but four.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I was gonna say. It's not a butt four test.
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  Speaker 3: It simply did have an outcome on the verdict. In
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  Speaker 3: other words, it was it a fair and impartial verdict.
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  Speaker 3: And what this one particular juror is saying is that
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  Speaker 3: she influenced my vote. She doesn't have to go as
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  Speaker 3: for the law doesn't require you to say I would
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  Speaker 3: have voted not guilty. It simply says she influenced my vote.
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  Speaker 3: She is an outside for she works for Colleton County.
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  Speaker 3: She's the clerk of court. She had twenty four to
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  Speaker 3: seven access to these jurors. She also mentioned to them,
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  Speaker 3: as testimony revealed the hearing that as he approached the
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  Speaker 3: witness stand that morning to testifind his other defense, she
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  Speaker 3: told the jurors, don't let him fool you. Don't let
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  Speaker 3: him fool you. That juror has said those comments affected
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  Speaker 3: her and therefore violated six minute right. The prejudice is
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: the only test that's going to before the Supreme Court.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: I don't know that he gets more blatant than that.
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  Speaker 3: When you have an elected official influencing the jury verdict
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  Speaker 3: or at least one of the jurors, and it takes
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  Speaker 3: all twelve a unanimous verdict in the state of South
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  Speaker 3: Carolina to convict one of those was influenced by Becky
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  Speaker 3: Hill's comments.
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  Speaker 1: Name's Maggie Murdoch, okay, and what's your son's first name?
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  Speaker 1: Is Paul Kerry Murdoch?
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  Speaker 3: Where they are?
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  Speaker 8: Yes, that's what it looks like.
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  Speaker 1: Deja vou all over again. Joining me an all star
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  Speaker 1: panel including Jennifer Wood from Fitz News to doctor Michelle
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Dupree joining us for now forensic pathologists, medical examiner, former
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: detective with Lexington County Sheriffs and author of a brand
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  Speaker 1: new book, Money, Mischief and Murder Them murdog Saga the
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: rest of the story, and she, like me, endured every
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: day of the trial, and it was painful knowing what
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  Speaker 1: the evidence was to unfold, and then seeing Murdog on
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  Speaker 1: that body caim where he's like crying and all upset.
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  Speaker 1: He just shocked his wife and his son as his
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  Speaker 1: son was trying to get away, and we believe Maggie
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  Speaker 1: Murdog tried to stop him, and she's dead too, And
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  Speaker 1: there he is crying and carrying on in front of
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  Speaker 1: the police when they get there, when they respond to
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: that nine to one one call, doctor Michelle Dupree, we're
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: talking about Becky Hill and her book deal and oh
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  Speaker 1: she's so awful. Okay, granted she should not have said
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  Speaker 1: a word to the jury period, but good morning, there's
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  Speaker 1: lunch and goodbye. That's it. According to Jerrr's she did speak,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: and at least one of them says it affected the verdict.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Is that true? I find it hard to believe. But
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: if the juror says that, that's all the court has
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: to go on. Can we have a little reality check
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: about what happened to Maggie and Paul. And this is
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: why I'm so upset, what was done to Maggie and Paul.
• 15:26
  Speaker 8: When Nancy, first of all, I actually attended that hearing,
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  Speaker 8: and I saw that juror who said that, And I
• 15:32
  Speaker 8: have to tell you, I don't think she was that credible.
• 15:35
  Speaker 8: There was some questions. In fact, one of the other
• 15:37
  Speaker 8: attorneys actually wanted to bring her back, and Judge told
• 15:41
  Speaker 8: to Deny that he wanted to bring her back so
• 15:43
  Speaker 8: she could further explain her answer. So, I mean, this
• 15:47
  Speaker 8: is crazy. I think it's absolutely crazy. But what happened
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  Speaker 8: to Maggie and Paul is horrific. They were shot by
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  Speaker 8: someone that they loved, that supposedly loved them, and not
• 15:57
  Speaker 8: just shot, but shot.
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  Speaker 1: In a horrible way.
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  Speaker 8: He was shot at least four times, maybe five rifle
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  Speaker 8: was shot twice with a shotgun. That is a devastating injury.
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  Speaker 8: And I think many people cannot get their head around
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  Speaker 8: how a father could do that to their son or
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  Speaker 8: as he said, his child.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: You know, you stated that a shotgun was used as
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: a murder weapon. Explain why that is so barbaric, Nancy.
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  Speaker 8: That is so barbaric because the shot that comes out
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  Speaker 8: of that is widespread. It, for lack of a better word,
• 16:31
  Speaker 8: it literally can blow someone's head off, and that is
• 16:35
  Speaker 8: approximately what it did to Paul. You see in the
• 16:38
  Speaker 8: photographs are showing this is brain matter, skull tissue. There's
• 16:43
  Speaker 8: no coming back from that. And to do this to
• 16:46
  Speaker 8: someone that you love, that is a horrific way to die.
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  Speaker 8: And he was shot twice. Paul knew who was shooting him,
• 16:53
  Speaker 8: Maggie knew who her assailant was. This is unbelievable and
• 16:57
  Speaker 8: to have a new trial based on something like this
• 17:00
  Speaker 8: is absolutely unbelievable.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Brain matter, skull blood, Paul's head was blown off his body,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Maggie chased down and shot. Now the specter has raised,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: he is set for a new trial. I'm just you know,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: to Chris McDonough joining me, director of the Cold Case Foundation.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: I found him on his hit YouTube channel, the Interview Room,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: but important to me, former homicide detective with over three
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: hundred death inquiries under his belt. Chris, do you see
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: that photo? Blood was literally just absorbed by dirt. They
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: were gunned down outside there at the dog kennel. The
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: digital evidence places were like there. His own navigation system
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: in his vehicle places him there. We can even see
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: when he rolls his window down to throw Maggie's cell
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: phone out of his car to go alibi himself en
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: route to his mother's home where he stayed just long
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  Speaker 1: enough to then go back to the dog kennel and
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: quote find end, quote the bodies and call nine one.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Chris mcdonnaugh, when you think about the barbaric nature of
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: these two murders on the mother of your two children
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: and your child, your child, it is just gut wrenching
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: to think, Chris mcdonnaugh, this is going to be reversed
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: over some off hand comments by the clerk.
• 19:02
  Speaker 9: Yeah, Nancy, I mean, if we take this right in
• 19:05
  Speaker 9: its totality, this is a very barbaric act. The fact
• 19:10
  Speaker 9: that you have the mother of now her deceased child
• 19:15
  Speaker 9: is slaughtered in the same manner as the child herself himself.
• 19:23
  Speaker 9: And now you have the father, who is that individual
• 19:27
  Speaker 9: who's been convicted of this crime. Now think about this.
• 19:31
  Speaker 9: The father chooses a shotgun to blow the hat off
• 19:35
  Speaker 9: of his child, but he's he's not satisfied with that.
• 19:41
  Speaker 9: He does it again. He fires that shotgun again. That's
• 19:46
  Speaker 9: the crew de grag just to make sure that that
• 19:48
  Speaker 9: child is gone. And then that blood in the dirt,
• 19:52
  Speaker 9: that's Mom bleeding out from multiple gunshot or multiple gunshot wounds.
• 19:59
  Speaker 9: He's laying there. She may have witnessed her son being
• 20:03
  Speaker 9: murdered by her ex, by her husband and that child's father.
• 20:08
  Speaker 9: This is far barrack. And now we measure that against
• 20:11
  Speaker 9: two affidavits that were taken by the defense with these jurors,
• 20:16
  Speaker 9: and one of the jurors says, well, you know, we
• 20:20
  Speaker 9: didn't know we were going to spend the whole night
• 20:23
  Speaker 9: and some of us smoke, and we didn't know we
• 20:26
  Speaker 9: couldn't take smoking breaks during the deliberation process. This is ludicrous,
• 20:32
  Speaker 9: It really is.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: You know, doctor Bethany Marshall joining me, psychoanalyst and author.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: You can see Ron Peacock now, doctor Bethany, just the
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: way that Chris mcdonna said that. And I'm going to
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: circle back to Jennifer and doctor Michelle about the wounds
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: to the victims. But what he just said, I don't
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: think I can't think of anything worse in this world
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: than to see harm come to one of my two children,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: much less what Maggie witnessed. It's just when I think
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: about it, shooting not only your spouse, but your spouse and.
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: Your son, decimating your entire family and Nancy. As Chris
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: McDonough was talking, the thought crossed my mind. When was
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: there a dawning of consciousness for Maggie? Was that split
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: second where she saw her son's head get blown off?
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: Did she realize what was happening? Did it just hit
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: her from out of the blue. You know, Alex Murdoch
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: is not attached to anybody, just himself. And when you
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: think about it, why did he kill them? Because he
• 21:47
  Speaker 5: had this elaborate Ponzi scheme going. He would spend money
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: out of clients trust accounts, and once you'd own that money,
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: then he had to sure more money from another client's
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: trust account and we know the story. It went on
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: and on, and now there was a trial coming up
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: in which he was potentially going to have to pay
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: more money because of his son, the Mallory Beach situation
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: with the boat being driven into the peer and the
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: girl that was ejected and killed. So like the Ponzi scheme,
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: he had to figure out a way to either smack
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: people out or get more money. And I think this
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: was a part of his mo in terms of killing
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: Makie and his son.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: And I've just better to the.
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: Juror for a second. I don't think we can have
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: it both ways in our customs justice system. We can't
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: say I trust you, the juror, to make the appropriate
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: decision about whether or not this man is guilty. But no,
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: I don't trust you juror to be easily swayed by
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: somebody's comment. So is the jur trusted or is the
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: jur not trusted? Which way is it? So? I think
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: this whole whole thing is fallacious. Of argument about Becky Hill.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: You know Mark Pepper joining these high profile criminal defense
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: attorney and Mark, you can't even argue that this was
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: spur of the moment. He did a passion where he
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: got into an argument. It just went crazy and shot
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: them or shot one in anger and then shot the
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: other one because he didn't want to witness. Because he
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: lured Maggie to that location. They're hunting a lodge out
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: a mozelle. He lured her there. So this was planned
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: in advance. I mean, they had plenty of guns and
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: ammunition there, but he planned it. This was cold blooded
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: to murder his wife and son in cold blood.
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: We watched the same trial, Nancy, and respectfully, I don't
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: recall evidence to that effect. I recall that there were
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: some cell phone downa that put him at the scene
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: within a seven minute window or so.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: But I don't recall oh Don just a moment. Pepper,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Jennifer Wood, let's correct, Mark Pepper. That's why he wins
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: all of his because his revisionist history revit his version
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: of the facts. Isn't it true, Jennifer from vis News
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: that Maggie told her friends, I don't know why he
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: wants me to go all the way out to Mozelle.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: He wants me to come back to the Hohing Loss
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: and she was worried on her way out there. She
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: didn't want to go. Isn't that true, Jennifer? Would she did?
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: He did want her to come out there, but it
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: was because his father had been admitted to the hospital.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: So yeah, now when I go to the hospital, Jennifer.
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: That's a good question. Why not meet at the hospital?
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: I believe he was in Savannah, rather than have her
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: drive all the way to Hampton from out of Still
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: Island where their second home was.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Alex murdog on path to get a new trial. Will
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: he walk free? I've got to decide. Am I believing
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: him and his lawyers or am I believing Becky Hill
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: the clerk. Now let's take a look at Murdog's credibility.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Remember this.
• 25:16
  Speaker 10: Can't thinking now.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: One one ways your emergency? Oh sofa hatchie road?
• 25:22
  Speaker 10: Okay, what's going on?
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: I stopped.
• 25:25
  Speaker 10: I got a flat tire and I stopped and somebody
• 25:29
  Speaker 10: stopped to help me. And when I turned my back,
• 25:33
  Speaker 10: they tried to shoot me. Okay, will you shot? Yes?
• 25:38
  Speaker 10: But oh may I'm okay.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: I'm shot in the head, but I'm okay. This elaborate
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: ruse for what insurance money? His lawyers then claimed he
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: had traumatic brain injury. But he shows up in court
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: a few days later with a band aid on his head.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: And here he is lying to nine one one, and
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: then later through his lawyers, lying to the court about
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: his attack on the side of the road.
• 26:08
  Speaker 10: Listen, you shot where where were you shut at?
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: Huh?
• 26:14
  Speaker 10: They actually shoot you, They're tied to shoot you. They
• 26:17
  Speaker 10: shot me. But okay, wait you need ems? Uh huh? Well,
• 26:24
  Speaker 10: I mean yes, I can't drive, okay, And I'm bleeding
• 26:29
  Speaker 10: a lot. When we're part of your body, I'm not
• 26:33
  Speaker 10: sure somewhere on my head you're not.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Bleeding a lot. You're lying. You're actually fine. This was
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: all a setup arranged by Alex Murdogg. To get what else? Money? Money?
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: It's all about money, you know, I'm trying to understand,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Jennifer Wood. As you recall, Murdog set up to this
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: whole scheme where he would be shot on the side
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: of the road for money, and there he is lying
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: about it to nine one one, and all of this
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: came out at trial.
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: It shure, did I mean when it happened? Shortly after
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: we realized that the vehicle he was driving actually had
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: run flat tires, so he claimed that he stopped a
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: change of flat tyre And quickly we realized that he
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: didn't even need to. That car would have kept driving,
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: so it really fell apart. And then during the trial
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: the prosecution managed to get evidence about that roadside shooting
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: admitted in testimony.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Yet now Murdogg is on the precipice, the verge of
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: a new trial. To you, Pepper, what would that mean
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: if he got a new trial?
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: We start all anew It never happened. None of the
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: testimony that has been placed under oath can never be
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: read into the record. Again, we start as if we
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: were way back in Jane, wary of last year, picking
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: a brain new jury, sending new summons out the question
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: will become can he get a fair and impartial trial
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: in Hampton County? Can he get it anywhere in the
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: state of South Carolina. At this point, if we get
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: a new trial by the Supreme Court, we've got a
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: lot of homework to do. Where is the venue going
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: to be, who are the how big is the jury
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: pool going to be? But they're going to have to
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: put up the same exact witnesses. And now Murdoch's lawyers
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: are going to have the Procetitut's playbook, They're going to
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: have seen all their cards. This is a very interesting twist.
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: It could very well not only grant him a new trial,
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: but render the opposite verdict this time.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Now there's the issue of an unauthorized photo taken of
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Murnaud in the holding sale listen.
• 28:45
  Speaker 7: Currently facing of ethics violations during her time as the
• 28:48
  Speaker 7: Clerk of Court, Hill has been been accused of arranging
• 28:51
  Speaker 7: a photo to be taken of Alex Murda when he
• 28:53
  Speaker 7: was being held in a holding cell. The State Ethics
• 28:55
  Speaker 7: Commission filed two complaints against to Becky for a total
• 28:58
  Speaker 7: of seventy six ethics five violations.
• 29:00
  Speaker 11: The complaint against Hill has two counts, one that she
• 29:03
  Speaker 11: provided an individual with confidential information the photo of an
• 29:06
  Speaker 11: inmate in the Collegeen County Courthouse holding celle to promote
• 29:09
  Speaker 11: the sale of a book count two states. Hill filmed
• 29:12
  Speaker 11: a promotional segment with the Walterborough Chamber of Commerce president
• 29:16
  Speaker 11: or her book in her office at the Collegden County Courthouse.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Jennifer Hill Fitz News. How does a photo of Alex
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: and Murdog in a holding sale and a promo she
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: shoots with the Chamber of Commerce, What does that have
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: to do with Murdoch getting a new trial? I don't
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: care about that.
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: It goes straight to Becky Hill's credibility. So we keep
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: talking about how Murdoch is incredible because he lies over
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: and over again. But now we're looking at a seventy
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: six count ethics and ethics complaint that is being heard
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: by the Ethics Commission in December, and a lot of
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: those those ethics complaints have been referred to for criminal investigation.
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: So it you know, it's going to be very interesting
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: to see how that plays out. You know, Becky Hill
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: used that photo to promote her book, the photo of
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: Alex in his holding cell, and that came up in
• 30:13
  Speaker 4: the ethics complaint. Hill says that Gary Hale, one of
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: her employees, actually took the photo.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: So it is.
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: It's they're all interesting and they all go to Becky
• 30:24
  Speaker 4: Hill's credibility.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
• 30:36
  Speaker 12: Did you see a part.
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: Of the book?
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: I did plagiariyce, mister har it is and for that
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: I'm very sorry and I have apologized.
• 30:45
  Speaker 12: And that makes it okay.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: What I did, I did, and I apologized for that.
• 30:52
  Speaker 12: And part of the book is you say literary license exaggeration.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't call it exaggeration. Okay. You're hearing in COURTTHRK
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: Becky Hill under cross examination by Murdog's defense. So we've
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: got her admitting that she plagiarized in part of her book.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: The book was immediately taken off the stand. But how
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: does that equal a new trial? And by the way,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: that sound was from our friends at w l t X.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: So let's compare that to testimony from Alex Murdog.
• 31:25
  Speaker 13: Listen a lot of Danny Henderson, I did light of Daddy, Julia,
• 31:29
  Speaker 13: Jenny Seconder, Yes, I did, Julio, and that Griswold I did.
• 31:34
  Speaker 13: July to Michael Gunn.
• 31:36
  Speaker 14: I'm sure I did at some point, but Michael wasn't
• 31:39
  Speaker 14: involved in any of this, so I don't know that
• 31:42
  Speaker 14: any of this ever came up with michaelj.
• 31:45
  Speaker 13: A lot of your clients use a lot of Pamela Pagney.
• 31:48
  Speaker 13: I did Natasha Thomas.
• 31:50
  Speaker 14: I don't know that I'd dealt with Natasha, but I
• 31:52
  Speaker 14: certainly lied about that.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: A lot of the people he lied too, or his clients,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: some of them even disabled getting big money settlements for
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: them and stealing it. You're hearing sound from the triump
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: from our friends at w l t X. But this pattern,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: and you will recall this, doctor Michelle Dupree, seemingly goes
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: back at least to the death of teen girl Mallory Beach.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: In that case, his son was on his Murdoch's boat
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: drinking to excess. Photos have emerged of that evening on
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: the boat. I went out on the water and saw
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: where Mallory Beach's body was flown through the air with
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Murdoch's son speeding drunk at the helm. And this is
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: what we know. We know, Doctor Dupree, that witnesses state
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: that immediately after the boat crash caused by Murdoch's son
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: Murdoch goes to the hospital and tries to tries to
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: get the teens to change their story and not speak
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: to police. So that starts at the time of the
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: Mallory Beach death, the pattern of lying and subterfuge to
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: get what you want. Do you remember the death of
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Mallory Beach, doctor Dupree?
• 33:24
  Speaker 8: Absolutely, Nancy, another tragic accident that should not have happened.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: WHOA did you call that an accident where you're drunk
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: out of your skull and everybody's begging you to get
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: from behind the wheel, but you laugh maniacally and keep
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: driving until you hit cement pilings under an overpass and
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Mallory goes flying through the air to her death. She's
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: fished out of the water about three days later, bloated,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: bloated in purple. That's not an accident with every drink
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: that was intentional. That's a crash.
• 33:58
  Speaker 8: You're absolutely right. I think that should be last fight
• 34:00
  Speaker 8: as a homicide. Unfortunately it usually isn't.
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: But no, you're right.
• 34:04
  Speaker 8: I mean, you know, Alex said everything he could, no
• 34:08
  Speaker 8: matter what it costs, no matter what it took, he
• 34:11
  Speaker 8: would lie his way out of things. And he has
• 34:13
  Speaker 8: a pattern of doing that since basically the beginning of time.
• 34:16
  Speaker 8: That is how he has lived his life, and it
• 34:19
  Speaker 8: just came to fruition. It came to light with the
• 34:23
  Speaker 8: Mallory Beach crash, and then it went down on hell
• 34:25
  Speaker 8: from there.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Now another person is probably doing the backflip over the possibility,
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: the very strong possibility of any trial for Murdock is
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: Prosecutor Creighton Waters now here he is trying to rehabilitate
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: Becky Hill on the stand.
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: At any time, did you.
• 34:46
  Speaker 6: Interact with any juror in an attempt to influence their.
• 34:50
  Speaker 13: View of the facts in the state of the Murdock case.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: No, all right, now I want to ask.
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: You some specifics about that and some allegation that have
• 35:00
  Speaker 6: been raised. At any time, did you tell the jury
• 35:05
  Speaker 6: not to be fooled by evidence.
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: Presented by mister Murdock's attorneys, I did not.
• 35:11
  Speaker 6: At any time, did you instruct the jury to watch
• 35:14
  Speaker 6: him closely and look.
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: At his actions?
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: I did not.
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: At any time, did.
• 35:19
  Speaker 9: You instruct the jury or tell the jury.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: To look at his movements?
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: At any time as the jury moved to deliberate, did
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: you tell the jury this shouldn't take long.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: That from our friends at w lt X. The problem
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: is this Mark Pepper, a high profile lawyer with the
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Pepper firm. I may not well, I don't believe anything
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Alex Murdoch says, and I did not observe any inappropriate
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: behavior on the part of Baker Hill when I was
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: there every day at the trial. But the law is
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: that if the appellate Court is not a try or
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: of fact, they've got to make their decision based on
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: the transcripts and the evidence given to them, and if
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: it looks like to them that Becky Hill had any
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: impact on even one gr R man, we're looking at
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: a new trial.
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: That's correct, that's the test. We can talk about who's
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: a liar and who's not. All we want at the
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: end of the day, either Becky Hill is lying to
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: ar answer to create Waters or these jurors whom he
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: was reading their written affidavits to Becky and they're lying.
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: And our law is clear. If there's an outside force,
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: especially an elected official who you spend hours and hours with,
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: that has influenced your vote, then as a matter of law,
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: you did not get a fair and impartial verdict rendered
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: against you, and you are entitled to a new trial.
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: That is the law of our state. That is the
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: law of the United States.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: Let me give you an example.
• 36:51
  Speaker 12: You indicate riding back from Mozelle that you and three
• 36:55
  Speaker 12: other people were in a car and you all decided Adam,
• 37:00
  Speaker 12: I think was the word you use, that he was guilty,
• 37:03
  Speaker 12: that he had killed his wife and son. Is that
• 37:05
  Speaker 12: what you put in the book?
• 37:07
  Speaker 4: I can't remember if I put that in the book,
• 37:09
  Speaker 4: but if you say I did, then I.
• 37:10
  Speaker 9: Will figure that happened.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: We did have a conversation about what each of us.
• 37:15
  Speaker 12: Thought, and the all four agreed that he was guilty correctly,
• 37:19
  Speaker 12: and none.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: Of us were jurors.
• 37:21
  Speaker 12: No trust me, I know that. But you had an
• 37:26
  Speaker 12: abiding conviction at least by the time of the Mozelle visit,
• 37:32
  Speaker 12: that he was guilty.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: That's for our friends at w lt X. Thank you
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: lt X. Doesn't matter what Baker Hill thought or believed.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: What matters is what the jury believed and did she
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: affect their decision? For the appellate court, what matters is
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: is there an appearance of impropriety? Does it look like
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: she may have affected their decision? And if so, Alex
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: Murdock could be headed to a new trial and it
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be the first time there maybe jury tampering, whether
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: wittingly or unwittingly. Think John Gottie, the mob boss, Remember Gotti,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: jury tampering, Haffa, Jimmy Hoffa, same thing, jury tampering. We're
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: still looking for his body. By the way, you know,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Chris mcdonna joining me, Director Cole Case Foundation, former homicide detective.
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: How sick does it make you to think of Paul
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: and Maggie dad shot the way they were, no mercy,
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: all the hard work put into that case. You remember
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: that trial, we lived through it together, and now a reversal.
• 38:44
  Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean again, I go back to you know,
• 38:47
  Speaker 9: there's a huge difference of just you know, allegations of
• 38:51
  Speaker 9: state funds and using facilities as you know, ethics violations,
• 38:56
  Speaker 9: et cetera for you know, the clerk of the court.
• 39:00
  Speaker 9: But from an investigative aspect, I mean, just that one
• 39:04
  Speaker 9: nine to one one call from the shot earlier, you know,
• 39:07
  Speaker 9: just that alone was gold for an investigator. I mean,
• 39:11
  Speaker 9: first of all, he says, they shot me, Well, who's they?
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 39:17
  Speaker 9: And I think those are the kind of smoke and
• 39:19
  Speaker 9: mirrors that are taking place by the defense. And you've
• 39:22
  Speaker 9: got to give them credit. They're doing their job. But
• 39:25
  Speaker 9: at the same time, it is very frustrating to see
• 39:29
  Speaker 9: that they skip the appellate process and the Supreme Court
• 39:33
  Speaker 9: in South Carolina picks it up right away. But why
• 39:35
  Speaker 9: do they do that Because they shifted the law on
• 39:39
  Speaker 9: a federal cage and they applied that, you know, to
• 39:42
  Speaker 9: the to the motion. So yeah, it is frustrating, Nancy.
• 39:45
  Speaker 9: And you know, I hope the victims get justice here.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: But wouldn't you agree, Chris mcdonna, wouldn't you agree even
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: knowing the blood, sweat and tears that Ellie Law Enforcement
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: put into making this case that no matter what we
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: think of Alex Murdoch and no matter what he did,
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: the law is the law, and the law must prevail,
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: whether you and I like it or not, we serve
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: the law. Do you agree with.
• 40:18
  Speaker 9: That one hundred percent? Nancy? And that's that's why we
• 40:22
  Speaker 9: always investigate information and not the person. And you know,
• 40:26
  Speaker 9: let's hope that the right information goes to that court as.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: It stands right now, I don't see a way around it.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: We'll see as just as unfolds. Nancy Grace signing off,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: goodbye friend,