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by JENN WOOD
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Just hours after defense attorneys for accused killer Alex Murdaugh questioned the integrity of South Carolina’s investigation into documented jury tampering by former Colleton County clerk of court Rebecca “Becky” Hill, a motion was filed seeking to unseal files tied to the criminal inquiry into the disgraced official. According to attorney Joe McCulloch – who filed the complaint – the public deserves to know what investigators uncovered and why no criminal jury tampering charges were ever filed against Hill.
McCulloch represents former Murdaugh juror Myra Crosby — the now-infamous “egg juror” whose eleventh hour dismissal from the panel was instrumental in securing convictions against Murdaugh during his internationally watched double homicide trial in early 2023.
Those convictions were reversed last week by the S.C. supreme court, which unanimously – and decisively – concluded Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice” and improperly influenced jurors during the six-week trial in Walterboro, S.C.
McCulloch’s motion (.pdf) seeks partial lifting of protective orders that have shielded large portions of the post-trial jury tampering investigation from public view since early 2024.
The filing landed on the same afternoon Murdaugh attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin addressed reporters in Columbia, S.C. announcing a newly filed federal civil rights lawsuit against Hill. Harpootlian and Griffin openly criticized S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson, the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the state’s handling of the jury tampering investigation.
“Coincidentally, he has not looked into the attempted jury tampering of Becky Hill,” Harpootlian said of Wilson. “Clearly the statute says he, whoever tampers with the jury or attempts to tamper with a jury, is guilty of a crime.”
Throughout the press conference, Harpootlian and Griffin said major questions surrounding Hill’s conduct remained unanswered — particularly related to Crosby’s controversial removal from the jury on the morning deliberations began.
McCulloch’s motion appears aimed directly at forcing those questions into public view.
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FIGHTING OVER FILES…
McCulloch’s filing asked the court to partially unseal investigative materials generated during the state’s “investigation” into whether Hill improperly influenced Murdaugh’s jury.
Those records were largely sealed under a January 2024 protective order issued by former chief justice Jean Toal during evidentiary hearings on Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial. At the time, Toal concluded confidentiality was necessary because of ongoing investigations surrounding the jury tampering allegations.
But McCulloch argues that rationale no longer applies.
According to the filing, both SLED and the attorney general’s office previously resisted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by asserting the investigation remained active. Yet during Hill’s December 2025 plea hearing, S.C. eleventh circuit solicitor Rick Hubbard stated investigators lacked sufficient evidence to pursue jury tampering charges against Hill.
According to McCulloch, that position is difficult to reconcile following the supreme court’s emphatic reversal of Murdaugh’s convictions.
“The State’s declaration at the time of Hill’s sentencing that the evidence was insufficient to support a jury-tampering indictment against the Clerk of Court, stands in dramatic contrast and appears incongruent with the Supreme Court’s detailed opinion reaching an opposite conclusion,” the motion stated.
The filing argued “the public interest and the ends of justice are best served by transparency.”
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RELATED | MURDAUGH SUES BECKY HILL
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LINGERING QUESTIONS…
Crosby’s removal from the jury has long remained one of the most controversial — and mysterious — episodes in the Murdaugh saga.
On March 2, 2023 — the same day deliberations began — Crosby was removed after allegations surfaced that she improperly discussed the case outside of court. Her dismissal became national news after she exited the courthouse carrying a dozen eggs, creating the now-infamous “egg juror” nickname.
But questions surrounding her removal never disappeared.
Murdaugh’s attorneys later alleged Hill manipulated or fabricated concerns involving Crosby’s ex-husband and a supposed Facebook post in order to engineer her removal from the panel — allegations that eventually became central to the jury tampering litigation that unraveled the verdict itself.
According to Murdaugh’s newly filed federal lawsuit against Hill, the alleged Facebook post never existed.
“Ms. Hill never saw any such Facebook post,” the complaint stated. “She made it up.”
The lawsuit further accused Hill of privately questioning Crosby about her views on Murdaugh’s guilt and attempted to determine whether she was leaning toward conviction or acquittal before dismissing her from the panel.
Those issues moved back to the forefront Monday during Harpootlian and Griffin’s press conference, where both attorneys openly questioned not only Hill’s conduct — but the adequacy of the state’s investigation into it.
Griffin described Crosby’s removal as “very suspicious” and suggested the defense still does not know the full scope of what occurred behind the scenes during the trial.
“We have a lot of questions that we would like answered,” Griffin said. “Was she a lone wolf?”
He specifically encouraged reporters to follow up with McCulloch, who has spent months investigating Crosby’s removal and now seeks access to the sealed jury tampering files.
“We hope to get to the bottom of that,” Griffin added.
Harpootlian went even further — questioning whether SLED could impartially investigate allegations tied to a conviction the agency spent years defending.
“Does it make sense to have the agency who has an inherent conflict — they want the conviction sustained — investigating whether it was valid or not?” he asked.
The defense attorneys also signaled that both the federal civil lawsuit against Hill and McCulloch’s unsealing effort are intended to force a broader accounting of what happened during the trial and its aftermath.
“With this lawsuit,” Griffin said, “we have subpoena power, we can take depositions, and so we’re going to be able to understand the entire scope of her conduct.”
Phil Barber, another member of Murdaugh’s legal team, framed the issue even more broadly.
“The integrity of the jury process was violated by somebody sworn to uphold it,” Barber said. “That cannot go unanswered.”
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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The battle over these sealed records could become one of the next major flashpoints in the ever-expanding fallout from the Murdaugh case.
Last week’s supreme court ruling transformed long-disputed allegations into formal judicial findings — concluding Hill improperly influenced jurors and violated Murdaugh’s constitutional right to a fair trial.
But significant questions remain unresolved:
What exactly did investigators uncover?
How extensive was the inquiry into Hill’s conduct?
Did prosecutors seriously consider jury tampering charges?
And were other individuals ever scrutinized?
McCulloch’s motion now seeks to force at least some of those answers into public view.
And after Monday’s extraordinary press conference — during which Murdaugh’s attorneys openly accused state officials of failing to fully investigate the jury tampering scandal — the pressure surrounding those sealed files is only intensifying.
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THE LETTER AND MOTION…
(S.C. Judicial Branch)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.
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SOUND OFF…
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