The South Carolina court clerk who penned a tell-all memoir about Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial has been accused of plagiarism by her potential co-author.
It’s the same clerk, lawyers for Murdaugh have argued was ‘biased,’ which is why he should be granted a new trial after his conviction for the murder of his wife and son.
Neil Gordon decided to can the planned book, called Behind the Doors of Justice, after being ‘blindsided’ by Colleton County clerk Becky Hill.
He said Hill committed an ‘ethical gaffe’ by copying parts of a BBC article from a reporter who shared it with her ahead of publication. The BBC has been notified and is investigating.
‘This has blindsided me,’ Gordon said in a statement announcing that all sales of the book had been stopped.
Becky Hill (pictured), the South Carolina court clerk who penned a tell-all memoir about Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial, has been accused of plagiarism by her co-author Neil Gordon
Neil Gordon decided to can their book, called Behind the Doors of Justice, after being ‘blindsided’ by Colleton County clerk Becky Hill. (Pictured: the co-authors together before the plagiarism allegations came to light)
Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife and son and is serving life. He has appealed his conviction.
‘When Gordon compared the article’s text to a 12-page book passage in the Preface—supposedly written by Hill, he realized she’d lifted the article’s text and made it her own,’ a press release continued.
Gordon said he confronted Hill and she admitted she’s stolen parts of the copy from the BBC report ‘due to deadline pressure.’
Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders, has now been canned
‘Journalism has been my life’s work; my credibility and integrity are paramount to everything I do,’ Gordon said.
‘I can’t be associated with anything like plagiarism and will no longer partner with Becky Hill on any projects.
‘I’d like to apologize to our readers, and publicly to the BBC and the reporter.’
Murdaugh’s lawyers previously filed an appeal against his murder conviction claiming that Hill interfered in his trial – something she strongly denies.
The team submitted a motion on behalf of the disgraced South Carolina attorney claiming that Hill repeatedly ‘tampered with the jury.’
Court documents seen by DailyMail.com state that Hill told jurors ‘not to be fooled by’ Murdaugh, 55, and told them their ‘deliberations shouldn’t take them long’.
It stated: ‘Ms. Hill did these things to secure for herself a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial. Ms. Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame.’
Murdaugh’s legal team says he was ‘shaking and in disbelief’ after they presented him with the evidence. He is currently serving two life sentences for the murders of Maggie and Paul.
Hill denies any wrongdoing. ‘I did not tell the jury ‘not to be fooled’ by evidence presented by Mr. Murdaugh’s attorneys,’ she said in her affidavit.
‘I did not instruct the jury to ‘watch him closely.’ I did not instruct the jury to ‘look at his actions.’ I did not instruct the jury to ‘look at his movements.’
However, Hill also wrote in the since-canned book that she worried Murdaugh would be cleared of his alleged crimes when, according to her, ‘I knew in my heart he was guilty’.