Murdaugh lawyers add prosecutor Creighton Waters, Becky Hill’s daughter to witness list

Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers said Friday they may call lead Murdaugh prosecutor Creighton Waters and Aubrey Hill, the daughter of Colleton County clerk of court Becky Hill, as potential witnesses during an upcoming hearing on allegations that Becky Hill tampered with the jury during Murdaugh’s double-murder trial last year.

Murdaugh’s attorneys made their plans known in a brief filed Friday.

The brief is a supplement to one defense attorneys filed earlier in the week.

The State Attorney General’s office declined to make a statement, saying, “As is our policy, we will make our comments in court and court filings.”

Friday’s supplement also says defense attorneys might want to call Carly Jewell, a paralegal with the Attorney General’s Office who worked with the team who prosecuted Murdaugh, David Owen, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agent who led the investigation into the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, and Rachel Joseph, another SLED agent.

SLED had no comment.

In a document submitted Wednesday, Murdaugh’s defense attorneys indicated they plan to call four jurors who may have heard Hill making improper statements. Among other potential witnesses is Judge Clifton Newman, who presided over Murdaugh’s murder trial, as well as Rhonda McElveen, the Barnwell County clerk of court, and two former employees of the Colleton County Clerk of Court’s Office.

Former South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal will be overseeing the hearing, as well as a pre-hearing session this coming Tuesday at the Richland County Courthouse. Toal was selected by Chief Justice Donald Beatty to replace Newman, who retired at the end of 2023.

The hearing is part of the Murdaugh defense teams bid to seek a new trial for their client. Key defense lawyers are Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian. Their argument is that if it can be shown that Hill made biased statements against Murdaugh to jurors before or while they were deliberating, that deprived Murdaugh of his right to an impartial jury and a fair trial.

The pre-hearing Tuesday will set the legal ground rules for a more thorough airing of the issues in late January. Both hearings will be held at the Richland County courthouse.

Murdaugh was convicted last March of killing his wife and son.

Harpootlian and Griffin did not say in their supplemental brief why they may want to call additional people as witnesses.

Aubrey Hill was listed last January as a potential juror in Murdaugh’s then-upcoming murder trial. However, she did not get chosen.

Waters and Jewell were named as possible recipients of tips that Becky Hill forwarded to the Attorney General’s office last year during the trial. Emails obtained from the Colleton County Clerk of Court’s office show that Hill forwarded the tips that her office received during the trial to the prosecution.

On Tuesday, Murdaugh’s defense attorneys and Attorney General’s prosecutors will argue legal issues in Murdaugh’s appeal — including which witnesses are needed to testify at an evidentiary hearing in late January.

That hearing, set to begin Jan. 29, could have jurors testifying as to whether Becky Hill made improper statements to them during the trial. Hill too could be called as a witness