By james art 
Lawyers for a convicted murderer Alex Murdo issued a challenge to South Carolina’s attorney general this week, urging him to proceed with the cases against two key figures in theMurdo murders” saga of crime and corruption – and suggesting wrongdoing to the prosecution should his office refuse to do so.
Chief Prosecutor of the SC Alan Wilson and his team secured two high-profile murder convictions against Murdo in March 2023. After an internationally watched trial, Murdo — a former assistant district attorney and influential Lowcountry attorney — was unanimously found guilty of brutally murdering his wife, a 52-year-old Maggie Murdoand the younger son, 22 years old Paul Murdoon June 7, 2021 at Moselle, the family’s 1,700-acre hunting ranch straddling the Salquehatchee River in the scenic Palmetto Lowcountry.
The next day, Murdo was sentenced to life in prison without parole by a SC District Court judge Clifton Newman.
However, those convictions are now in jeopardy due to jury tampering charges against a former Colton County court clerk Becky Hill – whose office oversaw the administration of Murdo’s double-murder trial last year. There’s also an alleged jury-tampering conspiracy that the state seems anxious to keep under wraps.
Hill has not yet been charged with jury tampering – or charged in connection with other alleged ethical violations and criminal acts. Meanwhile, Wilson’s office has been criticized for not referring her case to an independent prosecutor.
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This week, Murdo’s lawyers took direct aim at the state’s conflicting interest in keeping Hill’s credibility — specifically accusing Wilson and his office of refusing to prosecute the disgraced former employee because doing so could further jeopardize the state’s convictions against Murdo, which were accepted for review by the SC Supreme Court.
“There is an obvious reason for the delay,” attorney Murdo Jim Griffin said FITSNews on Monday. “They don’t want to take any action that would sway the Supreme Court against her.”
According to Griffin, the delaying tactics reveal “the inherent conflict of Alan Wilson’s office overseeing this case.”
“If they were to prosecute and convict Becky Hill, it would be detrimental to their efforts to preserve their convictions against Alex Murdo,” Griffin told FITSNews.
Indeed it would. That’s exactly why my media criticized Wilson’s office this summer for not referring Hill’s case to a prosecutor who no conflicted. Wilson had a chance to make such a referral, but failed.
At the time, I questioned whether “Wilson’s decision to effectively retain control of Hill’s affairs (would) only further fuel concerns about the integrity of Murdo’s convictions.”
And now there is…
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The state’s continued interest in maintaining secrecy surrounding jury tampering (and alleged jury tampering) during Murdow’s trial only fueled the suspicions of those who believed Murdow—even though he was guilty of murdering his wife and son si—is deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.
Attorney Murdo Dick Harpoutlian accused Wilson’s office of trying to run out the clock on Hill’s charges, specifically accusing state prosecutors of using Hill’s upcoming hearing on alleged ethics violations as an excuse no to move forward with criminal charges.
“If she broke the law, she should be prosecuted,” Harputlian told FITSNews. “There is no requirement that they wait for an ethics hearing.”
Harpootlian also drew a bead on another high-profile “impossibility to prosecute” from Wilson’s office. Questioned about the status of more than a dozen pending charges against Murdo’s former “fixer.” Curtis “Eddie” SmithHarpootlian asked why Wilson’s office is refusing to move forward on the “mass crimes” Smith is accused of committing in connection with this saga.
Smith was Murdo’s alleged personal drug dealer/check casher. He is accused of cashing in more than 400 checks total least 2.4 million dollars at the behest of Murdow — funds that prosecutors say supported “numerous (of) illegal activities” between 2013 and 2021. Smith further addressed multiple drug-trafficking charges linked to Murdow — that were brought up in an indictment act in June 2022
The biggest headlines involving Smith, however, were generated in October 2022 when Murdo’s lawyers accused him of being the killer of Maggie and Paul Murdo based on a failed polygraph examination. Smith’s attorney strongly denied that claim and challenged investigators to test his DNA with evidence found at the crime scene.
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CONNECTED | MURDO SAGA LOOSE ENDS
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On top of all that, Smith has been criminally charged in connection with his role in a freak roadside shooting involving Murdo in September 2021. The stated target of the shooting? A suicide-for-hire scam designed to funnel insurance proceeds to Murdo’s surviving son, Buster Murdo.
Smith was called to testify at the trial for Murdo’s murder, but was never called to testify. If he had testified, he was expected to claim that Murdough confessed to killing his wife and son during the roadside shooting incident.
According to Harpootlian, the state’s failure to charge Smith after more than three years shows they have an interest in keeping him “on the hook.”
“All the evidence would show that Eddie was the source of the millions of dollars in drugs — and he was accused of laundering the money,” Harputlian said. “His crimes are part and parcel of the murders…why isn’t he on trial?”
“I think the attorney general owes the public an explanation,” Harputlian said. “Either schedule the case or drop the charges.”
According to Griffin, “one theory as to why (prosecutors) didn’t drop Eddy’s case is that they expected the Murdo case to come back for a retrial.”
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In such a case, the State would have an interest in retaining its leverage over Smith to secure his testimony in case it is needed in a second double-murder trial.
“They want Eddie with charges hanging over him,” Griffin said. “He’s central to their whole theory of the case. But if their theory really was the motive for the murder, why aren’t they closing the loop?’
Harpootlian also questioned whether the state — which revoked Smith’s bond in August 2022 only to reinstate it a month after the trial — monitored and enforced the conditions of his release from the Midlands Area Detention Center.
“I would be fascinated to see his house arrest records and drug tests,” Harputlian said.
Following Griffin and Harpootlian’s comments, our media outlet reached out to the attorney general’s office seeking clarity on its plans to charge Hill and Smith — and questioning its decision not to recuse itself from Hill’s case. There was no immediate response.
However, in the event that we receive a response, we will publish it unedited and in its entirety…
Our outlet has covered nearly every major news story in the Murdo saga, from the first reports of the murders in the spring of 2021 to the ongoing review of Alex Murdo’s convictions in the winter of 2023. Count on us to keep following this case wherever you go went…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you’re reading right now. Before founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, and before that was a bassist and drummer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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