Latest Fox Nation documentary reveals insights into Alex Murdaugh jury tampering case

Editor's Note: The docuseries referenced is not affiliated with the January 2022 ABC 20/20 news special titled "Fall of the House of Murdaugh," nor is it affiliated with the recent book of the same title by Gannett journalist Michael M. DeWitt Jr.

In the Spring of 2023, a dozen Colleton County residents were called upon to uphold their civic duty, sitting as the jury that convicted disgraced South Carolina lawyer Richard "Alex" Murdaugh of murdering his wife and child.

On Jan. 29, 2024, this dutiful dozen was called to sit in a jury box again, this time in the state capital, compelled to testify in a jury tampering hearing that ultimately left Murdaugh, who steadfastly denied guilt, denied of a retrial.

While some jurors addressed the media immediately after Murdaugh's March 3, 2023, sentencing, two of those jurors have since shared behind-the-scenes insights into both the murder trial and now the jury tampering hearing in a Fox Nation documentary episode released Friday, Feb. 9.

Fox Nation airs latest episode of 'The Fall of the House of Murdaugh' docuseries

FOX Nation, FOX News Media’s subscription-based streaming service, released the docuseries, The Fall of the House of Murdaugh, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.

Coincidentally, the show bears the same name as the recent book by Michael M. DeWitt Jr., editor of The Hampton County Guardian.

The first three episodes of the series focused on exclusive interviews with Richard Alexander "Buster" Murdaugh Jr., Alex Murdaugh's surviving son.

This latest episode, the sixth in the series, featured host Martha MacCallum interviewing several of the jurors in the case - the first documentary interview since a judge denied Murdaugh's bid for a new trial amid jury tampering allegations against Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill.

This episode includes some powerful and candid moments, including a scene where MacCallum asked attorney Eric Bland, who represented the two jurors interviewed for the show if he felt Clerk Hill should lose her elected position after the damaging allegations.

"I do. I do," replied Bland. "I think, you know, they're called the honorable for a reason. Honorable Becky Hill, as the clerk of court, I think that you have to have the trust and confidence of those that you serve in Walterboro. And the fact that our former chief justice, who is a highly accomplished, jurist, said that I find you not credible, is is bad for our justice system. And I would hope that the governor acts on that. And, we need judges. We need court personnel, everybody, that is going to be above reproach."

Can't watch? Read excerpts from Alex Murdaugh trial juror interviews

Today's episode, and the first five episodes in the season, can be watched on the subscription-based streaming platform, Fox Nation. If you can't watch, Fox Nation has provided a transcript to The Greenville News. Here are nearly verbatim transcript excerpts from interviews with Murdaugh murder trial jurors Amie Williams and Gwen Generette, edited only for grammar and clarity.

Martha MacCallum: First of all, thank you all for sitting down with us today. I know you may or may not want to relive this... When you think back to being called to serve on this case, Amie, let me start with you. Is there anything that you would tell yourself if you could look back on this experience when you got that juror notice that we're all familiar with getting in the mail? What would you say to yourself at that point now?

Amie Williams: I would have to find some excuse as to why I should not be on. Should not serve.

Martha MacCallum: You would not have served.

Williams: In a part of me thinking back now, no, I wouldn't want to have.

MacCallum: Why?

Williams: It was hard. It was long. And then afterward, the chaos was the worst part.

MacCallum: How has that chaos affected your life?

Williams: You know, I just kept my faith in believing that the truth would always come forth and that, you know, I believe that we did, we made the right decision. So, just kept the faith with that and just believed that everything would turn out the way it should.

MacCallum: What about you, Gwen?

Gwen Generette: I wouldn't do anything different. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but, it was, it was a privilege to serve. I felt at home being on there, I could I helped make a decision that I thought was the right decision. So, it was good for me to serve.

MacCallum: How aware were you of the Murdaugh murders when you got that notification to appear?

Generette: I don't know the Murdaughs at all because matter of fact, when I got my notice, I'd put it to the side and then I remember, like a week, three days before that Friday. I had taken it down there. I carried it in.

MacCallum: What about you, Amie? Did you, had you heard about it? Read about the murders?

Williams: Yes, I knew, all about it. Heard all about it and I knew of him, you know, and that he doesn't, they didn't live that far from me. And when at first when I saw it, I didn't realize what it was but as I was reading the questions and I saw the date, then I realized, oh my gosh, I think this is the Murdaugh case. Yes.

MacCallum: Once you got on the jury, and you're chosen and you know that you're sort of in for the duration, what do you remember first about your interaction with Becky Hill, Gwen?

Generette: I guess the swearing-in. I think she swore us in if I'm not mistaken

MacCallum: This was her first big trial as the clerk.

Eric Bland: Sure.

MacCallum: So it was a big moment for her?

Bland: Yeah. No, no question. She saw it as an opportunity to, you know, get a public name for herself, there's no question.

MacCallum: What was your overall impression of her during this process?

Williams: I felt like she was very accommodating. She made sure we had everything that we needed. If there was an issue, she took care of it. Because we. If there was any questions we asked, the bailiff and the bailiff would call her, and she would only come down as far as I know, when there was an issue that she needed to address, if somebody needed something. And I asked one day, could we have, cheese? What's the breakfast thing I wanted? I asked for something and the next morning it was there. It was there. Fruit, anything we asked for. She made sure we had it. That's just. I just felt like she was very accommodating.

MacCallum: She was trying to do whatever she could to make it a little easier for you guys.

Williams: Comfortable. Yes.

MacCallum: So when she spoke to you about preparing for the case and that the defense, the defense was about to come out and that there was a possibility that it looked like Alex Murdaugh, who you had been hearing about this case, all through the prosecution side, was going to take the stand on his behalf. What do you remember about learning that you were going to hear from Alex? Amie.

Williams: I think I remember her saying that maybe he would be testifying, but that's pretty much all I remember about it because I remember her saying that they were thinking of maybe extending the trial and might have to go a few more days, and that flipped me completely out. I just was exhausted and just could not go any further and that was the extent of it for me. I didn't hear anything else.

MacCallum: Do you remember her ever discussing the Murdaugh family? What did she think of them?

Williams: No, never.

Generette: That wasn't true. Well, I didn't hear it.

MacCallum: Did any other juror say to you, Oh, well, she was talking to us about what she thinks about the case or Murdaugh?

Williams: No.

Generette: No.

Murder trial jurors recall facing Alex Murdaugh for a second time

MacCallum: So when he went back to court last month, what was it like when you went in and you saw Alec Murdaugh again? Amie.

Williams: I just wanted to make sure that he knew that my verdict was based on evidence and witness testimony. I tried. I tried to make sure I looked at him when I answered the question, but I also wanted to make sure I was looking at, you know, the judge. But I wanted him to know that, yes, my verdict is still the same.

MacCallum: What about you, Gwen? What was it like when you first went back to the courtroom this time around? And you saw Alec Murdaugh sitting there?

Generette: I looked over there at him. I didn't pay him a lot of attention I directed my attention towards Judge Toal, you know, I want to make sure that I'm gonna understand what she was saying. And she understood everything that I was saying to her. I did go back later, and I looked at the court, and TV that they had in there that day. And, he was the same. And I just want to see that. I want to see that those eyes change up. His demeanor changes. And like I say, the way he looks or just the way he fiddles with his glasses sometimes, or he does different things. He might even whisper to them, he just changes. And I just want to see if he was the same, the same way. And he was.

Bland: You know, they own their verdicts, which is a, a nice thing to see that they were able to say this was my verdict and looked at Alex, and which is not an easy thing to do, and say, I found you guilty of killing your wife and your son.

MacCallum: You each talked about what you saw sort of as the turning point in your understanding of the case and of whether or not Alex was guilty and part of it was, was hearing, his voice on the recording at the kennel.

Jurors recall moment they thought Alex Murdaugh was guilty of murder

MacCallum: Tell me about that moment during the trial for you, Amie, and what impact it did have on you.

Williams: Well, when I heard his voice, you know, I just thought, oh, my God, he was there. Because the whole time he was saying he wasn't there, but he was there. And I was like, oh my God. And then things just kind of progressed from there. I mean, the evidence was already coming together. I feel that the prosecution did a good job proving that it was, family weapons that were used and certain other things, but that was a pivotal moment. And when everyone else in his family and colleagues identified 100% that that was his voice, it was it was big.

*******

MacCallum: So for you, the timeline meant that it had to be him, but he had the opportunity.

Williams: Yes.

MacCallum: What about you Gwen? What was a turning point for you?

Generette: It was the recording. I felt the same way. I sit there and I listen to all the evidence and stuff and that was toward the end and, with, with Paul's phone and then when they were able to get into it and get it, and I just kind of thought that maybe he kind of thought they would never get into the phone but when they got into the phone and I heard his voice, I was like, okay, he did it. You know, there's no way, no other way to put it. I just felt that that was the moment, oh, I got my answer. Yeah.

MacCallum: And what did you think of his answer when he was asked about that on the stand Amie?

Williams: I mean, the first thing he said was when he was asked, why did he lie. He said, oh, what a tangled web we weave

Jurors: Murdaugh attorneys' jury tampering claims 'insulting' and 'offensive'

MacCallum: So then when you heard, you know, there was a big news conference. Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin came out and they said that they were, accusing Becky Hill of violating Murdaugh's constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury. And that the clerk of court had tampered with the jury, advising them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other evidence that was presented by the defense and pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict.  What was your reaction when you heard him say that?

Williams: Absurd. It was. It was insane. I couldn't believe it. And I just couldn't believe it. I was like, it's so insulting. To think that we didn't have the God-given common sense that he gave us and the intelligence to make a decision based on the evidence and witness testimony that we had given the oath to do. And that's what we did. That's what I did.

Bland: You know, Martha, he from the podium said to the jurors, I'm going to get your emails and your telephone records, almost accusing the jurors. And that's how I got involved because I was representing victims. And when I heard you're going after jurors, they need to lawyer up. And so that's how I got contacted to represent five of the jurors. It's just it was so over the top, you know, they came out like a lion, making all these accusations, saying the jurors were pressured to reach a quick verdict.

Bland: You know, these are jurors that come with their common sense, their life experiences, and their education. They have 24 years, and 24 sets of eyes, and they can assess truth or falsity. And that's what these jurors did. And to insinuate that they didn't vote based on their conscience, but they could be so malleable that with one or two comments that were allegedly made, they would vote somebody to be guilty of killing their wife and their son and do the rest of their life in prison. That is offensive.

Generette: Very, very, very, very. Yes.

MacCallum: Tell me. Yeah, you're shaking their head.

Williams: I was livid because of it. It shouldn't be amazing, but it's still amazing how people will believe a lie quicker than they will the truth. And no one had any idea what was going on during this trial. When you sit on a jury, especially for six weeks, then you can maybe speak to what might have happened, but. We will. There were a lot of things going on personally in our lives, and then we had to come in there every day. We were locked in a room when we weren't in the courtroom. I mean, so it was a weight on us. We had to make sure it was right. And there was also always a question about, oh, they never had notebooks. They never took notes. We were not allowed to take notebooks out, but we had them in the back. So as soon as we ran back, if there was something I had a question on or anyone else who had a notebook that. We wrote it down. And every time it was answered, we would mark through it. Or and that's how that's how we kept, you know, kept up with everything and evidence and everything.

MacCallum: Did you keep those notebooks?

Williams: Yes.

Generette: You know, I didn't keep notes. I kept mental notes on real good. You know, I just kept mental notes. I made sure I paid attention. I want to make sure I was there from the beginning to the end, and I was there. Sitting there and listening to all the evidence. I consider myself to be an intelligent woman. And, you know, I'm able to make my own decisions. I'm not easily persuaded. And I'm not a. I don't, I'm not a follower. So, I, you know, I'm going to get the evidence wet out, you know, I know. Okay. This is not true. You know, this is true or whatever. Yeah. And I felt very offended by it.

Jurors address claims Becky Hill made comments to them

MacCallum: So did anyone ever indicate to you, Becky, or anybody else  to watch him very closely, watching closely when he gets up there

Williams: No

Generette: No. I didn’t hear that.

Generette: The jurors didn't really talk, you know um, like people might have thought we did. We didn't do a lot of talking, like that.

Williams: All we could talk about was our families, our children, our jobs. So we got to know each other well and we became pretty close.

MacCallum: But you didn't discuss the case at all.

Amie/Gwen: mm mm (no)

MacCallum: What about when you went out to Moselle? To the property? Becky wrote in her book about sort of knowing glances between people when they looked at the distances in the feed room and down at the kennel, that there was some acknowledgment in between people looking at the scene. Amie, what was. Tell me, do you remember that at all?

Williams: No, I have no idea what she was talking about. I stayed with the judge. I looked around, I stayed with Judge Newman. I followed him and his clerk. We walked with him down to the house and back to the swamp. And I don't ever remember Becky being close to any jurors. I don't, because he explicitly said no talking and only ask him questions. And that's what we did.

*******

MacCallum: Did you feel pressure to reach a verdict quickly?

Generette: I didn't...

Williams: No, she made it clear she said that the judge, Judge Newman, stated that we had until 10 to make a verdict. That was a time that we were given. But if we didn't, it was fine. She found a hotel. We would have to be sequestered, which made sense. We were in deliberations. We didn't know we’d be deliberating that day, but it made sense, and I'm sure she would have made arrangements for us to get whatever we needed, you know, personal items for that. But there was no pressure whatsoever. And the forelady, I mean, she even told us when we were in there alone and the door was locked, she told us, we don't have to do this tonight. If you're too tired, you don't have to do this tonight. We don't have to do it. And even after we came to our verdict, she said, if you don't feel comfortable with your decision, we don't have to go out there. We can stay here or we can come back in the morning until you are comfortable. I don't know how many times she said that. I don't see how anyone felt pressure.

Generette: We kept going over information, all the evidence. We kept going and we watched videos. We answered questions because I know a couple of questions about the guns and trying, you know, kind of explaining it. And some of the guys, you know, were into, you know, the crime shows. And so they were able to explain it. But, I didn't feel any pressure at all.

Williams: No.

Generette: And I was surprised. We weren't sequestered from the beginning so we were lucky, you know?

Williams: Yes.

Generette: We were able to go home. And as far as the smoke break, they got their smoke breaks and stuff, and I guess it was kind of last minute, you know, it wasn't, you know, go deliberate. It wasn't Becky's decision, you know, but I guess she knew that we couldn't go out, you know, once it started. You know, I know that.

Williams: That was common sense.

Generette: Yeah, well, that's what it was common sense. We were in deliberations and they were ruling the evidence in. You can't go out.

MacCallum: So that made sense to you?

Williams: It made perfect sense...

Murdaugh jurors respond to claims Becky Hill drove juror home

MacCallum: Did you ever hear that she and Bill drove a juror home?

Generette: I was surprised to hear that I was surprised, and the juror, we asked her. We and she said no. I was surprised. I was like, when did you get a ride with her? I was surprised.

Williams: That was the first time I had ever heard that.

Generette: She had car problems, but most times it was someone- one of the jurors would take her, or either someone pick her up, you know. But I was just surprised that Miss Becky would take her.

Bland: That was the testimony that was contradicted by the Barnwell clerk, a court that came in and said that you know, she had addressed that with Miss Becky... And Becky testified that never happened. So that was one of the conflicting things that Justice Toal said, I, you know, questioned your credibility.

Murdaugh jurors address quick guilty verdict in murder trial

MacCallum: How many times did you all, you know, poll yourselves to get that guilty verdict in those three hours?

Williams: Twice.

Generette: That’s right, I couldn’t exactly remember.

Williams: The first time the foreperson just wanted to see where we were. We had no idea who voted, or what. We wrote it down on a piece of paper, and she just went through and looked at the paper, and she wasn't going to tell us what the number was. But one juror did want to know, you know, so she told us it was nine nine guilty, two not guilty, one not sure. Right. So, at, from there, we went to ask questions. So nobody knew who voted what. Nobody had a clue.

MacCallum: Right.

Williams: We hadn't we didn't have a clue. And we just went from there asking questions. Anybody had a question? Then that person, the next person, somebody would answer that question. They will go get- because, you know, some of the evidence, the jury room wasn't big enough, they had to roll the evidence into the into the, the um other room. And so some of the guys will go and get the evidence out of that room. One guy worked the video. We would go back and watch certain clips. We looked at certain pictures. And so and when all the questions were answered and nobody else had a question, then we voted again.

Generette: We vote again. Yeah.

Williams: And when we voted again. It was guilty.

Generette: And you could kind of tell.

MacCallum: It was unanimous.

Williams: It was unanimous for guilty.

Generette: Yeah.

Williams: But she still made it clear. If you're not sure, we will not leave this room. But everybody said we're sure.

MacCallum: Sounds like you guys were very organized jurors.

Generette: Oh, yeah.

Williams:Yeah, a great bunch of people.

Generette: Yeah.

Williams: I loved every one of them. A great bunch of people.

Generette: Yeah.

Williams: Yes.

At least one Murdaugh juror has plans to write a book

MacCallum: Are either of you writing a book?

Williams: Uh yes.

MacCallum: Tell me, tell me why. What, why do you want to write a book?

Williams: I got a lot of questions after returning to work. And, you know, I thought maybe I should just tell my experience as to what you go through as a juror and the oath you have to keep. And it's kind of like an evidentiary book where we just talk about what I saw with the evidence and, and it's just based on my experience, it doesn't include the other jurors or anything. It's just that. So we're still in the stages of writing it, and, um I just felt like people wanted to know because I kept getting all these questions.

MacCallum:  Well, you know, part of what Harpootlian and Griffin have said is that Becky wanted to make money off of a book and that she needed a guilty verdict to have a better book. What do you say about people who might criticize any effort to make money off of this trial?

Williams: Well. If you're doing, if you're doing it just to make money and you're doing things maliciously, then it's not right. As for me, you know, I'm just trying to answer the questions that are being asked. And a lot of people keep asking questions. Oh, how was it? Or how, you know, so I was like, I'm gonna I'm gonna write it down.

MacCallum: That’s your right. Any financial gain from this whole story, Eric, how do you respond to that?

Bland: Everybody's benefited from it. This was the most important case in our state's history. So naturally it's going to take on a cottage industry. I don't begrudge anybody for it. I do agree with Amie. If you're doing it solely for the money and slanting the way you're writing to make it sensational, like Becky said, that I was disappointed when Becky said, well, I took poetic license in my testimony and, you know, said that this person may have been a criminal or this person may have done that. No, you don't write a book that's nonfiction and take poetic license. That's called lying.

MacCallum: So, Gwen, do you think this is over now?

Generette: Knowing the steps... No. I think they’ll take it to...

Bland: And then you heard Harpootlian say, well, if we lose on the state level, we'll go to the federal level, so for these jurors, it is over, Martha. They're not going to be asked to do anything again. But somewhere down the road, you know, if a new trial is granted, there's going to have to be, you know, 12 plus alternates sitting in the box. Going through this again.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Alex Murdaugh trial jurors speak out on jury tampering, Becky Hil