State Grand Jury to take over probe of Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill’s son

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office will be taking over an investigation into allegations of wiretapping and public corruption in Colleton County that surfaced after Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial.

The investigation centers on former Colleton County technology director Jeffrey Colton Hill, the son of Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill. Jeffrey Hill has been charged with illegally recording a phone conversation in July.

In a letter to 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone dated Dec. 4, Attorney General Alan Wilson stated that his office had “decided to assume jurisdiction for all prosecutorial actions” related to the case against Jeffrey Hill. Wilson’s letter also said that his office would take over a separate case focusing on alleged public corruption in Beaufort County at Stone’s request.

Wilson’s decision came after a letter sent by Stone on Nov. 28 requested that the Attorney General’s Office impanel the State Grand Jury to investigate the charges in both cases.

While providing a copy of the correspondence, representatives for the Attorney General’s Office declined to provide a statement.

But Stone, in a statement, said he requested that a State Grand Jury be impaneled to investigate the two “unrelated” cases.

Stone said that his office would continue to provide resources for the investigation.

Stone said that the cases were already being investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division as well as the 1st and 14th Circuit’s Public Integrity Unit.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division did not respond to a request for comment.

In his letter, Stone outlined his rationale for requesting help from the state’s highest law enforcement office, saying that the State Grand Jury was endowed with investigative powers needed to investigate public corruption, particularly the ability to issue subpoenas and compel sworn testimony.

“In short, the State Grand Jury possesses considerably broader investigate authority than individual county grand juries,” Stone wrote.

Jeffrey Hill has been accused of intentionally intercepting and listening to a phone call between two unnamed victims on July 20 while he was serving as the Colleton County technology director.

Phone records obtained by a search warrant revealed that the conversation was recorded by an IP address, which was connected to Hill’s computer, according to an arrest warrant. The victims did not know they were being recorded nor had they given their consent, according to the warrant.

Hill was charged by SLED on Nov. 21. He was released on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond. He was fired by the county following his arrest.

So far, law enforcement authorities have provided no information about the nature of the call or whether it was connected to allegations of jury tampering by Hill’s mother, Becky Hill.

While working as the clerk of court during Alex Murdaugh’s six-week murder trial, Becky Hill interfered with the jury in order to secure a guilty verdict against Murdaugh, his attorneys have alleged in court filings. The trial drew international attention to the town of Walterboro, and Hill gained a measure of online fame for her humor and good spirits throughout the trial.

But the bombshell allegations were made by Murdaugh’s defense attorneys in a filing to win the disgraced former attorney and convicted double murderer a new trial.

Among other allegations, Becky Hill was accused of denying jurors smoke breaks during deliberations, encouraging them to disregard Murdaugh’s testimony and having inappropriate conversations with the foreperson of the jury.

In their own filing, the attorney general’s office dismissed these allegations as a “breathtaking conspiracy narrative.”