Murdaugh trial clerk accused of plagiarizing parts of her memoir

A South Carolina trial clerk who oversaw Alex Murdaugh’s murder case has been accused of plagiarizing part of a memoir she wrote about the ordeal.

Rebecca “Becky” Hill, the author of “Behind the Doors of Justice,” has been accused of lifting parts of her memoir from a BBC report by her co-author Neil Gordon.

Gordon had been reviewing emails released through the Freedom of Information Act between Hill and BBC reporter Holly Honderich when he noticed the “ethical gaffe.”

The reporter had shared a “long excerpt from an upcoming article” with Hill and after comparing it to the preface of Hill’s memoir, he noticed a striking similarity.

“When I confronted Becky about this, she admitted she plagiarized the passage due to deadline pressures,” Gordon said in a statement. “As a veteran journalist myself, I cannot excuse her behavior, nor can I condone it.

“This has blindsided me,” he said.

He reported the plagiarism to the BBC reporter and was told the British network would investigate.

The book’s sales have been halted and the memoir unpublished since the revelations.

“Journalism has been my life’s work; my credibility and integrity are paramount to everything I do. 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,” Gordon apologized.

Hill apologized through her attorney Justin Bamberg, who said the trial clerk was “deeply remorseful regarding an allegation of plagiarism that has recently surfaced.”

“Ms. Hill accepts full responsibility for this unfortunate lapse in judgment and has personally reached out to Ms. Honderich to express her sincere apologies,” Bamberg wrote on X. “Ms. Hill has great respect for the tireless work journalists do every day and sincerely regrets using Ms. Honderich’s words as her own.”

Honderich has not publicly responded.

Earlier this year, Hill was accused of witness tampering, with Alex Murdaugh’s defense team citing her memoir as evidence for a retrial.

Hill denied the accusation, accusing Murdaugh’s defense contained “numerous misrepresentations and false statements.”

“I did not tell the jury not to be fooled by evidence presented by Mr. Murdaugh’s attorneys,” Hill insisted in an affidavit.

Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison in March.