Alex Murdaugh could get a new trial in South Carolina as Supreme Court agrees to hear jury tampering case

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to accept Alex Murdaugh’s appeal based on allegations of jury tampering.

Murdaugh, 56, was sentenced in 2023 for killing his wife and son on a family hunting property in 2021 as a means of accessing life insurance funds as his growing stack of financial crimes came to light in 2021. He is serving two life sentences for murder.

The former South Carolina legal scion appealed the decision based on allegations that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, who presided over the infamous double-murder trial, tampered with the jury.

The state Supreme Court took up the case earlier this year. In January, retired South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal ruled that he did not believe a new trial was needed for Murdaugh after hearing from all 12 jurors who convicted Murdaugh in court; only one of the 12 said Hill influenced his decision.

ALEX MURDAUGH CLERK BECKY HILL SPENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON PAINT, DOG BED, GIFTS: COMPLAINT

Alex Murdaugh, convicted of murdering his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, in June 2021, stands during a hearing on a motion for retrial, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, Carolina from the South.

The juror, referred to as Juror Z, said Hill told jurors to watch Murdaugh and his “actions” “closely,” adding that she reached a guilty verdict because of the clerk’s comments. Juror Z also testified that other jurors made her feel pressured to return a guilty verdict, as her statement stated.

“To me … she made it look like he was already guilty,” said Juror Z, the first to testify Monday, when asked how the clerk inspired his verdict.

Clerk ALEX MURDAUGH BECKY HILL RESIGNS AFTER JURY TAMPERING ALLEGATIONS

Rebecca Hill arrives at the ‘Today’ show studio in New York City on March 6, 2023. She was the clerk in Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial. (Jennifer Mitchell for Fox News Digital)

Toal said before her ruling that while Hill was “attracted by the siren call of celebrity” and made “passing and silly comments,” jurors took their duties seriously in convicting Murdaugh.

Hill, who co-authored a book about the Murdaugh trial — and later admitted that a passage in the book was plagiarized — also faces 76 counts of misconduct. She is accused of using her official position as Colleton County Clerk for financial gain, especially to promote his book.

Hill resigned as clerk in March.

SOUTH CAROLINA JUDGE DENIES ALEX MURDAUGH’S DEATH TRIAL REQUEST

Judge Jean Toal speaks to the court during Alex Murdaugh’s grand jury hearings at the Richland County Judicial Center, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Columbia, South Carolina. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

Murdaugh was also sentenced to 27 years in November 2023 for his financial crimes. He agreed to plead guilty to 22 counts — including breach of trust, money laundering, forgery and tax evasion — out of about 100 charges involving up to $10 million in exchange for a 27-year prison sentence.

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Murdaugh previously pleaded guilty to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering in federal court.

Fox News’ Samantha Daigle contributed to this report.