COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. — There was someone in the Colleton County Courthouse Monday with decades of experience on some high-profile cases in the state, and no, their last name is not Murdaugh.
With so much experience on high profile cases in South Carolina, a large trial is nothing new. But for Rebecca Hill, the Murdaugh murder trial is different both professionally and personally.
She recalls spending days in the courthouse as a young girl helping her father with various tasks.
“We would have children, or even blind people come and pick the jurors out this drum that the courtroom would have…I would see that as a child. I just like that everyday there’s something different.”
A few years later, Hill would work alongside Randolph Murdaugh, the father of Alex Murdaugh, who is on trial for the shooting death of his wife Maggie and son Paul. She spoke to News19 about working with Randolph.
“He is so easy to talk to and talk with. He was very knowledge of the law. Then he would draw you in and ask you about your family, ‘How’s your momma? How’s your daddy?’ He was an excellent trial lawyer.”
For just over a year, Hill has worked as the Colleton County Clerk of Court. She says the Murdaugh trial is something that came out of nowhere.
“I never thought that I would have a trial with this much publicity in it, with the name that everyone’s familiar with. Never would’ve imagined anything like that.”
Now, in the midst of a national spotlight, the courtroom that Hill says is normally quiet is shifting how they operate on days when Murdaugh’s name is on the docket. She says they even add up to 14 extra security guards during the day to make sure everything runs smoothly.