Augusta, GA
Augusta co-author discusses investigations of S.C. official
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WIS) – Neil Gordon, the Augusta-based co-author of “Behind the Doors of Justice” with embattled Colleton County, S.C, Clerk of Court Becky Hill, is calling a pair of investigations of her “disappointing.”
The investigations, confirmed by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division this week, are looking into whether she tampered with the jury in the Alex Murdaugh double-murder trial and used her elected position for personal gain.
“The Hills and the Gordons had become very close friends during the process of producing the book, so I certainly don’t wish any ill will on Becky,” said Gordon, who’s also the publisher of the Augusta Business Daily. “The part that concerns me is for gain personally that SLED mentioned.”
EARLIER COVERAGE:
- Augusta co-author to donate proceeds of Murdaugh book
- SLED launches investigations into Colleton County clerk of court
That concern stems from knowledge that Hill conducted some of the book business on her county email account, something Gordon said he had advised against.
A SLED spokesperson could not confirm when the probes began, but South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson called on the agency to look into the jury tampering allegations in September, days after Murdaugh’s attorneys went public with those claims.
As part of their request for a new trial, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin alleged that Hill tried to sway jurors to reach a guilty verdict to help sell the book she would later publish with Gordon.
“We never considered the likelihood as reported to us by the jurors that the Clerk of Court would go into the sanctity of the juror room before he (Murdaugh) testified, and tell the jurors, ‘Don’t be fooled by his testimony, watch out for his body language,’” Griffin said at a September news conference.
Hill has categorically denied these allegations.
Murdaugh’s attorneys say the question before the court goes directly to Hill’s credibility, and Gordon acknowledges that took a hit when she admitted to plagiarizing a portion of their book’s preface.
“The plagiarism has not helped her credibility, but in fairness, I think the allegations of jury tampering and some decisions that she has made could be very, very separate,” he said. “I really do think that it comes down, nothing to do with the book, just whatever conversations that she may or may not have had with jury members.”
Gordon said through dozens of hours of working with Hill on the book, she never once mentioned any specific conversations that she had with jurors.
Once the plagiarism came to light on Dec. 22, Gordon said they made the decision to unpublish the book, the last copies of which were sold on Amazon this week.
All proceeds that he and his wife made following that revelation will be donated to charity, he said.
Gordon said he and his wife were interviewed by SLED a few months ago as part of the investigation, with the conversation focusing on when the couple first met Hill, when the idea for the book came about and when they started writing the book.
“I think they were trying to understand how much work maybe Becky did on the book before or during the course of trial,” he said.
Gordon said he does not know how much writing Hill did throughout the trial because he did not meet her until March 23, three weeks after Hill read the guilty verdict.
Gordon’s wife met Hill on the second to last day of the trial, he said.
He said he would be willing to cooperate with any subpoena.
“We have saved all of the text messages and emails and I think some of the conversations that we had as we were producing the book,” Gordon said. “For lack of better words, I’m an open book and I’m very transparent, I’m very honest and I’m more than willing to answer any questions whatsoever.”
Hill’s attorneys, Justin Bamberg and Will Lewis, did not respond to a request for comment.
The allegations surrounding Hill will be discussed at an evidentiary hearing later this month at the Richland County courthouse.
A status conference in the case is set for Tuesday, Jan. 16.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Senate candidate Derek Dooley made several visits to the area on Friday.
Dooley had stops in both Lincolnton and Augusta on May 29 and was joined by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for his “Georgia First” tour. He spoke about one of the issues he finds in politics.
“But the other piece of it is the corruption. People sit on these committees. They have access to information that none of us have. And then you look up 2 or 3 years down the road and their wealth is just skyrocketing,” Dooley said. “You’re outperforming every investor out there. And I think it’s shameful. I think it erodes trust. It’s something that I will never do.”
“Politicians were out there getting paid. They were coming back home. They’re raising money and campaigning while the government shut down,” Kemp said. “What Derek’s saying, if he’s up there, we’re not going to allow legislators to get paid. We’re going to take away their benefits. That way, you won’t ever have another shutdown again.”
Dooley is facing Congressman Mike Collins in a runoff for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.
The winner of the Republican nomination will face incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
Photojournalist credit: Regynal McKie
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A man has been arrested after he was accused of hitting two women at Piedmont Hospital in Augusta.
The incident happened on May 14 around 12 a.m.
According to arrest warrants, Bruce Bland struck one victim with a closed hand several times in the face. Bland also threw a garbage can at the victim, hitting her in the head.
The warrant states the victim suffered a bruise on her face.
Bland also hit another victim with a closed hand on her mouth, according to the warrants. She suffered swelling and a bruise on her mouth.
Bland is charged with battery and simple battery, according to the warrants. Both charges are misdemeanors.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A luncheon Thursday gave business and community leaders more information about data centers coming to Augusta.
Georgia Power and QTS representatives attended to help people understand what the project is and how it will impact Augusta. The QTS data center is planned for land near the Haynes Station neighborhood.
They cited the Public Service Commission’s rule that data centers have to pay for 100 percent of their energy usage and upgrades to local grids.
“We heard earlier today about some of the great things that Georgia’s been doing in being able to provide that reliable and affordable power,” said Khara Boender, director of state policy for the Data Center Coalition. “And the data center industry is committed to paying for their full cost of service for electricity, including paying for some of those upfront costs when it comes to those grid build-outs.”
The experts said the main thing drawing data centers to Georgia is the availability of land and power. They called Georgia the number one state for data centers.
Kerry Bridges, Georgia Power’s region executive, said the state’s low energy rates — 15% lower than the national average — contribute to that draw.
Bridges said the bill for usage and upgrades to electrical systems go 100% to the data center company and nearby neighbors should not be affected.
“The future looks like a growing Georgia, an economy where everyone across the state can participate, lower utility bills across the country because our wonderful partners are coming to town, they’re bringing the dollars, they’re investing in the electric grid,” Bridges said.
QTS, the company building the data center in Augusta near the Haynes Station neighborhood, said they are building a closed loop system. Each center requires an Olympic-sized swimming pool amount of water to start, but then it recycles that water for the rest of its time in use.
Jeff Greene, senior manager at QTS Data Centers, said QTS now only builds these closed loop centers.
Greene said they plan on each of their six buildings using 18,000 gallons of water a day just for flushing toilets and using sinks after the system is up and running.
“It just stays, it’s like a giant radiator, it will just keep cycling through, the water is heating and cooling constantly over and over again. And that’s a very different water consumption use than what typically used to happen, which was evaporative cooling. QTS went away from evaporative cooling in its data centers back in 2018,” Greene said.
Residents have pushed back against data centers in meetings, questioning how they would affect nearby neighbors. There is currently the QTS data center being built in Augusta, two data centers under construction in Columbia County and one in McDuffie County.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
-
Florida3 minutes agoFlorida cities rank among best and worst places to raise a family
-
Georgia8 minutes agoStorms, flooding possible across Southeast Georgia, Northeast Florida today
-
Hawaii15 minutes agoCounty housing official sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison – West Hawaii Today
-
Idaho18 minutes agoIdaho’s state park system remains a major draw more than a c…
-
Illinois23 minutes agoReal estate sales in Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford counties for May 30, 2026
-
Indiana30 minutes agoThe newest spots to eat, drink and shop along the coast of Indiana and southwest Michigan
-
Iowa33 minutes agoDemocrats put a ‘bullseye’ on Iowa, eager to turn the red state purple
-
Kansas45 minutes agoWhere to watch Kansas City Royals vs Texas Rangers: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 30
