Killer lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who murdered his wife and son, has now admitted that he lied about the mysterious death of his housekeeper.
The 54-year-old patriarch, the scion of a powerful legal dynasty, fatally shot his wife Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and their 22-year-old son Paul Murdaugh in June 2021, at their home in Colleton County.
He is currently appealing the convictions that saw him sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars, but questions are now being asked about three other deaths of people close to the Murdaughs—including two friends of his children, and the family’s long-time housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who died following an incident at their other home in Moselle in 2018.
The 57-year-old, a mom-of-two who had worked for the family for around 20 years, was reportedly discovered in the grounds by Maggie Murdaugh suffering from serious injuries. The family said their employee had fallen down some steps outside the house.
Alex Murdaugh is accused of stealing almost $4 million in insurance money that was meant to go to Satterfield’s sons after her death.
Nautilus Insurance Group has launched a federal lawsuit against Murdaugh in a bid to recover the money, after $3.8 million was paid to him in a wrongful death judgement.
A recording of Murdaugh discussing the tragedy with insurance adjuster Bryant McGowan before the payout showed he had claimed to have had a conversation with the dying woman before she was taken to hospital. “She indicated that the dogs had caused her to fall [down the stairs],” he said.
That conversation was a lie, Murdaugh admitted this week.
In documents relating to the case, obtained by NBC News on Monday, Murdaugh now says “no dogs were involved” in the incident. He said he “invented” the scenario “to force his insurers to make a settlement payment.”
He even suggested that the bereaved Satterfield family should be included in the lawsuit with him, according to local news channel WYFF 4—a ploy one of the family’s lawyers, Ronnie Richter, dismissed as part of his “continued attacks on the Satterfield family.”
The family’s other lawyer, Eric Bland, went further.
“It’s just more spin by him,” Bland told WYFF 4. “He doesn’t tell you where the money went—the $3.8 million. He doesn’t tell you how Gloria died. It’s just almost a perversion of the justice system to suggest that the Satterfield family be victimized again… It’s very convenient that the three people who could support or contradict Alex are all dead; Paul, Maggie and Gloria.”
Initially dismissed as a tragic accident, Satterfield’s case has now been reopened after the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division began looking into her death in 2021.
The renewed interest came after Hampton County coroner Angela Topper asked law enforcement officials to investigate because she discovered that Satterfield’s death was not reported to the coroner and she did not undergo an autopsy.
She was also concerned that the death was described as “natural” on the death certificate, which is unusual for an accident.
Authorities announced they had received permission from Satterfield’s family to exhume her body for testing, should it prove necessary.
The investigation into Satterfield’s death continues but no charges have been brought against anyone.
Alex Murdaugh is facing a string of other fraud charges after being accused of stealing more than $6million from his clients.
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