Alex Murdaugh appears in a prison photo released in March 2023. (South Carolina Department of Corrections)
Convicted double murderer and disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh admitted to committing other financial crimes in a response Monday to a longstanding lawsuit filed in federal court.
This lawsuit, filed in April 2022, concerns allegations that Murdaugh lied about certain details surrounding the death of his former housekeeper in 2018. Gloria Satterfield, 57, worked as a housekeeper for the Murdaugh family during more than two decades. She is believed to have died in what was described as a “trip and fall accident” at the then family’s hunting lodge in Moselle on February 26, 2018. After her death, Murdaugh claimed legal responsibility and stood is being sued to obtain a lucrative insurance product for the deceased woman’s family.
Except that this money never reached his heirs. Murdaugh admittedly pocketed some $4.3 million in insurance settlements. A judgment confession was filed by Murdaugh in June 2022 – admitting he stole settlement money from the sons of Gloria Satterfield, Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriott.
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In this lawsuit, Nautilus Insurance Company sought a declaration of rights in response to news that Murdaugh had been less than truthful about the circumstances of his housekeeper’s death to secure a speedy and favorable settlement.
“Beginning in July 2021 and continuing to file this action, Nautilus first became aware of the facts of Satterfield’s claims, allegations of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit ‘insurance and allegations of criminal conduct,’ the lawsuit states.
In his eight-page response, Murdaugh admits that it was he who, as the complaint states, “approached the Satterfield family after the death of Gloria Satterfield and suggested that they prosecute him and collect from his companies insurance, including Nautilus”.
He also admits that after the fall he falsely claimed that in terms of the complaint, “Mrs. Satterfield briefly regained consciousness, during which time she stated that Murdaugh’s dogs had knocked her down. This statement does not was heard by no one else and is contradicted by Ms Satterfield’s later statement to hospital staff that she had no idea what had caused her to fall.
“No dogs were involved in the fall of Gloria Satterfield on February 2, 2018,” Murdaugh’s response reads. “After Mrs Satterfield’s death, the defendant fabricated Mrs Satterfield’s alleged statement that dogs knocked her down to force her insurers to make a settlement payment, and he said she was not sure the property to carry out work.”
While admitting his lies, Murdaugh’s response states that he “denies any conspiracy to induce Nautilus to pay a fraudulent claim.”
Others believed to have been involved in the plot include Cory Fleming, Chad Westendorf, Palmetto State Bank and Moss & Kuhn, PA.
Murdaugh has always said — including during his testimony at his double murder trial — that he acted alone in the myriad thefts of funds from various clients and entities over the years.
At least one federal judge, charged with an appeal by one of Murdaugh’s convicted co-conspirators, did not attach much weight to the convicted double murderer’s claims that he was a lone financial criminal.
Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank, had hoped that these affidavits would be to his advantage. A jury found him guilty of six separate financial crimes in November 2022.
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“Murdaugh is clearly not a credible witness. The evidence presented at the defendant’s trial has established beyond doubt that Murdaugh is a serial liar and fraudster who robbed his clients and legal partners,” U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel wrote in an order on last month rejecting the request for a new trial. “He is now found guilty of the double homicide of his wife and son. It is difficult to imagine a less credible witness in these circumstances.
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