Alex Murdaugh, left, and Gloria Satterfield, right. (South Carolina Department of Corrections; Bland Richter, LLP)
Lawyers for convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh are asking a judge to overturn a $4.3million judgment related to the theft of an insurance payment he received following the death of his housekeeper on his property more than five years ago.
Murdaugh entered a $4.3 million judgment confession in May 2022 in a lawsuit brought by the sons of his late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield. Tony Satterfield and his brother, Brian Harriot, sued Murdaugh after discovering he had pocketed the $4.3 million in insurance payments from Lloyd’s of London and Nautilus instead of paying the money to the brothers.
Gloria Satterfield fell on the steps of Murdaugh’s Moselle property in February 2018. Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, told a 911 operator that Satterfield was bleeding from his head and had Need help. Satterfield died more than three weeks later in hospital.
The cause of Satterfield’s fall has been disputed. Murdaugh told an insurance investigator in 2018 that she told him the dogs took her down. But, according to the motion to quash the judgment filed by her lawyers, Satterfield told a neurosurgeon at the hospital: “She didn’t know why she fell.” Murdaugh claims he made up the story of the dogs to ensure the insurance claim would be paid.
Tony Satterfield testified at Murdaugh’s murder trial that Alex Murdaugh approached him after his mother’s death and offered to sue him and his brother to help pay medical bills. Murdaugh introduced them to his friend, Cory Fleming. Fleming represented the brothers in the case. Murdaugh deposited some of the money he received from insurance companies into a “Forge” account at Bank of America.
To date, attorneys Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter said they have recovered more than $7 million for Gloria Satterfield’s sons from Bank of America, Palmetto State Bank and others involved in the scheme, unwittingly or otherwise.
In a 27-page motion filed by Murdaugh attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, they are asking a judge to overturn the $4.3 million judgment because the claims made against the insurance companies were based on a lie about Satterfield falling after tripping over the dogs. Harpootlian and Griffin say Satterfield’s sons were never entitled to the fraud funds.
“It is unlikely that Bank of America would have paid the Satterfield family any substantial sum had it known that the Satterfield family had no right to the money deposited in Mr. Murdaugh’s bogus Forge account,” the authors wrote. lawyers.
However, Murdaugh’s lawyers admitted that the Satterfields had a claim against Murdaugh and that he lied to Tony Satterfield to orchestrate the fraud.
The motion also accuses Bland of misconduct by engaging in a “campaign of out-of-court statements” to attack Murdaugh’s credibility. The motion cites several instances in which Bland spoke negatively about Murdaugh in the press and even argued against granting bail at a hearing.
The motion says Bland insisted on getting a judgment confession from Murdaugh for $4.3 million last year. Bland is quoted as calling the judgment “monopoly money”.
Law&Crime’s Angenette Levy asked Bland and Richter at a press conference last week if they were worried about having to pay back the money they got for the Satterfield brothers. They said they weren’t worried since the money came from sources other than Murdaugh and insurance payments.
However, Harpootlian and Griffin call this argument “nonsense” and say it is being made on social media rather than in a courtroom. They also claim that Murdaugh paying the judgment prevents other victims from being paid for their claims against Murdaugh. Court-appointed receivers control Murdaughs money.
Bland responded to the motion by calling it “legal toilet paper” and reiterated that Murdaugh is “a thief and a liar.” He also took issue with Harpootlian and Griffin revealing “confidential settlement discussions”.
Murdaugh faces criminal charges related to the Satterfield fraud in a separate case.
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