In federal court papers filed May 1, 2013, Alex Murdaugh admitted he made up the story to secure an insurance payout in the case. “No dogs were involved in the fall of Gloria Satterfield on February 2, 2018,” the documents state, according to The Independent. The deposits are part of an insurance fraud lawsuit filed by Nautilus, the company that paid $4 million on the claim. The money, intended for the adult children of Satterfield, would have gone into the pockets of Murdaugh and others involved in the scheme.
It’s just one of more than 100 financial crimes the ex-lawyer and convicted killer has faced. Police and prosecutors say it was the coming revelations about his financial crimes that led Murdaugh to kill his wife and son on June 7, 2021, to buy time and sympathy for himself. Instead, it all came crashing down and opened the doors to reveal years of shady dealings and suspicious deaths tied to the Murdaughs.