Alex Murdaugh 'pocketed' $4M life insurance payout from grieving sons of ...

Alex Murdaugh has been accused of pocketing a $4 million insurance payout owed to the grieving sons of his longtime housekeeper after he convinced them to sue him for wrongful death when she died in his home. 

Police launched a criminal investigation into the 2018 'trip-and-fall' death of Murdaugh's housekeeper Gloria Satterfield just one day after investigators said the legal scion had paid a hitman to kill him in a botched assisted suicide scheme following the double murder of his wife and son.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is also investigating the the subsequent handling of Satterfield's estate.

The 57-year-old had been the Murdaugh housekeeper and nanny for around 25 years when she suffered a fatal brain injury following a mystery fall inside the family home. She died several weeks later on February 26, 2018.

According to Eric Bland, the attorney working for Satterfield's family, Murdaugh convinced Satterfield's sons, Michael Satterfield and Brian Harriott, to file a wrongful death lawsuit against him, and introduced them to a lawyer - his best friend and college roommate - who handled the case.  

Murdaugh settled the wrongful death claim with the housekeeper's family for $500,000 in 2018. Bland said on Friday that the figure paid out by insurance policies was actually closer to $4 million.  

Satterfield's family sued Murdaugh on Wednesday claiming he had not paid out 'one single dime' of the settlement. 

'We've learned since the lawsuit was filed that the amount that has been unaccounted for and misappropriated is $4 million and we were told that those monies were misappropriated either whole or in part by Alex Murdaugh,' Bland told "Fox News.   

'He had home owners insurance and access umbrella coverage and so he took these boys to his best friend, his college roommate Corey Fleming and told them to bring a lawsuit against him and then he admitted liability, which forced these insurance companies that insured him to pay large amounts of money in connection with Gloria Satterfield's death,' Bland explained. 

The new lawsuit against Murdaugh claims that following Satterfield's death, he claimed 'he was going to take care of the boys because he was going to 'sue [himself]' for the death.' 

Fleming then allegedly chose a mutual friend of his and Murdaugh's, Chad Westendorf, to represent Satterfield's estate in the prosecution instead of one of Satterfield's family members. 

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This made Westendorf the only person required 'to petition the court for approval of any future settlements and/or appear at any future hearings to approve settlements.' 

The new lawsuit claims that 'Tony and Brian did not participate in the settlement negotiations; Neither Tony, nor Brian signed any settlement agreements; Neither Tony, nor Brian, were told that any money was recovered for them.' 

Satterfield's family is suing Murdaugh, Fleming, Westendorff, Palmetto State Bank and Moss, Kuhn, Fleming, P.A. for the alleged insurance fraud scheme. 

Murdaugh's attorney denies he had any involvement with Satterfield's death and said the insurance company that paid the money determined it was an accident. Bland says it was paid out, but not to his clients.  

'$4 million was paid and my clients got none of it. And they were supposed to get all of it,' Bland stated. 

Murdaugh appeared in court on Thursday where his lawyer pointed to the mysterious murder of his wife and son and his opioid addiction, suggesting it led to Murdaugh's life spiraling out of control. 

But Bland wasn't buying it. He claims Murdaugh's legal team is  'casting a defense that doesn't exist.' 

SLED said that it had opened a criminal investigation into Satterfield's death based on a request from the Hampton County Coroner, as well as 'information gathered during the course of our other ongoing investigations involving Alex Murdaugh.'   

The investigation into the housekeeper's death marks the latest twist in the Murdaugh family saga, which gained national attention when Murdaugh's wife Maggie and son Paul were shot dead at the family's hunting lodge on June 7. 

Three months on, their deaths remain a mystery with no arrests made and no suspects or persons of interest named.    

Then, on September 4, Murdaugh was shot in the head and rushed to hospital where he survived, in what his own attorney now admits was a botched assisted suicide scheme. 

He checked himself into rehab days later for opioid addiction and resigned from his law firm as it emerged he was being investigated for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars of funds.

Investigators alleged Tuesday Murdaugh had in fact orchestrated his own shooting, paying a former client to kill him so that his surviving son Buster could collect a $10 million life insurance payment. 

Satterfield is also the third mystery death connected to the Murdaugh family, which has come under closer scrutiny following the double murder of Paul and Maggie.   

At the time of his murder, Paul was awaiting trial for the 2019 death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who was killed as a passenger in a boat he crashed while allegedly heavily intoxicated.  

Police have also investigated the family for possible ties to the 2015 death of gay teen Stephen Smith, which was ruled a hit-and-run, though no suspects have ever been named or charged. 

SLED has also reopened the investigation into Smith's death in the wake of Paul and Maggie's murders. 

Investigators are weighing all three suspicious deaths -- those of Satterfield, Beach and Smith -- as potential motives in the murder of Paul and Maggie. 

Spokesman Tommy Crosby said the SLED was opening the investigation into Satterfield's death at the request of the Hampton County Coroner 'as well as information gathered during the course of our other ongoing investigations involving Alex Murdaugh.' 

Hampton County Coroner Angela Topper sent a letter to the department saying the 57-year-old's death was not reported to the coroner at the time and no autopsy was carried out.

The death certificate cites the manner of death as 'natural', wrote Topper - something that 'is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fail accident' and that does not match the information documented in the wrongful death suit. 

In the petition for approval of a wrongful death settlement, Satterfield is listed as dying as a 'result of injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident, in Hampton County', writes Topper. 

Alex Murdaugh is listed as the defendant.  

'In light of the inconsistencies noted above, I feel that it is prudent to pursue an investigation into Gloria Satterfield's death,' she wrote.  

An attorney for Satterfield's estate filed a lawsuit against Murdaugh on Wednesday claiming he had failed to pay out any of the settlement in the almost three years since it was reached. 

'My client has not been paid one single dime since this was settled in 2020,' said Eric Bland, according to WTOC.

'My job is to get information and find out why these boys didn't get any money when there was a settlement.'  

The suit claims Satterfield was 'part of the Murdaugh family' after working for them for decades. 

'In February, 2018, Gloria Satterfield fell while working in Alex Murdaugh's home. The exact details of the fall remain unclear to the Plaintiffs,' the suit says.

Following her death, Murdaugh allegedly told Satterfield's two sons Brian Harriott and Tony Satterfield he would 'take care of' them.  

According to the suit, Murdaugh introduced Satterfield's family to an attorney who would represent them in the wrongful death claim.  

This attorney - Tony Fleming - was also one of Murdaugh's 'best friends and college roommate' and the godfather of his son Paul, it is claimed.