The death, three years ago, of a home and a nanny of the Murdaugh family will be the subject of a criminal investigation, South Carolina authorities announced Wednesday, giving another unexpected turn in a case that has entangled a prominent legal family.
A spokesman for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said Gloria Satterfield’s death has sparked a review following a request from the Hampton County Forensic and based on “information gathered” during a independent investigation involving Alex Murdaugh, the legal descendant of his wife and son. shot dead in June.
Satterfield’s death “was not reported to the coroner at the time, nor was an autopsy performed,” Angela Topper, a Hampton County forensic investigator, wrote in a letter to state investigators. “In the death certificate, the form of death was considered ‘natural’, which is incompatible with injuries sustained in a travel and fall accident.”
Earlier Wednesday, a Satterfield family attorney filed a lawsuit in Hampton County Court accusing Murdaugh and others of breaching fiduciary duty by failing to pay them as part of an unlawful death settlement.
Satterfield was 57 years old when she died in February 2018 from injuries sustained from a fall at Murdaugh’s home, where she was employed for more than two decades. According to the lawsuit, “the exact details of the fall are unclear” for his two sons, Michael “Tony” Satterfield and Brian Harriott, who were supposed to receive $ 475,000 in direct payment to “compensate them for the pain,” the pain and grief associated with the loss of his mother. “
According to the lawsuit, the house was insured through London’s Lloyd’s. Murdaugh initially pledged to “attend to the boys,” the lawsuit added, suing him to take out liability insurance through Lloyd’s. But almost two years after reaching a partial agreement with the insurance company, a “stipulation of dismissal” was filed in October 2020, which allegedly ended the estate’s claims against Murdaugh. Murdaugh also signed the stipulation, according to a sample attached to the suit.
“Neither Tony nor Brian were consulted about the dismissal nor were they informed of what additional actions had been taken in their years following the partial agreement,” the lawsuit said. “Tony and Brian first learned that the money had been recovered from their mother’s death when it was reported in the press.”
Ronald Richter Jr., a Satterfield family attorney, told NBC News that they have not received “a penny.”
“We are reported that the deal was $ 505,000, but the net proceeds from this settlement tell us that they have not received any of that money, even though the case was allegedly settled in 2018,” he said. .
Another lawyer, Eric Bland, said Satterfield’s children didn’t want to make waves before.
“It’s difficult. One of our clients has special needs, the other lives in a small southern town … and they didn’t ask questions,” he said. Previously, “they tried to call their lawyers and got no response, but they didn’t take it further. They were scared.”
A spokesman for the Murdaugh family did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The latest investigation into the family comes after state investigators and Murdaugh’s lawyers revealed that he was using a gunman to try to stage his own death so that a $ 10 million life insurance policy could be paid to another child. .
The strange plot unraveled, however, when lawyers said the man, Curtis Edward Smith, only grazed Murdaugh’s head with a bullet during the Sept. 4 road shooting and days later, the firm of Murdaugh’s lawyers accused him of appropriating money.
Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh’s lawyers, said his client did not tell state investigators he was paying Smith and that Smith “willingly shot him without paying,” The Post and Courier reported. He also said Smith was Murdaugh’s “main” drug dealer, who had been dealing with an analgesic addiction.
Smith, 61, was charged with assisted suicide, insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and other charges, the South Carolina Police Division said in a statement. Murdaugh, who was listed as a co-accused, was not arrested immediately; another of his lawyers, Richard Harpootlian, told NBC’s “TODAY” that he expects charges to be filed.
Court documents show Murdaugh first represented Smith in a personal injury lawsuit in 2012 and then for a speeding ticket in 2013. Further details about his connection and whether the shooting could also be related to the killings were not resolved of Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret, and son Paul is unclear.
Harpootlian said Murdaugh was “baffled” by his deaths and overwhelmed by emotions exacerbated by a 20-year-old opioid addiction, but insisted he played no role in his killings.
Harpootlian said they were doing their own investigation and “we believe we will know this week if the only suspect we are examining is under wider scrutiny and we will make it available to law enforcement.”
Smith was also charged with methamphetamine distribution and marijuana possession. Judicial records indicate he has traffic violations in Colleton County dating back to 1995, and it was not immediately known if he currently has a lawyer.
Given what investigators and his lawyers have already said, Murdaugh himself could face numerous charges, including conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, as well as charges related to stealing money from his law firm. lawyers and the purchase of illegal drugs, according to Kenneth Gaines, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.
“When they take the lids back, there will be a lot of things flying,” he said.
Harpootlian told “TODAY” that Murdaugh continues to cooperate with state investigators as he seeks treatment for his drug addiction at a rehab center. He said Murdaugh also provided investigators with his bank accounts and “explained to them how to find out how much he spent, where he went, where the bank accounts were, what went in, what went out,” as well as “written checks on drugs” dealers.
The family’s powerful legal connections were in the spotlight after Paul Murdaugh was charged with a boat accident in 2019 that left Mallory Beach, 19, dead. A police report said the people on the boat were “severely intoxicated.”
Paul Murdaugh, who had pleaded guilty to three offenses of navigating under the influence, was awaiting trial at the time of his death.
In addition, the South Carolina Police Division announced in June that it was opening an investigation into the death of another 19-year-old Stephen Smith, who was found on a rural road in Hampton County in 2015. they said the case was opened after information was found while investigating the double homicide of Margaret and Paul Murdaugh.