KEY POINTS
- Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers said he invented the housekeeper’s cause of death
- The convicted murderer claimed he acted alone in hatching insurance fraud
- Murdaugh was charged by Nautilus Insurance for stealing payments meant for Satterfield’s sons
Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh admitted to lying over the cause of death of his former housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.
In a federal court filing, Murdaugh’s lawyers said the family dogs didn’t cause Satterfield to trip and fall at the family’s former main residence in Moselle hunting estate in South Carolina last Feb. 2, 2018, before she died in the hospital almost four weeks later.
“After Ms. Satterfield’s death, defendant invented Ms. Satterfield’s purported statement that dogs caused her fall to force his insurers to make a settlement payment,” Murdaugh’s lawyers said, Fox News reported.
Murdaugh’s lawyers also claimed that the convicted killer acted alone in committing insurance fraud, and the Satterfield children had no knowledge about the matter.
Eric Bland, the lawyer for the Satterfield family, said Murdaugh is hatching another scheme to avoid a judgment against him and encourage the insurance company to sue the late housekeeper’s family.
“He’s not to be believed. He’s a convicted murderer and a known liar,” Bland said.
Nautilus Insurance Company sued Murdaugh, his former friend and ex-attorney Cory Fleming, and others for committing fraud after they allegedly pocketed $3.8 million from the company and $500,000 from Lloyd’s of London, meant for Satterfield’s sons.
Nautilus also accused Murdaugh of insurance fraud by urging his late housekeeper’s children to sue him while assuring them he would admit liability.
Murdaugh allegedly told Satterfield’s children that a settlement was never reached while he and his co-conspirators got the payments.
The Satterfield estate was awarded more than $7.5 million from the payments that were stolen by Murdaugh and his co-accused individuals.
Murdaugh, a disgraced lawyer and member of an influential legal family in South Carolina, was sentenced to life last March after getting charged with murdering his wife and son.
On June 7, 2021, Murdaugh gunned down his wife, Maggie, 52, and youngest son, Paul, 22, on their former family estate.
Throughout the murder trial, prosecutors accused Murdaugh of lying and committing the murders to distract from various financial misdeeds, including stealing millions of dollars from his law partners and clients. Murdaugh allegedly used the stolen money to fund his opioid addiction and expensive lifestyle.
In March, Buster Murdaugh, the murderer’s surviving son, was reported to receive a staggering amount of money following the sale of their family estate in South Carolina.
Documents obtained by the New York Post showed that local farmers James Ayer and Jeffrey Godley purchased the Murdaugh family property for $3.9 million.
Buster is expected to receive $530,000 from selling their South Carolina estate.
