COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. — Attorneys responded Monday to convicted South Carolina killer Alex Murdaugh's claim that he lied about the death of his housekeeper almost five years ago, blasting it as misinformation.
Attorneys Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter called a news conference where they spoke to reporters and blasted the most recent claims made by the disgraced former attorney in court.
The response was part of a pending lawsuit by Nautilus Insurance Company against Murdaugh. The company is seeking $3.8 million from Murdaugh that it said was to go to the family of Gloria Satterfield as part of a settlement over her death . Instead, however, the lawsuit states Murdaugh took the money.
During his murder trial earlier this year, Murdaugh admitted he stole that insurance money instead of paying Satterfield's sons. It was among several financial misdeeds he admitted to as he tried to convince the jury he did not kill his wife Maggie and adult son Paul in June of 2021. Those jurors, however, convicted him after a six-week long trial, needing just three hours of deliberation.
Satterfield was the Murdaugh family housekeeper who died in 2018. She'd suffered a head injury in February of that year at the family's rural Colleton County estate, known as Moselle, and passed away weeks later. The Murdaugh family had made statements that Satterfield had tripped over the Murdaugh's dogs on the stairs of the home and fell backwards.
But in federal court filing on May 1 in response to Nautilus' suit, Murdaugh now claims he lied about the dogs causing Satterfield's fall to force the company to make that payment. Further, Murdaugh and his legal team proposed the Satterfield's sons be added to the suit, arguing that since the settlement money went to them, that's who Nautilus should go after.
On Monday, the Satterfield family attorneys fired back, saying Nautilus has no claim against the Satterfield sons because they never received any of the insurance money. Attorneys Bland and Richter say Murdaugh still owes their clients money and it's disrespectful to suggest the Satterfields should pay anything.
They also claim the investigation from Gloria Satterfield's death shows Maggie, Paul, and Alex all say the dogs tripped her, and that Murdaugh is making up his latest claim. They said its a new way of victimizing the Satterfield family, who have already been through enough.
Also in the court filing from May 1, Murdaugh attorney Jim Griffin also asked the judge to release an additional $160,000 from Murdaugh's retirement to pay legal fees and his appeal.
Murdaugh is awaiting trial on more than 100 other criminal charges, including insurance fraud and tax evasion.
He's currently behind bars at a maximum security prison after being sentenced to life in prison without parole. He is in protective custody by the South Carolina Department of Corrections because of concerns about his safety.