Attorneys for convicted killer Alex Murdaugh asked a judge Tuesday to vacate an agreement their client made to pay the Satterfield estate $4.3 million after their longtime housekeeper died in a slip and fall.
Gloria Satterfield passed away in 2018 after she fell down the stairs of the Murdaugh family’s former South Carolina residence known as Moselle.
Murdaugh repeatedly lied to insurance investigators by claiming that the family’s dogs had tripped the 57-year-old, causing her to hit her head, his lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin wrote in the latest filing.
South Carolina law imposes strict liability on dog owners when their dogs knock someone down, leading to a larger insurance payout, according to the motion.
ALEX MURDAUGH CLAIMS HE LIED ABOUT DOGS CAUSING HOUSEKEEPER GLORIA SATTERFIELD’S FATAL TRIP AND FALL
Gloria Satterfield and Alex Murdaugh testifying at his trial. (Brice Herndon Funeral Home/Joshua Boucher/The State via AP)
The housekeeper’s sons, at Murdaugh’s behest, sued him over the accident, and the insurance companies paid $4.3 million to the Satterfield estate.
But Murdaugh and his co-conspirators allegedly pocketed the entire sum without paying a penny to Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriott.
The sons’ attorney, Eric Bland, recovered in excess of $7.5 million for the theft – none of which came from the insurance companies.
Alex Murdaugh is serving two life terms at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul, June 7, 2021. (South Carolina Department of Corrections/Google Maps)
Murdaugh was arrested in 2021 for the alleged theft and agreed to sign the $4.3 million confession of judgment if Bland didn’t oppose his release on bond, argued Harpootlian and Griffin. Murdaugh hadn’t yet been arrested for his wife and son’s murders.
The lawyers added that the confession would “impede any attempts by the insurance companies to recover the insurance proceeds they erroneously paid out for Ms. Satterfield’s death.”
Besides, since the sons had already recovered more than $7.5 million, “the confession would not actually require Mr. Murdaugh to pay one penny, nor would it give one more penny to plaintiffs,” the lawyers wrote.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin talks with Dick Harpootlian as Alex Murdaugh testifies at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Feb. 23, 2023. (Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool)
Harpootlian and Griffin argued that it’s likely the housekeeper actually fell due to “side effects of medications” that cause dizziness.
Murdaugh has nothing to gain by setting the record straight, the lawyers contend, because all his assets are in a receivership.
ALEX MURDAUGH: TIMELINE OF ONCE-POWERFUL SOUTH CAROLINA LAWYER’S SPECTACULAR DOWNFALL
If the confession of judgment is vacated, more money would simply be available for restitution to his victims.
Nautilus Insurance Co. is suing Murdaugh in federal court for fraud over the $3.8 million the company paid out.
Tony Satterfield prepares to take the stand during Alex Murdaugh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Feb. 9, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
Earlier this month, in an answer to the federal suit, Murdaugh claimed for the first time that he had lied about the dogs causing Satterfield’s death.
In a press release, Bland called the motion to vacate the confession a “frivolous court filing” that is “nothing more than the endless and non-stop prattle of sore losing lawyers.”
He added that Murdaugh freely gave the judgment under the advice of the very lawyers that are now trying to have it vacated.
Dick Harpootlian and Eric Bland talk in Alex Murdaugh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Feb. 9, 2023. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
Murdaugh was sentenced to two life terms in March for fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, 52, and his son, Paul, 22, June 7, 2021.
But his legal woes are far from over. He’s accused in indictments of stealing more than $9 million from his law firm, vulnerable clients, and the IRS.
