SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #22

[windrower]

Hey, all!

Here's a timeline.

8 July 2015 – Stephen Smith, 19, was found dead in the middle of a road in Hampton County, South Carolina. The openly gay teenager had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and his death was officially ruled a hit-and-run. His family doubted this version of events, and the Murdaugh name cropped up in several police tips and community rumours.

2 February 2018 – The Murdaughs’ long-term housekeeper Gloria Satterfield died in a mysterious trip and fall at the family home. Satterfield, who worked for the family for more than 20 years, was found at the bottom of some stairs. She never resumed consciousness and died from her injuries on 26 February.

24 February 2019 – Paul, then 19, was allegedly drunk driving the family’s boat when it crashed, throwing him and his friends overboard. The body of Mallory Beach, 19, washed up on the shore around a week later.

18 April 2019 – Paul was charged with three felonies over Beach’s death including boating under the influence. He was facing up to 25 years in prison. Beach’s family also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Murdaughs.

7 June 2021 – Maggie and Paul were shot dead at the family’s sprawling estate in Islandton. Maggie was shot five times with an automatic rifle and Paul was shot twice – once in the head and once in the chest – with a shotgun. Mr Murdaugh made a dramatic 911 call at 10.07pm claiming he had returned home from visiting his elderly mother to find their bodies.

17 June 2021 – Mr Murdaugh’s brothers Randy Murdaugh IV and John Marvin Murdaugh appeared on Good Morning America insisting their brother was not involved in the murders.

22 June 2021 – SLED announced that it was reopening an investigation into Smith’s death, based on information gathered during its investigation into Maggie and Paul’s murders.

22 July 2021 – Investigators released the 911 call made by Mr Murdaugh on the night of the murders. In the call, he is heard sobbing as he tells the dispatcher “it’s bad” and “my wife and child have been shot badly”. Mr Murdaugh also tells the dispatcher that he hasn’t seen anyone on the property.

3 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh was confronted by the partners at his law firm PMPED after they discovered he was allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars of clients’ funds. He was forced to resign.

4 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh was shot on the side of a road in Hampton County. He survived and called 911, claiming he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while he was changing a tyre on his vehicle. He was treated at a hospital for a “superficial gunshot wound to the head”.

5 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh entered rehab, announcing he was struggling with a 20-year opioid addiction and that he had resigned from his law firm PMPED.

13 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh confessed to police that he had orchestrated his own shooting as part of a botched hitman plot. He said he paid Curtis Smith, 62 – a former client, distant cousin and allegedly Mr Murdaugh’s drug dealer – to shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot so that his surviving son Buster could get a $10m life insurance windfall. The two men were arrested and charged but Mr Murdaugh was allowed to be released on bond to return to rehab. SLED also opened an investigation into allegations that Mr Murdaugh had been misappropriating funds from his law firm.

15 September 2021 – SLED announced it was reopening an investigation into Satterfield’s 2018 death.

14 October 2021 – Mr Murdaugh was released from rehab only to be dramatically arrested on charges of stealing funds from Satterfield’s family. The family had reached a wrongful death settlement with Mr Murdaugh but said they didn’t receive a dime. They filed a lawsuit against Mr Murdaugh claiming he pocketed the money.

19 November 2021 – Mr Murdaugh was charged with almost 30 counts over the Satterfield wrongful death settlement.

3 June 2022 – SLED announced that it was planning to exhume Satterfield’s body.

12 July 2022 – The Murdaugh family was notified that Mr Murdaugh would be charged with Maggie and Paul’s murders. The same day, Mr Murdaugh was disbarred from practicing law in South Carolina by the state’s Supreme Court.

14 July 2022 – Mr Murdaugh was charged with the murders of Maggie and Paul – two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

20 July 2022 – Mr Murdaugh appeared in court on the murder charges where he pleaded not guilty.

22 November 2022 – Russell Laffitte, former Palmetto State Bank CEO, was convicted of financial fraud charges in connection to Mr Murdaugh’s alleged white collar fraud schemes.

23 January 2023 – Mr Murdaugh’s murder trial began in Colleton County Courthouse with jury selection. Opening arguments began two days later. By this time, Mr Murdaugh was also facing more than 100 other criminal charges over the suicide hitman plot and the alleged white collar fraud scheme where he is accused of stealing more than $8m from clients. He is also facing several civil suits.

24 January 2023 – A judge approved the settlement agreement in the wrongful death lawsuit brought against the Murdaugh family by the Beach family.

Alex Murdaugh: A timeline of murders, financial fraud, unexplained deaths and arrest

In the 19 months since brutal double murders propelled the Murdaughs into national headlines, a series of other scandals, allegations and alleged crimes have also come to light

www.independent.co.uk

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@arielilane

Would you be able to add to your wonderful timeline the additional financial crimes as shown in the video @Cindizzi posted?

Yes, Alex was fraudulently adding to his bottom line year after year.

The amounts he has stolen from folks who needed THEIR money makes me sick. He makes me sick.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

View attachment 402566

As a large dog owner and the chief giver of treats when I arrive home, my dogs don't hesitate to "herd" me up the stairs to the mudroom.

Per the 911 call, MM stated that GS fell going up 8 brick steps to the house.

I don't know if it's true that GS fell over the dog on the steps but from the narrow stairwell and my own dog experience, I find it very plausible.

Following the testimony of Mark Tinsley (insurance matters testimony), I must admit I've had second thoughts about whether or not the dogs really caused GS's fall or if it was the deficient surface of the steps. In other words, it's my understanding pet negligence is a better insurance claim than trip and fall. MOO

Attaching additional tweets with photos where the condition of the surface of the steps could also be deemed a trip hazard (vs pet hazard).

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The photo in your post is the side door at Moselle that goes into the gun room. Gloria fell going up the front stairs -- on the main porch. See the photo below from the property listing with Crosby Land Company.

 

[otto]

View attachment 402566

As a large dog owner and the chief giver of treats when I arrive home, my dogs don't hesitate to "herd" me up the stairs to the mudroom.

Per the 911 call, MM stated that GS fell going up 8 brick steps to the house.

I don't know if it's true that GS fell over the dog on the steps but from the narrow stairwell and my own dog experience, I find it very plausible.

Following the testimony of Mark Tinsley (insurance matters testimony), I must admit I've had second thoughts about whether or not the dogs really caused GS's fall or if it was the deficient surface of the steps. In other words, it's my understanding pet negligence is a better insurance claim than trip and fall. MOO

Attaching additional tweets with photos where the condition of the surface of the steps could also be deemed a trip hazard (vs pet hazard).

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

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Good dogs don't jump on the family nanny and knock her over with a mortal head injury. Have the aggressive dogs been re-trained to not attack family? They haven't. Dogs will be dogs, bad Paul for letting out the dogs without supervision.

I think Alex harmed Gloria Satterfield before he left that morning, he let the dogs out of the kennels and phoned Paul, or Maggie. One of them discovered the injured nanny on the front steps and Alex got his son and wife to tell a story about picking up a cheque, they were sleeping, don't remember what happened before he left, slip and fall dog event.

Ironically, the nanny slip and fall claim to pocket $5 million disqualified him to claim the legitimate boat accident.

 

[Luna20]

This is the side door at Moselle that goes into the gun room. Gloria fell going up the front stairs -- on the main porch. I think there is a photo in the Media Thread.

View attachment 402575

Where is the side door?

 

[Seattle1]

This is the side door at Moselle that goes into the gun room. Gloria fell going up the front stairs -- on the main porch. I think there is a photo in the Media Thread.

Thanks, @LetsSolvIt. After the 911 call, I started thinking it was more likely the fall occurred at the side door because it seems to me there are more than 8-steps at the front entrance. I've not verified and I could be wrong. JMO

 

[LetsSolvIt]

Where is the side door?

If you are looking at the front of the house, I think it's around on the left side. You can see where the roof like changes, which you can also detect in @Seattle1's photo.

I updated my post with a photo -- scan up a couple posts. It's difficult to count but I got eight or nine steps depending on if you include the porch landing.

 

[otto]

Thanks, @LetsSolvIt. After the 911 call, I started thinking it was more likely the fall occurred at the side door because it seems to me there are more than 8-steps at the front entrance. I've not verified and I could be wrong. JMO

Would that mean that Gloria allegedly went to work on her day off to collect her cheque at the back door near the pool table and gun racks?

This is the same staircase where Paul and his friends fired off rounds - .300.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

Would that mean that Gloria allegedly went to work on her day off to collect her cheque at the back door near the pool table and gun racks?

This is the same staircase where Paul and his friends fired off rounds - .300.

I am positive from previous discussions that Gloria fell at the font steps, which seem to be eight. MOO.

Yes, the side door is where PM and his friend Loving were siting Paul's AR with the new scope from Ace Hardware.

CORRECTION: I believe the gun room is on the right side (side of house facing the kennel and hangar), I am discerning that from some SLED body camera shots and photos in the listing. MOO.

 

[Seattle1]

Good dogs don't jump on the family nanny and knock her over with a mortal head injury. Have the aggressive dogs been re-trained to not attack family? They haven't. Dogs will be dogs, bad Paul for letting out the dogs without supervision.

I think Alex harmed Gloria Satterfield before he left that morning, he let the dogs out of the kennels and phoned Paul, or Maggie. One of them discovered the injured nanny on the front steps and Alex got his son and wife to tell a story about picking up a cheque, they were sleeping, don't remember what happened before he left, slip and fall dog event.

Ironically, the legal claim to pocket $5 million disqualified him to claim the legitimate boat accident.

Hey -- those are fightin words if you're implying I don't have 'good dogs' because they can easily topple me out of the pure joy of seeing my drive up at the end of the day!

Experts would argue whether or not GS had a mortal head injury. Her death certificate states her manner of death was natural. And we don't know anything about GS's health before she fell.

Since GS was not unconscious or comatose while in the hospital for 8 weeks, I doubt AM would have allowed her to live to talk about it if he was responsible. More important here is that her children don't believe there was foul play involved in their mother's death.

A strong yellow lab doesn't have to jump on you to knock you over --especially those steps in question. I also don't doubt GS was around the Murdaugh's unruly pets for 20+ years and this alone tells me it was most likely a freak accident.

Just as Blanca inherited at least one of the owner's dogs, I don't doubt these animals were overjoyed to see and greet the caring individual (GS) that most likely fed them, bathed them, nurtured them, etc., just as the "hired help" did for the sons since birth. MOO

 

[DeDee]

Good dogs don't jump on the family nanny and knock her over with a mortal head injury. Have the aggressive dogs been re-trained to not attack family? They haven't. Dogs will be dogs, bad Paul for letting out the dogs without supervision.

I think Alex harmed Gloria Satterfield before he left that morning, he let the dogs out of the kennels and phoned Paul, or Maggie. One of them discovered the injured nanny on the front steps and Alex got his son and wife to tell a story about picking up a cheque, they were sleeping, don't remember what happened before he left, slip and fall dog event.

Ironically, the nanny slip and fall claim to pocket $5 million disqualified him to claim the legitimate boat accident.

Dogs will be dogs, sometimes. Bubba is the reason we know AM was at the kennels that early evening when he declared to Investigators and SLED that he was never at the kennels.

AM was busy suing everyone and their neighbors for civil liabilities. Big chips were rolling in. Big name brands became paying clients with large insurance settlements. AM began diverting the settlement payments. Greed.

AM stole from the two Satterfield brothers their rightful $2M settlement that became over $4M over Gloria's death.

Recall the big Truck case where the Firm sued the manufacturer of the equipment that flew off the Truck and hit the client's vehicle. $$ So much money, just like Tinsley said. Then, he wanted to know "Where is Alex's money?"

I don't know if GS was pushed or fell or tripped. However, when considering AM's propensity to file a lawsuit, then keep the settlement proceeds; GS was likely a $$ making lawsuit waiting to happen. Someone may have helped it happen sooner rather than later.

GS's body is supposed to be exhumed. Then, may she rest in Peace.
JMO

 

[Seattle1]

Would that mean that Gloria allegedly went to work on her day off to collect her cheque at the back door near the pool table and gun racks?

This is the same staircase where Paul and his friends fired off rounds - .300.

No. Blanca described this side entrance as being near the laundry room and leading to the kitchen.

A kitchen exit/egress is very much the norm if not code.

 

[StarryStarryNight]

I was talking with someone about the case earlier today and we started talking about Bubba. Bubba is the reason we hear AM on the 8:44 video. Poor Bubba knows what happened.
Does AM ever tell LE where Bubba was when he arrived to find the bodies?
Where was Bubba when LE arrived?
—if an outsider killed PM and MM then I would expect Bubba to be dead too. If he was left alive Bubba would have blood on him for sure.
—if Bubba was in a pen, AM put him there before he shot P and M. An owner would do that, not an outsider.
Bubba might truly be a big key to this case.

 

[clearskies1]

BBM.

"The insurance company that apparently paid off a false claim by lawyer Alex Murdaugh after the death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, has a new lawsuit citing Murdaugh’s “depravity” along with details in the housekeepers death.

“The scope of Murdaugh’s depravity is without precedent in Western jurisprudence,” says the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court by Nautilus Insurance Company.

Murdaugh had a $5 million umbrella insurance coverage policy with the company.

...

• Murdaugh allegedly pushed Nautilus to settle the claim, threatening to sue for bad faith against Nautilus if it refused to pay policy limits.

....

• Immediately after Satterfield’s fall on Feb. 2, 2018, Murdaugh “rushed to the scene,” got there before the EMS and began telling everyone that Satterfield had briefly regained consciousness, “during which time she stated that Murdaugh’s dogs had caused her to fall. This statement was heard by no one else and is contradicted by Ms. Satterfield’s later statement to hospital staff that she had no idea what made her fall,” the lawsuit said.
• After Satterfield died, Murdaugh began to claim that Satterfield was at his property that day, not to perform work for Murdaugh and his family, but to collect a check for work performed for someone else, thus avoiding a worker’s compensation defense.” That apparently would have resulted in cutting Murdaugh and his associates out of the loop in any future compensation payments."

New info on Murdaugh housekeeper's death detailed in freshly filed insurance lawsuit

The insurance company that apparently paid off a false claim by lawyer Alex Murdaugh after the death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, has a new lawsuit citing Murdaugh’s “depravity” along with details in the housekeepers death. “The scope of Murdaugh’s depravity is without precedent in...

abcnews4.com

 

[lucegirl]

The defense’s opening statement said Alex was at the kennels earlier. I presume they’ll argue that he was in shock and “forgot” in the midst of the trauma. Their witness list has a psych doctor indicated. Maybe s/he will testify that trauma would have caused Alex to lose track of that significant little factoid.

Just to clarify my point - the Defense can say he was discombobulated or whatever - but it is misleading to say “he could not have done it” because he wasn’t home or was at his moms. That’s the bait and switch. He was home and then he went to his mom’s. That isn’t an alibi if he is on the property during the crime, and the whole timeline going back and forth to mom’s seems like a red herring IMO

 

[Seattle1]

BBM.

"The insurance company that apparently paid off a false claim by lawyer Alex Murdaugh after the death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, has a new lawsuit citing Murdaugh’s “depravity” along with details in the housekeepers death.

“The scope of Murdaugh’s depravity is without precedent in Western jurisprudence,” says the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court by Nautilus Insurance Company.

Murdaugh had a $5 million umbrella insurance coverage policy with the company.

...

• Murdaugh allegedly pushed Nautilus to settle the claim, threatening to sue for bad faith against Nautilus if it refused to pay policy limits.

....

• Immediately after Satterfield’s fall on Feb. 2, 2018, Murdaugh “rushed to the scene,” got there before the EMS and began telling everyone that Satterfield had briefly regained consciousness, “during which time she stated that Murdaugh’s dogs had caused her to fall. This statement was heard by no one else and is contradicted by Ms. Satterfield’s later statement to hospital staff that she had no idea what made her fall,” the lawsuit said.
• After Satterfield died, Murdaugh began to claim that Satterfield was at his property that day, not to perform work for Murdaugh and his family, but to collect a check for work performed for someone else, thus avoiding a worker’s compensation defense.” That apparently would have resulted in cutting Murdaugh and his associates out of the loop in any future compensation payments."

New info on Murdaugh housekeeper's death detailed in freshly filed insurance lawsuit

The insurance company that apparently paid off a false claim by lawyer Alex Murdaugh after the death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, has a new lawsuit citing Murdaugh’s “depravity” along with details in the housekeepers death. “The scope of Murdaugh’s depravity is without precedent in...

abcnews4.com

AM is a real piece of work. He essentially blackmailed Nautilus into settling the claim for GS's fall by threatening to expose his insurer Nautilus to a higher verdict $$$ at trial.

From the quoted link:

• Murdaugh was abusive toward the Nautilus adjuster handling the claim and demanded Nautilus pay its full policy limits, threatening that if the case against him were filed and went to trial, he would admit liability before a jury — which would expose the insurance company to a high verdict against it.

 

[mrjitty]

I don't fully follow the Satterfield angle.

Is it alleged that, having a large insurance policy that covered her 'accident' he then caused the accident, thus receiving a fraudulent payout?

What is then the $3m+ he stole from her estate? Is that different monies?

Being outside the US, many of the links to media don't work for me.

 

[Seattle1]

I don't fully follow the Satterfield angle.

Is it alleged that, having a large insurance policy that covered her 'accident' he then caused the accident, thus receiving a fraudulent payout?

What is then the $3m+ he stole from her estate? Is that different monies?

Being outside the US, many of the links to media don't work for me.

AM ultimately confessed the judgment and Flemming's malpractice covered the entire $4.3 settlement. Flemming's defense was that he too was a victim of AM. AM even manipulated the judge to sign the judgment but not file it (i.e., no public record)!

The lawyer for Satterfield's sons also sued Bank of America and the personal rep and the latest number for the total awards for the sons exceeds $7M. MOO

This is a good summation of the Satterfield matter from PEOPLE:

Alex Murdaugh had allegedly said that Satterfield died after tripping over his family's dogs, Bland told PEOPLE previously.

"After the funeral, he came up to the two sons and said, 'Hey, look, I'm going to recommend that you go see this attorney Cory Fleming, and he's going to represent you two in the estate and bring claims in connection with your mother's death,'" Bland told PEOPLE previously.

"He doesn't tell the boys, 'Oh, by the way, this is a lawyer that was my best friend, my college roommate," Bland told PEOPLE.

Though a death settlement of $505,000 was approved, Bland told PEOPLE his clients "haven't been paid one dime since this was settled in 2020."

The $505,000 isn't all that Bland alleges his clients never received.

After he filed the Sept. 15 lawsuit on behalf of his clients, Bland said he discovered a missing judge's order approving a $4.3 million settlement.

The documents were signed by a judge, Bland says, but never filed.

According to the Order Approving Settlement filed in 2019 in the Hampton Court of Common Pleas, the sons were supposed to receive $2.765 million of the $4.3 million settlement.

Sons of Murdaugh Housekeeper Who Died in 'Trip and Fall' Reach Settlement with Estate's Former Lawyers

Gloria Satterfield, 57, died after she fell down the stairs at the South Carolina home of Alex Murdaugh and his family in 2018

people.com

 

[Cedars]

I don't fully follow the Satterfield angle.

Is it alleged that, having a large insurance policy that covered her 'accident' he then caused the accident, thus receiving a fraudulent payout?

What is then the $3m+ he stole from her estate? Is that different monies?

Being outside the US, many of the links to media don't work for me.

As I understand it, there are separate perspectives:

The Satterfield family and their lawyer Eric Bland say AM legitimately won an insurance settlement on behalf of her children, but he stole it for his own use.

- The police have opened an investigation into Gloria's death, announcing they would exhume her body. I'm not sure where these suspicions cone from, but not from the Satterfield family.

-The insurance company is arguing the insurance was fraudulently obtained, even if AM didn't directly cause GS's death. Although news media are not reporting coherently on this angle, I expect the insurance company wants the money back.

JMO

ETA: as per earlier post, the Satterfields have already collected some $6 million in settlements from other players, without actually collecting the insurance payout.

 

[BrownRice]

The Prosecutors podcast was doing a live recording about 404 evidence in the Murdaugh trial the other day. And one of them made this point multiple times:

They keep hearing people say they don't understand how the mounting financial and personal reputation pressures would be motive enough for Alex to kill his wife and child. And their response to that is: Good! If you can thoroughly understand it, we're worried about you. You don't understand it because none of you are in his situation and none of you (hopefully) are the kind of person he is.

****

My thoughts to clarify those points to those who say they don't understand it/don't buy the motive:

This motive is only going to personally make sense to the doubters if all the following conditions apply:

1) Your family has dominated and manipulated the power, social, and legal structure in the area you live in for multiple generations going back.

2) Because of #1, your family and you have always escaped consequences for your bad actions--lying, cheating, stealing, etc.

3) But now the patriarch of this family dynasty, the one who is stronger than you or your brothers, is dying and will be dying VERY SOON. Your fixer will be gone.

4) You have been stealing MILLIONS of dollars from many clients and friends for YEARS and have hidden it by shuffling it around, always keeping money moving, always paying enough back when it looks like you might get busted to cover your *advertiser censored* for a while longer. But you've gotten too greedy and have gotten too many balls in the air now. Your clients are actually starting to notice missing money/reduced money and are asking questions through lawyers and the legal system. You've taken too much and spent too much of it to be able to quickly shove money back where it's supposed to be so that people will only wag their finger at you and let you get away with a smack on the wrist.

5) You know the courts and juries in your area intimately, and you know that the death of Paul and/or Maggie will ensure that a jury won't rule against you (or won't rule against you as hard). For all the people who say that wasn't really possible or that Alex couldn't think that was an option--the lawyer who at that moment pressing him for his financials and who he know would doggedly pursue him LITERALLY TESTIFIED IN THIS TRIAL that once Maggie and Paul were killed he knew that no jury would award a huge multi million dollar settlement against Alex, and it changed his action in the case.

Most people aren't in category 1. Most people aren't in category 4. Almost no one is in category 1&4--so of course it doesn't make sense to you personally. We haven't grown up in his world. Most of us have never had a million dollars to our name.

Great post. I need to listen to this episode, it’s a great podcast in general. It’s giving me hope because I do believe he’s guilty, but concerned the financial crimes don’t point to a sensible motive. Hopefully the prosecutors in this case can sum it up like this. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[BrownRice]

Good dogs don't jump on the family nanny and knock her over with a mortal head injury. Have the aggressive dogs been re-trained to not attack family? They haven't. Dogs will be dogs, bad Paul for letting out the dogs without supervision.

I think Alex harmed Gloria Satterfield before he left that morning, he let the dogs out of the kennels and phoned Paul, or Maggie. One of them discovered the injured nanny on the front steps and Alex got his son and wife to tell a story about picking up a cheque, they were sleeping, don't remember what happened before he left, slip and fall dog event.

Ironically, the nanny slip and fall claim to pocket $5 million disqualified him to claim the legitimate boat accident.

If he has no real qualms about killing his wife and youngest child, then obviously a housekeeper is fair game.