Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Legal Heir Alex Murdaugh Housekeeper Body to be DUG UP

Episode Date: June 8, 2022

It's been a year since the bodies of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found outside their home. No one has been charged in their murder yet, but there is legal movement in another death, linked to the Murdaugh household. Gloria Satterfield, who was Murdaugh's housekeeper for close to 20 years, died after falling downstairs. Maggie and Paul Murdaugh called 911 at the time, reporting that Satterfield was bleeding from her head and left ear.  Satterfield died days later at a hospital. Satterfield's cause of death is listed as "natural" on her death certificate. No SLED investigators have asked that Satterfield's body be exhumed and autopsied. Satterfield's family sued the Murdaughs at Alex Murdaugh's direction and were awarded millions. Murdaugh instead kept the money for his own use.  Joining Nancy Grace Today: Skip Hoagland - Founder, SCWatchdog.com   Susan E. Williams, South Carolina Criminal Defense Attorney, Former Prosecutor (Summerville), swilliams-law.net, Instagram: @carolinaladylawyer, Twitter: @ATTYswilliams Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist, CarynStark.com, Twitter: @carynpsych, Facebook: "Caryn Stark"   Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan" Steve Helling - Senior Writer, PEOPLE.com, stevehelling.com, Twitter: @stevehelling, Author: "Outrage: The Casey Anthony Story"  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Exhumation. That's a word you don't hear very often. To exhume a body. In other words, in regular people talk, dig up a dead body. That's what we're talking about in South Carolina. And of course, the Alex Murdoch case, the so-called legal titan.

You know, the thing about him, there are a lot of dead bodies connected to him and his family. And even now, the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul remain unsolved as the body of his former housekeeper is set to be dug up. I'm talking about 57-year-old Gloria Satterfield. But why? What do authorities, SLED specifically, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, what do they hope to gain by digging up this beloved mother? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111.

First of all, take a listen to this. Our friends at WLTX. The former housekeeper of Alec Murdoch died after allegedly falling in the Murdoch home in 2018. But now the state law enforcement division says it just got permission to exhume her remains. Sled says the process to dig up Gloria Satterfield's body is complex and will likely take weeks. This investigation is still ongoing. The housekeeper who died after falling on stairs outside the home of once prominent South Carolina attorney Alec Murdoch is set to be exhumed. South Carolina authorities say they will recover and examine the body of Gloria Satterfield in the

coming weeks as part of the ongoing investigation into her death four years ago. The original police report called Gloria Satterfield's death natural and no autopsy was performed. This is the latest twist in a Southern saga involving a series of deaths of individuals close to Murdoch in multiple indictments against the lawyer for financial fraud. Former South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon telling NBC News after Murdoch's arrest in the fall. It's just very difficult to see how he would not be serving a very long prison sentence. You know, it took moving a mountain to get any activity on this case. Gloria Satterfield now dead and buried for four years plus, and now something's

being done about it. You originally were hearing our friends over at WLTX, but then you heard from our friend Vaughn Hilliard at NBC. With me, an all-star panel of guests to make sense of what we know right now. Again, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thanks for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. You know, it kind of makes you think that there's rich man's justice. Okay. I don't like that because this guy, Alex Murdoch, was one of a dynasty of so-called legal titans. This is the deal. His dad, his grandfather, I don't know how far it goes back, had been the prosecutors in that jurisdiction. Then, which I do not understand how this was allowed, they had a civil law firm as well. So how did that work? They would prosecute a case for crime victims and then

somehow get their hands in the victim's pockets and represent them in civil court and take a cut of the winnings. It's just, you know, it stinks. And all this discussion about millions of dollars Alex Murdoch has managed to siphon, including the money from Gloria Satterfield's insurance settlement, $4 million. The housekeeper that fell down the steps, $4 million went in his pocket. What judge signed off on all of that? Millions and millions of dollars in dirty money. Again, our all-star panel joining us. First of all, Susan Williams, South Carolina criminal defense attorney,

former prosecutor. And you can find her at swilliams-law.net. Karen Stark, renowned psychologist, joining us out of New York. You can find her at karenstark.com. Karen with a C. Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon,

and star of a new hit series, Body Bags, with Joseph Scott Morgan on iHeart. Steve Helling joining me, senior writer people.com, and special guest joining us today, Skip Hoagland, the founder of scwatchdog.com.

He's got his eyes on corruption all across South Carolina. First to you, Steve Helling, my longtime friend and colleague. You can find him on Twitter at Steve Helling and author of Outrage, the Casey Anthony story. That's a story that never gets old, Steve Helling. Steve, thank you for being with us. I mean, now we are hearing that the body of Gloria Satterfield is going to be exhumed. What happened? I mean, that was what we were hoping was going to happen. We thought that was going to happen, but we had, you know, the authorities needed to get the family's permission, which the family has happily done. So yes, it could take, it could take weeks, but they're going to exhume the body and they're going to see if there's

anything that's fishy there based on, you know, this slip and fall accident that happened, you know, a few years ago. You know, right off at the get-go, Joe Scott Morgan, death investigator, this stinks a mile away because even if everything we've been told is true, it's still wrong. And you know why? You don't fall down steep outdoor steps and die and that be called natural cause of death.

That's at the very least an accident paired with Alex Murdoch pocketing $4 million of life insurance policy on his maid. Seriously? Nobody saw a red flag waving? You know, you might as well get the Wicked Witch of the West to put Murdoch is stealing across the sky for Pete's sake. What does it take in that jurisdiction you know when when miss satterfield rolled into the hospital when they took her there uh you know they knew that she had sustained trauma nancy trauma is not natural as a matter

of fact under south carolina's statute if somebody dies as a result of violence now it doesn't necessarily mean homicidal violence. It just means violence. That can be an accident. That death has to be reported to the coroner. In this case... Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You got me drinking out of the fire hydrant again. Too much too fast. Death by violence. You mean like a violent fall down the steps. You're including that. Yeah, yeah. Precisely. All right, Precisely. It's an unnatural event. I think people have floated things like dogs getting in our way, trips over dogs.

All of this kind of thing like this at the close, you have to have another set of eyes on this. I don't care how long the individual has been in the hospital. I've participated in autopsies, Nancy, where people have been in an ICU for up to three years in an unconscious state, but they arrived as a result of a violent act.

We still have to document that. And they're going to have a lot to work with here because hopefully they did MRIs and CTs and all those sorts of things while she was in the hospital. And then when they do finally get her body, Nancy, the thing about an exhumation, the thing about trauma is it doesn't go away. Can let me ask you something. Just got Morgan with me, Professor Forensics. I want you to hear something in our cut one.

This is Attorney Eric Bland, and he is talking to anchor Cody Alcorn on Fox Carolina. Listen to what we learn. Murdoch said at the funeral, Alex went to the family and said, look, you know, I, you know, I feel horrible. My dogs were the cause of your mom falling. And ultimately, she died because of that. And I'm going to, you know, take the boys who are the only heirs, she died intestate. So under South Carolina law, they're the only heirs i'm going to take them to a lawyer i know and that lawyer is going to make claims against me for the death of your mother called wrongful death and a survival claim could she survive three weeks and i'm going to turn them

over to all my insurance companies and um you know i'm going to be honest and it's our fault you know the dog should not have been unruly and they shouldn't have been all together like that to, you know, knock your mother over. And I'm going to admit liability. OK, we're hearing the lawyer, Eric Bland, recounting Murdoch's statements at Miss Satterfield's funeral. Now, that's the first we've heard Alex Murdoch stating that Gloria Satterfield is dead because of a dog. I mean, Karen Stark blaming it on the dog. I thought you only did that when your homework went missing. Yeah, the whole story doesn't make a lot of sense. The dog did it. It's a dog story, right? When you think about, you know, how many people

trip over a dog and die? I'd love to have statistics on that. Trip over a dog and die. You know what it reminds me of, Karen Stark? How many cases have we covered where a child, an infant, is just beaten to death

and then the father goes, oh, she fell out of the high chair. Or she fell off the diaper changing table. You know, you fall three feet and you're dead. This is like the same thing here. She tripped over the dog and she's dead. That sounds very fantastical to me, Karen Stark. I agree, Nancy. It just doesn't make a lot of sense.

I mean, I have dogs. me, Karen Stark. I agree, Nancy. It just doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, I have dogs. Boy, do you. You know, they're this big and they sound like they're on a microphone. Each one is like five pounds of lung. But how you haven't tripped over those dogs and broken your foot, I don't know. But I don't think you would die because of it. But apparently, Skip Hoagland, joining me out of South Carolina, the founder of scwatchdog.com, I guess that's okay in that jurisdiction.

For a woman to a young woman, she's 57 years old. She's got her whole life in front of her. She's in the prime of her life. And she's bleeding profusely from the head and the left ear. And somebody signed off that that was a natural cause of death. Nancy, I hope I'm the most outspoken person here today. I got a real simple take on this. My guess is the murder cases will never be solved until Alex Murdoch is sentenced to life in prison. If he, in fact, committed committed these murders which seems highly likely why would he confess if he

knows he's going to walk free in five to ten to five to ten years so we have to wait who knows where this is going to end up but I'm going to tell you I'm going to speak real Frank few in South Carolina can be trusted from the bottom to the top South Carolina watchdogWatchdog.com has caught judges lying, committing malfeasance, caught the FBI, the Attorney General lying, IRS, DOR, not enforcing tax evasion, nonprofit violations. You tend to lose faith in our legal system. And it's just become, it's become so bad. And the other thing is with the judge malfeasance, this is an area of law that South Carolina's fear because it puts them in a position where they may be accusing a judge who will later hear their other cases. Well, my question is about the cause of death.

How can you be bleeding from your ear and your head, profusely mumbling, just confused, can't stand up you die how can that possibly be passed off as natural causes like you die of a heart attack or you die in your sleep at age 99 how can that be i've never heard of that before it's impossible i don't i don't believe it i mean what about it joe scott it's totally follow up on what skip hoagland is saying if you haven't been in the criminal business joe scott you may not well you shouldn't know. If you haven't been in the criminal business, Joe Scott, you may not. Well, you shouldn't know. I hope you don't know that there are X number of causes of death. You've got homicide.

You've got natural causes like you die of pneumonia. You've got, did I say accident? Accident. Accident. Homicide. Natural. Accident. Homicide.

Undetermined. Undetermined. And suicide. Thankident. Homicide. Natural. Accident. Homicide. Undetermined. Undetermined. And suicide. Thank you. Suicide. That's it. Those are the choices. Those are the five choices.

Nothing else under cause of death. Then you got matter of death. For instance, I could say Joe Scott Morgan died of homicide, and that would be the cause of death. The manner of death would be, let's just pretend gunshot wound. All right. So there's an MOD and a COD. No, you're right. There's five manners.

And I tell everybody that I teach, because this is specifically what I teach, that there is an umbrella of death. Oh, that sounds like a great book. It's Homicide Natural, Undetermined, Suicide, Accidental. And so you've got these five. And then everything else, all of the causes, gunshot wound, cancer, anything, it'll fall beneath one of those categories under that umbrella. So I have it totally see it bass-ackwards. Go ahead. There's no way you can sell this to anybody. Well, somebody bought it.

Somebody bought it. She's bleeding from her ear and profusely out of her head, and somebody okayed and signed off natural causes like she died in her sleep. Okay, guys, where does it all start? And you know Susan Williams, veteran South Carolina trial lawyer, former prosecutor, Susan Williams, I love nothing more

than playing a 911 call, preferably in my opening statement. But to do that, you have to have a motion in limine and you've got to get it introduced into evidence because anything the jury sees or hears or touches has to be admitted into evidence. And you normally do that through a witness. So it's kind of hard to get one in, in an opening statement. Why is it so powerful, Susan Williams, you're a veteran trial lawyer, to play that 911 call in front of a jury? Explain. Nancy, it's because it's a snapshot of exactly what is going on at that moment in that particular location. And there's really nothing else that can put you at the scene like that, like a 911 call. Yeah, I love them. And that is why I'm going to play it for you right now, Susan Williams. Take a listen to our cut. A. Remember Maggie Murdoch, the wife who is now dead.

She and her son, Paul, shot dead in the same place. They're all dying around Alex Murdoch's mansion and hunting lodge. Take a listen to the 911 call about Gloria Satterfield's death. 911, what is your emergency? 4147 Moosdale Road. Okay, what's going on out there? I'm sorry? battlefields death. Okay. How old is she? I'm not sure. Like 58 maybe. Do you know if she fell from standing or not? No. No. Where'd she fall from?

She fell going up the steps, up the brick steps. Okay. So is she outside or inside? Outside. Okay. How many steps is there? Eight. Okay. Is she on the ground or is she up near the top? She's on the ground.

She's on the ground. She's on the ground. Is she conscious? No, not really. Is she awake at all? Yes. Okay. Okay.

She sounds really calm. Does she sound calm to you, Steve Howling? Steve Howling, joining me? Yes. Okay. Okay, she sounds really calm. Does she sound calm to you, Steve Howling? Steve Howling, joining me from People.com. What about it, Steve? I mean, yes, she sounds very calm. I mean, I sometimes understand that you can be in shock when you see something and that you don't get, you know, hysterical about it. So I'll give her kind of a pass on that.

But I will say that it was just it felt like a very clinical phone call you know yes it did yeah so so I and I don't even know what to read into that me either it is what it is I don't know what to think about that now Steve Helling um Steve joining us from people.com we've done we've covered a lot of cases together Steve Helling we know that Maggie who you're hearing on the 911 call reporting Gloria Satterfield's fall, is dead. She was shot really badly outside the hunting lodge belonging to Alex Murdoch, her husband. Also shot at the same time, her young son, Paul Murdoch. They've got another son who's still alive. But Paul and Maggie shot dead outside the hunting lodge off Moselle.

Where did Gloria Satterfield fall down the steps? Same place. So, I mean, you know, it certainly seems like there's a real trail of tragedy following this family. I guess that's one way of looking at it, a trail of tragedy. Now, you've got two other dead bodies connected to Alex Murdoch, and that would be Mallory Beach, the 19-year-old girl that was thrown off the Murdoch boat to her death, floated in the water for days and days. Then you've got Stephen Smith, the teen boy that was found in the road not far from their hunting lodge. It was said it was a

hit and run, but long story short, he looked like he had been beaten to smithereens like with a baseball bat. Do I have all the dead bodies so far? Oh, God, got the murder of my grandfather who died of natural causes anybody else dead that we know of um i don't think that i can't think of anybody else but you know there's still investigations going on lord only knows what they'll find okay guys we're listening to the 911 call and there's more of it listen she's not like responding appropriately but she is awake man she's not sorry she's not responding appropriately, but she is awake. Ma'am, she's not responding. Okay, I've already got them on the way. Me asking questions does not slow them down, ma'am. Knowing if she's conscious is one of the things that the medic needs to know if she's responding at all to you.

No. Okay, so she's not responsive at all. Well, I mean, she's mumbling. Okay, so she is somewhat conscious. Is she breathing okay? Yes. Is she bleeding from anywhere? Yes, her head. Okay, are you guys able to control the bleeding? No. Can you put a clean rag or anything on it? Yeah, I got it. Okay. Is she bleeding from like her face, the back of the head? I've got an ambulance coming. Her, my name was. Where exactly is she bleeding from on her head? I'm not sure. The top of her head. Okay. Gosh, is that really necessary to you, Jessica Morgan? Maggie Murdoch could be helping Gloria Satterfield.

She's on a landline. She can't move down to Maggie. So why all the questions? Can't EMT deal with it when they get there? Well, they could, but it's important that they have an assessment when they roll up. Remember these guys on the truck, they're rolling up. They're feeding them this information as they're rolling up. And if I remember correctly, the son was there as well, Nancy. He should be offering aid, and they're kind of communicating between the two. And that gets kind of interesting. Speaking of the son, you're absolutely right.

Let's take a listen to him. This is now dead, now murdered, Paul Murdoch. Listen. What she okay? What happened? She just fell back down. Can I get off this phone so I can go down there? Can I have your name and phone number? Are you able to bring the phone down by her?

What? Are you on a cell phone where you can walk down there and talk? I'm on a cell phone. Okay, can you bring it with you so we can ask her some questions about what kind of pain she's having? Hello? Yeah, can you ask the patient what kind of pain she's having? Ma'am, she can't talk. Okay, do you know...

She's cracked her head and there's blood on the concrete and she's bleeding out of her left ear. Okay, she's bleeding out of her ear? And out of her head. She's cracked her skull. Okay. All right, did the other lady say that she had tried to stand up and fell down again? She's bleeding out of her ear. And out of her head. She's in a skull. Okay. All right. The other lady said that she had tried to stand up and fell down again. No, I was holding her up.

Okay. She told me to turn her loose, and she was trying to use her arm, but then she fell back over. Okay. Do you guys know who she is? Yes, she works for us. Okay. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Can you ask the patient what kind of pain she's having? Ma'am, she can't talk.

Okay, do you know... She's cracked her head and there's blood on the concrete and she's having? Ma'am, she can't talk. Okay, do you know... She's cracked her head and there's blood on the concrete and she's bleeding out of her left ear. Okay, she's bleeding out of her ear? And out of her head. She's cracked her skull. Okay. All right, did the other lady say that she had tried to stand up and fell down again? No, I was holding her up. Okay.

She told me to turn her loose and she was trying to use her arm, but then she fell back over. Okay. Do you guys know who she is? Yes, she works for us. Okay. I'm telling you, that 911 operator is getting really irritating. You've got a woman possibly bleeding out down at the bottom of the steps, and she's going on and on and on. But, guys, you've got to see the backdrop to what we're hearing right now.

Take a listen to our cut L from our friends at Fox Carolina. Gloria Satterfield died from a fall while in the Murdoch home back in 2018. Her sons were owed over $4 million in life insurance money. Murdoch was accused of embezzling that money. And today, a new judgment reveals he admitted to stealing those funds. This confession means he will have to pay the Satterfield sons 4.3 million

dollars Murdoch faces a long list of charges related to other estates the Attorney General's office says he worked with his longtime friend and bank CEO to steal money owed to clients and use it for personal use representatives for the Satterfield sons say they will work to hold all those involved accountable. Now, the attorney for Gloria Satterfield Sons say they plan to use some of the settlement money to start a foundation in her memory. They plan to hold a news conference with more information in the coming weeks. To Steve Helling, joining us from people.com what personal use but how did alex murdoch get his hands on a 4.3 million dollar life insurance settlement that was for gloria satterfield's children well the interesting thing

is that there were actually two settlements um from two different insurance companies on this the family knew about one of them, but they did not know about the other. And they were, by the time, you know, they were still waiting for payment for the smaller one while there was a payout for four, you know, for millions of dollars on the second one that the family didn't even know existed.

And that is the money that, you know know alex murdoch is is accused of taking so okay skip hoagland how is it that some judge somewhere signed off or thought it was okay for alex murdoch to have his fingers in the cookie jar in a lawsuit against himself and that the money be given to him. I don't understand this. Well, you know, here's why Judge Carmen Mullen typifies the outlaws and dirty black robes classification. Well, who's Judge Carmen? Who? Carmen Mullen. Okay.

Mullen is on the Satterfield case. That's the judge on the glorious satterfield case that's that's correct and and i'm just on the civil case uh judge mullen was accused of allowing disgraced lawyer alex murdoch to hide the 4.3 million payout from the wrongful death lawsuit for his housekeeper which was supposed to go to her grieving family And this story goes on and on and on. And the family never received the full payout and were not told of the settlement. And then David Pascoe has now filed an official complaint saying that Mullins signed off on the settlement, knowing it would be kept in the public view. So wait a minute, Let me understand something, Skip Hoagland. The judge, you're saying Judge Mullins, signed off on Murdoch getting the money? testimony given last month by Chad Westendorf, the vice president of Hampton County-based

Palmetto State Bank, and he was an alleged co-conspirator in the scheme to steal the $4.3 million from the family of the Murdoch housekeeper. Westendorf testified that Mullins signed the order knowing it would not be filed in the public record according to the complaint. There's now sworn testimony establishing that Judge Mullen signed the Satterfield order May 13th, 2019, knowing it would not be filed to prevent the litigants in the Mallory Beach matter from learning about Murdoch's insurance coverage and his settlement with the Satterfields estate. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

That's a lot. Steve Helling, this monster has tentacles all the way through the courthouse. Did you hear what Hoagland is saying? He's saying that a judge signed off on this $4.3 million settlement knowing that it was, I guess, sealed and that the other people suing Alex Murdoch, specifically Mallory Beach's family, the teen girl that died on the Murdoch boat, being thrown off the boat. So they couldn't see it. It's just getting worse. It's like a giant, nasty snowball going down the mountain getting bigger

and bigger and bigger and you know it's funny because you always hear about these you know these small communities and the corruption that can go on and you know and the old boys network and everything i don't know that i've ever seen it so blatant as I'm seeing it in this case. You know, it's just, when has there ever been a settlement that is sealed to the fact, to the point where other people won't even know that it happened, including the plaintiffs? It's absurd. I mean, Susan E. Williams, joining me, South Carolina criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. These are serious allegations that a judge or judges, bank officials, I don't even know who else, would somehow be complicit in taking people's money, millions of dollars.

I mean, somebody had to okay all of this. Well, although Pascoe, solicitor Pascoe, has filed a complaint against Judge Mullen. Judge Mullen has not been publicly reprimanded or anything like that in the state of South Carolina. So I believe that there is still, you know, whatever went on there, there's there hasn't been any proof. There hasn't been anything that's come out that said that she's done anything that was not something that she should have done. I mean, it's it's nothing. The bar, South Carolina bar has not recognized that in any way. So it may or may not be true. It's correct. Somebody had to sign off

on this settlement, didn't they? I mean, someone had to allow the disbursement of the funds, $4.3 million, because it sure as hey did not go to the family. Someone had to sign off, but that does not mean they were complicit necessarily. It does not necessarily mean that. Okay. I'm just, you know, what immediately came to mind, Jackie? Do you remember the huge apartment tower, condo tower in Florida that just fell down in the middle of the day? And all the people, they could hear people in the rubble screaming, crying, and begging for help. And they couldn't identify them, and they were trying to dig them out of all that cement. Well, somebody signed off on that building, and that structure, and the upkeep to dig them out of all that cement. Well, somebody signed off on that building and that structure and the upkeep and the maintenance of that.

So what? They weren't complicit? I mean, I don't know. I don't know all the facts surrounding this, but I know this. There sure as hay better be some kind of investigation because it's not just the Satterfield family. According to documents that we'd received, and correct me if I'm wrong, Steve Haling, Murdoch's law firm kicked him out because of millions and millions of dollars that he had apparently embezzled, siphoned

from the clients. And it went on and on and on. This is not just the Satterfields. That's absolutely right. And you know, I spoke when I was in South Carolina, I spoke to a couple of the associates there at the firm. Oh, I bet you did. Yes, they are furious. I think everybody's furious because it makes the firm look bad. Oh, wait, excuse me. Please call on me. It should make the law firm look bad. Where have they been with their thumb up their rear end the whole time? This didn't happen overnight. What? Nobody was watching the money? That's one of the big questions. How could

that have gone on for so long? And it's not just their money. It's their client's money, Steve Howling. Right. And you know, you can almost figure that if it happened one time that maybe everybody just kind of missed it. I believe I'd find four point three million dollars, but that's just me. You know, the first of the month, I'm right on the computer trying to make sure that my check went in before I start paying bills. really hard for me to understand or connect to someone that is so cavalier with not their money, but their client's money. You darn right, they ought to be mad and they ought to be embarrassed because this happened on their watch. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. What do we know about the actual death? What do we know about the stealing of the money?

This is Vaughn Hilliard, NBC. At the time, the Murdoch said her death was an accident and that she tripped over the family dogs and fell down the stairs. But now authorities are questioning the incident. Her family alleging last fall that Murdoch never paid them the $2 million he agreed to pay out to her estate as part of a settlement over her death at the family's home. Satterfield's family telling Craig Melvin on Dateline last fall, She felt like they were family. We thought they were family, think they are family. What did Alec Murdoch say to you after your mom died?

That he would, you know, take care of us and stuff and kind of look out for us. Yeah, Okay. This is apparently, Steve Helling, joining me from People.com, as a mountain, their words, not mine, a mountain of evidence is amassing against Murdoch. Now, oh, quick question. Where was Alex Murdoch when Gloria Satterfield fell down the steps? I don't actually know where he was,

but he certainly wasn't part of the 911 call. And so I don't believe he was on site. Is that what you think? Okay. I don't know enough to jump on you and ride you like a mule on that because I'm not clear where he was, but I can tell you this. His seemingly airtight alibi the night that Paul, his son, and Maggie were murdered in the same place at the hunting lodge off Moselle is now apparently

falling apart. A guy named Jim Griffin, Murdoch's lawyer, is placing Murdoch at the scene of the crime shortly before the murders. Griffin contends Murdoch left the estate around 9 p.m. to drive to his mother's house, a 20-minute drive away, and came back at 10. And lo and behold, Stephen Helling, between 9 and 10, the one-hour window,

what the coinkydink, that's when his wife and son were shot dead. Steve Helling, jump in. Yeah, I mean, we're now starting to see a lot of stuff coming together to show that his airtight alibi isn't as airtight you know there appears to be some cell phone video of taken off of paul's phone which has been unlocked which seems to place um alex at the scene that's something we didn't know before you know uh last month the talk um you know the local news talked a little bit about the high-velocity spatter on Alex's shirt, which we didn't know before. I haven't been able to independently verify that, but it certainly is coming out.

Yeah, Fit News. There's a lot of things that are coming out that, if even half of them are true, it's really looking bad for Alex Murdoch. Now, we also know that Fit News has reported that Maggie Murdoch apparently was lured, lured out to the hunting lodge, they call it, that night by her husband under the guise of visiting his sick father. But I want to circle back to what you mentioned. Video found, reportedly found, on Paul Murdoch's phone, the dead son, now has been unlocked. That's a forensic matter, Joe Scott Morgan.

How do you unlock a cell phone? It's not like the James Bond movies where you've got some brilliant computer whiz on the computer and all of a sudden, hey, I got it. It is birthday backwards. What's the ABCs? Upside down. No, it's a lot harder than that to unlock a cell phone, but they did unlock it. And there's a video on there showing, reportedly, Alex Murdoch and his wife Maggie talking by the dog kennels the evening of June 7, 2021, according to multiple sources. So that shoots his alibi to hell and back. What about it, Helen? I mean, you just said it. It's

like there are a lot of sources that are now saying, well, no, this isn't an airtight alibi, not at all. And yes, you know, of course, it took time to figure out how to get into Paul Murdoch's phone. And once they did, there's evidence there. I assume they're getting evidence elsewhere. And when it comes to, you know, the state of Alex and Maggie's marriage, we were the ones at People Magazine who reported that she had seen a divorce attorney before this whole thing, you know, before she died. Now, wait a minute. Steve Howling,

when I went to the location, how long ago was that, Jackie? Almost a year ago. The people in the sandwich shop, Jimmy Johns, told me that they were getting a divorce and that she was instigating it had been to a lawyer. Now, I trust the people at Jimmy Johns.

So who told you that? The lawyer. I talked to the lawyer. Okay. So what does that mean to you? I mean, what it means is, you know, they try. They're still trying. His lawyers are still trying to paint this picture that, no, their marriage wasn't in crisis.

Their marriage was in crisis. You don't go see a divorce lawyer. As somebody who's been divorced myself, I can tell you, you don't see a divorce lawyer unless there's a problem in your marriage. Man, you're not kidding. You know they charge you for the consultation. Let's just start right there. So you got that going on. And, you know, I'm just wondering, Joe Scott Morgan, you're the professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University and so much more. Joe Scott, to unlock a cell phone, like I said, it's not like it is on James Bond.

It takes effort, a lot of time. It's sometimes very difficult to do. Yeah, yeah, you're right. It does. And many times there are subpoenas that are involved and it goes beyond the technical. As you well know, there's been all kinds of things that have happened with Apple phones and that sort of thing and kind of digging back in there. But when you look at an organization like SLED, they have access to those abilities and capabilities

people on their staff. And now, you know, the feds are involved in this. So you've got, you know, you've got the long arm of them. But here's what I'm curious about, Nancy. Something that you mentioned. Why would Paul feel the need to record this conversation? To video his dad and mother talking. I think that's really compelling there.

And you know what? That's interesting. I think that's really compelling. And you know what? That's interesting. I was thinking the same thing. And in Susan Williams, we just saw a jury turn against Amber Heard in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard civil trial because they thought it was just bizarre that whenever they'd have an argument, she would videotape the whole thing. There's a reason you videotape things. Right. There's a reason that you videotape things or video record things to preserve it for something that you may want to use later. And Amber Heard believed that the jury would hear Johnny's story and not believe him,

but the jury spoke. I mean, come on, Susan Williams, are you married? Are you married, Susan? Yes, I am. When you and your husband get in an argument an argument I'm sure it's his fault. Let's just put that out there right now. Of course it's his fault but when you have an argument does he videotape you or do you videotape him? No never. I mean whenever I have an argument with David which by the way we never argued until we had the twins. Now we argue all the time about what's best for the twins but I think it was crazy.

You took out a video, a phone and started videoing me during an argument. Skip Hogan, let me ask you this. A founder of scwatchdog.com. I know that there's an extensive body of research and evidence that you've done on this, but could you explain in a nutshell the type of people you believe could be involved in wrongdoing as far as disbursement of money, as far as embezzling money from his law firm, bank documents that have been falsified allegedly by the Murdochs, all sorts of illegalities that somebody approved and went along with. All right. Well, the judicial malfeasance with Judge Mullen and many judges in South Carolina, what I think needs to happen and the way I think we can prove Judge Mullen's malfeasance is the

fact that she is friends and she's been here for a long time with another local Judge Duke. They've been here a long time. They're local judges. They're friends with all the Murdochs, all the Murdoch lawyers. They're all close. It's just one big insidious back slapping, backroom dealing club. They should not only be investigated for the Satterfield case, but all cases. And this is how we can prove a pattern. They should not only be investigated for the Satterfield case, but all cases. And this is how we can prove a pattern. They should be investigated for all the cases involving the Murdoch lawyers going back 20 years. Judicial malfeasance has become a plague in South Carolina, and it's because we allow the legislature, many who are lawyers, to appoint judges who rule in the cases involving the same legislatures or their friends who are the corrupted officials we are investigating. So Mullins needs to be investigated, period.

Well, I agree. I believe every bank official, judge, everyone involved in the firm that had anything to do with these settlements needs to be investigated. But I want to say one thing. Karen Stark, I may have told you this story before, but I will never forget. One of my very first big cases was against a very serious drug lord. And he lived in a beautiful luxury high rise in Atlanta. And the whole case turned on one legal issue. And that was a search and seizure issue. Because in his high

rise, the doorman, who was drunk quite often, got a FedEx to the drug lord, and he became curious, and he tore the FedEx envelope open, and inside, believe it or not, was a brick of uncut cocaine worth millions of dollars, millions on the street. Why they sent it in FedEx, I don't know. So the cops were called. I had an APD show up. He was wonderful and saw what was in the FedEx. It launched a search, and the drug lord was arrested. Had never been able to touch him before.

Long story short, the whole case depended on will that FedEx come into evidence with the cocaine? Because if the search was bad, there was no case. The lawyer was a very high, defense lawyer, very high-profile lawyer all across the country. He came into the courtroom, Karen Stark, with this beautifully tinted, blown back, blonde hair, kind of like Frazier would wear his hair. He had this gorgeous coat, you know, that would probably, you know, close to what my used car cost,

draped over his shoulders like a cape. He was being followed by a lot of lackeys. And there I was in my little seriously catalog mail order dress and my shoes that had been resold. I don't know how many times. And I'm like, oh, crap. And then here's the point. He goes back into the chambers with the judge. And they were, their arms around each other, and they were patting each other and talking.

I'm like, what? What? What? And they went back there, and they stayed a long time. And I said, well, that's that. The judge came back out. We had the motion. And Judge Don Langham ruled with the state. I'll never forget it because I thought, oh they're friends, they're

slapping each other on the back, he probably made a contribution, but the judge did the right thing. So the fact that these judges may know the Murdochs or know their law firm or their partner, that doesn't mean anything. The proof is going to be in the documents. So let's don't rule the judges out yet. Can we have a little faith, Karen Stark? Well, I think that we have to give it a chance. There's an awful lot, Nancy, of corruption going on there. And what you hope at this point is that so much has been exposed, that there will be a fair trial,

and that people, justice will be served, as you love to say. Oh, and by the way, the end of that story is that Charles Ehrlich, a.k.a. street name Charlie Tuna, went down. I think it was 20 to life after the trial. But that wasn't the end of Charlie Tune Jackie. When OJ Simpson robbed that guy over memorabilia, guess who was in his robbing crew? Charles Ehrlich. He had done his jail time, gotten out and hooked up with OJ Simpson in Vegas. And I heard that. I'm like, there's this is can there be two Charles Ehrlich's no there was it was him so you know you can't teach an old dog a new trick apparently we wait as justice

unfolds as the body of Miss Satterfield is exempt Nancy Grace Comstory signing off this is an iHeart podcast Goodbye, friend.