Law&Crime Sidebar - Disgraced Lawyer Alex Murdaugh Faces Trial for Wife and Son's Murder — The Story So Far

Episode Date: January 24, 2023

Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh faces trial this week for the murders of his wife and son in June 2021. Prosecutors allege the once-prominent lawyer murdered Maggie and Paul Murdaugh and attempted to cover it up by staging an attack on himself. The Law&Crime Network's Angenette Levy breaks down the story so far with Eric Bland, an attorney for victims of Murdaugh's financial crimes.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Logan HarrisGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Money, drugs, and murder. The twisted and tragic tale of Alec Murdoch, a member of one of South Carolina's most prominent families as he goes on trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul. We take a look at the murders, allegations of cover-ups and financial crimes, and how we got here. I'm Ann Janette Levy, and welcome to Law and Crimes Sidebar Podcast. The double murder trial of Alec Murdoch will likely be the trial of the century for South Carolina's low country. The murder case against Murdoch started on June 7th, 2021, and from there,

His world started to unravel, crumble really. The name Alec Murdoch became known across the country and really around the world. Murdoch was a former prosecutor who was part of a legal dynasty in the area. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all served as the solicitor of the 14th judicial district. The solicitor is really a prosecutor or district attorney as we would know it. Alec Murdoch called 911 from the family's hunting estate telling the 911 call taker on that evening that his wife and son had been murdered. Okay, you know, and one way to your emergency. This is Alex Murdo.

I think the police and stances immediately. My wife and Tom got badly. Okay, you said 41, 47, Moulogne Road in Aalton? Sir? You said 41, 47 Moselle Road and Nileton? Yes, sir, 41, 47, Moselle Road. Okay, and did you hear anything or did you come home and find them? No, man, I've been gone.

I just came back. Okay, and was anyone else supposed to be at your house? No, ma'am. Please hurry. We're getting somebody out there to you. Okay, what is her name? Maggie and Paul. Murdoch sounds distraught on that 911 call as anyone in his position would be after finding their wife and son shot to death.

The shootings happened in and outside of a dog kennel on the family's sprawling hunting estate in Colleton County. Looking at the family from the outside, it appeared they had everything. But slowly, details started to come to light that showed the family's life was anything but picture-perfect. Earlier on the day of the murders, Alec Murdoch's law partners had confronted him about concerns over money missing from the firm. Paul Murdoch was facing a boating while under the influence charge for a boat crash that killed Mallory Beach in 2019. Video showed him buying alcohol with a fake ID hours before the crash. Beach's family recently settled a lawsuit with the Murdoch family. Then questions surfaced about the death of Murdoch's longtime housekeeper and nanny, Gloria Satterfield.

In 2018, she died weeks after a slip and fall accident at the Murdoch House. Satterfield's son started asking questions about what happened to the money they should have received from a Murdoch insurance claim payout. Money Alec Murdoch was handling for them. South Carolina's law enforcement division would open an investigation into Satterfield's death. Then questions surfaced about the death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old nursing student found dead in a road in 2015. His mother believes he was murdered and his death covered up. South Carolina's sled reopened an investigation into his death since the Murdoch name came up repeatedly throughout the initial investigation. Three months after Paul and Maggie were

murdered, a stunning 911 call from Alec Murdoch. Somebody stopped to help me, and when I turned my back, they tried to shoot me. Oh, okay. Were you shot? Yes, but, I mean, I'm okay. You shot where? Where were you shot at? Huh?

Did they actually shoot you, or they tried to shoot you? They shot me, but... Okay, wait. You need EMS? Well, I mean, yes. I can't drive. Okay. seeing and I'm bleeding a lot.

Where part of your body? I'm not sure. Somewhere on my head. Your head? Somebody just stopped from me, ma'am. For 9-1-1. Okay. Still?

Hey. Okay, let me speak to him, see if he can tell me exactly where you are. It turned out, Alec Murdoch knew exactly who shot him. It was his cousin, Curtis Eddie Smith. Murdoch announced he was going to rehab for a 20-year opioid. addiction, and he's later charged with conspiring with Smith to shoot him so his son Buster could get a $10 million insurance payout, Murdoch admitting days after the shooting that it was all concocted. It was a ruse. Jim and I spent a year and a half with him and Maggie and Paul

when apparently he was on oxycotton and opioids, and he seems much more clear-headed today than I've ever seen him. Has he admitted to this financial crime? That would be attorney-client. We're not going to comment on that. And you said that he would write every wrong, including financial wrong? How does he intend to write this one? I don't want to comment on that. I'm sorry. What's your reactions you're not getting wrong for you, when you guys expected to do a law out of it? Well, I mean, we knew it was going to be an uphill battle, obviously the public interest and the enormity of the accusations.

But we're glad that the judge is concerned about his mental condition. And we think we can get him a clean, a relatively clean bill of health by the end of this week, early next week from a psychiatrist based on the six weeks of examinations he's had by mental health experts, both at the detox center and the rehab facility. Months and months would pass. And then in July of 2022, a grand jury indicted Alec Murdoch for the murders of Paul and Maggie. Richard Alec Murdoch, if that is your name, please raise your right hand. Do you waive reading of the indictments? Yes, sir. What say you, Richard Elyke Murdoch, are you guilty or not guilty of the felonies

wherein you stand indictment? Not guilty. How shall you be tried? By God and my country. Thank you. In addition to those murder charges, Alec Murdoch also faces 99 counts related to allegations of forgery, fraud, and money laundering.

Now South Carolina's low country is gearing up for what promises to be, the low country's trial of the century. Alec Murdoch, of course, faces those two murder charges for the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul back on June 7th of 2021. But he also faces a number of charges related to financial crimes. Joining me to discuss the upcoming murder trial of Alec Murdaugh is Eric Bland. He's a partner at Blan Richter, and he also represents Gloria Satterfield's sons and other victims accusing Alec Murdo of financial crimes. Eric, welcome to Sidebar.

Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Well, we appreciate you coming on. You are subpoenaed. You're under subpoenaed for the murder trial. Your thoughts on that. Yeah, it's unusual for a lawyer to be subpoenaed to a trial.

Usually I'm the one that's doing the talking. Yes, because I was one of the original lawyers with my partner, Ronnie Richter, who discovered Alex's financial frauds. We are potentially going to be witnesses along with our clients, the Satterfields, for the financial crimes, some of the financial crimes that Alex is committed because the state, even though they don't have to prove motive, they are going to have to show it because a jury always wants to know what is the motive for a murder. The state's theory is all of these financial pressures that Alex was under culminated on June 7, which resulted in the death of his son and his wife. and those financial pressures are as follows. One, on June 7, the day of the murders, he was confronted by his law firm,

and they accused him or confronted him and asked him, how is it that $750,000 went from Chris Wilson's account to you directly when that was a law firm fee? So they put out in light the fact that he had diverted a fee that should have gone to the law firm. So that was a big pressure. Number two, about a month before he borrowed money from Palmetta State Bank and pledged as a collateral, the Edisto Beach House. Now, you and I and most other people, we don't get money until we sign all bank documents.

They don't give us money. Alex had a different relationship with Palmeta State Bank. They would give him money and then all the paperwork would be done weeks later. It's a unique relationship. And so as the month went on, Palmeta State Bank kept saying to him, when is Maggie going to sign over? this beach house she did not do that she wouldn't do and that was a source of tension the next financial pressure was three days after the murder he was scheduled to have to produce all of this financial information and all of his financial documents in the mallory beach case and that was a

pressure the other three pressures were his sons were being sued obviously paul and buster were being sued in the mallory beach case he was being personally sued in the mallory beach case And then a very big pressure is, Paul, his son, was charged with felony DUI boating. So you put all of those together in a pot and pressure can break a man. Pressure breaks pipes or pressure makes a diamond. The state's theory is it broke the man and that's what caused him to murder his wife and son. So Judge Newman has to make this Solomon-like decision. how much do I let in from the state to prove their motive?

Now, if he lets in too much, it becomes almost a mini trial for each one of these financial crimes. Sure. He's charged with these crimes, but they have not actually gone to trial. So the Satterfield case would be a mini trial, the Picney case would be a mini trial, the Badger case would be a mini trial, the Badger case would be a mini trial, and that could really get unruly. So I think that Judge Newman is going to have to find the story. sweet spot and determine what can I let in that would be beneficial for the jury to understand, but at the same time, not put Alex on trial for all these other crimes when he's on trial for murder. And it's going to be a tough decision. This is a circumstantial evidence murder case.

It's not a direct evidence murder case. There's no video. There's no eyewitness. There's no recording where there was the argument and then you hear the shots fired. So Dick R. Boot, is a master trial lawyer. He's tried over 100 murder cases, 15 death penalty cases. And I think he's going to have a plan to create a lot of brush fires around the courtroom and then point to those brush fires as reasonable doubt, attacking the blood evidence, the spatter evidence, attacking the state's motive, attacking the timeline, attacking the phone mapping.

And all he has to do is create reasonable doubt in the head of one. one juror. One juror creates reasonable doubt and decides to vote not guilty. There could be a hung jury. Now, I don't think he's going to get 12 jurors that are going to say not guilty. But there is a good likelihood that he can sway one or two jurors who are from Cullen County. Remember, the Murdalls have a big history there. They're revered there. There are still a lot of people that like them, that were the beneficiary of their good deeds. And it's not going to be an easy conviction. That's why I was always an advocate that the financial crime should have been tried first because they're the easiest to prove the tax evasion. He obviously didn't report

$8.5 million on his taxes. You can, the Satterfield case is the easiest case in the world to prove because $4.3 million came into the account and it never went to the clients. So that would have gotten him convicted. I feel like this could be a lot like the OJ case. You're a younger looking woman. I don't know if they were around during the OJ case. Well, bless you, and I was. I remember it well. But thank you. I appreciate your kind words. Well, we all remember when OJ got off. And then they convicted him of the robbery and the sports memorabilia stuff. And everybody felt like, well, we're convicted him for that because he got off a murder. I just don't want that thing to happen here with Alex. You know, somebody asked me, do I want him convicted? No, I want

justice to be done. And whatever that jury decides will be justice. Now, on a personal level, despicable human being, horrible father, a dastardly lawyer, a stain on our profession. You know, he stole from clients, family members, victims. I just want to see justice done. We're not in there to burn down a courthouse or to convict a man that's not guilty. Well, Alex, like Murdole, like anybody else, charged with a crime in our justice system, deserves a fair trial. He deserves a fair hearing. And we hope he gets that, of course. He will from this judge. And we've seen Judge Newman in action before in a prior case. And I feel like he runs a tight ship. And he seems to be a very fair judge. Let's talk a little bit about where things stand with your

your clients, the sons of Gloria Satterfield. You've been able to recover a lot of money for them. We had from the, you know, Gloria Satterfield died. She slipped and fell at the home. She was somebody who was a part of the Murdof family. I mean, she helped raise the children. She was a nanny to Buster and Paul and also a housekeeper. Right. Yeah. She suffered a tragic death, obviously in her 50s, way before her time that she should, that she should have died. And she left Tony and Brian as her two sons. Brian is a vulnerable, was a vulnerable, is a vulnerable adult. Tony's a good. kid works in the hospital. They lost their mother. And afterwards, we think that Alex saw this as an immediate opportunity to enrich himself at the expense of these children and expense of the, uh, all the good that Gloria had done for his family. We have been fortunate to recover in excess of seven and a half million dollars for the Satterfield boys. And we have gotten a confession of judgment from Alex for four point three million, the original amount

that was stolen. So if under the original settlements, there were two settlements that were paid 4.3 million, the boys would have gotten about 2.9 million. So we've recovered over 7.5 million for them. So we feel like that they're well on their way to be fully compensated. I tell a lot of different people that my clients were reluctant litigants. You know, there's some people that can run to the courthouse faster than I can get there. There are not those type of people. There religious people. They're Christians. They believe in forgiveness. And you're probably going to be surprised, but they've already forgiven Alex for what he did to the boys. They had four goals. They wanted to find out what happened, which we did. We've gotten all the answers regarding their

money. Number two, they wanted to get the money for the boys. And we've done that. Number three, they wanted Alex to be held accountable. Did he have to answer for his misdeeds? He's being criminally charged in the Satterfield case. And he lost his law license. Four, they wanted an apology. And that. Dick Harpoon-Linn threw at a bond hearing said this is on behalf of Alex Murdo. He apologized and Alex said how sorry he was. He knew them that they were friends. So for them, they've gotten that closure that they needed. They've had a fifth benefit, which is they form the glorious gift foundation, which will provide gifts for underprivileged families at Christmastime or families in need. So in a strange kind of way,

This woman who lived a very quiet life who worked a job that doesn't get a lot of fanfare is not somebody that if she walked down the street, you would know who she is. She's turned out to be an angel and she didn't die in vain. She died for a purpose and in that purpose was to expose all the criminal and fraudulent financial activity of Alex Murdoch. So from ash, from the fire, you know, the Phoenix rises, things happen and tragedy, create opportunity and this tragedy created an opportunity are michael and brian satisfied with the fact that their mother indeed slipped and fell i know there were people given what's gone on with this case

that yeah when we started you know i got on tv and i was very disappointed in the slow pace of sled opening up an investigation into glorious finances and the circumstances surrounding her death They, on September 27th of 2021, they announced two investigations, one into the money that was taken, but two, into the circumstances surrounding her death, they've asked us twice that they're going to exhume her body and we've given permission. Obviously, they're preoccupied with this murder case. We don't think she was intentionally killed. And the reason I say that is, in the South, people know how to kill people. If they're going to kill somebody, people get killed. They don't do it halfway. And I don't think if she was intentionally pushed down the stairs by somebody in that

household, that that person would let her get in an ambulance semi-conscious and be taken to a hospital only to be woken up and to say, oh, no, I didn't slip and fall on those stairs. Somebody pushed me. So I think that if they intended to try to kill her, she would have been dead way before the ambulance ever arrived on that day of February. 2nd 2018. Well, this has been a really interesting conversation, Eric, and we hope that you'll come back and join us throughout the trial. Thanks so much for coming on. All you've got to do is ask. And that's it for this edition of Law and Crime Sidebar podcast. It is produced by Sam Goldberg and Michael Dininger. Bobby Zoki is our YouTube director. Kiera Bronson handles our social media,

and Alyssa Fisher is our booking producer. You can listen to and download Sidebar on Apple and wherever else you get your podcasts, and of course, you can always watch it on Law and Crimes YouTube channel. I'm Ann Janette Levy, and we will see you next time.