Murdaugh Murders Podcast - "Another Good Day For Justice" What Happened To Gloria Satterfield? Part Four (S01E14)

Episode Date: October 21, 2021

On Tuesday, October 19, South Carolina Judge Clifton Newman made a shocking decision in denying Alex Murdaugh bond. Murdaugh was arrested in Orlando, Florida Thursday and charged with two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses related to the Gloria Satterfield case, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). In this special breaking edition of the Murdaugh Murders Podcast, we will walk you through the bond hearing and you’ll hear attorney Eric Bland’s reaction to the decision.  And a special thank you to our sponsors: The Bannon Law Group - From sitting by the fires to setting them, the Bannon Law Group has got you covered. Lauren Taylor Law - Few events are more traumatic and stressful than a divorce - let Lauren Taylor make a plan tailor made for you. Ross & Pines - Uncovering the truth and fighting police coverups is what Noah Pines and his team of lawyers at Ross & Pines do when defending you from being falsely accused, or wrongly convicted, of committing a crime.  Nature's Highway CBD - Nature’s Highway is dedicated to introducing consumers to the life changing potential of CBD and its family of other relevant cannaboiniods. We pride ourselves on providing the purest, highest quality hemp products at the most competitive prices. Midwood Smokehouse - We're your neighborhood smokehouse using nothing but NC hickory hard wood and hard work to make the best barbecue around. For current and accurate updates: Twitter.com/mandymatney Buy us a coffee at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MurdaughMurders Support Our Podcast at: https://murdaughmurderspodcast.com/support-the-show Please consider sharing your support by leaving a review on Apple at the following link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/murdaugh-murders-podcast/id1573560247 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I don't know if anyone killed Gloria Satterfield, but this week prosecutors presented a paper trail of evidence showing how Ellic Murdoch allegedly stole millions of dollars in a despicable scheme in the aftermath of her death. And this week prosecutors presented enough evidence about Ellic Murdoch to convince a South Carolina judge to keep Ellic Murdoch behind bars for the time being. And that is a big deal. My name is Mandy Matney and I've been investigating the Murdoch family for more than two and a half years now. And this is the Murdoch Murders podcast. Last week, I told you all that this bond hearing would be different. And I'm happy to say that I was right. On Tuesday, South Carolina judge Clifton Newman ruled against Ellic Murdoch in a so-called

bulldog attorneys. To many in South Carolina, the ruling had much larger implications on the justice system as a whole. To many, it meant that the tithes were changing against the good old boy system and that this case is no longer under their thumbs. So today, in this special breaking news episode of the Murdoch Murders podcast, we're going to go through the arguments at Tuesday's hearing and talk about what led Judge Newman to make this decision. Creighton Waters, prosecutor with the South Carolina Attorney General's office, was first to present. He told the court how Gloria Satterfield was the Murdoch's housekeeper for more than two decades. He talked about how Gloria helped raise Ellic's two children, Buster and Paul, and how she died suddenly at the age

of 57 after an alleged trivenfall incident at Ellic Murdoch's Moselle home in Colleton County, South Carolina, in February 2018. Satterfield's entire family attended the hearing. I didn't see a single member of the Murdoch family there to support Ellic on Tuesday. During the bond hearing, Waters took the court through the Satterfield scheme that allegedly began soon after she died. Your Honor, Mr. Murdoch, as you may know, is a longtime lawyer in the state of South Carolina. He does a lot of tort work. And at the funeral of Ms. Satterfield, Mr. Murdoch tells the family, hey, she fell out of my house. It was because of the dogs. It was my fault. And I'm going to take you to a lawyer so that she'll can file a claim and get some compensation for the death of your mom.

And he takes the boys to a friend of his, a very close friend of his, a person by the name of Cory Fleming. And your Honor, as you're well aware, many times in these sorts of cases, they end up being a structured settlement. And there is a company, a legitimate company here that operates in South Carolina called Forge Consulting. And what they do is they help facilitate these structured settlements in certain cases where that is approved by the court. But as your Honor, also, those have to be approved by the court. Mr. Murdoch appears back in 2015, set up a bank account at the Bank of America in the name of Richard Alexander Murdoch, DBA Forge. Here, the court learned shocking information that Alec Murdoch allegedly opened up the fake

Forge account in 2015. This leads to so many other questions. How many other people did he scam with this fake Forge account? Why did he open it in 2015? Here is Waters again. And it appears that this account was nothing more than an illusion, a fabrication, in order to create the illusion that these checks that he was getting in various settlements were going to a legitimate settlement consultant when in reality they were going into an account that he controlled. And that's how this scheme was took place in this particular case. And this led to a chain of events, Your Honor, that I've never seen before. So if you've been following along and paying attention to the Murdoch Murders podcast and Fitznews coverage of this case,

you've heard most of this. But hearing it in court is a whole other thing, and it's a good recap of how the scheme went down. Here is Waters again. Mr. Fleming talks the boys into appointing as PR or person at Palmetta State Bank, where Mr. Murdoch has a long relationship, a guy by the name of Chad Westendorf. He gets appointed on December 18, 2019. And on the very next day, December 19, 2019, he files a petition to approve a settlement, which is a $500,000 settlement on the homeowners policy. The disbursement in this petition says $475 for the wrongful death, $25 for survival, and $5,000 for the med pay. And in that petition as well, there is $166,000 for attorney's fees, and then $11,500 on the nose for costs. And ultimately then, not long after that,

Mr. Fleming and his law firm issues a check at the direction of Mr. Murdoch, made out just simply to the name Forge. And Mr. Murdoch takes that particular check. It is for $403,500. It makes no sense with the disbursements that were in the petition to approve the settlement, and he deposits that into this Forge account that he controls. And Murdoch, I was able to review the bank records about that. And what we see is, is that's deposited in January 2019, and by March 2019, he has transferred all that money out of that Forge account he controls into his personal checking account, where they are spent on personal use and family expenses. Here, Waters is saying that in March 2019, which would be days or weeks after the 2019

boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, Murdoch transferred a large amount of money from the Satterfield settlement into his own bank account for personal use. This boat crash forever changed the dynamics of the Murdoch family and thrust them into a media spotlight that they just were not prepared for. In March 2019, the Murdoch family was sued for that crash by Mallory Beach's mother Renee Beach, who was being represented by Mark Tensley. In an April 2019, Paul Murdoch, Alec Murdoch's son was charged with three felonies in that crash. Attorneys Dick Harputlian and Jim Griffin were hired to represent Paul either in March or April 2019, which would be after he got this money likely. Considering that the Murdoch family got millions in the settlement, how can we know

for sure that none of the money went to Jim Griffin or Dick Harputlian? And if it did, wouldn't that be a conflict of interest? But that's not the end of it, Your Honor. There's also an umbrella policy that's got a much higher limit. And ultimately, Mr. Fleming negotiates a $3.8 million with the insurance company on that umbrella policy. And then what we see is there's an unfilial petition. The caption has changed. It doesn't have Mr. Murdoch's name on it. It just says NRA Gloria Satterfield. The Murdoch name is removed. And it is this petition to approve the settlement is on May 13, 2019. And it's actually for $4,305,000. So it is for the 3.8 plus the 505 that was from that previous petition. There's no mention of structure.

There's no mention of a structured settlement. And in the disbursement that's set out there, there's supposed to be $2,765,000 that's supposed to go to the beneficiaries. And then there's also $105,000 in costs on the nose, again, zero, $105,000, not $0.21, not $0.37, $105,000. So that disbursement also has in there for attorneys fees and all the rest up. And again, 2.7 million is supposed to go to these boys back here. And instead, Mr. Fleming sends a check to Forge at Mr. Murdoch's direction on May 13, 2019 for $2,961,911.95. And that represents the second charge. The first charge is $403,000. The second charge is for the 2.9, almost $3,000,000. And again, Your Honor, when you look at the petition, the disbursements made no sense whatsoever.

They don't bear any relationship to what was said in those petitions. But the reality is, is that 2.9 million dollars went into that Forge account that Mr. Murdoch controlled. And within a few months, he had transferred all that money for personal use. So before the court hearing, we never heard what Ellic did with the money. And that was revealed in court yesterday. Here is Waters again. He had been carrying $100,000 credit card balance for months. That gets paid off. He writes 300 and some odd grand to his father. He writes a check for 610 grand to himself. He writes a check for 125 grand to himself. Not a dime goes to this family back here, Your Honor. And interestingly, I noticed last night that one of the checks in there was an $84 check that he

wrote to Scott Harriet, who was one of the family members back here. So he had over $3 million of money that should have gone to this family or almost $3 million of money that should have gone to this family. Not a dime went to glorious sons Brian Harriet and Tony Satterfield. And they wouldn't have known that there were any dimes distributed in this case had it not been for my article that they read in 2020, which was about the only part of the settlement that was on public record. And I only wrote that article because the Murdochs were involved in the 2019 boat crash. So many events had to occur in order for Alex arrest to happen in this case. Here is Waters again. Your Honor, there is one final check that was in October of 2020, over a year after all this other

stuff occurred. And that was for $118,000 that Mr. Fleming also sent the forge that Mr. Murdoch absconded with that as well. That is not one of the current charges, but that is because this is an ongoing investigation. Your Honor, this is the tip of the iceberg. It is. This is an ongoing investigation. And I think there's gonna be far more that we will reveal as we review these records. Earlier this week, Satterfield family attorney Eric Bland told Fitzniz that he believes that Alec should have been charged with a third check at the very least. That third check was for $118,000 that he allegedly stole in the settlement. The Attorney General's office here is basically saying that they expect more charges will come and that this is just the beginning. At the end

of the prosecution statement, Waters asked the judge for a surety bond and a GPS monitor. He said Murdoch is a flight risk and should be considered a danger to himself and the community. Your Honor, very quickly the state would be asking for a surety bond here today in the neighborhood of $200,000. We would ask for GPS. And the reason for that is, is that we do believe that Mr. Murdoch is a danger. He's already bought the previous charges that he had. He's been a danger to himself and a man who's a danger to himself is a danger to others. The underlying facts of those and there's already been a bond set on that and I recognize that. But the underlying facts of those charges were in fact violent. Someone who's suicidal is also a danger to other people.

Additionally, he's been apparently under treatment for a very severe opiate addiction and Your Honor, doing a lot of drug cases. I know how powerful that is and how unmoored that can make someone. And then obviously we're all aware of the unspeakable tragedy that this family has suffered. His professional life is coming apart at the seams. He's facing very serious charges with additional wants to come and that really can make someone very unmoored and very dangerous. And for that, Your Honor, I think that he is a danger. I think we also have to consider the fact of a flight risk. This is a man who, just here today on the two charges we're here today, we're talking about over $3 million that was misappropriated.

That's a lot of money. And I think inherently that makes somebody, but that kind of means, but kind of money that this man was dealing with makes them capable of being a flight risk. Your Honor, if you steal $3.4 million, I believe you deserve a shirting. I believe you deserve GPS. I believe that that would be trading him by the book. After Waters, Murdoch's defense attorney, Dick Harputlian, addressed the court. Dick Harputlian did not look on top of his game yesterday. Harputlian's argument was basically saying that Murdoch is a recovering addict and should no longer be considered a danger. Arguing that Murdoch is not a flight risk, Harputlian claimed

that Ellick was willing to voluntarily turn himself in on any additional charges before he was arrested on Thursday. But law enforcement didn't take him up on that. I thought this was interesting as the two systems of justice theme keeps reoccurring in this, that Harputlian would expect Ellick to be able to turn himself in again and not get arrested like a normal person. We're not here today to debate the allegation by the state. He's presumed innocent at this point. And while the allegations are just that allegations, they're really not relevant to the bond your honor says. The second thing I point out is this, when he was made aware of the charges in Hampton County for which he's out on bond now, he brought

himself from a treatment facility in Georgia, surrendered himself, a PR bond was set, he was released, he went to another treatment facility. We offered to Sled to let us know if you need him. We anticipated further charges. They did not take us up on our offer to have him come up under his own steam and surrender himself. They went to Orlando, Florida, took him into custody without giving us a heads up. That was not what was represented to me. They had some reason for doing it. He is not a flight risk. He surrendered himself. He was willing to surrender himself on this. He's really got nowhere to go. He's from South Carolina, lived here his entire life. The defense really pushed the narrative that Elick was a drug addict who needed to go back

to rehab. The second thing I think is important to recognize is this. He has had at least a decade, if not longer, of severe addiction to OxyCot and other opioids. Much of the conduct we're talking about, there's a lot about here today, occurred because of that, some of it to fuel that. And certainly his judgment was a paradigmatic way. He is off of those. He has just completed almost six weeks of detox and treatment at an addiction center, two different centers. So first of all, is it a 10-year addiction or a 20-year addiction? Why is Dickarputlian saying that his client has been addicted to opioids for over 20 years and now he's saying it's at least 10 years? Second of all, Harputlian said that Elick was addicted while this conduct was occurring.

So is he saying that his client did it? But we would ask you to consider, and Mr. Griffin's going to go into this in greater detail, a personal or consciousness bond. I mean, for him to have a surety bond means he's going to have to waste some of those assets that Mr. Waters is talking about on paying a bondsman. So your honor, having pointed out his willingness to confront these charges, he hasn't run once, not going to run. And the fact that maybe he at some point was a danger to himself in an opioid adult mental condition, asked somebody to shoot him in the head. But that's not where he is today. He's been through six weeks of addiction treatment. He needs more. And your honor, we'd ask you to consider a PR bond and let me let you go into greater detail on that.

Harputlian concluded his statement basically asking for special treatment for his client. He said that Elick needed to complete more rehab in order to get better. And keep in mind, he was arrested after completing over a month of rehab at two different facilities. He also asked for a PR bond, which is what he got at the last bond hearing in his home court of Hampton County. A PR bond means that he doesn't have to pay any money to the court in order to be released. He asked for this by saying that Murdoch, a person who's accused of stealing over 3 million from the Satterfield family and over 10 million from his own law firm, doesn't have any money and would have to sell his own assets in order to pay for the bond. How did he go through all that money so

fast? And if he doesn't have any money, how is he affording two of the most expensive defense attorneys in the state? Defense Attorney Jim Griffin followed Dick Harputlian and asked for a PR bond. The statute says you begin with the presumption of a PR bond. And, Your Honor, we think that is what is entitled to. We have put in our memo a suggestion that he needs subject to random drug testing. You know, he's willing to do that. He's committed to do that. He will do that regardless of this court order. But, Your Honor, we think with random drug testing, that will be sufficient condition of release to ensure his appearance and that he's not a dangerous community. The Alec Murdoch, who's not hooked on drugs, has lived a good, fruitful life and law body line. Only

when he got hooked on opioids did things turn south and he truly regrets his conduct. Thank you, Your Honor. After Griffin closed, Attorney Eric Bland addressed the court on behalf of the Satterfield family. Judge Newman, my partner Ronnie Richter and I represent the victims. These are Satterfield and Harris family. Brian Harris, he's the direct victim of Alec Murdoch. This is Saturday, Your Honor. It's a day for lawyers. If we look upon another lawyer who stole money from clients, Alec Murdoch, stained our profession, he also put a black eye on this state. I disagree with Jim Griffin and Mr. Harpool. If he's an opioid addict for 20 years, how is it that he tried cases? How is it that he appeared before judges like you? How is it that he worked

with his partners and represented clients? I do not believe that is the case. He is a clear and present danger to the citizens of this state and to my family. This is a man that used a gun on Labor Day weekend. This is a man that used a pen to steal 3.3 million dollars with another $118,000 that's potentially going to be charged. It's no different than somebody walking into a bag and using a gun. We need to make sure that when somebody steals with a pen, it's the same as if they're stealing with a gun. Then Judge Newman asked Eric Bland to clarify what kind of bond he's asking for. I want him not to have a bond. I would love it if this man was locked up and he couldn't harm anybody else. But there is a presumption that somebody is going to get bond.

And if you're going to put bond, put those serious conditions on him that will restrain him. Our position is he does not deserve bond. He forfeited that right. He stole. He's a liar and a cheat. Thank you, Ron. Next, Bland's law partner Ronald Richter asked the judge to place financial restrictions on Alec Murdoch as a bond condition. Alec Murdoch is currently facing at least four different lawsuits and a number of plaintiff attorneys are concerned about his assets. We have concerned that he has been engaged in the pattern now of dispossessing himself of assets for the purpose of avoiding attempts by us and others to collect against him. We know that in recent times he has

transferred an interest that he owned in Green Swamp Club, a Dunn Club hunting club down in Buford. We're not sure exactly what money he got for this, but the transaction occurred on October 1st, 2021, and I'll have a copy of that for the court's consideration. He is listed for sale, a gravy white boat that he owns for $115,000, and more concerning and more troubling from us is he is granted to his son a broad power of attorney surrendering all financial control to his son. So your honor, if you do consider a bond, we would ask that that bond restrict the ability of his son to assist in the dispossession of assets that would otherwise be available from right to financial crimes that have been committed on our family.

Richter asked the judge to set a serious bond for Alec Murdoch as he has demonstrated to have supporters with deep pockets. Now finally, your honor, it's important to note that we're not the only victim. We're the only victims here today. Mr. Murdoch's law firm has sued him for allegedly stealing $10 million more or less. Now, amazingly, it's only at the time that the Saturn Fields came forward with their complaints that the Murdoch law firm discovered for the first time that there's $10 million missing, right? And what they explain on their website, and this is a notice that they published to the public on their website, is that all clients, all clients have been restored. No one has suffered a loss because of this. That is not

true as to the Saturn Fields, right? So if ability to pay is a concern for the court, apparently Mr. Murdoch has enough wealthy and powerful friends and family members that somebody stepped in on his behalf to cure a $10 million wrong for him. Because that's what this represents to the world on the website. I can tell you it's not true as our clients. So if you set a bond with a high financial amount, you should rest assured that he has the financial wherewithal to influence your friends and family members to respond to virtually any bond that you could issue. So your ought to be asked that you issue, if you're going to issue a bond, that it be a serious amount. He has the ability to pay. And closing your honor, they're-

A $4.3 million feels appropriate to us. It seems severe some relationship to the crime that was committed to our clients. After Richter's statement, Judge Newman asked to hear directly from law enforcement. Special Agent Turner with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, also known as SLED, addressed the court. To put it clearly, sir, and right now, what I can speak on, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, we are investigating multiple different allegations or investigations at this point in time to include the Stephen Smith death, which you're aware of, the actual cause of Ms. Satterfield's death. We're looking into that, the financial case that you're here with today, and numerous other financial

investigations dealing with fraud or possible other criminal actions. As of right now, these are the charges that we are comfortable with and that we feel appropriate bringing forth. That's not to say that there won't be additional charges brought forth in the near future or in the possibly brought forth in the future. But these right now are the charges that we, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, felt were appropriate to bring before you today. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Special Agent Turner also mentions that Satterfield's cause of death is under investigation. Now, if you remember, on Satterfield's death certificate, the manner of death said natural,

which the coroner said was not consistent with what was stated in the settlement about how the 57-year-old died. Satterfield's death was not reported to the coroner at the time, nor did officials perform an autopsy, which ultimately caught the attention of the new Hampton County coroner who asked Sled to investigate Satterfield's death. And that was at the time when they believed that Satterfield fell in Hampton County. But now, we know that she fell at Moselle. It's interesting that here, he mentioned Stephen Smith, Gloria Satterfield, and the financial crimes, but not the double homicide. Remember, last week, Elex's own attorney admitted to a Fox Carolina reporter that his client was still a person of interest in the double homicide investigation,

so I don't know why Sled would not mention that. But anyways, after this, Hart Putleyan popped up again, and this time it was to place blame elsewhere in the case. Your Honor, I hesitate to address Mr. Bland and Mr. Richter's allegations, but I think it's important for the court to understand. Mr. Murdoch was not a warrior in the Satterfield man. He was the defendant. He had no authority over any money whatsoever. He was the defendant. The lawyer was a friend of his, but that lawyer's the one that issued those checks. That lawyer's the one that made sure the money went to this forge. He's the one that has responsibility. And then there's a personal representative who was a banker. They were

responsible for making sure that Mr. Murdoch could not, if he in fact did, prolong that money. So the idea that somehow he used his position as a lawyer, he was the defendant. He was the one that got sued. Hart Putleyan tried to argue that Murdoch did not use his authority as an attorney in the settlement scam, but a paper trail showing emails and letters from the Murdoch's law firm appears to prove otherwise. This was a shocking error for Murdoch's own defense attorney who's supposed to be one of the best lawyers in the state to make. Those emails and letters weren't in public record and published by Fitz News. How did he miss that? Here is Eric Bland explaining this. Mr. Murdoch prepared personal representative documents for Tony Satterfield to become the

personal representative of his mother's estate. His paralegals and secretaries converged with Corey Fleming's secretaries and paralegals about how money was supposed to be exchanged. He very much acted as a lawyer in this case. It's the strangest thing where the defendant dictates to the plaintiff lawyer how to run the case and then how to allocate the money in controversial record order. And we have introduced into the courts of this state the documents that showed that Mr. Murdoch actually did represent the family at the same time. He was a defendant in the potential lawsuit. Thank you. After Bland addressed the court Judge Newman spoke and said that he needed a recess to consider the evidence in the case before deciding on bond. This is

unusual for a judge to go into recess during a bond hearing which are usually pretty quick. But before Newman went into recess he told the court that he wasn't even considering a PR bond which is what Elex attorneys were fighting for. After a short recess South Carolina circuit judge Clifton Newman officially denied bond for Elex Murdoch. He said that Murdoch presented a danger to both himself and the community. He said he couldn't provide a bond at this time with safety of others in mind. Newman also ordered a psychiatric evaluation for Murdoch while he's behind bars. Now this decision was shocking to many of us in the courtroom especially the few of us who have been following the story since 2019. I've seen Dick Harpatlian and Jim Griffin represent

the Murdochs at four different bond hearings. Two of them were for Paul's B.Y. charges in 2019 and two for Alex's recent charges. In three of those other times the judge gave them exactly what they wanted and no questions asked. But this time the judge took these two lawyers and many of us completely by surprise. It is not typical for a judge to deny bond in a non-capital case but then again this case is anything but typical. As we were driving back from the hearing in Columbia yesterday Eric Bland called me. I just think it's a good day again for our justice system and I'm confident that he will be charged with that search and I'm confident that they might be the end of it for him. Today was the day that Alex starts to get comfortable getting uncomfortable. He is

he looked around the courtroom there wasn't a friend in sight for him. He's gone back to that jail settlement and he's gonna have to put a lot of things in themselves. Who's there for me now? No one. That's what happens when you you know there's nothing worse than somebody who steals from the family of the very woman who raised your children. He's just, he's despicable. He's just a bad, bad person. This judge listened to you. He was very deliberate and he recognizes I said to him I said love the eyes of the world or on this courtroom today and said there it wasn't going to be a decarbonating lunch special. You know $2.99 you get a turkey sandwich and fries and you're out of there. You serve the full meal justice. So we don't know what's around the corner in

this case but stay tuned to fitsnews.com for the latest updates in the Murdock murder saga. There's so much to unpack in this case and Mandy works tirelessly to expose the truth but the truth is she works hard and she does get tired. If you believe like I do that Mandy is the best in the business and I'm a little biased visit murdockmurderspodcast.com and click the support the show link to learn how you can help. Leave a five-star review to offset the haters, refer an advertiser and get a finder's fee or advertise your company product or service. We can geotarget across the globe and find the right audience to suit your needs. Help us get Luna some treats so she doesn't interrupt the show as much and absolutely subscribe to fitsnews.com.

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