Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP #12 - What Happened To Gloria Satterfield? Part Two

Starting point is 00:00:02 I don't know if anyone killed Gloria Satterfield, but after attorneys Eric Bland and Ronald Richter uncovered a paper trail showing what Elyke Murdoch and Corey Fleming did in the aftermath of her death, I am absolutely disgusted. And I want to know how many people will be held to account for this despicable scheme. My name is Mandy Matney, and I've been investigating the Murdoch family for more than two years now. This is the Murdoch Murders podcast. I want to take a moment and say thank you to all the people who are supporting me out there to our advertisers like Ross and Pines, Lauren Taylor Law, Nectar Farm Kitchen, the Bannins, and all of the Mamosa Donators, those who take to Twitter with some sense of moral compass to my incredible sources for being on the right side of the story

Starting point is 00:01:07 and sticking with me throughout all of this and believing in my mission to explain. expose the truth wherever it leads. Thank you. I also want to share how much I appreciate my future husband, David, for helping me through the stress of making this podcast and handling the advertising, producing, and making sure that we're on the right track. For the last few months, David has been so busy planning a charity event called Polo for Heroes in Bluffton, South Carolina, which you might have heard ads for already. It raises money for two awesome charities, the Low Country Foundation for Wounded Military Heroes and the 200 Club of the Coastal Empire. I am very proud of how much he cares for these groups and I care for them as well.

Starting point is 00:01:51 I want to ask you to check out poloforheroes.com. Please look at the online auction page and bid on something or make a donation. There's also a really fun auction item, which I can't believe we're doing this, but you can bid on a lunch with David and I. And yes, you can ask as many questions about the Murdoch murders in this case as you want to during that lunch. And the lunch can also be virtual. These charities are making life easier for veterans and provide 100% tuition to the families of first responders who die in the line of duty. During my 10 years of journalism, I have worked with so many veterans, police officers, and first responders.

Starting point is 00:02:35 And I have so much respect for what they do every day to protect the rest of us. So please, please, please. If you want to give money this week, you guys are so great. Please head to polo4heroes.com and help in any way that you can. Go to Polo for Heroes. That's the number four heroes.com. We're back to Gloria Satterfield on this episode and we'll give you a quick recap. Previously on the Murdoch murders. On September 15th, 2021, Eric Bland and his law partner Ronald Richter filed a lawsuit alleging civil conspiracy and stolen funds and connections with the 2018 Gloria Satterfield settlement. Gloria dies February 26, 2018 after following February 2nd, 2018.

Starting point is 00:03:30 At the funeral, Alex says to the aunts, uncles, and the kids, I'm going to take you to go see a lawyer. And that lawyer I know is going to bring a claim against me because I am going to admit that I was negligent, responsible for your mother's death because my dogs tripped her and she fell down the stairs. And he's going to bring a wrongful death claim and I'm going to turn it over to my insurance carriers. And then I'm going to tell them I'm at fault and your guys are going to get money as a result of your mother's death. But you can't tell anybody that I'm kind of organizing this because I can get trouble. Two months goes by.

Starting point is 00:04:07 Obviously, the boating accident happened in February of 2019. March, they have to be. a mediation and they settle with a mediator from Charleston named John Austin and Corey's representing the estate and obviously Alex isn't defendant and they go before the mediator and they compromise or whatever and they agree the total claims are going to settle for $4,305,000. So what happened? The check went straight to Corey Fleming. How did Alec end up with the money? Alex told Corey, now Alex's the defendant. We're going to do a structure.

Starting point is 00:04:47 We're going to buy an annuity for these kids through a company called Forge Consultants in Atlanta. The only problem is Corey never got any documents from Forge. And he's taking direction from the defendant who tells him, after you take your fees, write the check to Forge and send it to a PO box in Hampton, South Carolina. So the check is made out the forge. Alec Murdoch gives him a P.O. box where it's sent to the name of forge. And that brings us to now. This is October 9th, 2021. This week has been non-stop development in the Gloria Satterfield case.

Starting point is 00:05:41 Attorney Eric Bland and I are going to walk you through every single step that has happened this week. I feel like I have spent an entire week on the phone with Eric. Bless his heart. as a Satterfield case unfolded so quickly. Eric is working tirelessly to get justice for his clients, and him and his partner Ronald Richter have done more to expose the bad actors in this case in the last three weeks than anyone has done in the last three years since Gloria Satterfield died. So we're going to rewind and go back to Sunday, October 3rd,

Starting point is 00:06:15 when Eric Bland announced that Elyke Murdoch's best friend, Corey Fleming, along with his law firm, reached a settlement in this case. But before the new settlement was reached on Friday, Satterfield's two sons hadn't received a single dime from their mother's wrongful death settlement, which ended up being $4.3 million. He's not off the hook. He's going to pay every single dollar verified that he received

Starting point is 00:06:45 and his law firm received by way of fees and costs for representing and recovering that 4.3 million and his malpractice insurance policy is paying their full amount of coverage for the firm. So the estate's going to get back from him a significant amount of money. It's significant dollars. Okay. So all you got to tell you the exact amount, but if you look at the order of Mullen in his fees, and I'm telling you he's getting back every single dollar of what he received, He may not have received that total amount but close. So all the fees and costs are being disgorged from him and his law firm.

Starting point is 00:07:26 Every single penny, they're not keeping one cent. Plus, his malpractice insurance policy paid the full amount of coverage. And you can ask around, and you'll know that law firms have anywhere from, I'll give you the low end of $500,000 and they go up into the millions. Okay. I will tell you, it's not the full amount of the $4.3 million, but it's a significant chunk of it. And the rest is going to come from, hopefully, Chad's Bank,

Starting point is 00:07:54 come that estate, the Murdoch Law Firm, because now we have documents showing that the Murdoch law firm was involved representing the estate. But what took Corey Fleming so long to come forward after all of these years? After all, these were his two clients that were supposed to get $2.8 million in a settlement and never received a dime.

Starting point is 00:08:18 Is he really doing the right thing here, or is he just coming forward to save himself? Here's Eric Bland again. And other people have been writing articles. He's got to try to save his law license. You know, that's an issue he's got to be concerned about. And obviously, law enforcement is looking into this from both the state and the federal level, as they've indicated.

Starting point is 00:08:43 And so I don't know his motivations or his lawyer's motivations, but I sense it, well, if we make restitution now early on, we're first ones in, that's going to look good if I'm going to have any chance of saving my law license and my liberty. Because I totally disgorged myself and then we actually paid more than what we received because the malpractice policy tendered its full limits. From a standpoint, should he have paid the entire $4.3 million? Some people may have said yes. Some people say no. Some people will say, well, Murdoch should pay and some of the back. should pay, and if the Murdoch firm was involved, they should pay, maybe Corey shouldn't have to pay the entire thing. But he paid Mandy every single penny in fee and cost that they took. Inappropriate costs. And he made a representation that he didn't receive anything on the back end

Starting point is 00:09:34 from Alex. It's not like Alex got money and then kickbacks from the Corey and the firm. So they paid every single dollar plus their malpractice policy. And you remember Moss, his partner said in the Island packet newspaper like two weeks ago, I think on the 16th of September. Oh, we're going to counter suit for defamation. On September 24th, Jim Moss, who is one of Corey Fleming's law partners, told the Island Packet newspaper that he was planning on filing a countersuit against Satterfield's estate, claiming that the accusations made in the lawsuit were false. He is one of many players in this case who quickly ate.

Starting point is 00:10:17 his own words. On Tuesday, Eric Bland published game-changing documents that not only showed Elkh-Murdock, Corey Fleming, and Chad Wessendorff's involvement in this case through a paper trail, but also showed how Peters, Murdoch, Parker, Elsruth, and Diedrich, also known as PMPED, the Murdoch Law Firm, was also alleged to be involved in this scheme to steal millions of dollars from Satterfield Sons. Now we have documents showing that the Murdoch law firm was involved representing the estate, because you're going to see a filing today in today's court that will show all these documents that the Murdoch law firm sent out saying they were representing the estate.

Starting point is 00:11:05 So the Murdoch law firm themselves was representing the estate and sending out documents. They had a duty to protect the estate and its money. The documents directly contradict a statement published by PMP, P.E.D. on September 24th, claiming that PMPED partners were stunned by media reports about the Satterfield fraud scheme. The statement on PMPED's website, which, when I was posted, one of my really good sources in this case told me that that statement would not age well. And I believed him, or her. The statement says, we have read the media reports about the lawsuit and settlement resulting from the death of Gloria Satterfield. If these

Starting point is 00:11:47 reports are accurate. We are stunned at what occurred. It's important for everyone to know that PMPED did not represent Alex in that case. His insurance company hired counsel to represent him. Like many of you, we have lots of questions about Alex and what has recently come to light. We don't know the answers, but we will continue assisting law enforcement and other authorities in efforts to find the truth. PMPED is committed to our clients and community. You can count on us to operate our firm in an honorable and transparent fashion. So was PMPED really stunned by the accusation, or did they know in hope that nobody would find out?

Starting point is 00:12:28 Here's Eric Bland again. And the whole thing with the Murdoch firm, you know, it's hypocrisy at its best. You know, to come out and claim that they're victims of Alex's fraud, maybe they did a better job of supervising their attorneys like the rule of professional conduct, say the partner's supposed to do other partners. Maybe this wouldn't have happened.

Starting point is 00:12:48 And maybe if they did a simple computer search, you know, when the whole Satterfield stuff came out, they would have come forward and said, you know what? We're, you know, we're an error. Our firm did send out letters of representation and did provide representation to these boys and to the estate. Documents filed on Tuesday, October 5th, show emails and letters from Ehrlich Murdoch and his paralegals acting as representatives of the estate of Gloria Satterfield in the Wrongful Death Settlement. So that would be Ehrlich Murdoch, the only defendant in the settlement, claiming to represent Satterfield's sons who are the plaintiffs. Considering this egregious conflict of interest, how would that not raise major flags at PMPED?

Starting point is 00:13:31 Yes, Ms. Griswold, who's Alex's paralegal. Did you guys have to send out documents on the Satterfield case? How did you do that when he's the defendant in the case? We can't represent these people. He's being sued by these people. I mean, does the word conflict of interest mean, anything? anything to anybody in this case. We owe 100% fidelity to our clients. The minute we start thinking about our interests over our clients, there's the potential for conflict of interest.

Starting point is 00:13:55 The relationship between a lawyer and client is the highest at-law relationship that there is. You owe 100% fidelity to the client. On that same day, Eric Land received a check for $30,000 from Chad Wessendorf. Westendorf was a personal representative, of Gloria's estate. He played a key role in the scheme to cut Gloria Satterfield's sons out of the settlement before he took $30,000. Here's Eric Bland again. Chad represents the heirs. Shouldn't he have asked, and all he had to do after the first check went in January of 2019 from the $505,000, you'll see they sent $403,500 to forge. All Chad had to do was ask, hey, can you send me a copy of the structure?

Starting point is 00:14:50 I could keep up with it because I was brought in to manage the money. That's the whole reason why they had Tony step aside and bring in Chad to be the PR was because he was going to manage the money. So if Chad just sent a letter that said, hey, you know, send me a copy of the structure you're buying. It would have been over because Alex obviously wasn't buying any structures. He would take it to money. Wow. So he's wealthily blind or he's the dumbest moron who ever lived.

Starting point is 00:15:18 Chad Wessendorf is still the president of the independent banks of South Carolina and he is still working at Palmetto State Bank. He has not apologized for his role in the glorious Satterfield settlement. On October 6th, 2021, just a day after Eric Bland filed bombshell documents that revealed PMPED's involvement in the Satterfield scheme, PMPED pulled a fast one and filed a lawsuit against Elyke Murdoch that appeared to be a damage control move. According to the lawsuit, which was filed by an attorney who doesn't appear to handle these types of cases, PMPED uncovered ELEC's fraud scheme on September 2nd, 2021, when they discovered a check made out to Ehrlich Murdoch from another law firm and that check was laying unattended on his desk. According to PMP's lawsuit, Ehrlich Murdoch admitted to the fraud during a meeting with the firm's partners on September 3, 2021. At this meeting, he resigned,

Starting point is 00:16:22 from the law firm, which was built by his family and founded by his great-grandfather. It was a convenient discovery, and it's very strange that they filed this lawsuit just a day after Eric Bland's motion. The partners were too busy trying to make their own money than watching their own little wolf in their henhouse. And that wolf was Alex Murdoch. On Wednesday, October 6th, Eric Bland issued a joint statement with Corey Fleming's lawyer where Fleming apologized.

Starting point is 00:16:58 The joint statement was done as a part of Fleming's settlement agreement with the Satterfield estate. In the statement, Fleming apologized, and he claimed he was fooled by his friend Elyke Murdoch, but he acknowledged that material mistakes were made at crucial times. Fleming claimed that until early September 2021, he sincerely believed that the settlement funds had been properly dispersed. And hold on one second. I have been writing about the sketchy Satterfield settlement since 2019.

Starting point is 00:17:30 And Corey Fleming, who is a Beaufort lawyer, never once thought of the fact that his clients, Satterfield's sons, never received a dime of their settlement? Come on. Also, his best friend Ehrlich has been at the center of a national news saga and several investigations since June.

Starting point is 00:17:49 Did he not once think back to all of his cases that involved Ehrlich and double-checked that everything was done right, considering the fact that he, should have expected that no stone would be left unturned in this investigation. Why did he suddenly realize this after Sled opened up an investigation and Bland filed a lawsuit? Cory Fleming is saying, I was a moron for trusting him. He said, at critical times, significant times in this litigation, I made crucial mistakes. A lawyer can't afford to do that.

Starting point is 00:18:24 That's not what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to always be on the ball. We're supposed to look around the corner to prevent people from stealing. That's something that we have to guard against. That's why there's court orders. All Corey had to say to Alex is, I have a court order. I'm not going to violate it. This is my duty as a South Carolina lawyer. I do not have the ability to violate a court order. Bland maintains that Corey Fleming failed his clients over and over in this case. The only thing that Corey Fleming did right, is he recovered $4,300,000. Amazing job.

Starting point is 00:19:01 Great job. But every single thing else he did was wrong, violated the rules of professional conduct, violated the standards of care, violated common sense, everything. Nothing he did right. Nothing, nothing, the attorneys, the defense attorneys, that were appointed by the insurance companies,

Starting point is 00:19:20 they didn't do anything right. Corey Fleming took a contingency fee. Under our rules of conduct, you've got to have a fee agreement in writing for a contingency fee fee agreement. He doesn't have a fee agreement? Neither does Chad Westendorf. The question you should ask is, how much does the bar need to see? They've already suspended Alex Murdoch. How much does the bar need to see before they suspend Corey Fleming? How many court orders do you have to disregard? How many rules of procedure do you have to not follow? Not only the bar, sled it. What more does sled yee? Yeah. I gave them the document trail. They don't have to prove who shot Roger Ratt.

Starting point is 00:19:57 it? You know, did Paul die this way or did this guy die this way? I gave him a paper trail. The low-hanging fruit is to nail people follow the money. That's the low-hanging fruit. On Thursday, October 7th, I wrote a story that ruffled a lot of feathers. In the article titled, Why Hasn't Elyke Murdoch been arrested in the Satterfield scandal? I pointed out that Bland and so many others are questioning where the accountability is in this case after he's provided law enforcement with an apparent pile of evidence. In the story, I asked, why isn't Alec Murdoch in jail? After all, he's accused of devising a plan to steal millions of dollars from the Satterfield family. Why isn't Alex Murdoch already charged with riot fraud? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:20:56 Forge, listen to me. Forge consulting already put out a statement on their website. They had nothing to do with Alex Murdoch or the state. batterfield case. I've already shown the checks. They've already been negotiated. It's wire fraud. He stole the money. Please tell me why he's not being charged today. Yeah. To be clear, Alec Murdoch is allegedly in rehab right now following his September 17th volunteering for his alleged role in the bizarre assisted suicide for hire insurance fraud scheme. His attorneys, who have lied to the public multiple times before, claim he is in rehab for an alleged opioid addiction.

Starting point is 00:21:38 At Ehrlich Murdoch's bond hearing, a Hampton County judge ruled that Ehrlich was not a danger to society and not a flight risk. But considering the fact that he allegedly concocted and pursued a made-for-Hawleywood scheme to get shot in the head all for a son to collect a $10 million insurance policy, Is he really not considered to be a danger to society? Uh, he's from. And it's patently obvious exactly what happened through the documents that are now in the public domain, that he stole $3.6 million from my clients. More importantly, his own law firm, in a public pleading,

Starting point is 00:22:29 the clients through the same exact methods. We want one system of justice and not two systems of justice, but the longer this guy gets the treatment facility and try to get himself better, he'll commit more crimes by getting rid of some of the money or figuring out a way that it can't be traced or found. Then sooner or later somebody in our state's going to say, well, if you commit a crime with a pen, it's not as bad as if you do it with a gun. Before you arrest somebody, prosecute a million dollars from me. This week, I asked sled officials that's a South Carolina law enforcement,

Starting point is 00:25:23 division, the agency investigating most of these alleged Murdoch crimes, a lot of questions about the Gloria Satterfield settlement and why Ehrlich or anyone else hasn't been arrested yet. Here is the statement that Tommy Crosby SLED spokesperson sent to me. I'm going to have David read it. On September 15th, SLED opened a criminal investigation into the death of Gloria Satterfield and the handling of her estate. Subsequently, agents met with attorney Eric Bland, who represents Gloria's sons, Tony Satterfield, and Brian Harriet, and were provided with documentation that was gathered by Bland as part of a civil action. Since that meeting, agents have gathered additional information that requires significant further investigation. SLED agents continue to interview potential

Starting point is 00:26:08 witnesses, collect and process potential evidence, and investigate every lead in this case and all potentially related cases. This process has and will continue to take a significant amount of time. However, the investigative decisions we make throughout these cases must ultimately withstand the scrutiny of the criminal justice process. This investigation and all of the related investigations are complex, and SLED will not rush them to meet arbitrary deadlines. So in that same article on Thursday, I asked other questions about other alleged co-conspirators in this case and whether or not they will be held accountable. Why is Chad Westendorf still the president of the independent banks of South Carolina and still working at Palmetto State Bank? Will Carmen Mullen, the judge who has ties to the Murdoch family and approved the Under the Table settlement in 2019 and held two hearings in the case?

Starting point is 00:27:05 Ever have to tell the truth about her involvement? And if she was involved, who will hold her accountable? And finally, I asked how is Corey Fleming, who is the Satterfield's attorney, and failed on almost every step of his duty to serve his clients, still able to practice law in South Carolina. So that brings us to Friday, October 8, 2021. Just a day after I published that story asking questions about who will be held accountable, the South Carolina Supreme Court suspended Corey Fleming from practicing law due to evidence of misconduct that is under investigation. According to the ruling signed by Judge Donald Beatty, Fleming was placed on suspension pursuant to Rule 17B, which states that the South Carolina Supreme Court can suspend any attorney upon receipt of sufficient evidence demonstrating that a lawyer poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public or to the administration of justice. And yes, that is the same rule that got Ehrlich Murdoch suspended exactly a month before Corey's suspension.

Starting point is 00:28:18 So, of course, when I heard this news, I called Eric Bland to get his reaction. The rule of professional conduct prevail over lawyer misconduct. You know, our justice system was being strained. There were a lot of people who were doubting whether we have a fairness, at least amongst the bar on lawyer misconduct. In our Supreme Court, I am very proud and I'm very proud of the ODC because they acted with swiftness and with certainty. Now, I can't say that. Same thing for law enforcement when it comes to Alex Murdoch. But as a lawyer, I am extremely proud of our Supreme Court and the disciplinary counsel. Because I filed a complaint against Corey Fleming when I filed my lawsuit.

Starting point is 00:29:10 It's our practice. We're duty-bound. If we are witness to lawyer misconduct or we know of lawyer misconduct, it violates the rules of professional conduct, We're duty-boundly reported to the ODC. And so what we do is we provide a copy of our complaint to the bar. Well, we did that. And then we also obviously provided them with information along the way. And they don't tell us what they're reviewing or anything, as you and I discussed before.

Starting point is 00:29:38 But they certainly acted with swiftness and certainty at least this week. Yeah. After I filed my motion with all the exhibits and you wrote a pretty simple. stinging article. I think it's a ringing endorsement for them to do that on a Friday afternoon. And I just hope that law enforcement is working with the same sense of urgency that our bar did. And what about Gloria's death? We have learned a couple more details about the incident that led to Gloria's death. Despite some documents stating that the accident took place in Hampton, South Carolina, at the Murdox-Hawley Street home, the incident now is said to have taken place at the Moselle property

Starting point is 00:30:21 in Collagen County, the same property where Maggie and Paul Murdoch were found murdered on June 7, 2021. Also, I learned from a Facebook post written by one of Gloria's sons that Glory also suffered broken ribs in addition to her head injury in the incident. There are still more questions and answers in this case. We need answers from Sled. We need answers from Judge Carmen Mullen. We need answers from Chad Westendorf. We need answers from PMPED. We need answers from Palmetto State Bank and Bank of America. We need answers from Ehrlich Murdoch. The law firm's got liability and the banks have liability,

Starting point is 00:31:02 but in terms of receiving the money out is the only one left. You can add up all my cases. I've sued over 175 lawyers and law firms. You can add them all up and it doesn't equal what's going on here. Because this is top to bottom. This is, you know, judges, lawyers, money, everything. Why, you name it. There's so much to unpack in this case, and Mandy works tirelessly to expose the truth.

Starting point is 00:31:39 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 Murdochmurterspodcast.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.

Starting point is 00:32:04 Help us get Luna some treats so she doesn't interrupt the show as much. And absolutely subscribe and your subscriptions are invaluable to that mission. Plus, you get awesome content every day. Or follow me on Twitter at Twitter.com slash Mandy M-A-N-D-Y-M-A-T-N-E-Y. And don't forget to leave a five-star review unless you're going to be nasty and talk about my vocal fry. The Mardock Murder's podcast is created by me, Mandy Matney, and my fiance, David Moses.

Starting point is 00:32:39 Produced by Luna Shark Productions. Thanks for sticking around to the end. We're going to do something fun in future episodes where we shared an original song from one of our friends. This is the low country-boiled bluegrass band doing their original song, Summer Moon. Because you're angry and they need as you wrestlers. Make no bones about it. Crops are dying the sky is not crying Springtime live without it Mountain

Starting point is 00:33:18 Leave our women in the rest Who is listening Give our time pray for the best Summer moon will decide It takes us and where the eagle flies It's our way Summer moon Angel Lock, Voltcher spots sending

Starting point is 00:34:01 He's waiting War with bitter tribes A pipe of peace pending Before the shadow They are strong With a strength of number That our prayers hurt all Summer will decide

Starting point is 00:34:32 It's our future Burns but not in hell Where the sacred All takes us All takes us

Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP #12 - What Happened To Gloria Satterfield? Part Two

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