Murdaugh Murders Podcast - True Sunlight #1 - Another Twist? Alex Murdaugh and Cory Fleming Federally Indicted

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

Welcome to the new face of MMP. True Sunlight is the antithesis of True crime. True Sunlight values accuracy over access journalism. True Sunlight is shed with empathy — not exploitation. True Sunlight was created as a matter of public service — not just entertainment. While the name of the podcast has changed, our mission, values and team have not. We are simply expanding our horizons while continuing to shine a much needed bright light on Alex Murdaugh and his web of misdeeds.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s decision to indict Alex Murdaugh and his (former?) best friend and alleged co-conspirator Cory Fleming this week raises more questions. Will Alex get to spend the rest of his two life sentences in “Club Fed”? Will Cory’s expected plea deal result in more big names getting exposed in this unprecedented web of deception? True Sunlight co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell take a look at the latest twists in this never-ending story of crime and corruption. Consider joining our Luna Shark Premium Membership community to help us SHINE THE SUNLIGHT! CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE We all want to drink from the same Cup Of Justice — and it starts with learning about our legal system. By popular demand, Cup of Justice has launched as its own weekly show. Go to cupofjusticepod.com to learn more or click the link in the episode description to get a hot cup of justice wherever you get your podcasts!A Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cup-of-justice/id1668668400 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Itp67SQTZEHQGgrX0TYTl?si=39ff6a0cc34140f3 SUNscribe to our free email list to get alerts on bonus episodes, calls to action, new shows and updates. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3KBMJcP And a special thank you to our sponsors: Microdose.com, PELOTON, Simplisafe, and others. Use promo code "MANDY" for a special offer! Find us on social media: Facebook.com/MurdaughPod/ Instagram.com/murdaughmurderspod/ Twitter.com/mandymatney Twitter.com/elizfarrell YouTube.com/c/MurdaughMurders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I don't know how many more twist and turns Ehrlich Murdoch can throw at us. But when Ehrlich Murdoch and Corey Fleming were federally indicted this week, we were reminded of just how far we have come in the past 100 weeks, and yet just how far we still have to go to get answers to the biggest questions in this case. My name is Mandy Matney, and this is True Sunlight. A podcast exposing crime and corruption previously known as the Murdoch Murders podcast. True Sunlight is written with journalist Liz Farrell and produced by David Moses. So, 100 weeks ago, we created the Murdoch Murder's podcast with a simple mission.

To get the story straight, to expose the truth wherever it leads, and to give voice to the voiceless. We did this at a time when the mission was so. so crucial. Elek Murdoch had an entire PR machine behind him, and the narrative surrounding the double homicide was spinning so far out of control, blaming all of the wrong people and hurting the real victims. MMP was created because we wanted people to understand the complexity of this story. We wanted them to understand the power that the Murdoch family held at the time

in the widespread corruption that exists right here in our home state. of South Carolina. We didn't know if our little podcast could go up against the system and big media, but we knew that we had to try because it was the right thing to do. Quickly, we found out that there was a lot more crime and corruption connected to this case

than we could have ever possibly imagined. And we learned the only way to fight it was with sunlight. And as our audience grew from mostly local to all over the country and the world, we have noticed that the Ellic Murdoch story isn't entirely unique. There are cases where crime meets corruption and the real victims are desperate for true sunlight

all over the world. True sunlight is the antithesis of true crime. True sunlight values accuracy over access journalism. True sunlight is shed with empathy, not exploitation. True sunlight was created as a matter of public service, not just entertainment. We are expanding at Luna Shark Media and will soon unveil a fleet of new member benefits, new contributors, new articles, a new case file delivery system and more.

And we want to again thank all of those listeners for following and supporting M&P, COJ, and this new show, True Sunlight. You are the reason we continue this mission, And the reasons so many have real hope that we can change these systems near and far. While the name of the podcast has changed, our mission, our values, and our team have not. We are simply expanding our horizons while continuing to shine a much-needed bright light on Elyke Murdoch and his web misdeeds. And speaking of old Elyke Murdoch, big news on that front this week. ELEC was finally charged federally with a 22-count indictment and his BFF, Corey Fleming, was also charged,

but he plans to plead guilty to his one federal charge. That said, we have a lot to unpack on that front. Told you, we weren't changing that much. So hot Corey Summer is upon us once again, you guys. The man did things right, apparently. He has just entered the Holy Land for white collar. criminals, a place where Ehrlich Murdoch and Russell Feet wish they could be. Corey Fleming has a federal plea deal on the table for a single charge, one charge, which,

according to a federal sentencing calculator, could get him as little as 12 to 18 months in prison. Somewhere out there, Corey is relaxing in a cold plunge bath and toasting himself with a champagne flute of athletic greens as we speak. We always knew Corey would emerge from all of this, looking better than those to buffo Not that that's a hard thing to do, but it's still a little annoying. So, okay, you know how Dick Harpoon and Jim Griffin have allegedly been playing legal chess this entire time, which, LOL-L to that. Really, they're more like those giant word search puzzles your Nana likes to buy in the checkout aisles.

I mean, good for Nana and all, but we can see the hidden words from across the room. The strategy is there is no strategy, Dick and Jim. Anyway, this whole time, Corey Fleming and his attorney, who is, also his and Elyke's former classmate in law school, Debbie Barbier, have been playing Boston Marathon. They trained, they hydrated, they had a big spaghetti dinner, they paced themselves, and now they're ready to take on Heartbreak Hill while barely breaking a sweat, or so it seems from where we're sitting. Maybe this outcome is a testament to the nature of the accusations that have been made against Corey when compared to those that have been made against Ehrlich and Russell, but we're not about to

overlook the fact that Debbie is different from most of the other lawyers in this case so far. As we've said before, she is not a foot stomping toddler in need of 100 diaper changes. Also, she's a woman attorney in South Carolina. She has no choice but to be impeccable and quietly strategic. She can't afford to be bombastic and outrageous and waste the court's time by waving assault rifles at the prosecution and communicating with the judge through sputtering red-faced tantrums. Nonetheless, she was able to pull this. thing off. Even if, as some sources have speculated, she got help from attorney Mark Moore. Russell's pinch-hitter of an attorney who entered the game in extra innings. The guy who had

his diaper change by Judge Newman at the April scheduling hearing, while Representative Todd Rutherford, Russell's other pinch-hitter of an attorney, name dropped himself and demanded more time to read Russell's file. Rutherford, whom Russell seemed to have hired moments after it came out that he had helped orchestrate the secret early release of a convicted murderer and gang leader. Okay, before we talk about Corey's federal indictment, let's talk about what kind of best friend he was to Ehrlich. First, you'll remember that he's the guy Ehrlich seemed to call when he needed a stand-in attorney to keep an eye on things.

Obviously, Corey was involved in the Satterfield case, representing glorious Satterfield's estate upon Ehrlich's recommendation to her family. He was also Connor Cook's first attorney. You know, Connor Cook, Paul's friend who was on the boat the night Mallory Beach was killed, the guy the Murdox, and others in law enforcement allegedly conspired to frame as the driver of the boat. Corey was who Ehrlich recommended to the Cook family to represent Connor. Then there was the Pinckney case. Corey represented Pamela Pinkney, Hakeem Pinkney's mother who was sued by Ehrlich on behalf of Akeem, the young deaf man who became

a quadriplegic in a 2009 car wreck. It was Pamela's money that was used to fund a private flight for Elic, Corey, Chris Wilson, and their families to fly to Nebraska for the College World Series in 2012. Corey also represented Patrick Wilson, the young man who came forward with information about Stephen Smith's death after the newspaper in Hampton ran a story that all but accused the community of covering up Stephen's death on behalf of the Murdoch family. Patrick came forward to say that Sean Connolly, a friend who had provided law enforcement with information in an unrelated case that led them to charge Patrick with three counts of attempted murder in 2015, had killed Stephen by hitting him with his side view mirror. Those are just some of the cases

where both Elyx and Corey's names pop up together, and where Ehrlich's interests seem to be better represented than perhaps the interests of Corey's clients. You'll also remember that Ehrlich had reached out to Corey with a drippy and contrite love letter after Ehrlich was arrested in October 2021, and that Ehrlich had tried to publicly absolve Corey of all sins by mentioning him in an eight-minute monologue to Judge Allison Lee at a December 2021 bond hearing.

The two were very, very close friends before all this. Corey, as we've told you before, even looks a lot like Ehrlich, if Ehrlich ate vegetables and used to treadmill. After the murders in August 2021, right when Ehrlich was learning that law enforcement wasn't buying his story, when he was trying to get Blanca to corroborate his version of the facts when it came to what he was wearing that evening, Corey is who Ehrlich brought with him to Sled for an interview. And Corey, who is a defense attorney, came in big. He was actually the first of the attorneys who sat in on Ehrlich's interviews with law enforcement, who actually acted like an attorney.

Also, because this is a podcast, you can't see what Corey wore to this meeting. But if you close your eyes and listen real carefully, you might hear the sounds of a garish plaid jacket and a woman saying, You really want me to alter your chinos to be more snug? We should also know that Corey sounds a lot like Elek too. So at first, Corey came in and was like, we're the number one guy's here, not you. When you're coming in a day, when we get started with your questions. Maybe I'm mistaken.

I thought we were coming here so you can update him on what's going on. Okay, let's do that first. Okay. Well, the update is I'm doing the investigation. And I have some questions that I need, I would like some answers to. And I mean, certainly, if, you know, know I ask the question if you don't want to ask you you don't have to answer it no I'm not over that it's it's more clarifications of the two interviews you

before you give me totally overstatement okay one second yeah I mean for you to tell me you're gonna give us information are we just here you to ask questions now I'm gonna give you some information right why can't you give us information first so many information that you're asking about or any my questions I like you know that I can't I mean I'm a friend but I'm also a lawyer and I I like to know what what we do I like to understand what we're talking about you know answer this question are you asking him questions to further your investigation or you asking him questions because you think that he's a suspect I need a straight answer I am asking these questions what does that mean that you're not asking him

these questions as a suspect. Because I'm not comfortable with you asking him questions as a suspect when I came here with the thought that you were going to be telling him where you are in the investigation. What it is, what it is you've done,

seen, uncovered, whatever. That's why we came here. Well, let me respond to your question. It may not be a direct answer that you're looking for. And I've told Alip this when I first met. Any homicide investigation, you start with the closest person and or the person who found the deceased. Both cases, that's Alec. Everybody stays in that investigation until we can get them out.

And right now, because of the questions that I have that I need to. explanations for I cannot get Alec out. Okay. That's a reasonable statement. I don't have a problem with that statement. That's fine. I don't read it. The United States of America has an opinion on this case. And because I know everybody, I know it's a bunch of bullshit. I can't imagine that y'all are going to be asking about nonsense in the internet. No. I mean, just just like you, I'm aware of what's out there. I have not read every article. I don't care read every article because they're not doing the investigation. That's right.

That's right. All right. Well, you know, Elliot, if you're comfortable, you feel okay. Yes. That's fine. And I'm going to help. All right. That's fine.

You hear that? That undeserved confidence and demanding presence Corey Fleming has in that interview. As I watched this again, I said to myself, the audacity of this man. At that moment, Corey Fleming's name was in the media as Elyke Murdoch's best friend who was involved in the suspicious Satterfield settlement of $500,000.

Really should have been distancing himself from Ehrlich at that time. And I don't know, maybe checking his files to make sure everything was right in the Satterfield case. Like, hmm, question one. Why is the media saying that it was a $500,000 settlement when it was really over $4 million? And question two. Hmm, did my clients get any of that money? Maybe I should check on that. But no, Corey was spending as time fishing

for Elyke Murdoch to see what Slead had on him. Did y'all get any kind of friends? It's trouble in anything. I did. Just the rain, you know. I mean, we got plenty of DNA from the scene, but it's Nolan's, it's Rogan, it's Alex, it's Paul, It's baddies, it's busters.

Then, Corey did a little PR work for the family by portraying them as on the hunt for the real killer. And subtly, reminding Sled agents David Owen and Jeff Croft of the family's power locally. Let me ask you this question. It comes from Randy. You know, they got a lot of friends in the community, you know, from the upper echelon to the...

lowest socioeconomic. They think that they can ask people to keep ears out, you know, loose lips, Tolkien, that kind of stuff,

but they don't want to reach out unless they y'all do stuff for the best of ears. Well, I would talk to Randy about this as well. He posed that question to me. I'm not going to ask

anybody in the law firm or anybody in the family, hey, go out and see what you can find and report back me, sure. Because then it can be construed as they're working as an agent of the state. Sure. And I understand, you don't even have to explain that. Oh, man. These good old boys tell on themselves all of the time. Corey's saying that little comment about the upper echelon, he's making sure those sled agents

know just how much power the family has. He still really believes he has that card to play. I don't think we've ever played these clips before. And apologies if we had, because honestly, that whole trial was a blur. But this is a good reminder of the person we are dealing with here. This is important because Corey has been quiet since he was charged last year, likely because his lawyer is smart and not a good old boy. But as we talk about Corey Fleming and his role in all of this, we have to remember who this man was in August 2021, as he was defending his friend who is now a convicted murderer. So after Elyke told Sled about a hundred lies about what happened the night Maggie and Paul were murdered,

best friend Corey goes back to trying to suss out what evidence SLED has. And y'all, now, y'all had to send the, because his vehicle's new, you had to send that off. Yes, sir. So it's not like when we hire experts, you come in and just download it. It's 2021, and they don't have the systems for it. For a good. From what I understand. Okay.

Now, I don't know exactly how the on-stop thing works. I know how to control module. But this is something different, right? Whereas it all contained in the same thing. There are two different systems that we took out. Yeah. One is OnStar, the other one is the telemetry system or entertainment center. Yeah.

And the FBI says there is information there. They just have to be able to extract it. I'm sure it didn't report. Sure. So you just wait for that. Okay. I'm waiting on the search warrant from on start to see what kind of information they can give me. Bus sign something, expedites that.

I told you we'll get a I don't own the car but whoever you need to assign whatever authorization you need so you had said that or maybe Jim told me or something about y'all were able to get a pulse phone just for the search warrant we have a we have a what they call a partial download yeah um because we don't have the past code sure we can't do a full extraction do you think so You know, my thought was that I don't know who's required to authorize Apple to open it. I know that they, I know there was that big thing where they weren't going to do it because of whatever case. But I thought that if we, I think, I think Maggie in the phone, I think it was in her name, the account is in her name. Well, if you, I mean, you have to have your own separate ICloud account for each fall.

And we've done that for Madge's, Paul's, and Alex, ICloud accounts. Yeah. To see if there's anything in there. Yeah. There was nothing in Paul's. I'm still waiting on Maggie's. Maybe did back cars off, you know, that does that mean Paul did back his stuff? Probably.

But what I was, when I was. My thought was, and I don't know if this is even possible, but if we get if we get the estate and we get the personal representative who is now to authorize the person to authorize it to be open. And I mean, I mean, it's around about a hundred dollars. We did a probate done like that. And I can have the powers of appointment done two days. We can authorize whatever it is you need to open. And that might be beneficial. So I know about that.

and Randy and I or somebody and I talked about that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I, you know, I said I'd do it at any of this. Yeah. Um. Who would be the representative? Just somebody at law firm?

Probably one of your brothers, I would think. Oh, for Maggie and Paul to State? Yeah. That's probably me or my brother's, but whoever it is, it doesn't matter. Whoever it is would be whatever you all need to do to, no, it won't be a anybody that'll be on go ahead and start working on that then we'll reach out to Apple

and figure out how we did that accomplished right because you got to be something there got to be something there I mean have you all had to track down all the wackos on the internet or just only the ones that you think seem a little more not the opportunity

and the inclination you know There's been a view that I'm looking at. Yeah. But some of the information is just so far-fetched. Re-listening to this now, I have to ask, how much did Corey know in August 2021 exactly? It's telling to me that Corey asked about the cell phone and car data, two of the most damning pieces of evidence against Elyke Murdoch and the double homicide.

On one hand, Corey was a C. defense attorney at the time and it would be natural for him to poke around and see if there is anything that could exonerate his friend elic but on the other hand i got to wonder if corey was fishing for information more for himself did cori know at the time that if elic falls he falls to was he acting so defensive not as a defense attorney but as someone who was ultimately protecting himself. It was also very telling when Corey tried to show Sled that they're on Sled side. This is another classic good old boy move. Well, I mean, you know, y'all been taking a licking of the press about not disclosing stuff, but Jesus Christ now, I can't have anything to disclose. Well, and, you know,

why are you going to tell a bad guy what you got? Thank you. You know, I mean, I still understand it. I mean, look. Wow. He said why tell the bad guy? guy what you got, while the bad guy, or guys, are sitting right there. And you know what else? Corey didn't want Ehrlich answering questions about the Bo Crash lawsuit, which ultimately played a big role in the state's theory on Ehrlich's motive at trial. Still trying to figure this out. I cannot exclude the voting incident and those involved. I know that you're currently going through the civil portion. How far has that happened? rest.

I mean, we're going on in the talks. Or was it breaking down? Can I say something real quick? I know nothing about any of that stuff. And he's represented about

lawyers in that case. I don't think he, I personally believe he shouldn't be talking about that unless the lawyers he's represented by I participated. I don't think it's, I mean, I'm sure that they're happy to do that. But I don't think that, I don't think that the person should be talking about a pending action like that without the lawyers knowing about it. And what, because I just don't, I know nothing about it.

I was completely separated from it. Completely separated from it. Corey, you represented Connor Cook, remember? It's interesting that Corey doesn't want Elyke to talk about the boat crash. On one hand, is that just good legal advice? Or is it because of the pending obstruction of justice investigation that Ehrlich was under at the time of the murders? Now, remember how aggressive Corey was at the beginning of this interview. About what kind of interview this was and what kind of interview it wasn't?

Listen to him here. A few more questions. Did you kill Maggie? No. Did I kill my wife? Yes. No, David. Do you know who did? No, I do not know who did.

Did you kill Paul? No, I did not kill Paul. Do you know who did? No, sir, I do not know who did. Do you think I killed Maggie? I have to go where the evidence and the facts take me. I understand that. When you think I killed Paul?

I have to go where the evidence and the facts take me. And I don't have. anything that wants anybody else at this time. So does that mean that I am a suspect? You were still in, like I told Corey earlier, you were still in this. With everything that we talked about, with the family guns, the ammunition, nobody else's DNA. My beliefs aside and go with the facts.

Crickets. No, Corey. When the question was asked, he barely seemed to move. Is this when Corey? understood that Ehrlich wasn't telling the truth. Or did he already know? Did he find out later? Or does he still think that Ehrlich is innocent?

Obviously, we don't know the answers to that, but we believe that Ehrlich needs Corey to stay silent more than Corey needs Ehrlich, which is why this federal indictment could get really spicy. We'll be right back. From the creative team behind the Brutelist and starring Academy Award nominee Amanda Seifred, in a career best performance.

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in theaters everywhere, January 23rd. Okay, the federal indictment. There are a few interesting things in there. The first is that it refers to Corey as a former personal injury and criminal defense attorney. That is interesting because Corey has not been disbarred. And from what we've seen, lawyers are very specific and very deferential when it comes to how they refer to their fallen comrades. For instance, Elek was a, quote, suspended attorney until he was disbarred, even though the writing was on the wall for him. The writing is on the wall for Corey, too, but it's not clear if this is just an oversight on the government's part.

or if they know something that we don't about what the Supreme Court is planning for Corey. We checked the latest disciplinary orders issued by the court, and there are no new ones for Corey. A few weeks ago, we also checked in on the status of Corey's suspended license to practice law in Georgia, and it seems like they may be waiting for South Carolina to make its first move. The next interesting thing is that the government makes the point of saying that Corey had no knowledge of the fake forge accounts, or ELEC's scheme to steal his client's money through the accounts. So we all know the bigger picture of the Satterfield caper. It's interesting to see how the government breaks down Corey's role in it, though. Corey, according to the indictment, submitted a

fraudulent disbursement sheet to the circuit court, i.e. Judge Carmen Mullen. In January 2019, outlining 11,500 in quote, prosecution expenses. However, there were no legitimate prosecution expenses attached to the case. Remember back in the day when Eric Bland would come on MMP and rant in rave about these fake expenses and how the rounded off dollar figures alone should have been a red flag to Judge Mullen. I want to quote Eric from our group text thread on Wednesday after these indictments came out. I am absolutely loving this. Now is a good time to remind you that Judge Mullen also graduated law school with Ehrlich and Corey, and according to testimony from Chad Westendorf, readily agreed to allow Ehrlich and Corey to hold off on filing the disbursement sheets in this

case until after the boat crash case was over. Reminder, the boat crash case still isn't over. So, wonder what Corey had to say about her to the feds. Hmm, back to the indictment. It also noted that in May 2019, Corey submitted another fraudulent disbursement sheet to the circuit court, i.e. Judge Carmen Mullen. This time, he fraudulently outlined the disbursement of $1.435 million in attorney's fees when he only collected around $600.000. $173,000 in fees, less than half of what he told Judge Mullen he would receive. This disbursement sheet also outlined illegitimate prosecution expenses, this time for $105,000. The indictment says that Corey and Ellick, quote, intended to use this money for their own

personal enrichment. The indictment also notes that Corey, in three separate transactions of $26,200, took money belonging to Gloria Satterfield's estate and fraudulently transferred it to his personal account, fraudulently claiming the money was for valid expenses related to the case. Corey is also admitting to holding back another $150,000 in fake prosecution expenses for him and Elyke to have at their disposal. For all of that, Corey is charged with one single count of wire fraud, one single count, his ticket into the federal system and perhaps out of the state system. Corey is admitting to knowingly conspiring with Ehrlich to commit wire fraud, meaning he's admitting

that they worked together to steal some money, which means Ehrlich lied again by saying Corey didn't know. To us, this seems like Corey was aware that he was committing crime B, but unknowingly helped Eleg commit crime A. And we think that could be true of a lot of people, including O'L Russell Lafitte. As part of the plea, Corey will be agreeing to making full restitution to the victims. Okay, now for the part that has everyone talking. Corey is cooperating. And this is serious. This isn't a yeah, yeah, I'll tell you some things scenario. And Corey can't be like, so there's this guy, Alec Murdoch,

and I know for a fact he killed his wife and son. No, he has to give the government information it did not have before. That's why we keep saying, the first to come forward is so important in the Stephen Smith case. The first person to tell law enforcement the truth about what happened to him

is the one who gets the deal. Corey has to be honest and tell the government everything he knows about all criminal activities about which he has knowledge. and he has to testify to that knowledge if called upon. If Corey keeps something to himself and it comes out later that he knew about it, well, then he's in big trouble.

In fact, the federal government showed us how serious they are about proffers when it came to Russell Lafitte, who they said lied to him. Lying didn't work out well for all ankles Lafitte, did it? The question on everyone's mind is, who might go down next as a result of Corey's information? It's not clear whether Corey's cooperation has already netted the government information it has already used. It's also not clear what will happen at the hearing scheduled for 2 p.m., Thursday in Charleston.

It doesn't appear that Corey has waived his pre-sentenced investigation report, so it could be a while before he is sentenced, giving the government time to lean on him hard. Considering the wording of the plea agreement, it seems like Corey's cooperation is future tense, which brings us to this. As part of the plea deal, Corey will agree to future polygraph exams, which, hey, Emily Limehouse, let us know if you want any help brainstorming. those questions. For instance, ask him if he knows what happened to the Calverts, since he was Dennis Gerwing's attorney. If you don't know what the Calvert case is, Google it for now. We'll cover it

in future episodes. It's just another case that makes South Carolina's low country a crazy, crazy place to live. So, for its part, the government is agreeing to advocate for a sentence reduction. The wire fraud charge usually carries up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. The online calculator for estimating federal sentences puts Corey's sentence at around a year to a year and a half when factoring in his cooperation and other merits, and it puts his fine at between $3,000 and $30,000. Now for the humdinger, the thing that makes this the holy land for white-collar criminals. Corey faces almost two dozen state charges in this case. His trial is set for September.

We reached out to the Attorney General's office on Wednesday to ask whether the state plan to follow through with Corey's case. We reached out to the Attorney General's office on Wednesday to ask whether the state plans to follow through with Corey's case. Why? Because if Corey cooperates, the federal government is going to recommend that Corey not serve any time in the South Carolina prison system. The AG's office did not get back to us, but that's a tough question.

Because is it fair? Is it fair that people who steal money from others can afford high-priced, powerful attorneys to elevate their prison experience? Again, we're always pro-upgrade, but just not at the expense of justice. That's the question here. If Corey gets a tidy little sentence, then we hope to God it's because he delivered the goods on some bad guys. We hope he doesn't hold back. There's no doubt in our minds that Corey wants this softer outcome, not only because who wants to go to prison, but because of his family, his wife, and his two kids.

The cost of that alone should be the absolute most, and Corey should be held to it. because unlike ELEC, we think Corey might have a soul. And speaking of ELEC, even from McCormick Prison, he's adding to his collection of charges. Like Corey, he is now a federally indicted man. On Wednesday, May 24th, the government indicted ELEC on 22 counts. Most of the counts were for money laundering, and much of the indictment is familiar to anyone who has been following the case. However, there were a few new fun facts. One is that we now know the reason why Ehrlich had two fake forge accounts. The first was open in 2015, around when Palmetto State Bank was taking over

the Allendale Bank and had federal regulators looking at their books. The second forge account was open in 2018. The second account was always curious to us. Turns out, Bank of America closed his first account because, get this, of how much he had been overdrawing his account. Obviously, Bank of America is not run by a bunch of Russell's cousins. Eleg opened the second account after the first one was closed, right in time to use Gloria Satterfield's death as a way to steal money from an insurance company. The other new element contained in this indictment is that it's fond of the final. finally on the record that ELEC had been stealing from P&PD since at least 2005.

2005, when his father was still the solicitor. Several attorneys connected to this case have always said that ELEC has been stealing for his entire career. ELEC became an attorney in 1994. He started working for P&PED in December 1998 after he worked with court. he worked with Corey Fleming and Moss and Coon and Beaufort for a few years. Now we really got to ask, did he spend those first dozen or so years on the straight and narrow? Or is this when he was learning to steal? Regardless, from at least 2005, he was without proper disclosure or approval, taking money from client trust accounts to satisfy fake liens on client settlements,

taking attorney's fees on fake or non-existing annuities, creating fraudulent expenses. They were never incurred in taking money for fake medical expenses, fake instruction expenses, fake airline expenses, intercepting insurance proceeds and depositing them into his own account and directing other. Note the plural on this one, guys. attorneys to disperse attorney's fees directly to him instead of to the law firm. Remember what he did to Chris Wilson, the $792,000 that he had Chris give him instead of to the firm, the thing that represented the final straw for him with PMPED. Well, Chris Wilson isn't two people, right?

Unless we're missing something. If that plural is to be believed, sounds like Ehrlich did that same thing to one or more other attorneys. So for 16 years, Elyke Murdoch was stealing from clients in the law firm through fake fees and expenses. I know that we've talked about P&PED being asleep at the wheel, but this is like being asleep at the helm of the Titanic. It will be very telling to see who survives this one. And we'll be right back. Now, Dick and Jim put out a statement on Wednesday that WCBD News 2 reporter Riley Benson posted on Twitter. And here is David with that Dick and Jim statement.

Alec has been cooperating with the United States Attorney's Office and federal agencies in their investigation of a broad range of activities. We anticipate that the charges brought today will be quickly resolved without trial. Okay, so first, who among us believes that ELEC is now cooperating? I mean, come on, does the government actually want his cooperation at this point? And what exactly would that cooperation look like? This is a man who allowed a sketch artist to come to a hospital so that they could draw a picture of a very fake,

but according to Elek, handsome and nice fellow, who allegedly shot him in the head. Unless he's ready to sit under a bare light bulb and tell the government what all of this has been about, let's just call that line in Dick and Jim's statement what it is. More nonsense from Team Murdoch. Now second, and this is serious. They actually anticipate that this will be resolved quickly and without a trial.

Okay, so plea deal, right? Wait, plea deal? Could this mean that ELEC might end up transferring to federal prison? The short answer is, um, yeah, he could, according to a bunch of lawyers that we asked today. Depending on what information he has to offer and what hot-nobes, the government agrees to. And here we are again. The big questions right now are why and why now?

What are Dick and Jim really up to? The federal indictment is largely an exercise in redundancy to state charges. Is the state going to hand over the financial element of this case to the federal government? We don't know the answer to that right now because we didn't hear back from the AG's office today. But something is up. And if it is what it looks like, that Eleg and team are gearing up for a kinder, gentler prison stay on the federal level, then God help those who make that deal.

Because unless the information he trades is absolutely epic, then it's just another example of him using and abusing the system for his own gain and people helping him do it. But the good news is that if anyone decides to cut Elyke Murdoch any slack in the federal system, we will be right here to drag those vampires into the sunlight where they belong. Truthfully, we had another episode planned out today related to the Gerard Price case and a whole lot of other nonsense. But we felt that it was important to cover the latest developments in this case,

as a reminder that we might have changed our name, but we are still here, still watching and still armed with information and sources to sort through all of Teen Murdoch's shenanigans. If Corey and Ehrlich truly cooperate with the feds and the feds don't play along with their good old boy games, then maybe, just maybe, we will start getting answers to the questions that we have been asking for the past 100 weeks. Like where did the money go? How many people helped Elyke with his crimes? And how many people will go down for this? We will be back with new episodes every Thursday. Stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight.

True Sunlight is created by me, Mandy Matney, co-hosted by journalist Liz Farrell and produced by my husband, David Moses. True sunlight is a Luna Shark production. Right, Luna?