Murdaugh Murders Podcast - True Sunlight #2 - What Game Is Team Murdaugh Playing Now? And What’s Going on With Cory Fleming?

Episode Date: June 1, 2023

Despite Dick and Jim’s insistence that their client has been cooperating with federal investigators, Beth Braden, a journalist from Tennessee who now works with Luna Shark, attended Alex's arraignment Wednesday and reported that Alex Murdaugh entered a plea of Not guilty to the 22 federal charges.  Alex Murdaugh's Not Guilty plea in U.S. District Court, brings his ability for nonsense to a new low. True Sunlight co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell discuss the latest drama in Murdaugh’s federal case and his best friend Cory Fleming’s attempts to get off lightly. They also share an update from South Carolina state prosecutor Creighton Waters.  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!\ 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/TrueSunlightPodcast/ 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 what kind of game Team Murdoch is playing with the feds. But after Elyke Murdoch's not guilty plea and Corey Fleming's plea deal, I am worried that something really nefarious is afoot. My name is Mandy Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption, previously known as the Murdoch Murdoch Murder's podcast. True Sunlight is written with journalist Liz Farrell and produced by my husband, David Moses. I want to start off this show by wishing Sandy Smith a fabulous birthday today.

When we talk about the true heroes in this story, Sandy Smith should always be at the top of the list. She has shown the world grace, kindness, courage, and strength while fighting for justice for Stephen. The world has given her every reason to be angry, but she chooses to stay in the sunlight while she clings to faith, hope, and love. David and I spent the last few days with Sandy celebrating her birthday. As we were laughing over a couple of beers, I started to think about how lucky I am to have Sandy in my life, how she has become the steady source of sanity in all of his chaos.

No matter how many times she has been lied to, betrayed, and mistreated, her moral compass stays the same. Right is right and wrong is wrong. I've heard Sandy say that a million. times over the last few years. The truth is that I wish everyone could know Sandy like I do. I wish that they could see how hurt she is by the things that people say about her online. I wish that people knew how much harder they are making this on her. I wish they knew how honest of a person Sandy is and how she always puts her children, her grandchildren, and those she loves before herself. I wish they

knew how hard the last eight years had been on Sandy, not just losing her son, but being betrayed by her own community. Sandy was told over and over that people knew what happened to Stephen, but they wouldn't go to police. Sandy knew that something was wrong with her son's death from the get-go, but hardly anyone would listen to her until her case was in the middle of a media superstorm in 2021. Sandy told me the other day that she wants to be able to forgive who who ever killed her son, but she can't do that until they come clean and tell the truth. Sandy wants to forgive them. She wants to be able to be at peace with us.

She wants to be able to go through the grieving process, but she can't do that until she knows what happened. The good news is that SLED is making significant progress with the case. Attorney Eric Bland, who is representing Sandy, said that subpoenas and warrants have been issued in the case and that the case is now being investigated by the state grand jury. That could mean a lot of things, but ultimately it does mean that progress is happening and that is a wonderful thing. But let's be sure to keep up the pressure. Keep sharing the green squares on social media. Keep reminding people about justice for Stephen.com. Keep telling the world

about Stephen Smith. Keep the pressure going. And if you know anything about Stephen Smith's murder, please, please, please, please. Email tips at sede.g. Or even email us and we will get that information to the right people. Let's do everything that we can to make this Sandy's last birthday without answers. She deserves that. So while Sandy Smith was celebrating her birthday on Wednesday, Ehrlich Murdoch, who, by the way, celebrated his birthday on Saturday in prison, was in federal court this week for the first time. Eleg was finally charged federally with a 22-count indictment last week,

and he was arraigned on Wednesday in the federal courthouse in Charleston, South Carolina. The same courthouse where his buddy wrestled defeat was convicted of six felonies back in November. Beth Braden, a journalist from Tennessee who now works with Luna Shirk, because of the support of all of our premium members, attended the arraignment Wednesday. Beth reported that Ehrlich Murdoch entered a plea of not guilty to the 22 federal charges on Wednesday. Now, we didn't know what exactly to expect with this federal arraignment, because literally everything is so unpredictable when it comes to the Murdox, and it's why we sent Beth to make sure there weren't any extra shenanigans.

But remember last week when Dick and Jim claimed that Elyc was cooperating with the feds and that they expect this matter to be resolved quickly and before trial? And in response to that, most of us with a brain were like, uh, Eleg Murdoch, the serial liar and murderer cooperating. Ha, I'll believe it when I see it. Well, he pleaded not guilty. And to make matters more confusing,

his attorney Jim Griffin told the court that they, quote, anticipate a change of plea hearing in the very near future. I know that there are attorneys out there listening that will think that this is normal and that it means that they're just striking a plea deal. But the thing is, nothing from Team Elic Murdoch is ever normal. Everything is always swirling around their power and influence.

And court just works differently for these guys. even at the federal level. Remember when we said that President Joe Biden and Dick Haputlian are close? Specifically, Dick Hartputlian has the president of the United States' cell phone number. Things work differently when you have those kind of connections, and we cannot ignore that. We cannot underestimate Dick's influence in federal court, and I have this feeling in my gut that is telling me something is off with these charges. ELEC is facing over a hundred years in federal prison in millions of dollars in fines at the federal level. But what does that matter at this point?

The man has two life sentences in SEDC and a long line of victims to pay already. Why is the federal government doing this now? If they're doing it to put pressure on ELEC, why didn't they do that before the murder trial? Is it that ELEC just wants federal charges now so that he can get out of prison for a minute and go to Charleston for court every once in a while? Remember, ELEC is not in general population in prison, which means he can't play games with people like he used to. I just want to know if these federal charges are somehow another game Ehrlich is playing. And for what? At the end of the hearing, Prosecutor Emily Limehouse said that they have notified Ehrlich of his right to remain in federal

custody, but Ehrlich, quote, intended that he wants to waive that right. What does that even mean? If Ehrlich got the chance to go to federal prison, which is known as a much cushier behind bars experience, that he won't take it? I don't know what's going on here, but it feels like Ehrlich is still playing games with the system. And guess what? South Carolina and United States taxpayers are the pawns here. These games are the ones. cost a lot of tax money. Did we not learn anything from the Satterfield case? Remember, Elic and his lawyers confess judgment

and then literally tried to take it back when it didn't play the way that they wanted to. Are they doing the same thing here? Dick and Jim are saying, Mm, not guilty for now, but when it suits us more, maybe he will change it to guilty. And they're saying Elyke intends to waive his right to federal custody,

but he's still not actually doing that. Elyke is still seeing what there is to gain. That is not cooperating. And remember, there are victims in the federal case too, the Satterfields, the Plylers, the Pinckneys, the Badgers. They deserve to have Ehrlich admit to doing them wrong. They deserve closure. And they don't deserve to be yanked around

by a narcissist-murder man-man baby who wants to play games and use the federal government in the process. What scares me is that this could be an attempt to stop progress on finding out whatever the big picture is here and on holding others accountable. There are a lot of people in South Carolina who have been worried about what these investigations will find. And unfortunately, for the federal government,

they don't have the best reputation when it comes to holding men like Ehrlich to account. Look at what just, Jeffrey Epstein was able to get away with for so long. Okay, let's talk about Alex's best friend now, Corey Fleming. Something tells us that Corey's case is going to be like a slow simmering stew, straight through until the end of the summer. Not only are we waiting to hear when he'll be, no doubt, gently sentenced

for that one charge the federal government decided to indict him on, his state trial is still scheduled to begin in September. In the meantime, we have questions. Everyone has questions, actually. Because how can we not? So, one, we know the state is not happy with the federal government's decision to get involved with the financial elements of these cases. So what does that mean? Is that just a simple turf war reaction? Or does this state know that something ridiculous is potentially afoot? We obviously believe that the federal government's sudden and seemingly superfluous involvement in this is, due to Dick Harpoon's ties to the Department of Justice, but what is actually happening here?

Our Cup of Justice co-host, Eric Bland, spoke with state prosecutor Crichton Waters on Wednesday, and Crichton confirmed the discord with the federal government. He was also clear that there is no world in which Ehrlich Mardock would get to serve out his state sentence in a federal prison. He said the state is 100% committed to seeing this through with Ehrlich and seeing it through with Corey. Crane said that Corey would not be getting an easy out here

by simply admitting to a small portion of what the state believes he actually did. Two, the charge against Corey, and for the most part, the charges against Elic are redundant to the state charges. Corey's federal indictment doesn't even address his alleged wrongdoings against Pamela Pinkney. So that's also a big why for us. The generous and hopeful thought here right now is that Corey has some really good, good information, but just like with Alec, how will we know? Unless we see some swift arrest come on the heels of all of this, it's going to be really hard to discern what actual effect Corey's

sexy little deal with the federal government has had on anything other than his own well-being and peace of mind. Because the system is once again asking us to have faith in it. It's asking us to trust them that the right thing is happening here in the dark. And by the right thing, we don't mean the thing that's justifiable. That's the problem with these guys. They can justify anything, but we'll get into that. Let's first talk about question number three. Will Corey be charged with perjury? Perjury? Yes, perjury. The government will tell you that it makes deals with bad guys all the time. And the U.S. Attorney's Office will shrug off our concern here as Mandy and Liz just are not getting it. They might try to say that Corey's previous declarations of innocence to the

state boards in an effort to save his legal licenses in South Carolina and Georgia isn't really a big deal. That he can just amend those declarations, even though his statements were signed by him and, at least in the Georgia case, notarized. But the fact is, Corey is a liar who is only now telling the truth because it suits him. He's not a big fat liar like Ehrlich, but he's kind of worse. He's a triathlete of liars. And that makes it harder because from the sound of that starting gun, he has seemingly been prepared for every leg of this race, right down to some of the careful wording in his response to the Georgia Bar Association in February 2022. Other parts of that response weren't so carefully worded, though. So first, we want to remind everyone listening that the world was very different

in South Carolina in September 2021 when Elek Murdoch and crew were first outed. This was a band of brothers who were very accustomed to not getting in trouble. The system was designed for them as a whole, but in the low country it was further adjusted for them, meaning it's hard for us to believe that any of these guys would have believed that real consequences were coming their way, at least not to the level that we've seen so far. So last week, Corey's attorney told Judge Richard Gergel that, quote, this week, meaning last week, Corey planned to relinquish both his South Carolina and Georgia law licenses. As of late Wednesday morning, a week after they told the court this,

Corey was still listed as a regular member of the South Carolina Bar under temporary suspension. On the Georgia Bar's website, where his email address is listed as Corey Rabbit with two T's for some reason, his status is listed as on suspension and having unpaid license fees. We also checked the South Carolina Supreme Court website for the latest disciplinary orders, and there is nothing for old Corey. But that's not the lie, guys. That's not the perjury. That's just us checking to see if he, in fact, has followed through and relinquished his licenses.

Bureaucracies being what they are, we're not going to read into this too much. I will say this, though. If either of us were in charge of either of those entities, we have hit the delete button on Corey's name the second those words were uttered. we'd be like, bye, girl, bye. That's said, here's the potential perjury. Corey told Georgia's disciplinary board that he knew nothing about the scheme to steal the Satterfield's money. A safe assumption would be that Corey also told the Office of Disciplinary Council in South Carolina this as well.

We don't know for sure if he did because that process is secretive by design to protect attorneys and to allow for shady power moves like the time Dick and Jim reported Eric Bland to the bar for speaking to the media. Remember that when they tried to use the bar as a way to scare Eric into silence? We wonder how often that happens. Anyway, here's what Corey said last week in sworn testimony to a federal judge. After Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Limehouse read the allegations against Corey, Judge Gergel. Remember him from Russell LaFeed's trial? Broke in to ask Corey some questions.

Judge Gargle was like, okay, you heard all that, right? You disagree with anything she just said that you did? And Corey was like, nope, not disputing. any of it. We don't know what Judge Gergel's inside voice was saying to him right then, but considering his reputation as an upstanding person, we assume he was like, good God man, because he was basically like, are you telling me under oath that the statements made by the assistant United States attorney are accurate? And Corey was like, yep, I sure am. Then Judge Gergel said, and we're quoting him here, you knew he, meaning Ehrlich, was stealing part of the money? Corey said, part

of it, yes, sir. Judge Gargall confirmed with Corey that he had lied to the circuit court about how much money the firm had planned to take for a fee, and he asked him to explain some things, namely the many parts of this that still don't make any sense. So, our opinion, and it's not a unique one, is that Corey, like any defense attorney would, took the facts of his case and was able to cobble together an explanation that minimized his role as best he could, specifically what he knew about Elyke's plans and when he knew it. Corey's official story is that he knew Ehrlich was going to steal some of the money. About $100,000 of it,

that he fraudulently charged the Satterfields for expenses that did not exist and he used that money for him and Ehrlich. He claims that they planned on keeping back some of the additional money for their personal use. He himself had taken $26,000 in fake expenses. He denies ever knowing anything about the forge account. Now, going into this, Corey knew that Ehrlich had his back, because Ehrlich has tried to publicly absolve Corey every chance he has gotten

by swearing that Corey knew nothing about any theft whatsoever, which obviously we now know for sure is a lie. We point this out because it means that Corey would know that Ehrlich would likely back any story that he offered to authorities. And luckily for Corey, he held back a couple hundred thousand dollars from the lump sums he had sent to Ehrlich's PO box for the fake forge account. Now, let's just say, Corey's official story for the record isn't fully accurate. And we have to question that story because, as we have said, that story has said, that story has. changed, that money that was kept back allowed him to explain it as this. Quote, the money he was going to let Elyke take, but Ehrlich didn't get around the taking for some reason.

Do you remember in the lead-up to the murders when it was clear Elyke was desperate for money, when he kept pestering Chris Wilson for that $792,000 fee from the case that they had worked together? You remember that, right? That, as we've seen, was a pattern of behavior for Elylech. He was an insatiable cookie monster of stolen settlements. He was an insatiable cookie monster of Palmetto State Bank loans and a very generous, personalized overdraft policy.

But Corey's official story is that ELEC didn't get around to the theft part of their conspiracy. And his official story is also that he didn't know that the fake forge account existed. Meanwhile, he hadn't set up any structured accounts for his clients through Forge, and he sent a check for millions of dollars made out to Forge and not Forge Consulting, the actual name of the company, to a Pio Box in Hampton. None of this adds up, but here we are. And the federal government is like totally, you're so honest, Corey. By the way, do you work out?

And we'll be right back. The Brutalist and starring Academy Award nominee Amanda Seifred in a career best performance. Searchlight Pictures presents The Testament of Anne Lee. With rave reviews from the Venice Film Festival, this bold and magnetic musical epic tells the story inspired by a true legend, Anne Lee, founder of the radical religious movement The Shakers, The Testament of Anne Lee. Exclusive Toronto engagement January 16th in theaters everywhere January 23rd. Okay, back to the hearing.

Judge Gergel kept pressing Corey because Corey's explanation of how this went down honestly makes no sense to anyone, but Corey, the cobbler of truth. Corey wants to say that he did everything non-criminal here except these few little things where he knew he was holding back a small percentage of the money for Elek and where he himself had lied about his expenses and had taken a little cash back for himself. But to do that, he had to explain why he had told the circuit court that Moss Coonan Fleming was taking $1.4 million in fees when really they only got $670,000. Judge Gergel was like, why lie about that, Corey?

Corey said, and we're quoting this part, um, well, as the information says, a portion of it was going to be spent by Mr. Murdoch, approximately $100,000. And then the rest of it, I was under the impression, we're going to the beneficiary. of the estate. So basically, he said that he kept back a significant portion of the money and lied to the court in a way that would get the Satterfield's their money, when really he could have just given them the money. Judge Gergel said, well, why would if the fees are $670,000, then naturally it would go to the beneficiaries of the estate, correct? I thought they did, Corey said. Judge Gergel then said, but you understand what I'm saying is that normally you wouldn't

need to overstate your legal fees because the net amount is what goes to the beneficiaries, correct? Yes, sir, Corey said. So let me understand this a little better, Judge Gergel said. One day, we're going to have a sentencing hearing. I need to understand this. Where did you think the $600 and some odd thousand dollars was going to go? If not, was Mr. Murdoch to get some portion of it? Corey said, yep. A portion of it was going to Eleg and Judge Gergel, unfortunately, didn't make Corey answer as to the rest of the money. But basically Judge Gergel was saying, your truth does not make sense when compared with your lies. Judge Gergel asked Corey if this arrangement was a normal thing to do. To give money to the defendant in a case, Corey of course said, no sir. Then Corey

consulted privately with his attorney Debbie Barbier. Judge Gerkel asked him what his thinking was behind the fraudulent expenses and where that money were supposed to have gone. Corey told him, that was a, quote, number that was a holding spot. What is a holding spot? Judge Gergel asked him what that holding spot was for, and Corey said, and this is a direct quote. Just because I didn't know what exactly Mr. Murdoch was wanting to do with regard to the money, and I didn't exactly know how we were going to reduce the feed, free up the money, so that he could have some. Judge Gergel then asked, you knew he was stealing part of the money?

And Corey said yes. And you knew that was wrong, Judge Gergel asked. Oh, absolutely, yes, sir, I did. And that is where the problem for Corey should exist. Because here is what his other attorneys, Thomas Pandarvis and Christopher Lumpassus of Beaufort, told the Georgia State Bar in a 73-page response. Here's a smattering of those statements, okay?

Mr. Murdoch did not direct or regulate Mr. Fleming's professional judgment in rendering legal services to the Satterfield estate. Quote, none of Mr. Fleming's actions during either representation resulted from any direction or regulation by Mr. Murdoch. Huh. So when Corey said he held back money because Elyke declared he was getting a piece of this, and when Corey was allegedly waiting for further instruction from Elyke

on what to do with the fraudulent expenses, that wasn't Elyke directing or regulating Fleming's. professional judgment in the Satterfield case? Here's some more. Quote, during their 25 plus years of friendship, Mr. Fleming developed a strong, trusting relationship with Mr. Murdoch.

Never doubting for a moment, Mr. Murdoch's honesty, trustworthiness, and fitness, not only as a lawyer, but also as a friend. That friendship was destroyed on September 3, 2021, when Mr. Fleming first learned

of Mr. Murdoch's professional misconduct and torsious acts as later described in this response. Okay. So, Corey thought Elyke stealing a portion of the money that was meant to go to the children of Ehrlich's dead housekeeper could be described as honesty, trustworthiness, and fitness, not only as a lawyer, but also as a friend. Here's some more. Quote, Mr. Fleming did not know of and did not participate in any conspiracy with Mr. Murdoch to take funds belonging to the estate of Gloria Satterfield or any of its beneficiaries. Oh, Corey. Like we said, the response is a total of more than 70 pages. It's a minefield for any investigator who would like to go in and highlight the bevy

of contradicting statements. The question is this, will any of them actually do it? In addition to that question. We also have one about Corey's bond conditions. Now, you might remember in fall 2022 when Russell Lefeet was trying to lose one of his ankle bracelets, or at the very least, get permission to be off federal home detention. He filed a motion for bond reconsideration. In it, he had a footnote noting that Corey Fleming's state bond conditions were far less punishing. Corey was released on a $200,000 bond, was not confined to his house, and did not have to wear an electronic ankle monitor. Turns out Corey's federal bond conditions were similarly different from Russell's. There was no ankle monitor, and he was released on an unsecured $25,000 bond by federal

magistrate Judge Molly Cherry. Coincidentally, Molly Cherry, before she was appointed to her federal seat in 2020, at one time represented Corey Fleming, his law partner Jim Moss, and their law firm in at least one civil case in Beaufort County about 20 years ago. Once again, That's how interconnected South Carolina is. We don't have a transcript to the bond hearing, so we don't know if that connection was noted for the record. Anyway, Russell's bond conditions allowed him to have alcohol, but not to excess. Same with Corrie's.

That was contained in Section L. Now, Russell's conditions did not include sections MN or O, though. Literally, there is a chunk of blank white space under the section that notes his use of alcohol. On Corrie's. Now this is the same form. He has a Section M and it's checked, stating he will not use or unlawfully possess a narcotic drug or other controlled substances defined in 21 U.S.C. Section 802, unless prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner. Okay, Section N for Corey is not checked, but that would have required him to submit for drug testing.

But Section O is checked, and that requires Corey to participate. in a program of inpatient or outpatient substance abuse therapy and counseling, if directed by the pretrial services officer or supervising officer. So what is that about? Now, during the arraignment, Corey was repeatedly asked whether he was answering these questions with sound mind and under no undue influence. At one point, his attorney Debbie Barbier noted for the judge that Corey was on prescription medication that he had given the names of to the probation office. She said, quote, they have no effect whatsoever on his ability to understand and answer your questions. Judge Gergel responded,

I actually have a copy of that and I have seen those medications. He then stated for the record that he had observed Corey and he seemed to fully understand what they were doing. So, again, what's happening here? Why is the court making a point to note that Corey can't take any controlled substances or narcotics without a prescription and why are they laying the groundwork for the potential of drug treatment? We have to point this out, given Ehrlich Murdoch's purported drug use, his connection to drugs in general, and his trafficking charge, because it makes us ask the question about what, if anything, this could have to do with all that? So like we said at the beginning, Corey is going to be a slow simmer.

There's so much to cover with him as we venture toward his federal sentencing and his state trial. We do not want the federal government cutting this man a deal with no real benefit to the bigger picture of Ehrlich's crimes, and we do not want anyone sitting on their thumbs. If the system is going to be cleaned up, then let's clean it up. And that should include looking at Corey's past cases and any signs that this was not his first rodeo with ELEC. The federal government and Corey seemed to want to make this look like one bad decision, one bad situation, giving him one single charge to slap him on the rest for. Do we know this was just a one-off for sure? For instance, is anyone looking into a 2012-send,

a lawsuit that involved Corey's cousin, his son, his wife, and Alec Murdoch. And of itself, this case isn't necessarily suspicious, but it does warrant some questions being asked to determine just how deep all of this goes. And is the federal government actually asking these questions? In this 2012 case that we found, Elyke Murdoch sued Corey Fleming's wife on behalf of Corey Fleming's son, who was injured in some of some of the first of. type of automobile accident in 2010. I say some type because we have read a lot of Elyke Mardock's lawsuits and the man was brief in his complaints, suspiciously brief. Like he

wrote the absolute bare minimum to intimidate the other parties into settling, which seemed to work well for him because, well, the system was designed for good old boys like Ehrlich. Anyways, according to Eleg's brief lawsuit, Corey's son, who was also Elyke's godson, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Corey's wife, Eve, when she, quote, caused the minor child to exit the vehicle of the SUV. The minor child slipped on the wet bumper rack and fell to the ground severely breaking his arm. How does that happen exactly? The lawsuit doesn't say.

In just a few sentences, it accuses Eve Fleming of, quote, Careless and ruckless acts, including directing the minor child to exit the vehicle from the rear, and failing to warn the minor child of the wet condition of the bumper rack, and failing to exercise the degree of care as required by the circumstances then in their existing and violating the statutes and rules of the road, which are in violation of the law and negligence per se. According to the lawsuit, Corey's son broke his forearm in the accident and developed osteomyelitis, the biggest word I have ever seen, allegedly written by Elyuk Murdoch.

And that word means inflammation or swelling of the bone. And apparently, this injury required multiple surgeries for Corey's son. The lawsuit doesn't say if the vehicle was moving or not, but the scenario described in this lawsuit doesn't make any sense to me. How was she violating the rules of the road by telling her kid to get out of the back of her SUV? And how exactly did he fall and break his arm? The lawsuit reminds me a lot of the Satterfield settlement that I found in 2019. Few details, few documents. A total of eight filings over two years.

Like Satterfield, this lawsuit has Corey on one side and Elyke on the other. In fact, the summons in the case signed by Ehrlich Murdoch, oddly, states Corey's law firm, Moss Coon, and Flemmy, above his signature. It looks like they were sloppy and forgot to scratch off Corey's law firm in the template. So, again, it was sloppy, like the Satterfield case and so many others. And also, like the Satterfield settlement, in this case, a good amount of money was paid out by the insurance company. And guess who benefited, Corey and Elek. Corey's cousin, Gene Fulks, was approved by the court to be the guardian ad litem in Corey's son's case, meaning his cousin served as his son's legal representative.

So Corey didn't have to put his name on the lawsuit. He had a family member do that for him. South Carolina attorney Barrett Brewer, not to be confused with Barrett Bullware, was assigned to represent Eve on behalf of her insurance company. company USAA. He filed a brief three-page answer to the complaint that essentially said that the complaint failed to state facts that would require a cause of action and that the complaint should be dismissed. And poof, like magic, more than a year later, USAA offered to settle the case for, get this, $120,000. And Eleg got a whopping $48,000 off of that settlement. That is for,

essentially telling an insurance company that a kid broke his arm and that the mom is at fault. And by the way, E. Fleming, Corey's wife, is an attorney too and is still licensed to practice in South Carolina. And guess which judge approved this settlement? Carmen Mullen. So five years later, when Corey was suing Elyke and Gloria Satterfield's death for a suspicious amount of insurance money, shouldn't Carmen have said, hum, wait a minute, y'all just sued each other a few years ago

and y'all are BFFs. What is going on here exactly? And is this insurance fraud? Like imagine if your kid breaks his arm while your spouse was watching him, and then your husband's best friend sues you on behalf of your son. And then you get around $50,000,

from your insurance provider, which is life-changing money for so many people. How is that allowed? And shouldn't Carmen Mullen have seen the whole Moss Coon and Fleming template on the first page of the lawsuit and been like, huh, red flag, what is going on here?

This isn't the only time we've heard of Corey and his wife filing an insurance claim involving ELEC in some capacity. There's another incident that might need to be looked into involving a boating accident in which Corey was docking his boat, and somehow his wife allegedly got injured. There is no complaint filed in the public index that we can find, but allegedly Corey's wife was represented by Ehrlich in filing an insurance claim.

Again, in and of itself, this is not necessarily suspicious, but look at some of the players there and look at what they've been accused of doing. Like we said, there's a lot more to Corey Fleming, and we plan to share everything we're finding with you as we go. We'll be right back. In that sketchy 2012 case, it's not the first time that I've seen a case that Ehrlich was representing a friend who was suing a family member for a car accident. Ehrlich was representing Blanca Simpson, you know, the Blanca, star witness in the Murdoch

murders trial, who appeared to be suing a relative on behalf of another child. The case was filed in 2019. And like so many other of Elyke's sketchy cases, it stalled until he was suspended for practicing law in 2021. It was then given to another PMPED partner. And guess who dismissed the case in February of this year? Judge Carmen Mullen. I'm not saying that the case shouldn't have been dismissed. But how is Carmen Mullen allowed to go anywhere near any of Ehrlich murder?

old cases. It just seems ridiculous. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The longer the South Carolina Supreme Court stays quiet and does nothing about Carmen Mullen. And by that, I mean at the very least, suspend her while a fair investigation is conducted. The integrity of our system is compromised and continues to rot from within. We aren't asking for much here. We just want for those who so steadfastly believe that we have a good system for electing judges here in South Carolina to show us that accountability exists for our judges here in South Carolina. I never know what to say when people ask me what is going on with Carmen Mullen, but I will say this. People should ask our South Carolina Supreme Court justices that question.

Email them, call them. Be pestil. about it. They are in charge of policing our judges, and right now the message they are sending is that judges can get away with anything here in the land of no consequences. And don't worry, we have a lot more to say about our judges plan for a later episode. The South Carolina Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Attorney General's Office cannot pretend like they just fix the system with just getting Corey, Elyke, and Russell. We all know it goes deeper than that. We know that Corey has a lot of tea that he can spill if he's forced to spill it. The question is, will the feds or the state

actually get him there? Corey was really close with Elek Murdoch. Could he know where the money went? Could he be the key to unlock the whole scheme and tell us what exactly Elyke was up to for all of those years. Corey's name was brought up dozens of times throughout the Murdoch murder's trial. But I keep thinking about the part when Paul's friend, Nathan Tutin, was being questioned. Is there any time where you cash the check brought it back to Alex's office and there was someone in his office? That's correct. Multiple people, right? Is that correct?

Correct. Tell us who those folks were that you would have been there when Alex is sent. you to get cash, you're coming back with the cash, and there's someone sitting in his office. There was different occasions. One, two occasions, was Greg Alexander. Who's he? I believe he's the chief police for the embassy. Okay. Cory Fleming. Do you know Corey Fleming? I do. What did he do? He was an attorney as well. Okay, and Michelle's best friend. Okay, and who else? And, uh, um, um, Chris Wilson.

So what does Corey know about those bags of cash exactly? Could Corey know enough to get other big fish fried in this case? One of our big concerns right now is finding out what Corey's role was in the boat crash, or what his role was supposed to be before the Cook family figured out the connection to Ellick. Will Corey ever come clean about what he was doing with Connor, cook. And we need to find out what, if any, role Corey had in the Steven Smith case. Honestly, we are fearful of ELEC's connections to some members of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. In the aftermath of ELEC's unexpected arrest by SLED in October 2021, someone acting on ELEC's behalf reached out

to the federal government almost immediately. After it was clear that Sleck's wasn't playing around, this person seemed to be trying to get the feds to take over. At a time when logically, the person had every reason not to trust Elyk, who remember had by at that point been accused of stealing millions of dollars from his own law firm. People who should have wanted to see Ehrlich be held accountable were protecting him. We don't think that that has stopped, But we will keep asking questions about it until it does. 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?