Alex Murdaugh admits lying about dogs causing former housekeeper's fatal fall
Convicted murderer and accused serial fraudster Richard "Alex" Murdaugh is now admitting he bilked an insurance company out of millions after the death of his family's housekeeper and lied about dogs causing her to trip and fall before she died.
The admissions were contained in a filing Monday in a lawsuit brought by Nautilus Insurance Company against Murdaugh and others, alleging fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. The Scottsdale, Arizona, insurance agency provided a $5 million umbrella policy for Murdaugh that paid out claims after Gloria Satterfield's death in 2018.
In the filing, Murdaugh's lawyers say that when he learned that Satterfield had fallen down steps at his Moselle estate in South Carolina, he "rushed to the scene, arriving before EMS," and then fabricated a story about what caused the fall that eventually led to her death weeks later.
Murdaugh originally told insurance adjusters that Satterfield tripped over his dogs.
"No dogs were involved in the fall of Gloria Satterfield on February 2, 2018," the filing says. "After Ms. Satterfield’s death, Defendant invented Ms. Satterfield’s purported statement that dogs caused her fall to force his insurers to make a settlement payment... "
He approached her heirs after she died, orchestrated a fraudulent insurance claim, and then pressured Nautilus to settle so he could steal the money. Murdaugh had the insurance payout deposited into a fraudulent account, but he denied in the court filing that his alleged conspirators had any part in the criminal wrongdoing.
The filing for Murdaugh, a former attorney who was convicted in March of killing his wife and son, said "his actions were reprehensible in that he misused vulnerable persons who trusted him."
Who should pay back stolen insurance money?
Who should have to reimburse Nautilus for its stolen money? Murdaugh's court filing appears to point a finger at his victims as a liable party, even though he admits that he stole the money.
The filing claims that Nautilus "failed to join necessary parties" under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; namely Satterfield's sons, Brian Harriott and Tony Satterfield, the personal representative of the Satterfield Estate, and their law firm.
Murdaugh and his lawyers claim they recovered the money allegedly stolen from Nautilus.
After the Satterfield scandal was exposed, and Murdaugh faced criminal charges, they recovered more than $7.5 million in settlements and Murdaugh himself signed a $4.3 million confession of judgement in the Satterfield's favor.
If the Satterfields aren't included in the lawsuit, then the court can not award "complete relief" and Murdaugh would be subjected to a "substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations," the filing claims.
But one of the Satterfield family's lawyers, Eric Bland, took to social media to debunk the notion that the victims should have to pay back any damages.
"This is nothing but noise," Bland said in a May 2 Tweet. "Just gutless people trying to continue to victimize Gloria’s siblings and children."
Another Satterfield lawyer Ronnie Richter called the Murdaugh filing "bizzare" and said settlement funds came from other parties involved.
"Neither myself, my law firm, or my clients have ever possessed even $1 of the stolen Nautilus money," he said.
Hampton County Guardian Editor Michael DeWitt, the Greenville News and USA TODAY Network will continue to follow the ongoing criminal and civil cases surrounding the Murdaugh crime saga. Follow DeWitt on Twitter at @mmdewittjr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Alex Murdaugh admits lying about housekeeper's death, no dogs involved
