Alex Murdaugh has millions in 'protected' assets, but who will be compensated?

Suspended South Carolina attorney Richard Alexander Murdaugh has millions in assets, according to attorneys and property records, but how much can and will be used to make his alleged victims whole remains an unanswered question.

Murdaugh is currently detained in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County on a $7 million bond with no ten percent option. As of Jan. 18, he is facing 51 criminal charges, mostly for accusations that he stole from his clients, his law partners and other attorneys. He is also facing seven civil lawsuits. He has not entered a plea on any charges at this point.

Because of the multiple, and likely multi-million-dollar, civil suits — and concerns from alleged victims that Murdaugh may try to hide or liquidate assets — the courts have ordered that all of Murdaugh’s assets are to be controlled by two co-receivers, South Carolina attorneys John Thomas Lay and Peter McCoy.

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Lay and McCoy are court ordered to ascertain all of Murdaugh’s assets and create a settlement fund for any present and future civil claims.

Recent bond hearings before S.C. Grand Jury Presiding Judge Alison Renee Lee have given the public an insight into just what type of assets Murdaugh owns – but access to those assets remains in question.

“The question is, what resources does he have, and what can he post, if he can post anything at all,” said Murdaugh lead attorney Richard Harpootlian during the Jan. 10 virtual hearing on a motion to reduce Murdaugh’s bond.

During the recent hearing, Harpootlian told the court that Murdaugh “can’t even pay his phone bill” and doesn’t even have money to buy underwear while in jail.

Lay has told the court that, after scouring public records and sending out roughly 50 subpoenas for information, he and McCoy are starting to get a picture of Murdaugh’s true worth – but that picture is “complicated.”

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The co-receivers have control over all of these assets now, but even they don’t have access to some “protected assets,” Lay said. Retirement funds and funds set aside in a trust are examples of assets that are out of Murdaugh's reach. There are also numerous creditors, the co-receiver added.

Here is a snapshot of Murdaugh’s assets as outlined by Lay:

Murdaugh's current assets:

• Three bank accounts, containing a total of $10,000 in cash.

• A retirement account worth somewhere between $2.1 and $2.2 million

• An IRA retirement fund worth somewhere between $350,000 and $400,000

• Real estate that Murdaugh has an interest in, along with other individuals, but can’t liquidate without court action, including a hunting club and some “small islands” around Beaufort County. Some of this real estate is owned through LLCs, Lay said.

Property records indicate that Murdaugh is listed as a co-owner of three wooded tracts totaling 30 acres amid the waterways of St. Helena Island. These tracts have a total estimated appraised value of $687,000, Beaufort County public records show.

Murdaugh's future assets:

• An estate trust that is expected to come to Murdaugh following the June 2021 death of his father, Randolph Murdaugh III. The amount of this trust and when it will transfer to Murdaugh isn’t known at this time, Lay said.

• Probate assets that are expected to come to Murdaugh following the June 2021 death of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, who was shot and killed at their Colleton County home along with their younger son, Paul.

These assets include a beach house on Edisto Island and the “Moselle” property where Murdaugh was living with his wife and younger son at the time of the double homicide. The Moselle property, which contains 11 parcels of land totaling 1,772.2 acres in both Colleton and Hampton counties, has a total appraised value of $934,800, according to Hampton and Colleton property tax records.

Some of this real estate cannot be disposed of or liquidated without satisfying liens or mortgages, Lay said.

Lay has indicated during bond hearings that even if Murdaugh had liquidated assets to post bond, he and McCoy would “resist that.” Any liquidated assets that Murdaugh receives would likely go into the settlement account.

What happens next? Will all victims be made whole?

Murdaugh is currently facing seven civil suits, with possibly eight more coming from Bamberg-based attorney Justin Bamberg, who told The Hampton County Guardian he is representing several of Murdaugh’s alleged victims.

Murdaugh has already signed a confession of judgement worth up to $4.3 million, pending court approval, in the case involving the estate of Gloria Satterfield, his late housekeeper, according to attorneys. Murdaugh is currently facing both criminal charges and a civil suit for allegedly stealing insurance money from Satterfield’s adult sons.

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Attorney Eric Bland, of Bland Richter LLP, who is representing the Satterfield Estate, said his clients have now reached an estimated $7.5 million in settlements from various other parties allegedly responsible in their case, in addition to Murdaugh’s confession of judgement.

“The Satterfields are doing well, and they feel like they have gotten almost a full cup of justice,” Bland said last week. "So much has taken place by them coming forward. This case has been a serious success and accomplished a great deal.”

In addition to the seven clients that are being represented by Bamberg in pending Murdaugh-related cases, there are more coming forward.

Bland told The Guardian last week that he has picked up more clients that are alleged victims of Murdaugh. Allendale-based attorney Mark Tinsley, who is currently representing the Mallory Beach estate in a wrongful death suit against Murdaugh, told The Guardian last week that he has also retained another alleged victim of Murdaugh’s. Beach is the 19-year-old victim who died in a 2019 boat crash involving Paul Murdaugh.

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Bland said that, while the Satterfield estate was able to get their settlements early, he is concerned that Murdaugh only has “a limited pot of money” and that other victims won’t be made whole.

As new alleged victims and the possibility of more civil suits continue to emerge in the complicated cases involving Murdaugh, Bland and Bamberg have told The Guardian and other South Carolina media that any and all other parties allegedly responsible for any role in Murdaugh’s crimes will have to be held accountable, including banks and law firms, or some victims may never receive compensation for their losses.

“If this is a four-quarter game, we are really just beginning the second quarter,” Bland said.

“How are these other victims going to be paid?” Bland said. “It’s not an endless pool of money.”

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Murdaugh has millions in 'protected' assets; who could be compensated?