A roll call of pain and suffering: Remembering the alleged victims of Alex Murdaugh

When Judge Clifton Newman banged his gavel March 3 - sentencing twice-convicted murderer Richard "Alex" Murdaugh to two consecutive life sentences - justice was served and the victims of his grisly violence were given a voice.

But it was only two small drops of justice in a gaping void of pain and suffering, as multiple alleged victims of Alex Murdaugh's violence, lies, alleged theft and manipulation still cry out for peace, answers and closure.

In a shocking rural Southern scandal that will echo from the South Carolina Lowcountry around the country for years to come, and has shaken up the legal and law enforcement communities of this area, Murdaugh has taken lives, confessed to stealing millions, wrecked his family's dynasty and utterly disgraced his ancestors' century-plus old law firm.

Yet Murdaugh, despite the "overwhelming evidence" and the conviction, still denies having a hand in the murders.

Murdaugh has begun paying - day by day, year by year at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia - for spilling the blood of his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, on the fateful night of June 7, 2021. Meanwhile, their families, friends, and even other victims still cry out for truth, answers and justice.

Here are just a few of the names of the many alleged victims of Murdaugh.

Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, gunned down "in their prime"

State prosecutors believe that Maggie and Paul were gunned down so violently by Murdaugh because the crime was an attempt to make it appear as if it were the work of angry vigilantes connected to a 2019 wrongful death suit involving the family.

During the highly publicized and widely followed trial, often graphic and heart wrenching testimony was presented, describing the horrid and seemingly impossible nature of their wounds - multiple point-blank shots, entire organs destroyed by bullets designed for wild boar, brains lying on the ground almost intact.

Paul was killed first at deadly close range, then Maggie was shot at gunpowder-burn range while she was "running to her baby," said lead prosecutor Creighton Waters of the S.C. Attorney General's Office.

Family and friends who testified described Paul as a loyal friend who loved the outdoors, and Maggie as a "girl's girl" who loved the beach, shopping and remodeling her home, but as the mother of boys came to love the things they loved. Both were cut down "in their prime," Waters said.

During the trial, as people learned more about Maggie and Paul, many made a visit to their gravesites at the Hampton Cemetery to pay their respects and leave flowers.

Gloria Satterfield, beloved family employee, betrayed

Gloria Satterfield had worked for Alex and Maggie Murdaugh for years. Testimony during the double murder trial revealed that she helped raise Paul and that he loved her like a mother.

When Satterfield fell at the Murdaugh home, Moselle, in February 2018, and suffered deadly injuries that would later lead to her death, Murdaugh betrayed her trust, her legacy and her children by orchestrating an insurance fraud scheme in which he has admitted to stealing millions - and not giving one penny to her two sons.

Mallory Beach

Mallory Beach was ejected from a boat owned by Murdaugh and allegedly piloted by Paul Murdaugh in Beaufort County waters in the early morning hours of Feb. 24, 2019.

Paul was charged with felony boating under the influence, and Murdaugh, along with other parties, was the target of a March 2019 wrongful death suit.

According to the suit, Murdaugh allegedly encouraged and condoned underaged drinking in his family and on his property, and allowed his underaged son to operate family vehicles and watercraft while intoxicated. Photos and videos entered as exhibits in this ongoing lawsuit support allegations that Murdaugh even participated and drank with the minors.

That trial is expected to be heard on Aug. 14 in Hampton County.

Scores of other financial victims await justice

In addition to murder and drug charges, Murdaugh was indicted in connection with a decade-long, multi-county, multiple-victim financial crime spree in which he allegedly stole more than $8.7 million. During the trial, and in taped conversations with state police, Murdaugh has admitted multiple times to stealing money.

According to the South Carolina State Grand Jury charges, Murdaugh stole from family, friends, partners, and clients who trusted him. He allegedly stole from the living, from the paralyzed, from the injured and the grieving, and even the dead.

The stolen funds represented money that these people desperately needed for medical expenses, burial expenses, and normal living expenses after experiencing something traumatic in their lives. Murdaugh didn’t just steal money from these victims, he robbed them of their trust, their security, their hope, their chance for a better tomorrow.

Below is a list of all known financial victims, according to attorneys and state indictments. This list may be incomplete, as this is a complex case, and there may be other victims not yet named by law enforcement, or who haven’t come forward.

Allendale County - Arthur Badger; The Estate of Donna Badger; Deon Martin.

Colleton County - Manuel Santis-Cristiani; Christopher Anderson; Estate of Sandra Taylor

Orangeburg County - Thomas L. Moore

Beaufort County - Jordan Jinks; The Estate of Blondell Gary

Hampton County - Gloria Satterfield; Tony Satterfield, Brian Harriot, and the Estate of Gloria Satterfield; Sandra Manning; Johnny Bush; Jamian Risher; Randy Drawdy; Hakeem Pinckney; The Estate of Hakeem Pinckney; Natasha Thomas; Alaynia Spohn; Hannah Plyler

Corporate victims - Murdaugh stole from his boyhood friend and fellow attorney, Chris Wilson, and the Wilson law firm. He also stole from his brother, partners and employees at PMPED, the family law firm founded by his great-grandfather, Randolph Murdaugh Sr. Finally, Murdaugh stole from insurance companies such as Nautilus and Lloyd's of London.

Are there other alleged Alex Murdaugh victims?

Stephen Smith's body was found on a rural Hampton County road in the summer of 2015. While there has been no conclusive evidence presented publicly tying Smith's homicide to Murdaugh or his family, the S.C. Law Enforcement Division opened a new investigation into his death in July 2021 "based upon information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh," said SLED in 2021.

That death remains under investigation.

Help us out. This is a complex case, and if our report overlooked any Murdaugh victims please call it to our attention by emailing the author at mdewitt@hamptoncountyguardian.com.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Alex Murdaugh saga: Remembering the alleged victims