$3 million more owed to heirs of Murdaugh family housekeeper and nanny, lawyer says
As much as $3 million in additional undisclosed insurance settlements may have been diverted from the estate of attorney Alex Murdaugh’s late housekeeper, says a lawyer who last week
filed a lawsuit claiming that $505,000 in known insurance proceeds were mishandled by Murdaugh.
“There were at least $3 million in other insurance payments due to the heirs of Gloria Satterfield, and we’re going to be going after that money,” said Eric Bland, the Columbia attorney who filed the lawsuit last week.
“That $3 million is missing,” Bland said Friday in an interview.
The initial lawsuit alleges that Alex Murdaugh and two of his friends — another lawyer and a banker — are responsible for diverting $505,000 from Satterfield’s two sons, her estate’s rightful heirs.
Bland said he expects to file additional legal actions soon naming other parties who could be responsible for the missing money.
The money alleged to be missing from the Satterfield estate is a separate matter from the millions Murdaugh allegedly stole from his former law firm, Bland said.
Alex Murdaugh admitted he bore responsibility for Satterfield’s fatal fall, thus clearing the way for him to be sued for being responsible for the housekeeper’s death, Bland’s lawsuit said.
Murdaugh then arranged for Satterfield’s two sons to press a claim against him for their mother’s death and assured Satterfield’s relatives he would “take care of the boys,” the lawsuit said.
“Alex Murdaugh told his insurer that there was no defense to the claim and that the claim must be paid,” Bland’s lawsuit said.
With that admission, Murdaugh also arranged for his best friend, Beaufort attorney Corey Fleming, and another friend, Hampton banker Chad Westendorf, to handle money received from Satterfield’s death on various insurance policies, Bland’s lawsuit said.
Bland said in a Friday interview the total insurance under policies for Murdaugh and his house came to at least $3.5 million.
“Once Alex admitted he was responsible for the death, the insurance companies had to pay out money or go before a Hampton County jury to contest the cause of the death and the amount of liability associated with it,” Bland said.
“Without filing a lawsuit, Fleming ... and Westendorf were able to achieve a partial settlement of the claims associated with the death of Gloria from Lloyds of London in the amount of $505,000,” Bland’s lawsuit said.
Court records reflect that the only payouts from the $505,000 in the Satterfield estate show that Fleming’s law firm, Moss, Kuhn & Fleming, received $166,000 for his legal representation and an additional $11,500 for expenses, Bland’s lawsuit said.
