The sons of a housekeeper who mysteriously died after a fall while working at Alex Murdaugh's home four years ago say they are 'scared' and 'shell-shocked' to learn he is out of jail on a $20,000 bond.
Murdaugh, who had been shot on September 4 in Hampton County, surrendered Thursday to face insurance fraud charges after police said he arranged to have himself shot in the head so that his son would get a $10 million life insurance payout.
The prominent South Carolina lawyer was freed on bail and was allowed to travel to an out-of-state rehabilitation facility - where he is being treated for opioid addiction - without GPS monitoring.
The man who allegedly shot him, Curtis Edward Smith, was a former client of Murdaugh.
Now, Ronnie Richter, an attorney representing Murdaugh's late housekeeper Gloria Satterfield's sons, Michael 'Tony' Satterfield and Brian Harriot, says they fear retribtuion from the powerful family, Fox News reports.
'They're shell-shocked. They're glad that an investigation is finally going to take place, but they learned of the investigation the same time that you did,' Richter said Friday.
The Murdaughs are a prominent legal family who have been prosecuting in South Carolina's Low Country for three generations and at least 111 years.
'It's been a whirlwind for [the sons]. They [the Murdaugh's] are not the kind of folks who are going to make waves, and the Murdaugh family are not the types of folks you make waves against in Hampton County,' Richter added.
Gloria Satterfield, pictured, fell in Alex Murdaugh's home while working as a housekeeper and died at a hospital weeks later on Feb. 26, 2018
Pictured: Alex Murdaugh at his bond hearing at the Hampton County Jail on Thursday in Varnville, South Carolina
On September 3, the 53-year-old had been fired for allegedly embezzling money from PMPED, the personal injury law firm his great grandfather founded in Hampton, South Carolina back in 1910.
Murdaugh's wife Maggie and their son Paul, 22, were murdered in June. No arrests have been made in that case as of Saturday.
A day before Murdaugh turned himself in, Satterfield's sons filed a lawsuit in Hampton County, the same day the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) opened a criminal investigation into her February 2018 death.
'Their mom died in 2018, and they were assured by Alex, by Corey, that they were being taken care of. They didn't even learn of the $500,000 settlement until it was reported in the press earlier this year,' Richter told Fox News.
'They've been scared, betrayed. I think finally enough daylight has hit this that they're finding their resolve to fight for the answers.'
The $505,000 settlement in question was supposed to be paid out by Murdaugh's insurance company over the death of their mother. Richter said Friday morning that the amount is closer to $4 million.
Satterfield fell in Murdaugh's home and died at a hospital weeks later on Feb. 26, 2018.
After her death, Murdaugh introduced Satterfield's sons to his 'good friend' Corey Fleming after her funeral, so that Fleming could help the sons file legal claims against him for the wrongful death of their mother, according to their lawsuit.
At the time, the two sons were unaware that Fleming was Murdaugh's college roommate as well as the godfather to his son, Paul.
Paul and Maggie (together left) were shot dead on June 7. Now police say that Alex Murdaugh (center) orchestrated a separate shooting to kill himself with the help of a hitman, in a scheme to deliver a $10 million life insurance payout to his other son Buster (right) as the elder Murdaugh faced investigation over misallocated funds
Murdaugh surrendered Thursday to face insurance fraud charges after police said he arranged to have himself shot in the head so that his son would get a $10 million life insurance payout
Claims were brought against Murdaugh with the help of a banker friend, Chad Westendorf, who 'stipulated that (Murdaugh) was at fault for the death of Gloria Satterfield,' meaning his insurance company would paid $505,000 to settle the claims.
However, the two say that they 'have not received the first dollar' to date, the lawsuit states.
'That settlement carved out the right to pursue other settlements from other insurance policies,' Richter said.
'And we have it on good information that other recoveries were made for which they also received no money. So we think that $500,000 is the tip of the iceberg.'
In a moment of drama his attorney Dick Harpootlian appeared to play to the press who crowded the courtroom as he gestured to his gaunt client and 'if anyone wants to see the fact of what opioid addiction does, you’re looking at it’
Their attorney told Fox News that Murdaugh, Westendorf and Fleming could have very well been paid out far more than the initial half million, as Murdaugh's home 'was insured by one or more carriers, including Lloyds of London,' the outlet reports.
Meanwhile, Angie Topper, Hampton County's coroner, personally asked SLED Chief Mark Keel to open an investigation into Satterfield's death, citing the death certificates' manner of death as 'natural' despite injuries inconsistent with those in a typical fall-type accident.
An autopsy on Satterfield's body was never performed, according to Fox News.
'What is part of our case is the not-knowing part. That the only person that reported what happened is Alex Murdaugh, and obviously he's proven himself to be less than a reliable source of information,' Richter said.
'Then subsequently, there was no investigation – her death was described as of natural causes, and falling to your death at somebody's house is not exactly what I would call a natural cause.'
'I don't know how or why a death resulting from a fall in a home was considered natural causes and not investigated at all.'
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