Murdaugh housekeeper's sons never paid in wrongful death suit
Criminal defense attorney Susan Williams gives the latest update in the sensational Murdaugh family murder mystery
As disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh sits in an undisclosed rehabilitation facility seeking treatment for a supposed opioid addiction, a former federal prosecutor in South Carolina commented to Fox News Digital on what it would take for the FBI or the U.S. Attorney’s Office to launch investigations, as mounting civil lawsuits allege Murdaugh has embezzled millions of dollars from his law firm and insurance companies.
Murdaugh turned himself in last week after telling authorities he organized his own death so that his surviving son, 26-year-old Buster Murdaugh, could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy. Hampton County Magistrate Judge Tonja Alexander set his bond at $20,000, and he was released on his own recognizance. He was allowed to return to an out-of-state rehabilitation facility without GPS monitoring.
Questions have risen on whether the feds will intervene against Murdaugh, who is facing several civil lawsuits from alleged victims accusing the powerful family of using their prosecutorial influence and legal expertise to silence them. Murdaugh initially checked into the out-of-state rehab after he was accused of misappropriating at least $1 million from the law firm founded by his grandfather, PMPED, in Hampton, South Carolina.
The FBI’s Columbia Field Office has not responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The DEA declined to comment on matters related to the Murdaugh family, as did the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.
Alex Murdaugh weeps during his bond hearing, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, in Varnville, S.C. Murdaugh surrendered Thursday to face insurance fraud and other charges after state police said he arranged to have himself shot in the head so that his son would get a $10 million life insurance payout. (AP Photo/Mic Smith) (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
Trey Harrell, a former federal prosecutor and personal injury lawyer based in Charleston, could not confirm whether any investigations are in the works at the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the Department of Justice – but did tell Fox News Digital it’s something likely they would be interested in.
"This would be the type of case the U.S. Attorney’s Office would be interested in, and I can speak to that because in my time there – it was brief – the office would charge, prosecute and sentence these types of cases and public corruption was then and is now still a big push for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina," Harrell said.
"If the need is there for a federal investigation, this certainly is something they would investigate and work all the way through the system to get the results that were necessary," he told Fox News Digital. "All the signs based on people talking and the way that it appears are leading and pointing to an investigation into that matter. But there’s no definite, conclusive proof I can give for that."
The latest civil lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of Connor Cook, another passenger injured in a February 2019 boat crash in Beaufort County, South Carolina, that resulted in the tragic death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach.
Alex Murdaugh’s son, Paul Murdaugh, was eventually indicted for allegedly boating under the influence, and charges were still pending when Paul and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, were found murdered in June at the family’s hunting estate in Colleton County.
The new litigation comes after another lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the sons of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper whose mysterious trip and fall accident at the family’s home in February 2018 is now under investigation by the South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Both lawsuits have a key player, Alex Murdaugh’s lawyer friend and former college roommate, Corey Fleming. Cook’s attorneys alleged that Alex Murdaugh told Cook to "keep his mouth shut" after the boating accident and introduced him to Fleming, who gave him advice as his lawyer not to talk to police officers, The Post and Courier reported. Fleming has not returned a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Also without disclosing that Fleming is a close friend and Paul Murdaugh’s godfather, Alex Murdaugh allegedly introduced Satterfield’s sons to Fleming to handle a wrongful death lawsuit after their mother’s funeral. But a $505,000 settlement was secured without the sons’ knowledge and they’ve never seen the money. Settlements with other insurance companies might have been secured for a total amounting to around $4 million, attorneys claim.
Following Mallory Beach’s death from the boating accident, the insurance company, Philadelphia Indemnity, reportedly denied a $6 million claim to cover the wrongful death lawsuit against him.
"If what is being alleged in those lawsuits that are being filed is even a fraction of truth, then it would certainly be something the U.S. Attorney’s Office would fully investigate," Harrell told Fox News Digital. "For those reasons, that’s why I would believe there is probably an investigation coming if it hasn’t already started. There’s no number that would trigger the U.S. Attorney’s Office to get involved. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as the Department of Justice, in my experience is going to look into anything regardless of the amount if a crime is being committed."
Harrell also commented on the widespread rumor about an alleged opioid ring related to the Murdaugh family. During his bond hearing last week, Murdaugh’s attorney, Dick Harpootlian, told the judge that his client has struggled with an opioid addiction over the past two decades. Harpootlian also said that Curtis Smith, who Murdaugh allegedly hired to kill him in the botched suicide plot, was his drug dealer.
If there is a drug element at play, Harrell said federal prosecutors "won’t waste resources."
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"If there is an opioid piece to the embezzlement that those investigations will run simultaneously because this U.S. Attorney’s Office is not going to waste any resources," Harrell said. "That being said, we’re hearing about an alleged opioid ring bouncing around but we’ve got a handful of issues regarding his resignation from his law firm due to funds not being accounted for."
"I think we would lean more toward thinking there was a fraud or white collar crime/embezzlement type of investigation going on because we have this resignation from his law firm," he continued. "Whereas, if we look into an opioid ring or anything or that nature, we would need to make sure it was a significant amount and it wasn’t a state matter. If it’s something the feds would take on and investigate and it wasn’t just something that would be resolved in the Solicitor’s Office or by SLED."
