Alex Murdaugh's attorney admits disgraced lawyer knows he's going to jail
Criminal defense attorney Brian Claypool reacts to the latest development in the Murdaugh family murder mystery saga
South Carolina authorities on Tuesday released the full, unredacted version of the 911 call for Gloria Satterfield, a housekeeper for prominent lawyer Alex Murdaugh.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said the call was placed at 9:34 a.m. ET on Feb. 2, 2018, from the Murdaugh family's Moselle hunting estate in Colleton County.
In the recording, an unidentified male voice is heard telling the dispatcher to "stop asking so many questions" about the incident.
Murdaugh's since-murdered wife, Maggie Murdaugh, initially makes the call, telling the emergency dispatcher, "My housekeeper has fallen and her head is bleeding. I cannot get her up."
"Where did she fall from?" the female dispatcher asks.
"She fell going up the steps," Maggie says. "The brick steps."
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The dispatcher then asks a series of questions, and Maggie says Satterfield, age 57, is outside and there are eight steps before struggling to clarify whether or not her housekeeper is conscious.
"She is on the ground. She is on the ground. She is on the ground," Maggie exclaims.
Maggie Murdaugh says Satterfield is not really conscious, but then says the housekeeper is awake.
"Is she not like responding appropriately, but she is awake?" the dispatcher suggests.
This undated image shows Murdaugh's longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield (https://www.briceherndonfuneralhome.com/obituary/Gloria-Satterfield)
"Ma’am no, she’s not… she’s not responding," Maggie says, appearing to grow agitated. The dispatcher responds, "Ma’am, I’ve already got them on the way – me asking questions does not slow them down."
"Knowing if she’s conscious is one of the things the medic needs to know," the dispatcher adds.
"So she’s not responsive at all?" the woman asks. Maggie admits Satterfield is "mumbling," and the dispatcher finally asserts, "OK, so she is somewhat conscious."
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The dispatcher continues a line of questioning and Maggie says Satterfield is breathing OK and is bleeding from her head. "Are you guys able to control the bleeding?" the dispatcher asks. "Can you put a clean rag or anything?"
Maggie Murdaugh is heard telling someone, "They’ve got an ambulance coming."
"She just fell back down. Can I get off the phone so I can go down there?" Maggie Murdaugh says.
The dispatcher asked for her name and number and insists Maggie instead carry her cellphone down to Satterfield so she can explain herself what kind of pain she is experiencing.
That’s when the unidentified male voice gets on the phone, and the dispatcher asks, "Can you ask the patient what kind of pain she is having?"
"Ma’am, she can’t talk," he snaps. "She’s cracked her head and there’s blood on the concrete and she’s bleeding out of her left ear."
The male says Satterfield "works for us."
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) told Fox News Digital that it would not officially confirm the identities of anyone on the 911 call.
Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter, attorneys handling Satterfield's estate, said the male voice is Paul Murdaugh and point out that Maggie Murdaugh never mentions dogs to the dispatcher. Alex Murdaugh has claimed that Satterfield's fall was caused by tripping over dogs on the steps of his home.
The male then says the housekeeper is also bleeding out of her head because she "cracked her skull," as the dispatcher continues her questioning, asking if they know who Satterfield is and whether she’s had a stroke before.
"Ma’am, can you stop asking so many questions?" the male voice retorts.
The dispatcher affirms, "I already have them on the way, me asking questions does not slow them down in any way. These are relevant questions that I have to ask for the ambulance."
"She’s not unconscious, she’s just mumbling," the male voice says, as the dispatcher presses on. "I believe she’s maybe hit her head and maybe has a concussion or something."
"If something changes with her, if she loses conscious or anything like that, I need one of you guys to call me back right away, OK?" the dispatcher says. The call ends after the dispatcher says the ambulance is on the way.
Alex Murdaugh, right, is shown here with his family.
"Obviously, it was very sad for my clients to have to listen to the tape and the statements about Gloria’s injuries from the fall," Bland and Richter said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "We do not read anything into the tape other than the accident happened the way that Alex described it to the family. Although Maggie didn’t mention the dogs in the 911 call as having caused the fall, Maggie seemed genuine in her concerns for Gloria."
"At times, both Maggie and Paul were short with and talking down to the 911 operator who was just doing her job but maybe the stress of the situation caused them to be a little too caustic with the woman who was just helping them," Satterfield's lawyers acknowledged. "It is just tough for my clients to hear these things about their mother and sister. As to Mr. Murdaugh’s subsequent conduct in creating an opportunity for profit out of this tragedy, our positions as set forth in numerous court filings is unchanged."
Maggie Murdaugh and their 22-year-old son, Paul, were murdered on June 7 at that same Moselle estate – and authorities so far have released few details about the shooting and have not named any suspects in the double homicide.
Alex Murdaugh has insisted he is not responsible for their deaths, but has allegedly admitted to law enforcement he tried to stage his own death Labor Day weekend so his surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.
The botched shooting by an alleged hitman happened the day after Murdaugh resigned from the Hampton, South Carolina law firm founded by his great-grandfather amid allegations he embezzled millions from the practice and its clients using a fraudulent bank account.
He was initially released on his own recognizance and sought treatment for a supposed 20-year-long opioid addiction at two out-of-state rehabilitation facilities before he was eventually re-arrested on new charges in October for allegedly stealing more than $3.4 million in settlement funds from the wrongful death lawsuit related to Satterfield’s death.
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A judge twice denied bond for Murdaugh on those charges after his psychiatric evaluation. A court had also frozen the family’s assets to protect future settlements on behalf of the mother of Mallory Beach, who was killed in a 2019 boat crash while an underage Paul Murdaugh was allegedly driving.
SLED has been investigating Satterfield’s demise after the death certificate failed to match the circumstances of an accident and an autopsy was never performed. In releasing the 911 call Tuesday, SLED spokesman Ryan Alphin said, "We will continue to evaluate other materials in this case and will release additional information if appropriate."
