The South Carolina authorities announced Friday that they had received permission from the family of Gloria Satterfield, a former housekeeper for suspended attorney Alex Murdaugh, to exhume her body as part of an investigation into her death.
"Agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) sought and received permission from the Satterfield family, through their attorney, to exhume the remains of Gloria Satterfield," SLED said in a statement to Fox News.
Satterfield died in 2018 after she allegedly accidentally tripped and fell in the Murdaugh home. The housekeeper had worked for the Murdaugh family for 20 years.
SLED said last year it was opening a criminal investigation into Satterfield's death following a request from the Hampton County coroner noting inconsistencies in the conclusion of Satterfield's manner of death and information found during the agency's other ongoing investigations into Murdaugh's wrongdoings.
"The decedent's death was not reported to the Coroner at the time, nor was an autopsy performed," the coroner's request to SLED reportedly said at the time. "On the death certificate, the manner of death was ruled 'Natural,' which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident."
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The exhumation process is complex and will take weeks to complete, SLED told Fox News.
Murdaugh is facing 71 charges after indictments allege he concocted to steal $8.5 million in insurance settlement and additional funds from clients and other victims.
Other investigations are looking into the deaths of Murdaugh's wife and one of his sons. The two were fatally shot at their family estate in June. Murdaugh has denied involvement in the deaths.
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He is also charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and with filing a false police report after he set up a plot to have himself killed so his only surviving son could receive around $10 million in insurance money.
He was shot in the head on the side of a road in September by a former client but survived. According to authorities, Murdaugh admitted the incident was a conspiracy.