Mysterious Death of Alex Murdaugh’s Housekeeper Gloria Satterfield — Everything We Know

what's going on out there uh my. housekeeper has fallen and her head is. bleeding I cannot get her up Gloria. Satterfield slips and falls at the. Murdoch family's home and later dies. questions surround the circumstances of. her death after a massive insurance. fraud. [Music]. I'm Anjanette Levy and welcome to law. and crime's sidebar podcast coming to. you from the Colleton County Courthouse. in Walterboro South Carolina this is. where Alec Murdoch's murder trial is. well underway Gloria Satterfield was.

more than an employee to the Murdoch. family she was a friend and really a. second mom to Buster and Paul one day in. February of 2018 Maggie Murdock called. 9-1-1 reporting that Gloria had slipped. and fell. what's going on out there uh my. housekeeper has fallen and her head is. bleeding I cannot get her up. okay music you saw on me she's bleeding. from the head yeah. how old is she.

I'm not sure like 58 Maybe. if she saw some standing or not. no. no where'd she fall from. from the she's now going up the steps of. the brick steps okay so she has better. inside outside. sometimes. how many steps is there. uh eight. okay is she on the ground or is she you.

know on the ground she's on the ground. she's on the ground. uh no not really. now Maggie Murdock wasn't the only. Murdoch family member to speak to 9-1-1. that day also Paul got on the line and. talked about what he was seeing and she. can't call okay do you know he's cracked. the Hood and his blood on the country. okay she's leaving out of her ears. let's go.

okay all right the other ladies are the. two tried to stand up and fall down. again. no she I was holding her up you know. okay she told me to tell her to listen. she was trying to lose on but then she. fell back over okay do you guys know who. she is. yeah she works for us okay do you know. if she's ever had a stroke or anything. before man can you stop asking. all the way 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. one of my questions is has she ever had. a stroke. I don't believe she's ever had a stroke. now that I know. Gloria Satterfield was in the hospital. for several weeks she regained. Consciousness a few times but we're told. she would only say things like I love. you she really couldn't say what had. happened to her she fell on February 2nd. of 2018 and died about three weeks later. the murdochs weren't the only people who.

knew Gloria Satterfield also the law. partner of Alec Murdoch spoke about her. at the trial do you know a person by the. name of Gloria Satterfield. or do you know love a person by the name. of Gloria Satterfield no and I knew. Glory I knew her knew her for a lot of. years and did she have any employment. relationship with the defendant to your. knowledge. yes she uh she did and when my children. were uh first born she held my wife out. a little bit with some laundry and stuff.

what's your understanding happened to. her if anything. my understanding was that she was. tripped by. some of. ellick and Maggie's dogs and hit her. head and. approximately three weeks later. she died I don't think she ever came out. of the hospital did you ever talk to the. defendant about that event. I recall having a.

brief conversation it really wasn't a. conversation it was more. him saying that the dogs knocked it down. and that the uh he was kids were going. to. sue him for Gloria's. death. all right the kids which kids are you. talking about uh glorious glorious two. boys I believe she has.

when you say the kids were going to sue. him did he say it in the fashion if that. was going to be an aggressive suit or. did he say in the way that he was going. to help out. oh I understood exactly that he was it. was going to be. a friendly Insurance claim so to speak. so that hey this happened uh. in hopes that the. insurance company would probably pay. them some amount of money. to I took it to help help him out did.

you ever have any other conversations. with him about that case other than that. one. never had another conversation uh well. no I've never had another conversation. with him about it. Gloria's son Tony Satterfield said that. Alec Murdock approached him with that. offer to sue him Tony Satterfield and. his brother and other family members had. gotten to know Alec Murdock over time. since Gloria had worked for the family. for 20 years what was that conversation.

you had with the defendant at the. funeral or thereabouts. um if I remember correctly I'm gonna. kind of take care of your boys and kind. of you know. he's going to do what I'm sorry take. care of you boys all right did he say. how he was going to do that uh partially. yes so what did he say um he was gonna. file a claim against in the church. company he's going to what file and. claim against his insurance company his. insurance company yes. did uh he say how much.

coverage there was uh like 505 000 I. believe 505 000 yes. and. did he say anything about how much money. you may receive. um the goal was to get me and my brother. Brian at least a hundred thousand. dollars a piece and did did any other. bills need to be taken care of uh the. medical bills for who my mom. when he told you that did you agree to.

do that yes that happened in 2018. Tony. Satterfield said that he would. occasionally call Alec Murdock to check. in on the status of the case even. sending him hospital bills because he. needed help. and tell the jury quickly what this is. about. can you see it on the screen I can bring. it back to you if you need okay. um so this is a cover sheet that I. attached to the documents that I sent um. Alex. and what kind of documents do you. remember what kind they were one with.

the hospital bill and one was from the. trailer company I believe I don't recall. exactly what it was the trailer company. for who. um my mom in the hospital bill for who. yes my mom your mom. um and you sent these to him because. they were relevant to the case yes. at any point in time did you as this. case was developing did you go and meet. with the defender at his office uh yes. did he have any paperwork for you yes. if you get you to sign some paperwork.

yes. did you become the personal. representative of your mom's estate I. did and who gave you the paperwork to. sign for that Alex. when you signed that paperwork. were you aware that there had already. been. okay. at some point in time did Alex say he.

wanted to involve another lawyer uh yes. and who was that Corey Fleming and what. did he tell you about that. um if I understood it correctly I'm. going to send you to. um Corey flemen my friend because I. can't do it you know due to claim again. to be a conflict of interest that's how. I understood it. and. did you ultimately meet with Corey. Fleming uh yes how many times did you. meet with that um if I recall correctly. maybe once or twice. Corey Fleming is a lawyer who is a.

friend of Alec Murdoch's by this time. Alec Murdock had recovered about five. hundred thousand dollars in insurance. money and possibly more did he ever tell. you about a 505 000 settlement that. already occurred no. did the defendant ever tell you that he. also had a five million dollar umbrella. policy no.

did he ever tell you that there had been. a recovery against that no. did he ever tell you that have been a. recovery for 3.8 million dollars against. that no. did he ever pay you one penny of 3.8. million dollars no just to clear this up. how often would you talk to the. defendant uh three to four times a year. or something I believe I can't recall. every few months would you talk by phone. or would you talk about text for both um. both and when you would talk to him.

would you ask about the status of your. case yes and each time you talked to him. what did he say oh it was making. progress. they say it was a hard case or not. uh yes. did he ever tell you about how much. money he might be able to get for you. um the goal was to get a hundred. thousand a piece for me and my brother. at any time over the years did he ever. tell you that there had already been a. recovery in the case no. that any time over the years did he.

mention anything about having a five. million dollar umbrella policy no at any. time did he ever pay you one penny no. the umbrella policy that Alec Murdoch. had also came up in testimony about the. bookcase where Paul Murdoch was. criminally charged with boating while. intoxicated and causing Mallory Beach's. death the attorney for Mallory's family. in the civil lawsuit talked about what. he found out about that policy did you. ever find out if the defendant had an.

umbrella policy or the status of that. policy. there was no coverage for this boat. crash other than with Progressive on the. boat. um did the defendant have an umbrella. policy at one time to your review he. he had coverage he had the coverage with. uh Lloyds of London and Nautilus. immediately before which was the. coverage that was in effect when Gloria. Satterfield fell at his house and he had. an umbrella policy there. and what happened to that policy that.

coverage the. um the policy came up for Renewal you. know normally there a year it comes up. for Renewal and this claim still open. and so when it came up for Renewal the. insurance company wouldn't renew the. policy and they canceled it which is why. he then went and bought this. hunting club operation or hunting for. higher operation whatever that policy. was but didn't really cover anything. because he didn't have that kind of. business. in your assessment and judgment with.

that Philadelphia hunting lodge policy. provide any coverage for the voting. action it it did not I told Danny. Henderson in November of 2019 that it. did not Philadelphia filed something. called a declaratory judgment action. where they go and ask the Court to. declare their rights meaning we don't. have any coverage it's clear the policy. doesn't apply judge tell. in this case the plaintiff because they. sued us the beach family and they sued.

Alex murdick and and to for a. declaration there was no coverage I. refused to participate I said I would. just be bound by whatever the result was. because I knew what the result was going. to be of course nobody knows what. happened to that money from the umbrella. policy the 4.2 million million dollars. that Alec Murdock got for Gloria. satterfield's death we do know that he. no longer had that umbrella policy at. the time of the boat crash so it was. going to be difficult to meet the. demands of the attorney for the beach.

family Mark Tinsley had told Alec. Murdock he could settle the suit for 10. million dollars this is what a forensic. accountant testified to regarding. Murdoch's finances at the time of the. murders of Maggie and Paul of course of. your analysis you had a did you have an. opportunity to. look at Mr Murdoch's balances. honor about June 7th 2021 I did and did. you look at his balances and all of his. deposit accounts I did and did you look. at his balances on all his outstanding.

loans and lines of credit yes all that. I've identified I reviewed them yes. in your opinion uh Mr Bernie on June 7th. 2021. across Mr Murdoch's deposit accounts and. demand lines of credit. uh. did Richard Alexander Murdoch have 792. thousand dollars available to return to. Chris Wilson he did not. on that same date June 7 2021 across his.

deposit accounts and his demand lines of. credit did Richard Alexander Murdock. have. five hundred thousand dollars available. to give to uh the sons of Gloria. Satterfield. he did not. on June 7 2021 did Richard Alexander. Murdoch have across his deposits uh. accounts and his lines of credit. did he have 10 million dollars available. to meet the settlement demands of Mark. Tinsley. he did not have 10 million dollars after.

the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdoch. the coroner asked that the investigation. into Gloria satterfield's death be. opened so sled opened an investigation. since her death was ruled natural and. not an accident there have been plans to. exhume Gloria satterfield's body but to. date that hasn't happened it's important. to note that the Satterfield family does. not believe that their mother was. murdered. joining me to discuss the Gloria.

satterfield's case is Eric Bland he's an. attorney and co-founder of the law firm. Bland Richter and he represents the. family the sons of Gloria Satterfield so. Eric welcome back to sidebar thanks for. coming back good good afternoon. Anjanette thanks for having me on. thanks for coming back on tell us a. little little bit about first of all you. know a very sad anniversary we just. marked the anniversary of Gloria's. passing after the slip and fall accident. when she had been in the hospital for.

several weeks. yeah the fifth anniversary uh it was a. you know a Bittersweet day for the. family yesterday each day each. anniversary of the death is tough on. them but they feel like over the past. year that so much has been accomplished. with the establishment of the foundation. uh in Gloria's name and with Alex coming. to Justice they feel like. um that you know the sweetness of it is.

seeing Tony you know. take over the mantle of the family and. testifying on Gloria's behalf who in. front of the entire world which was not. the easiest thing in the world to do so. from that standpoint there's so much. good that has come from her death that. she just didn't die in vain there's been. some growth so the family will you know. it's very religious and so they think it. was by Divine hand that this happened. we already recalled earlier in the.

podcast you know we we heard from Tony. we played some of the clips from his. testimony and really told the story but. how painful was this for Tony and his. brother and you know his aunts and. uncles when they're sitting there. thinking this money is coming and. they're just waiting and they're waiting. and and Tony and his brother his brother. gets evicted from the mobile home talk. to me about the pain of that for this. family when they then discovered they. had been betrayed I think the pain was.

more from the siblings of Gloria and. ginger and Eric and Tony I think. um Brian in uh Tony uh Scott I'm saying. the the siblings of Gloria Tony and. Brian I don't think really thought so. much of the lawsuit they you know they. struggle with everyday life of trying to. make a living and that you know they had. no idea about the legal process on how. long it would take so for them it really. wasn't something that they were thinking.

about but the the siblings Scott Eric. and ginger uh thought about it a lot and. it really was distressing for them last. Thursday and Friday when Alex was. testifying he never apologized to the. satterfields properly in that trial he. didn't apologize to any of his victims. he never used the word apologize he said. I did them wrong. and uh I lied from them and I stole from. some of them some I stole from but.

didn't directly lie which you know when. you steal you lie I mean it's over it's. covert. um he used a lot of uh Choice words I. think that were intentionally chosen by. him. but they. there was a little point in that. cross-examination where I felt the. family. thought the Creighton should have gone a. little bit deeper with glory in terms of. she was a part of your family it's one.

thing these other. clients that you stole from yes they're. your clients but this was a family. member that you stole 3.5 million. dollars from he could have I think Mr. Waters could have personalized it a. little bit more on Gloria's case uh as. opposed to grouping her in with just. other clients I was surprised how he. kind of glossed over Gloria it was a. couple of minutes and there was no. discussion about that also there's been. a lot of rumors that maybe Gloria had.

found some pills at one point and told. Paul the little detective do you know. that to be true at all. I do not I learned about it when I. watched the Netflix uh series that I was. in and uh surprisingly I heard that Paul. had found some pills or not Paul or. maybe Gloria found some pills that. belonged to Alex. um I just don't think that there would. be any. um possibility that Paul would have.

murdered Gloria he loved that woman. um I know that the family knows that he. expressed that love not only to Tony and. Brian and to Gloria herself but you. heard it from the boat victims. themselves some of his friends who were. in The Boat victim they said he loved. her dearly so I don't believe at all. that Paul could have ever done anything. to harm her yeah and she was like a. second mom it sounded like to Paul at.

least probably to Buster too but Paul it. sounded like really loved her and I want. to touch on that because because sled. reopened the investigation into her. death after all of this started and you. know what's the status of that because. there's been discussion about exhuming. her body we know that they've just said. they're investigating I don't think that. truthfully and Jeanette I don't think. there's any investigation I think that. the announcing of opening an.

investigation in the Glorious death as. well as the announcement and opening in. the Stephen Smith's death was a way to. bring more pressure on Alex to let him. know that the world's possibly been. closed is closing in on him but sled has. been laser-like focused on this murder. case for the better part of the last. eight months and certainly. I think regardless of what this jury. verdict is going to be they're going to. start setting these trials for the.

financial crimes uh in sequence like. every month based on him admitting under. oath that he stole the money from Badger. that he stole from Gloria that he stole. from. um officer Moore that he stole from the. pyckneys I think they're going to just. load him up and load dick karpotlion and. Jim Griffin up with trials unless he's. willing to plead straight up I don't see. a big deal uh coming his way now there.

could be a deal if he's found guilty. they may at that point because he's. going to get 32 Life by. um judge Newman and I would think he. would get life for a double murder given. that he forced the state to go to trial. on these cases but let's say there's a. hung jury I think they're going to. um make a decision that they're going to. stay the retrial the murder case until. they get the convictions of the. financial crimes and then they'll.

reassess usually when there's a hung. jury on a case the prosecutor walks. right out of the trial goes to the. courthouse steps and says to the media. like you we're going to set this for. trial in 60 days and we're going to come. back and do it all over again to put. that pressure on the defense remember. harpootley and only has a finite mightem. finite amount of money for legal fees. and experts and the state knows if you. have to go retry it he he's not doing.

this for free and oftentimes we see. Anjanette you know that if there is a. retrial on a hung jury case it could be. a whole new defense team you find that. all new lawyers come in so I think. what's going to happen is there's going. to be a loading up on him of the. financial crimes and then the state will. take stock on do they retry the murder. case and for me I think a hung jury is. almost a victory look the state took on.

a citadel here uh in the murders and. they took them the task and they bruised. this family significantly they'll never. be the uh under the seat of power again. um now a not guilty verdict would be. deadly for the state it would be. devastating for the state. but after hearing the Myrtle Witnesses. testify so much damage has been done to. our state law enforcement agency sled. that I think it's going to be felt for.

many many years to come it Not only was. damaged in this case but I think it did. some damage on cases that will come down. the pike I thought there was some. unnecessary uh cuts that sled because. sled didn't take over this investigation. until uh essentially August of 2021 it. was possessed by the 14th circuit. solicitor's office where Mr Murdock. Randy murdaugh was a solicitor and his. father and his father and Duffy Stone.

held on to this investigation for three. months so if you want to criticize what. was or wasn't done then go lay it at. Duffy Stone's uh doorstep don't lay any. slit well Eric Bland any final thoughts. on Gloria Satterfield and uh you know. her Legacy coming full circle I think. that um she died for a purpose and that. purpose was uh to out Alex murdaugh and. all of his financial thefts I'm not. gonna you notice I'm not using the word.

you know I did them wrong he stole from. then he lied to them he wasn't mistaken. he lied and he stole. and he did it to not only Gloria but. clients that trusted him and antonetti. did so much damage to our legal. profession a profession that I love. again that's going to be another. scarring that takes place in our state.

thank you and I'll see you this week and. that's it for this edition of Law and. crime sidebar podcast you can listen to. and download sidebar on Apple Spotify. Google and wherever else you get your. podcast and of course you can always. watch it on Law and crimes YouTube. channel I'm Anjanette Levy and we will. see you next time. [Music].