Sons of Alex Murdaugh’s deceased housekeeper will finally get $4.3 million from settlement, lawyer says

An attorney for Gloria Satterfield’s sons says a lawyer previously involved in the case ‘stepped forward and did the right thing’

The sons of Alex Murdaugh’s housekeeper, who died under disputed circumstances, will finally receive millions of dollars they were owed from a settlement over her death, their lawyer says.

The housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died in 2018 in what the Murdaughs said was a “trip and fall accident” at their house. Mr Murdaugh, a South Carolina former attorney who has recently been connected to a web of criminal investigations, then advised Ms Satterfield’s two sons to hire his friend, the attorney Cory Fleming, to sue him.

They did, and in 2019 they won a large settlement – but according to their current lawyer, Eric Bland, they never received a penny of it.

Now, the lawyer says, after Ms Satterfield’s estate filed a new lawsuit against Mr Murdaugh in September, the money is finally making its way to them.

“Mr Fleming and his firm agreed that the Estate will be paid back all legal fees and expenses Mr Fleming and his law firm received from the $4,300,000 they recovered for the Estate in connection with the claims asserted against Alex Murdaugh for the death of Gloria Satterfield,” Mr Bland said in a statement.

According to the attorney, Mr Fleming’s firm says it was manipulated by Mr Murdaugh.

“Mr Fleming stepped forward and did the right thing by the Estate,” Mr Bland said. “Mr Fleming and his law firm maintain that they – like others – were victims of Alex Murdaugh’s fraudulent scheme.”

The Independent has reached out to Mr Fleming’s office for comment, but has not yet heard back.

In recent months, Mr Murdaugh’s name has come up in a series of increasingly bizarre headlines. In June, Mr Murdaugh’s wife and son were shot dead. Then, in September, Mr Murdaugh himself was shot, but survived. Since then, he has admitted to arranging his own shooting as part of a $10 million insurance fraud scheme.

Mr Murdaugh maintains that Ms Satterfield’s death was an accident, and that he had nothing to do with the deaths of his wife and son.

“He is totally distraught,” Mr Harpootlian told NBC News not long after the pair was found dead. “He did not murder them.”

Meanwhile, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) announced that it was opening a criminal investigation into Ms Satterfield’s death. The agency cited two reasons: First, it said it had uncovered relevant new information while investigating the deaths of Mr Murdaugh’s wife and son. Second, they received a letter from the Hampton County coroner, who said Mr Murdaugh’s story didn’t add up.

“The decedent’s death was not reported to the Coroner at the time, nor was an autopsy performed,” coroner Angela Topper wrote. “On the death certificate the manner of death was ruled ‘Natural,’ which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident.”

Mr Murdaugh’s lawyer has not yet responded to The Independent’s request for comment.