From our correspondent in the United States,
Money, power, and for a long time, impunity. After three generations of prosecutors ruling the region, this South Carolina dynasty is now synonymous with infamy. That of Alex Murdaugh, sentenced Friday to life imprisonment for the double murder of his wife and son. But if this verdict – pending a possible appeal – puts an end to a mystery that has held America in suspense for two years, the legal saga is far from over. Investigations into two other suspicious deaths, in 2015 and 2018, have resumed. They are discussed in the Netflix documentary, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.
2015: A youth found dead on a country road
Stephen Smith was 19 years old. In a still very conservative South, he was proudly and openly gay. On July 8, 2015, his body was found in the middle of the road on a deserted country road, in the middle of the night, the back of his skull sunken. The coroner concludes that the young man, who seems to have broken down, was knocked down, and that he could have been hit by the rear view mirror of a vehicle. But this thesis is questioned by the coroner, who is investigating the circumstances – and not the cause – of death. According to the report obtained by the local channel WISTV, the first officer who intervenes saw “no sign suggesting that the victim was struck by a vehicle”: no debris or brake marks; and Stephen still has his shoes, though unlaced, on his feet.
Officers are questioning his relatives and friends. In the report, one name appears several times: that of Alex Murdaugh’s eldest son, Buster, a former classmate of the victim. In the Netflix documentary, several young people mention the rumor of a secret homosexual relationship, which has, at this stage, not been corroborated. But for some unclear reason, Buster is never heard from by investigators. Nothing very surprising when you know that until 2005, the patriarch of the family, Randolph Murdaugh was, like his father and his grandfather, the chief prosecutor of the region.
The investigation is finally closed, with a death resulting from a “hit and run” (death after a hit and run). But two weeks after the double murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, South Carolina authorities announced on June 22, 2021 that they were reopening the investigation into the death of Stephen Smith. They say they have obtained new information while investigating the double murder. Last January, the investigators say they have made “progress”, without giving details. Contacted by 20 Minutes, the SLED (State law enforcement division) of South Carolina did not respond on Friday evening.
2018: Fatal Fall of the Domestic Worker
Gloria Satterfield was more than a governess who worked for the Murdaughs for 20 years. Paul’s ex-girlfriend introduces her as the second mother of the youngest in the family. On February 2, 2018, Maggie Murdaugh called for help. She tells them that Gloria Satterfield fell backwards down some brick stairs and is bleeding profusely. Alex Murdaugh then told authorities that his half-conscious employee managed to talk to him before help arrived and told him that the dogs had tripped him. But in the Netflix documentary, the family gardener disputes this version: according to him, Alex Murdaugh was not there before help arrived.
Gloria Satterfield dies two weeks later. Without anyone knowing why, his death was not reported to a medical examiner, and no autopsy was performed. Alex Murdaugh then assures the Satterfield family that he compensates them through his liability insurance. He gets $4 million… which he keeps for himself.
The ex-girlfriend of Paul Murdaugh claims that the employee had found, shortly before his fall, a bag of pills belonging to Alex Murdaugh, who suffers from an addiction to opiates which he hides from his family. And this commercial insurance, thanks to which he receives a jackpot? He took it out a month before the tragedy.
Alex Murdoch doesn’t know it yet, but this insurance fraud marks the beginning of his downfall. Gloria Satterfield’s relatives are suing him and his law firm partners realize he has been embezzling millions of dollars for years. Under this threat – and that of the prosecution of his son Paul, responsible for the death of a friend in a boating accident he was driving drunk – Alex Murdoch kills his wife and son on June 7, 2021. According to prosecutors, for to attract sympathy and gain time in the face of a tightening noose.
The SLED is opening an investigation into the death of Gloria Satterfield in September 2021. Last year, her relatives gave their consent for her remains to be exhumed. One of their lawyers told the New York Post on Friday that the exhumation should take place soon.
2021: Failed Suicide Staged
Three months after the double murder, while authorities still have no suspects, Alex Murdaugh calls the police after being shot in the head while changing a tire. His story of an unknown assailant collapses: he confesses to having tried to organize his suicide by paying his dealer, so that his son Buster receives 10 million dollars in life insurance.
Serious doubts remain about this version. Curtis Edward Smith, a very distant cousin, claims that Alex Murdaugh asked him to come and brandished a gun. According to Smith, the two men would have struggled and a shot would have gone off, injuring the lawyer. In total, Murdaugh wrote his dealer 437 checks for $2.4 million over 8 years to buy oxycodone pills, which he swallowed by the handful, up to 60 a day. The last check, for $22,109, dates from ten days before the murders of his wife and son.
The sequel: more trials to come
Sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of release, Alex Murdaugh should appeal, his lawyers said. They believe that he could not benefit from a fair trial in the face of the media circus, in particular with the Netflix documentary launched a week before the verdict.
Removed from the bar, the lawyer still has to answer for 99 charges, mainly of financial and insurance fraud. He also faces several civil actions, in particular for the fatal boat accident.
“Even if he was sentenced to life, the authorities will continue their investigations into any other homicide of which Murdaugh could be the author”, estimates the lawyer Duncan Levin, who notably represented Harvey Weinstein and Clare Bronfman. “Even without additional time in prison, justice must be done, it is always a priority for law enforcement. »
The main dates of the case
July 8, 2015. Stephen Smith, 19, is found dead on a country road, killed with a blow to the head. He was a classmate of Alex Murdaugh’s eldest son, Buster. Relatives evoke in the Netflix documentary rumors of a possible secret homosexual affair, which have not been corroborated at this stage.
February 26, 2018. The Murdaughs’ housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died two weeks after falling down the stairs of “Moselle”, their property. His death was never reported to a medical examiner, and no autopsy was performed. The ex-girlfriend of younger brother Paul Murdaugh claims the employee found a bag of pills belonging to Alex Murdaugh shortly before he fell.
February 24, 2019. Mallory Beach, 19, dies in the crash of the drunken boat Paul Murdaugh.
June 7, 2021. Maggie and Paul Murdaugh are shot dead.
June 22, 2021. Authorities are reopening the investigation into the death of Stephen Smith, based on new information obtained in the investigation into the double murder of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.
September 4, 2021. Alex Murdaugh calls the police after being shot in the head. He has since admitted to having asked an acquaintance to kill him so that his eldest son, Buster, could receive $10 million in life insurance. But his accomplice obviously missed it.
March 3, 2023. Murdaugh is found guilty of the double murder of his wife and son and sentenced to life.