Alex Murdaugh to appeal murder convictions
Lead prosecutor in the Alex Murdaugh trial, Creighton Waters, joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss his cross-examination of the convicted killer.
South Carolina prosecutors will tie Alex Murdaugh "up in a pretzel" during his future financial crimes trial, according to Eric Bland, an attorney representing the family of deceased Murdaugh housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.
After a Colleton County jury found Murdaugh guilty of the June 2021 killing his wife and son, the former lawyer still faces trial for his 99 alleged financial crimes from 19 separate indictments, some of which he already admitted to on the witness stand during his murder trial.
"The question is is [Murdaugh] going to make the government go through the hurdles of doing it, or is he going to plead guilty?" Bland asked in an interview with Fox News Digital.
"I don't think he's going to plead guilty, because it'll put him in a position of now having only two more financial crimes to be convicted of, where he would end up getting life without parole, which would be a backstop if the murder conviction was ever reversed or remanded for a new trial. So, I think they're going to tie him up in a pretzel."
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Alex Murdaugh's most recent mugshot (South Carolina Department of Corrections)
Bland thinks Murdaugh will want another trial, because he is being held in an isolated cell at the Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center.
"Any chance that he can get out and see the world I think he'd take advantage of," Bland explained. "So, I fully expect that he's going to fight these charges."
Satterfield's sons will "absolutely" testify in a future trial against Murdaugh, their attorney said.
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The Satterfields recovered a multimillion-dollar settlement from their mother's death that was rightfully theirs after Murdaugh allegedly stole it. They even got an apology from the disgraced attorney, but they still want to "hold Alex accountable" for his other crimes, Bland said.
The Satterfields were able to recover a multimillion-dollar settlement from their mother's death that was rightfully theirs after Murdaugh allegedly stole it and even got an apology from the disgraced attorney. But they still want to "hold Alex accountable" for his other crimes, Bland said. (Brice Herndon Funeral Home/ Joshua Boucher/The State via AP)
In February 2018, the Murdaugh family reported that Satterfield had tripped and fallen on some steps at Moselle, and she later died in a hospital.
An autopsy was never conducted, and Satterfield's death certificate said she died of natural causes, which her family and Hampton County Coroner Angela Topper later disputed as her injuries were inconsistent with that conclusion.
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Prosecutors say Murdaugh secured $4.3 million in insurance settlements for Satterfield's family after her death, but the former attorney kept most of the money for himself, never alerting the family that he had secured a payout.
Tony Satterfield answers questions during Alex Murdaugh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse Feb. 9, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
Tony Satterfield testified during the double murder trial that Murdaugh had never given him a penny of the $4.3 million settlement. He didn't even know the case had settled until he read a news story about it.
Murdaugh testified that he remembers "lying to Tony and looking him in eye on many occasions."
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The former lawyer allegedly hired hitman Curtis "Cousin Eddie" Smith to shoot him on Labor Day 2021 in what he described as a scheme to get a $10 million insurance buyout for his oldest son, Buster, but the bullet missed Murdaugh's head.
Curtis Smith is the man Murdaugh said he called when he wanted someone to kill him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. (Colleton County Sheriffs Office via AP, File)
The previous day, his family's generations-old personal injury law firm forced Murdaugh to resign after learning that he had allegedly embezzled millions from the firm and its clients, including Satterfield's family.
Murdaugh paid Smith using funds obtained from the Satterfield settlement, according to the Satterfield attorneys.
"As for the murders, they really didn't take a position on it," Bland said of the Satterfields. "They don't think it's their place to discuss the murders. Now, the financial crimes [trial] is coming up. They want justice. They want to see that he has to pay, just like everybody else does to get their full cup of justice when they commit a crime."
Alex Murdaugh is led into the Colleton County Courthouse March 3, 2023. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital )
The attorney added that the Murdaugh murder trial made the state of South Carolina "look great," describing Judge Clifton Newman as "America's judge."
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"[Except] for that crazy bomb scare phone call, everything went smoothly. There was no rioting, no confrontations of differing factions in front of the courthouse," he said. "We've seen when there have been other verdicts in other states that there's reaction from the public, and there can be rioting. … It was very safe. It was very respectful. I think Judge Newman is America's judge."
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has opened an investigation into Satterfield's death.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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