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Murdaugh charged with taking insurance money in maid’s death

FILE - Alex Murdaugh walks into his bond hearing Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, in Varnville, S.C. For a century, the Murdaughs has quietly steered much of the legal world in this corner of the state, by running the prosecutor’s office and a large civil law firm. Then, in June, Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, and son Paul were killed at the family’s sprawling estate. Six investigations are underway, over the killings, stolen money, death coverups, and a Sept. 4 shooting in which a bullet grazed Murdaugh’s head on a lonely highway. Police said he tried to arrange his own death and make sure a $10 million life insurance policy would pay off for his surviving son. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
by: WRTV Staff
Posted: / Updated:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A prominent South Carolina lawyer has been charged with stealing insurance settlements meant for the sons of his late housekeeper.

State police say Alex Murdaugh was arrested Thursday at a drug rehab facility in Orlando, Florida, where his attorneys say he has spent the past six weeks since claiming he was shot in the head.

Warrants detailing the arrest on two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses were not immediately released.

But state police say they involve Murdaugh’s housekeeper for decades, Gloria Satterfield.

A lawsuit filed by the housekeeper’s sons says Murdaugh arranged for more than $4 million in insurance payments over Satterfield’s death but never turned the money over to her family.

According to the lawsuit, Murdaugh told Satterfield’s sons at her February 2018 funeral that he would get insurance settlements for her death, but he only informed them of a $500,000 settlement and then never sent them anything, the Assocated Press reported.

Murdaugh’s arrest comes as six law enforcement agencies are investigating him, including the deaths of his wife Maggie and son Paul; allegedly taking millions of dollars from the law firm his great-grandfather founded and allegedly hiring someone to kill him so his surviving son could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy.

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