Would love your thoughts, please comment. A few months after her birthday, still awaiting a settlement check, Thomas went to the bank and took out a loan against the future proceeds to pay for school. Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. "South Carolina is a place where through one connection or another you really know of everybody. However, FITSNews reported, via law enforcement sources, that the Murdaughs died from multiple gunshot wounds.. But their professional lives kept their orbits close. Smith, from Walterboro, South Carolina, is a former client of Murdaugh, who represented him in minor traffic matters as well as a 2015 lawsuit that Smith filed against a forest management company. Russell Laffitte came back to the law firm with a stack of papers showing payments to Murdaughs creditors. Then, months later, Murdaugh came back, asking for a loan again. Do not sell or share my personal information. "The donations went from as local of an office as you can to the top of the ticket. The bank had its own reasons to get Murdaughs negative balances off its books. Alex Murdaugh dialed 911 to report coming home to find his wife and 22-year-old son shot dead at the familys hunting estate in Colleton County on June 7. He was hit with state charges first, then six federal charges related to the diverted checks, the farming loan, the beach house loan and the $680,000 payment. One of them, Mallory Beach, was found dead a week later, and now her family was suing Murdaugh, accusing him of letting his underage son drive the boat under the influence. Prosecutors now see an answer to the murder mystery in Murdaugh's tenuous finances. Smith kept some of the money for himself and used the rest for wide-ranging illegal activities, according to indictments unsealed on June 28. @Live5News pic.twitter.com/njcH3ECPrX, Michal Higdon (@MichalHigdon) June 8, 2021. It didnt have Murdaughs latest income statements, but it did know his overdraft history and his credit score, which, at 607, would have been regarded as fair at best. SLED said that hit had opened a criminal investigation inter Satterfield's death based on a request from the Hampton County Coroner, as well as 'information gathered during the course of our other ongoing investigations involving Alex Murdaugh. Legal Statement. Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina lawyer accused of murdering his son and wife, is set to stand trial beginning Monday. Police wanted to know more about his relationship with Stephen. Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina lawyer facing a slew of legal charges, gave money to Joe Biden's presidential campaign in 2020, part of a profusion of political donations made to Republican and Democratic candidates throughout the years. Visit ourMurdaugh Investigation updates pagefor or more information on the Murdaugh murders and Alex Murdaugh court appearances. He was already out on bond after state agents said he tried to arrange his own shooting death on a roadside so that his surviving son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. Alex Murdaugh is a lawyer and the scion of a powerful, wealthy South Carolina legal family who found the bodies of his murdered son and wife. Murdaughs account now had a six-figure overdraft. So she called her brother-in-law, Russell, who in turn looked through the banks ledger and pulled copies of the money orders hed written after the checks came in. It is their most sincere hope that someone will come forward and cooperate with authorities so that the perpetrator of these senseless crimes can be brought to justice. He had a fractured skull from 'two superficial appearing bullet wounds to the posterior scalp' but the bullets did not penetrate his brain. At last Tuesday's hearing in Richland County, state prosecutor Creighton Waters, with the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, outlined how Alex Murdaugh allegedly used the settlement. Lafitte's federal trial on the bank fraud charges began November 8. November 8, 2022: Lafitte faces federal trial. He only had 'surface' wounds and was also able to call his brother. Everything just fit like a perfect glove, Crosby said. Meanwhile, the Murdaugh family reportedly never paid for the funeral of Gloria Satterfield, a 57-year-old housekeeper and nanny who had worked in their home for two decades. Authorities have not released many details. Eddie Smith continues to be a victim of Alex Murdaugh and his deeds, she said. Though she was now 19 years old, Laffitte was still her conservator because of the bad paperwork. He is charged with peddling drugs to Murdaugh, and helping him cash fraudulent checks. Hannah and Alania were the only survivors. Additionally, he has become active in the Democratic and Republican parties for both local and federal elections. Alex Murdaugh himself has now been shot in a separate incident along a rural roadway, adding to the mysterious sequence of events involving the well-known family, according to the Charlotte Observer. Besides Buster, the parties include his uncle John Marvin Murdaugh, court appointed co-receivers overseeing Alex Murdaugh's assets and Connor Cook, a survivor of the boat crash. Murdaugh and his friends, all underage, arrived around 8 p.m. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Seckinger met with a couple of the firm's partners to tell them what hed said. January 16, 2023. This is a continuation of that. Laffitte took the job. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The bank had not secured a lien on the house, nor could it because Maggies name was on the deed and now she was dead. Pressed by his law partners and their top accountant, Murdaugh assured them the money was still sitting in his friends trust account. (He did.). The family gave her family $500,000 in a wrongful death settlement but it's unclear why her death was ruled to be their fault. November 29, 2021:Murdaugh faces 27 new counts after an indictment for an alleged $4.8 million in financial crimes. jgrzeszczak@postandcourier.com. Alex Murdaugh. Murdaugh also gave to both the Republican and Democratic state party in South Carolina. Whether the consequences were intentional is still a matter of dispute. Attorney Murdaugh has been charged with financial offenses. Smith did shoot Murdaugh, but he survived and called 911. Alex Murdaugh, the patriarch of a . It has come to our attention that the south California attorney donated $2800 to the campaign in April 2020, just before Bidens nomination. It did the same with some of Pinckneys money. | Terms of Use| Privacy Policy. It was later revealed Alex waited an hour to call 911 about their deaths. Further details in the "Indictments" section below. He didnt ask what the wire was for. By then, the firm had come across even more of the mysterious checks to Palmetto State Bank in Thomas and Pinckneys files. Play it now! Hannah and Alania won millions each; Alania, then a teenager, remembered learning shed never need to work a day in her life. One bank official said hed expect any teller to handle the situation differently. South Carolina law enforcement has only confirmed that they are leading an investigation into a double homicide that took place in Colleton county last night, FITSNews reported. Sources told FITS News that Murdaugh has an opioid addiction and is a person of interest in the deaths of his wife and son. Prosecutors recently filed legal documents stating that Murdaugh killed his wife and youngest son last year to gain sympathy and distract others from his damning financial crimes. All rights reserved. What she didnt know is that at the same moment, even more of her money was moving through the same bank, bound for accounts that didnt belong to her. The next afternoon, he sent an email to the board, letting them know matter-of-factly that the bank was taking a $680,000 loss because it had handled checks that were later stolen. Satterfield, 57, had been the Murdaugh housekeeper and nanny for around 25 years when she suffered a fatal brain injury following a mystery fall inside the Murdaugh family home. Though they grew up across the street, Murdaugh was a few years older enough to make a difference as a kid, when Laffittes age put him on sports teams with Murdaughs younger brother John Marvin instead. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Low 56F. Laffitte has challenged his conviction, arguing in part that jurors were replaced improperly after several hours of deliberations. A week and a half before the wire went out, a bank board member named Norris Laffitte went to DeBordieu Colony, a gated beachfront community near Pawleys Island, for the July 4 holiday. ", Alex Murdaugh sits during his bond hearing Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, in Varnville, South Carolina. Murdaughs name was on it constantly. File/Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff, The former law offices of Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, now named Parker Law Group, in Hampton. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Weve given him this, he recalled Charlie Laffitte saying, and if he comes back and wants more, we will give him some more.. While the couples six children would receive annuity payments from the lawsuit, the checks wouldnt arrive until they were adults. In 2010, a few years after having him become the Plylers conservator, Murdaugh came to Laffitte with another gig. FITSNews has done some of the best local reporting on the mysterious murder case. So Murdaugh borrowed another $150,000 from Plylers account, putting him back where he started. Legal Statement. South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh who has been hit with scores of charges including the killing of his wife and son last year is facing even more criminal counts as a grand jury . By Emily Goodin, Senior U.S. Only Beach died. Give new attention to the case, she said a stranger contacted her after noticing Smiths gravesite had just a simple marker and started the fundraiser through Steedley Monument Works. Paul Murdaugh is on the left in the family photo on right. File/Grace Beahm Alford/Staff, Alex Murdaugh talks with defense attorney Dick Harpootlian after a hearing in Colleton County on Aug. 29, 2022. The 53-year-old arrived at the hospital with his head bleeding and wrapped in gauze. But Alex later launched a "whisper campaign" in the area, spreading the rumor that Cook, who suffered a broken jaw and other injures after the crash, was the one driving, the filing says. The attorney has also expressed his affection for his family. We ask for your continued patience and prayers through this tragic time. Palmetto State Bank kept processing them, letting him rack up debt. Hed also set up Murdaugh with private loans off the banks books, gotten daily reports on his overdrafts and spent years hounding him for payments. No one has been named as suspects. 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