Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his wife and son, but his legal troubles seem far from over.
The high-profile trial of the former South Carolina lawyer has brought new attention to his alleged financial crimes, as well as a series of deaths that appear to be related to the family.
After the sentence, his defense team told the press that planned to file an appeal against the jury’s guilty verdictconsidering that there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
His lawyers claimed that most of the evidence presented at trial was circumstantial, but jurors still found Murdaugh guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Murdaugh maintained his innocence during sentencing, telling the court: “I would never hurt my wife, Maggie, and I would never hurt my son.”
His lawyers said they would file an appeal within 10 days.
However, Alex Murdaugh has five other alleged crimes, which could further complicate his situation:
1. He faces 99 financial crime charges
Murdaugh has 99 pending state charges for the alleged theft of at least $8 million in client settlements from his family law firm, money laundering and tax evasion.
Throughout the trial, state prosecutors argued that Murdaugh had murdered his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, to to distract attention from the fact that “his financial house of cards” was beginning to crumble.
When he took the stand in his own defense, Murdaugh made the radical decision to repeatedly confess to those financial crimes.
“I stole money that wasn’t mine, I cheated people I shouldn’t have cheated, and I did wrongMurdaugh said during the trial.
His statements during the murder trial could complicate his defense in future financial crimes court cases.
2. Contract killing leads to insurance fraud claims
Murdaugh also faces other insurance fraud charges stemming from a bizarre murder-for-hire he tried to stage and targeted himself.
The day after being forced to resign from his firm, Murdaugh called the police to say he had been shot in the head on a country road in South Carolina. But that story quickly fell apart.
He later admitted to hiring someone to shoot him so his son, Buster, could collect on his life insurance policy. He was charged with insurance fraud and filing a false police report.
3. The Stephen Smith investigation
Shortly after the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, South Carolina state investigators reopened an investigation into the death of Stephen Smith, dating back to 2015.
Smith was 19 years old when he was found dead in the middle of a country road.
Police later ruled that Smith, who was a high school classmate of Buster Murdaugh’s, had died of blunt force trauma and deduced that he had been struck by a hit-and-run car.
In 2021, the authorities announced that they would reopen the case about Smith’s murder “based on information gathered in the course of the investigation of the double murder of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.”
Although the case does not appear to be related to Alex, it could put his family name back in the spotlight.
4. Gloria Satterfield Investigation
Gloria Satterfield was the Murdaugh family housekeeper who died in February 2018. His death was the “result of injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident”according to a wrongful death settlement filed after he passed away.
But in 2021, after Murdaugh was accused of trying to arrange his own death, the county coroner asked police to investigate Satterfield’s death.
His death had not been reported to the coroner and no postmortem examination was performed.he assured.
“On the death certificate, the manner of death was listed as ‘natural,’ which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident,” Hampton County Coroner Angela Topper wrote.
In light of the inconsistencies noted, I believe it is prudent to continue an investigation into the death of Gloria Satterfield.”
In June 2022, state investigators announced that they had received permission from the family to exhume Satterfield’s body and planned to continue the investigation into his death.
There have been few updates since the announcement, but lawyers representing the Satterfield family welcomed Murdaugh’s conviction, saying the ruling ensures that He will “drink from the same cup of righteousness” as everyone else.
Charges have yet to be filed in his death.
5. Future agreements
In addition to the ongoing investigation into Satterfield’s death, his sons’ wrongful death lawsuit against Murdaugh is also pending.
In 2018, Murdaugh helped orchestrate a lawsuit against himself, claiming he wanted to help his family get a settlement.
Instead, he later confessed to pocketing millions from his home insurance that was meant for his children.
In December 2021, a lawyer representing the family assured that Murdaugh excuse meeither and I agree pay the $4.3 million settlementaccording to local reports.
It is not clear if the family was able to come up with the money.
In January, after years of legal wrangling, a judge also approved a settlement between the Murdaughs and the family of Mallory Beach, a 19-year-old girl who died in a 2019 boating accident involving Paul Murdaugh.
Prosecutors allege Alex killed his son Paul and his wife Maggie after the de Beach family sued the Murdaughs over their deaths. The lawsuit would have exposed his financial wrongdoing, prosecutors argued.
Beach’s family is expected to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to local reports. It is unknown if they have already received the agreement.
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