Beaufort, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh, a convicted killer, struck a plea deal Friday, just days before the beginning of his trial in South Carolina’s expansive case against him for dozens of financial crimes. Murdaugh, 55, appeared in Beaufort County Court before Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman and agreed to plead guilty to various charges, including alleged siphoning off of insurance settlement funds in the case of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaughs’ long-time housekeeper.
During the hearing, Murdaugh, shackled and clad in an orange jumpsuit, expressed his happiness in pleading guilty to the charges. Chief prosecutor Creighton Waters of the state attorney general’s office recommended a 27-year prison sentence, with the final decision to be made by Newman during a November 28 sentencing.
Waters provided an overview of the various cases, stating that Murdaugh had an “insatiable need for money,” while Murdaugh maintained his disagreement with some of the narrative but not the essential elements of the facts of the crimes. The state’s case played a pivotal role in Murdaugh’s murder trial, involving 101 financial-related charges and an alleged loss of $8.8 million due to his schemes against his clients and his family’s law firm.
Murdaugh is currently serving two consecutive life terms for the fatal shootings of his wife and younger son in 2021. However, the plea deal means he will avoid the trial that was due to commence on November 27. This would have once again put him in the spotlight as a disbarred attorney.
The case, first classified as an unsolved double homicide, quickly unraveled into wider allegations of financial fraud, a hired hitman plot, and drug addiction, reviving inquiries into other deaths linked to the Murdaugh family. He has proclaimed his innocence in the fatal shootings of his wife and son, and previously pleaded guilty in federal court to almost two dozen counts of financial fraud and money laundering.
As part of the plea deal, Murdaugh must pay restitution to each and every identifiable victim, with the federal sentence running parallel to any imposed state sentence. In addition, co-conspirators Cory Fleming and Russell Laffitte were charged for aiding him in schemes to defraud clients out of money. In the case of Satterfield, Murdaugh allegedly directed Fleming to draft checks totaling almost $3.5 million to his personal bank account, while Satterfield’s two sons received none of the money.
Following the hearing, Murdaugh’s attorneys stated that their client accepted committing the financial crimes and felt comfortable serving prison time for them. However, he is seeking a new trial for the murder charges after his lawyers accused the clerk of court of jury tampering, and his defense team believes that Newman, who oversaw the initial trial, should step down from further proceedings due to a potential conflict as a witness.
Overall, this plea deal marks a significant development in the complex legal saga of Alex Murdaugh, bringing partial closure to the multitude of cases against him.
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