The family of Alex Murdaugh’s late housekeeper Gloria Satterfield are speaking out for the first time since he was arrested for stealing $3 million from them.
Satterfield, 57, died mysteriously in 2018 after a ‘fall’ at Murdaugh’s home in South Carolina. She had worked for his prestigious legal dynasty family for 20 years.
After her death, Murdaugh promised her adult sons, Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriott, that he would ‘look after them’ financially. He had them file a wrongful death lawsuit against him with the goal of having his insurance company pay out a settlement, but he never gave the men the money.
Murdaugh is now in jail for that theft but he is also a person of interest in the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul, who died in June at the family’s home.
Now, Gloria’s sister and brother are speaking out for the first time since Murdaugh was jailed for stealing from their family, and since his family’s name became nationally synonymous with murder, theft, drug addiction and mystery.
In an interview with NBC’s Dateline that will air on Friday, Gloria’s brother, Eric Harriott Jr., said: ‘It ain’t about the money. It’s like she was a nobody, as much as she’s done for him.’
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Gloria Satterfield’s sister Ginger (top left) and brother Eric Harriott Jr (center) spoke to Dateline along with their families. Gloria died in 2018 after mysteriously ‘falling’ at Murdaugh’s home
‘It ain’t about the money… he treated her like she was nothing’ said Gloria’s brother
Gloria Satterfield died in the home of legal heir Alex Murdaugh (left) in February 2018 after working for the family for 20 years. He told her sons that she died of a fall. Now, they say they still don’t know if that’s what really happened
Gloria’s sister, Ginger Harriott Hadwin, added: ‘Did he have that going through his mind that day when we buried Gloria, and thinking, “oh, how much money am I gonna get? How can I get this?”‘
Neither of Gloria’s sons have spoken publicly but in lawsuits against Murdaugh, they lay bare how he took advantage of them as they grieved their mother.
To this day, the two sons say they still don’t know how the fall caused her such horrific injuries that she died.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating her death now in light of a slew of other allegations against Murdaugh.
Murdaugh was arrested for theft and is in custody. He was denied bond yesterday
In an interview on Tuesday, after Murdaugh was denied bond, the sons’ attorney Ronnie Richter cast doubt on the claim that Gloria died by falling down the stairs in the family’s home.
‘Death was first classified a natural death… there is nothing natural about a 57-year old-woman falling down a flight of steps and dying from a head trauma,’ he told CBS in South Carolina.
After Gloria’s death, Murdaugh promised to ‘take care of’ the boys financially.
The two sons, in a lawsuit filed last month, tell how they trusted Murdaugh as a respected South Carolina attorney whose family had been in law offices across the state for more than 100 years.
‘Prior to her untimely death on February 26, 2018, Gloria had worked for Alex Murdaugh and his family as a housekeeper and nanny for over two decades.
‘Gloria was told she was part of the Murdaugh family, and she believed it to be true. The Murdaughs are prominent and wealthy family based in Hampton County that for generations controlled the prosecutor’s office in Hampton County and were the prominent legal family in the area,’ the sons’ lawyer said in their suit.
It was before the murders of Murdaugh’s wife Maggie and son Paul, before Murdaugh admitted to having an ‘opioid addiction’, before he stole money from his own law firm and unsuccessfully tried to have himself killed in a suicide-by-hitman plot to benefit his remaining son Buster.
‘Soon after’ their mother’s funeral, he introduced them to attorney Cory Fleming and encouraged them to hire him.
‘Tony and Brian trusted Alex Murdaugh and because of their trust in him, Tony and Brian retained Fleming and MKF to represent them,’ the lawsuit states.
Neither son was aware that Fleming was Murdaugh’s college roommate and ‘best friend’.
Unsovled: The murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh (main) remain unsolved. Far left is the only surviving Murdaugh son, Buster
Fleming then appointed a banker, Chad Westendorf, to act as a representative on behalf of the sons.
They didn’t know him and were also unaware that they could have acted as their own representatives, they said.
Westendorf was also the Vice President of Palmetto State Bank at the time and, according to the sons’ lawsuit, he had used the bank in business dealings with Murdaugh and Fleming in the past.
Murdaugh paid Edward Smith to kill him in September but it was a botched job and he survived
The sons were unaware of the professional history between any of them.
Together, they concocted a plan for Fleming and Westendorf to file claims against Murdaugh for Gloria’s death. Murdaugh agreed and said his insurance company, Lloyds of London, would pay out the claim.
They – without the sons’ knowledge or consent – agreed to $505,000, according to the lawsuit.
On Janaury 7, 2019, Fleming received a check from Lloyd’sfor $505,000. That day, he wrote a check to Forge for $403,500.
Over the next two years, Fleming and Westendorf negotiated payouts of over $4million from the two insurers Murdaugh used – Lloyd’s and Nautilus. None of those papers were filed in court, and the sons were never away of them.
‘Tony and Brian first learned that money had been recovered from the death of their mother when it was reported in the press.
‘To date, Tony and Brian have not received any monies from any claims or settlements with Murdaugh and his insurance carriers.
‘Not one dime,’ their attorney says.
The investigation into Gloria’s death remains ongoing.
‘SLED’s criminal investigation into the death of Gloria Satterfield and the handling of her estate is ongoing.
‘No additional information is available at this time while the investigation is ongoing,’ a spokesman told DailyMail.com on Wednesday morning.
Murdaugh, 53, has so far only been charged with stealing settlement money from the Satterfield boys but he is a person of interest in the investigation into his wife and son’s murders.
Dateline airs on NBC at 9pm ET on Friday
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