Last week, a second batch of phone calls Alex Murdaugh placed from a South Carolina jail was released to the public — despite Murdaugh’s lawyers’ efforts to keep them private.
FitsNews reported that the latest calls suggest the family was attempting to divert money that would have gone to Murdaugh’s creditors. The money garnered from selling Murdaugh’s assets was apparently being directed to a debt owed to Palmetto State Bank by Murdaugh and their father.
In an October 21, 2021, phone call from jail, Murdaugh allegedly told his younger brother, “In court the other day, they made a big deal about things … they’re going to be moving to try to prevent us from selling stuff. We need to get as much as we can completed … I don’t know if it’s going to be a day or a week or two weeks.”
According to FitsNews, the family was attempting to pay off an unsecured line of credit to prevent creditors from going after their own assets and trusts. Murdaugh’s assets were sold to relatives and friends to allegedly keep the jailed attorney’s wealth within their close circle.
The call between Murdaugh and his younger brother came a day before a motion would be filed that would stop the family from liquidating Murdaugh and his surviving son’s assets. The motion was filed by the family of Mallory Beach, the woman killed in 2019 in a drunken boating incident involving Murdaugh’s late son, Paul. Beach’s family had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Murdaugh family in that case.
FitsNews reported that Murdaugh ignored a subpoena seeking detailed information about his finances months before the October 2021 motion filed by Beach’s family. Months after the case was filed, on June 7, 2021, Murdaugh’s wife and son, Maggie and Paul, were fatally shot at the family’s 1,770-acre lodge in Colleton County.
Murdaugh was arrested in October for allegedly stealing $4.3 million from the estate of his former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who suffered a fatal fall on his property in February 2018. In that case, he is accused of stealing insurance payouts that were intended for Satterfield’s family.
At the time of his arrest in October, Murdaugh was out on bail and undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation center in Florida. Murdaugh went to Florida after he survived an alleged suicide-for-hire plot that entailed a client shooting him in the head so his surviving son would receive a $10 million life insurance payout. The September 3 incident resulted in him being charged with insurance fraud.
A day before the shooting, Alex was forced out of his family law firm amid allegations he misappropriated funds. He announced he was entering rehabilitation for drugs two days after the shooting.
Since then, Murdaugh has been charged with 74 counts, as he has been accused of stealing money from a slew of clients and his former law firm. He remains jailed on a $7 million bond.
No suspects have been arrested or charged in connection with Maggie and Paul’s murders.
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[Featured image: Alex Murdaugh/Hampton County Sheriff’s Office]
