South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh will surrender to authorities on Thursday, a day after a man was arrested for allegedly attempting to stage Murdaugh's suicide so his son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy, his legal team said.
The development came on the same day that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said it opened a criminal investigation into the 2018 death of a longtime housekeeper and nanny for the Murdaugh family.
Murdaugh, 53, has not been charged with a crime. His legal team said that he will surrender to authorities in Hampton County.
Murdaugh was shot in the head on Sept. 4, three months after the unsolved slayings of his wife and adult son, but suffered a superficial wound and survived. Murdaugh's attorney said Murdaugh was depressed and enlisted a man to kill him, believing his life insurance had a suicide clause.
On Wednesday, there was another unexpected turn in the case when the state law enforcement division, or SLED, said it was opening a criminal investigation into the death of housekeeper Gloria Satterfield. The agency said the decision was based on a request from the Hampton County coroner and on "information gathered" during a separate investigation involving Alex Murdaugh.
Gloria Satterfield.Brice W. Herndon and Sons Funeral Home
Satterfield's death "was not reported to the coroner at the time, nor was an autopsy performed," Hampton County Coroner Angela Topper wrote in a letter to state investigators in her request. "On the death certificate, the manner of death was ruled 'natural,' which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident."
Her family said in a statement that it was a "sad day" for them following the announcement of the investigation.
"The news of the opening of a criminal investigation causes more questions at a time when the family just wanted answers regarding the claims that were asserted in connection with the death of their mother and any settlements reached," the statement said. "Today this nightmare escalated for the family with the news of the opening of the criminal investigation into the death of Gloria Satterfield."
Earlier Wednesday, an attorney for Satterfield's family filed a lawsuit in Hampton County court accusing Murdaugh and others of breach of fiduciary duty in failing to pay them as part of a wrongful death settlement.
Satterfield was 57 when she died in February 2018 from injuries sustained from a fall in the Murdaugh home, where she was employed for more than two decades. According to the suit, "the exact details of the fall remain unclear" to her two sons, Michael "Tony" Satterfield and Brian Harriott, who were supposed to get $475,000 in direct payment to "compensate them for the grief, sorrow and mourning associated with the loss of their mother."
The home was insured through Lloyd's of London, according to the suit. Murdaugh initially pledged that he was "going to take care of the boys," the suit added, by suing himself to collect on personal liability insurance through Lloyd's. But nearly two years after a partial settlement was reached with the insurance firm, a "stipulation of dismissal" was filed in October 2020, purportedly ending the estate's claims against Murdaugh. He also signed the stipulation, according to an exhibit attached to the suit.
Ronald Richter Jr., an attorney for Satterfield's family, told NBC News they've received "not a dime."
Another attorney, Eric Bland, said Satterfield's sons didn't previously want to make waves.
"It's hard. One of our clients is special needs, the other lives in a small Southern town ... and they didn't ask questions," he said. They previously "tried to call their lawyers and didn't get a response, but they didn't take it beyond that. They were scared."
A Murdaugh family spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
