SC

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters is questioning Tony Satterfield. Satterfield testifies he thought Alex Murdaugh was his lawyer after his mother died after a fall on the Murdaugh’s Moselle property. Murdaugh brought his buddy, Cory Fleming, into the case but didn’t tell …

... Satterfield about his relationship with Fleming, Satterfield testifies. Satterfield said Murdaugh told him he couldn’t sue himself, so he needed Fleming to do it. Satterfield said Murdaugh told him he had a $100,000 insurance policy that would provide the Satterfields …

... some money after the loss of their mother. Satterfield testifies Murdaugh did not tell him about a larger, $5 million umbrella insurance policy that covered Murdaugh. Murdaugh continued to speak with Satterfield about the case, and Satterfield continued to believe …

In June 2021, the Satterfield family heard about a settlement in their case. That was around the time of the murders. Satterfield said he called Murdaugh and asked about the case. He said Murdaugh said they were still making progress and hoped to be done by the end of the year.

Satterfield said Murdaugh did not tell him about the $505K settlement or the $3.8 million settlement the Satterfield lawsuit had already generated. “Did he get your permission to steal your money?” Waters asked. “No," Satterfield said.

Griffin gets up for a brief cross-examination. He establishes that Satterfield can't remember whether he called Murdaugh about the reported settlement before or after the 6/7/21 slayings, just that he did so sometime in June 2021. Satterfield steps down from the witness stand.

Griffin will obviously want to establish that call came *after* the 6/7/21 slayings, not before. If it came before, it could play into the state's argument that Murdaugh knew his financial crimes were about to be exposed.

Needless to say, that will be brutal testimony for Alex Murdaugh if the jury hears it. The defense has argued Murdaugh was incapable of killing his wife and son in such a gruesome way. Waters can establish with Tony Satterfield that Murdaugh was capable of villainy.

Tony Satterfield testified he knew Murdaugh a long time and trusted him inherently. He thought Murdaugh was his lawyer, even in a case against Murdaugh himself. Tony had no inkling Murdaugh was merely using his mother Gloria’s death the steal from his own insurance carriers.

This is also precisely why the defense is adamant this shouldn’t be admitted into the murder trial. A jury will have a hard time hearing this and still believe Murdaugh was a good guy.

Edited: to include additional tweets.