Satterfield estate sues Alex Murdaugh’s accused accomplice Curtis Smith for up to $2M
READ MORE
Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
Expand All
The estate of Alex Murdaugh’s deceased housekeeper has filed a legal claim against Curtis “Eddie” Smith, alleging Smith might have been a recipient of as much as $2 million of the $3.4 million Murdaugh allegedly embezzled from the money owed to Gloria Satterfield’s family.
From 2015 through 2021, the legal claim asserts, Smith received personal and cashier’s checks from Murdaugh’s checking accounts totaling some $2 million. Some of those checks made out to Smith were issued around the time Murdaugh allegedly embezzled $3.4 million from the Satterfield estate, the lawsuit said.
The new lawsuit, filed in state court in Hampton County, was made public Thursday evening in a press release emailed to news media by the Satterfield estate’s two lawyers, Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter.
It is an amended complaint of a lawsuit originally filed in mid-September against Murdaugh and four alleged accomplices in a purported scheme to steal millions from Satterfield’s estate.
Satterfield, 57, died in February 2018 of injuries received in a fall at the Murdaughs’ house.
After Satterfield’s funeral, Murdaugh cooked up a scheme to have his homeowner’s insurance payment go to Satterfield’s estate and then orchestrated a plan for his alleged accomplices to divert the money to Murdaugh, the original lawsuit alleged.
The new legal claim “seeks to impose a constructive trust against any money or property in the possession of Mr. Smith that was obtained through use of the Satterfield money and seeks to explore Smith’s role in aiding and abetting Murdaugh’s fraud and breach of his fiduciary duties to the Satterfield sons,” the lawyers said.
Before Thursday’s lawsuit was filed, Smith’s lawyer Jarrett Bouchette was asked about checks Smith may have received from Murdaugh.
“The man doesn’t have anywhere near that kind of money,” Bouchette said Thursday evening. “His current economic status is not someone who has a couple million dollars laying around.
“He’s a disabled logger, up until [recently] he was trying to do these odd jobs, when he was physically able to work. He continues to battle debilitating health issues.”
The State and Island Packet newspapers in November reviewed $155,000 worth of checks that Murdaugh wrote to Smith in 2020 and earlier in 2021.
Satterfield’s two sons, Michael “Tony” Satterfield and Brian Harriott, are the heirs to Satterfield’s estate.
Smith, also known as “Cousin Eddie” and “Fast Eddie,” is said to be a longtime friend and distant relative of Murdaugh.
Smith is charged with helping Murdaugh in a botched suicide attempt in early September.
In the attempt, according to charges by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, Murdaugh had persuaded Smith to fatally shoot him so Murdaugh’s son, Buster, could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy.
Smith has told reporters he did not shoot Murdaugh. Murdaugh claims he was shot but survived. In any case, both Smith and Murdaugh have been charged with insurance fraud in the incident.
The Satterfield estate also sued the Bank of America earlier this week, alleging that by not doing due diligence in handling Murdaugh’s checking accounts, the bank was an accomplice in Murdaugh’s scheme to embezzle Satterfield money. The Bank of America has denied the allegations.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 7:46 PM.
_fitted.png)
