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Previously on American Greed. This is a John Grisham work of

nonfiction. In South Carolina.

This case has been gripping the state for months. A well -respected attorney

from a prominent legal dynasty.

Alec Murdoch is trusted by injured and grieving clients to set things right.

He looked all of us dead in our eyes and told us that we don't have anything to

worry about.

But behind the scenes, this pillar of the community is allegedly stealing

millions. Taking things that you did not earn is stealing.

Then, in 2019...

A tragic boat crash involving his son, Paul.

There's six of us and one is missing.

Lands the Murdochs in the spotlight.

It just quickly became clear that things weren't what they seemed at first.

Now, a horrific double murder helps break the spell of this once powerful

family. We are learning disturbing new details on that mysterious double

homicide in South Carolina.

And as light is shined upon Alec Murdoch's family, they're linked to

involving corruption, money laundering, and multiple mysterious deaths.

It is grim and it doesn't seem possible that one family could be tied to that

many deaths in a short period of time. With pressure building, Murdoch embarks

on a brand new greedy scheme.

A shocking new twist this morning in the case of a high -profile family at the

center of an unsolved murder mystery.

Now, Murdoch's alleged victims and those who face him in court take American

greed inside the story as a powerful Southern dynasty comes crashing down.

What say you, Richard L .S. Murdoch? Are you guilty or not guilty of the felony

for insanity?

For years, prominent attorney Alec Murdoch has been hiding a deep, dark

An avid hunter and a son of privilege, from one of his state's most powerful

legal dynasties, he's allegedly been stealing millions from his clients.

Working for a powerful law firm started by his great -grandfather over 100 years

earlier, he's been hiding his alleged scheme with the help of his revered

name.

It had been an anchor between me for 100 years, so who wouldn't give the benefit

of the doubt?

to the person who's the inheritor of that name.

But in 2019, the deadly boat crash involving Murdoch's underage son,

Paul, threatens to shine a light on the powerful family.

A Beaver County grand jury made it official today, three charges against 20

-year -old Paul Murdoch.

As scrutiny builds, new revelations will forever alter the Murdoch's grip on

power in the low country.

and upend the attorney's alleged scheme.

If that boat crash never happened,

Alec Murdoch would probably still be out here smiling in people's face

while taking their wallet out of their back pocket.

But Murdoch's downfall doesn't come all at once.

And as it unfolds, an unimaginable tragedy will claim the lives of those

to him.

By the summer of 2021, Murdoch is in deep trouble.

A lawsuit involving his son Paul and the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach is

threatening to cost him millions and reveal the secrets hidden in his

records.

On the night of June 7th, Paul, 22, is home with his 52 -year -old mother

at Moselle, the family's 1 ,700 -acre hunting estate.

Moselle is far from anything.

It's rainy, it's rural, dark.

According to news reports, Paul and Maggie are near the family's dog kennels

when shots ring out, shattering the moonlit quiet.

Paul was killed with two shotgun blasts.

close range, which is really unusual because a shotgun

is so powerful that almost certainly being shot once, it's just so

And then Maggie was shot multiple times with an AR -type rifle.

That was terrible. I mean, honestly, I'm told it was terrible.

Authorities first learn of the crime an hour after the killings.

Murdoch's lawyer will later tell a reporter that he has an ironclad alibi,

he was visiting his parents at the time of the murders.

So who could be responsible?

From the beginning, investigators have said almost nothing about this case.

Alec's lawyers have said that he might be a person of interest, but they've

adamant that he had nothing to do with the homicide.

A husband being a person of interest is not unexpected when a wife and son have

been gunned down. And at first, with his alleged financial crimes still buried,

Murdoch is seen largely as a grieving husband and father.

The homicides were shocking and horrific, and the funerals were just

massive outpouring of support and love.

The mother was killed, her son was killed.

their prominent family because they've been in the news. So there was a lot of

sympathy.

But sympathy will soon give way to scrutiny.

Every part of Murdoch's life will now be dissected, starting with the tragic

incident that first called attention to the Murdoch's tight grip on power in

South Carolina's low country.

Just after the drunken boat incident involving Paul Murdoch, one of the

survivors, Anthony Cook, told police what he thought about the likelihood of

Murdoch ever being held to account.

Good luck.

It seems that Paul's longtime friend may have been on to something.

According to lawsuits, Alec and his father showed up at the hospital shortly

after the crash.

And law enforcement officials never breathalyzed Paul that night or

who was actually driving at the time of the deadly collision.

Joe McCullough is a former prosecutor who now represents Connor Cook, one of

crash survivors.

Based on my experience as a prosecutor, as a defense lawyer, as a professor at a

law school here, I'd have to say I'd give him about a D

or worse.

The lead agencies declined to comment.

But having controlled the local prosecutor's office for nearly a

Murdochs have deep ties with law enforcement.

This leaves some to wonder if these alleged missteps can be chalked up to

than just chaos at the scene.

Well, I don't think there's a soul alive that wouldn't say the Murdochs were a

close -knit group.

And it is a natural instinct.

for family to protect family.

Shortly after the killings at Moselle, South Carolina newspapers report that a

state grand jury is probing possible obstruction of justice involving the

crash investigation.

What they may be looking at is suggested in a lawsuit filed by Connor Cook.

In it, Cook alleges that Alec Murdoch and others used their power to attempt

pin the crime on him.

Not Paul. They did this through inadequate investigation, a whisper

the Hampton County community, and law enforcement misdirection and possible

obstruction.

Whether there was influence brought to bear for the benefit of anybody, for the

benefit of the Murdochs or anyone else in this accident, and the extent to

it was known that Paul Murdoch was the driver of this boat, and the extent to

which that played a role in affecting this investigation.

We're still looking at it.

Cook's suit remains open, and Murdoch has denied the allegations that he

improperly used his family's power to aid his son.

But the obstruction of justice investigation is just one of many new

will cause people to take an even deeper look at Murdoch. The way he uses his

family's power, his alleged decade of thefts.

and the role of money in his family's double murder.

Up next, after the deaths of Paul and Maggie Murdoch, law enforcement looks at

another mysterious death and an alleged cover -up that occurred years earlier.

Smith's mother has long contended that the evidence tells a different story,

that perhaps her son was beaten to death and the crime covered up.

Just days after the brutal murders of Maggie and Paul Murdoch, news breaks of

obstruction of justice investigation concerning the handling of Paul's

involvement in the deadly boat crash two years earlier.

It just quickly became clear that things weren't what they seemed at first, that

these homicides were potentially of a piece of something much bigger.

This new twist rattles the Murdoch clan's teetering reputation while also

raising questions about their ability to make problems disappear.

In a sworn deposition, Paul Murdoch's friend Connor Cook puts it this way.

Anything they get in, they get out of.

But can the family maintain its grip on the levers of power?

South Carolina authorities recently reopened a 2015 cold case into the death

19 -year -old Stephen Smith.

Until recently, that case was an unsolved hit -and -run case, but Smith's

has long contended that the evidence tells a different story, that perhaps

son was beaten to death and the crime covered up.

In the dark early morning hours,

Six years before the double homicide at the Murdoch hunting property in Moselle,

on a stretch of road just a few miles away, a passerby discovers a body in the

road.

When law enforcement arrives, they discover the person in the road isn't

injured, but dead, and identify him as Stephen Smith, a 19 -year -old who

grew up in Hampton, South Carolina, and went to school with Alec Murdoch's

oldest son, Buster.

Mike Himlap is an attorney who now works for Smith's mother, Sandy.

Stephen was very outgoing, very bright.

He had...

Good friends. He was an outgoing, upbeat young man with a very bright future in

front of him.

From the beginning, State Highway Patrol investigators make clear in their

recorded case notes what they think didn't happen to this well -liked young

There's no car parts, no any type of parts to a car or

truck or any other vehicle.

Does not appear to be, in my opinion, struck by a vehicle,

possibly something else.

Despite the initial findings of these investigators, and much to their dismay,

pathologist makes her own finding.

The pathologist determined it was a hit and run because the body was found in

the road.

To date, as far as I know, that is the only evidence.

It was a vehicular collision.

To me, at first blush, I don't believe it was a car accident.

I believe he was killed somewhere else, and his body was planted there.

The pathologist did not respond to American Greed's request for comment.

A former prosecutor, Hemlep, is not alone in doubting the hit -and -run

Case files reviewed by American Greed show...

that in 2015, one Highway Patrol investigator chased down a rumor he

repeatedly about who might be responsible for Smith's death.

Nothing in the case file indicates the rumor was ever substantiated.

To date, no one from the powerful Murdoch clan has been named as a suspect

Smith's death.

And neither Buster Murdoch's attorney nor the family spokesperson responded to

American Greed's request for comment.

What is clear, however, is that for six years, the Smith investigation goes

nowhere.

Stephen's case had just kind of withered on the vine.

But then all changes after the events of June 7th, 2021.

I think after the murders of Paul and Maggie, there had to be a

microscope on Alec. And so you start thinking about where did the Murdoch

come up?

One place it comes up repeatedly is the Smith case file.

where one investigator talks to a witness about the family's wealth and

The Murdoch's is big and powerful and whatever everybody thinks they are, you

know, rich, whatever.

They're still on living their lives like nothing.

So they can play that part of what we think about everybody else. No, they

don't. You know, they care about protecting themselves.

And in June 2021, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division says they're

opening a new investigation based on information collected during the probe

the Murdoch family double homicide. They have not revealed what that information

is. But still, for Smith's family, this new development provides a glimmer of

hope that whoever is responsible may finally be held to account.

The whole Smith family does believe that there is justice for Stephen somewhere.

And we know that people know. We know that people have information. And if

want to come forward, they can.

Coming up, Alec Murdoch concocts a greedy new scheme involving a gun and

$10 million.

It went dark and I couldn't see.

For years...

The Murdoch family has dominated a portion of South Carolina through their

control of both a local prosecutor's office and a private law firm known for

winning big.

Following the recent murders of Alec Murdoch's wife and son, authorities have

launched new investigations into potential obstruction of justice and

mysterious debt near Moselle, the Murdoch family hunting estate.

But Murdoch's troubles are just getting started.

Back when the murders happened, right, everybody,

what the heck is going on?

And then you have the roadside shooting debacle.

That debacle begins on September 2nd, 2021.

Though they did not respond to American Greed's request for comment.

A lawsuit filed by Alec Murdoch's revered law firm says that on that day,

employees of the firm find evidence that the lawyer has been stealing from his

clients and his partners.

Having made this discovery about the attorney whose family started the firm,

they say they confront him, he admits to the thefts, and he agrees to resign.

But he isn't leaving without a bang.

Yes,

ma 'am. I mean...

Following Murdoch's claim that he's been the victim of a drive -by, he's

airlifted to a hospital where he's treated for a superficial head wound.

While he recovers, he seems to see that his story of being shot by a random

killer isn't hitting the target.

Oh, he faked that.

We live in the country.

People don't myth.

Okay, yeah, no, something's not right.

Murdoch later tells police that after being unmasked by his law partners, he

decided to end his own life and make some money while he was at it.

His attorney, Dick Harpootlian, tells the Today Show it's all part of an

scheme by a broken man to collect a $10 million life insurance payout for his

lone surviving son, Buster.

He was in a dark, dark, dark place and wanted to help his son in any way he

could, the remaining son, Buster, in any way he could. And he thought this was

the only way he could leave him with anything.

Harpootlian says that Alec thought he couldn't collect on the insurance policy

if he killed himself.

So Harpootlian says he asked someone else to pull the trigger.

He called this guy who met him on the side of the road, agreed to shoot him in

the head.

30 minutes later, this guy shooting him in the head. Didn't try to persuade him

not to do it. Didn't hesitate at all.

But the shooting fails.

And a few months later, Murdoch will tell a relative about the moments after

was shot.

No, this wasn't like, okay, things go dark, and I see the light, and I'm going

to the light.

It went dark, and I couldn't see.

And then it started lightening up, and I could see things around me.

Once he begins to see things clearly, Murdoch makes a decision.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, nine days after the incident,

authorities he set up his own shooting as part of a greedy scheme.

NBC News has now learned that Alec Murdoch will turn himself into police

This comes after he admitted paying another man to shoot him in an elaborate

million insurance scam.

Coming up.

Caught dead to rights in a botched murder for higher insurance plot worth

millions.

Accusations arise about the depths of Alec Murdoch's greed.

Gloria Satterfield isn't one of those people who is going to get pushed down

stairs. But we just don't know.

and Maggie Murdoch aren't the first people to die due to a tragedy at the

family's 1 ,700 -acre hunting estate, Moselle.

Prosecutors say that in the months that followed the death of the Murdoch's

longtime employee, Gloria Satterfield...

Murdoch worked with his buddy, Corley Fleming, to steal a half -million

settlement from her sons, Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriet.

For years, no one knows about the millions of dollars Murdoch has

stealing from them and other clients.

But that's about to change.

Following the Murdoch's recent string of tragedies, a reporter uncovers a court

filing. revealing the settlement paid by Murdoch's insurers to the Satterfields.

It's news to them.

We saw where it came out, that there was a settlement, and we saw that it was a

legal document, and it's like, what do they mean, a settlement? We never heard

anything. Alex didn't say anything to the boys or none of us. They hadn't

nothing at that time.

Some money's been given somewhere. It just went somewhere. We need to find

So that's when my brother Eric called Eric Bland.

law firm. And that's when the ball started rolling. For a decade,

prosecutors say Murdoch has been aided in his alleged financial crimes through

the Good Old Boy Network.

But Eric Bland is a Philly -born outsider and a tough -as -nails lawyer

made a career in South Carolina going after other attorneys when they go

I'm a lawyer that sues lawyers, which is a rare thing to do.

And when I heard the story, I did not believe it.

Still, Bland and his partner take the case.

At first, Bland says they think a single insurance company paid out a half

million dollars meant for the Satterfield boys.

But he soon learns there's a second payout from a second insurer that brings

total settlement amount to much, much higher.

Within a week and a half after getting subpoena responses and starting to hear

from other people in the legal profession, I quickly learned that it

than $505 ,000, and it turned out to be $4 .3 million.

As he digs through records, Bland sees that of this $4 .3 million, Murdoch

allegedly moved nearly $3 .4 million meant for Tony and Brian.

through the account he set up in the name of a legitimate company called

Consulting. They say they are totally unaware of Murdoch's use of their name.

I just couldn't believe it. You're talking about $3 .4 million. This is not

insignificant amount of money.

Following these discoveries, Bland's firm files suit not just against

but against many other entities, he says.

should have known what the lawyer was up to and should have stopped him.

Everybody seemed to have dropped the ball because the person standing before

comes with this reputation of honor and appearance of honor, wearing a suit and

a tie. This guy would never do that. So it doesn't say Forge Consulting. It only

says Forge. It's okay. It's Alex Murdoch.

The Satterfield family's suit is filed at the same time as Murdoch's arrest on

charges related to his failed murder -for -hire plot.

And soon, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announces they are

investigating more than just theft from Satterfield. They want to know what

caused her death.

Was it the dogs that Alec Murdoch said it was?

You know, if I'm standing at the top of the stairs, I can assure you there's a

line at least 500 yards long for people who are ready to push me down the

stairs. Gloria Satterfield isn't one of those people who is going to get pushed

down the stairs.

But we just don't know.

To get more insight, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigators

announced in 2022 that they plan to take an extraordinary step.

Tonight, the housekeeper who died after falling on stairs outside the home of

once -prominent South Carolina attorney Alec Murdoch is set to be exhumed.

Not only we have to go through the pain of missing Gloria, but now we have to go

through the other pain with having to disturb her and have her exhumed,

and then have to go through all that again, like we have to rebury her.

Up next, just when you think you've heard it all, the Murdoch story takes

wildest turn yet. Is Alex Murdoch a drug lord?

A substantial portion of all those millions of dollars did go to facilitate

oxytocin distribution network.

Want more greed?

Follow us on Instagram, connect on Facebook, and listen to the American

podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll be right back.

On October 14th, 2021, Alec Murdoch is arrested in Florida on

new charges related to his alleged thefts from the sons of Gloria

For the second time in just a month, Murdoch is in police custody this

facing two new felony charges.

Days after he's booked into jail, Murdoch attends a bond hearing.

There, one of the Satterfield's attorneys, Eric Bland, asks the judge to

high bond amount as a message to white -collar criminals.

We need to make sure that when somebody steals with a pen, it's the same as if

they're stealing with a gun.

Today is the day that Alex Murdoch needs to get comfortable getting

uncomfortable.

The judge goes one step further, denying Bond altogether.

And Murdoch is sent to jail while he awaits trial.

As he lingers there, he tells his still -grieving son Buster just how

uncomfortable life has become far away from his 1 ,700 -acre estate.

Meanwhile,

more clients who turn to the once -respected lawyer for help.

will learn that, like the Satterfields, they've allegedly been victimized too.

Among those who hear this unwelcome news is the family of Hakeem Pinkney, a

deaf quadriplegic young man.

Yeah, it was a shock to me.

Because he never looked like the type of person that would do something of this

nature. And that's why I just don't see it in him.

Prosecutors allege Murdoch and others colluded to steal approximately $1

from Pinckney's family.

According to their lawyer, Justin Bamberg, in 2022, as compensation, they

received settlements of an undisclosed amount from Murdoch's former law firm

the local bank, whose former CEO, Russell Lafitte, is accused of helping

steal and launder their money.

Neither the firm nor the bank nor Lafitte responded to American Greed's

for comment.

By early 2022,

Murdoch faces indictments of taking approximately $8 .5 million from his law

partners and more than a dozen clients, including the Pinckney family and the

Satterfields. But many ask, what was Murdoch doing with all this money?

The answer, prosecutors say, lies at least in part with the man he allegedly

hired to shoot him by the side of the road, Curtis Edward Smith, a .k .a.

Cousin Eddie.

Smith is Murdoch's former client and a relative who has sometimes done odd jobs

for his distant cousin.

But attorney Eric Bland and others will see that they have a strange financial

relationship.

According to a state grand jury indictment, between 2013 and 2021,

wrote checks to Smith and his close associates worth more than $2 .4

So what happened to all that money?

Eddie Smith isn't a wealthy man, doesn't live a wealthy lifestyle, doesn't live

in a mansion, doesn't drive a Mercedes.

Murdoch's attorneys offer an explanation.

It was uncovered that he had perhaps, well not perhaps, he had converted some

client and law firm money to his own use and again spent most of that on

opioids.

They say their client has been addicted to oxycodone for 20 years.

And that Smith is his dealer.

But not everyone buys it.

Well, if you believe Dick Harpooley and he was consuming more opioids than 10

elephants could consume over a 10 -year period of time. I don't believe that.

Smith has pled not guilty to charges that he aided Murdoch in the murder -for

-hire plot.

Though he would not be interviewed for this program, he has denied helping

Murdoch shoot himself and providing him with drugs.

But in June 2022, the story that has more twists than a low -country estuary

takes another one.

That month, a state grand jury charges Smith and Murdoch with laundering

Murdoch's money through all those hundreds of checks to Smith.

They allege that a large chunk of it has been used not just to consume, but to

acquire and distribute oxycodone.

Your Honor, these checks total almost $2 .5 billion.

Your Honor, we allege and the state alleges and the investigation has

that a large portion or a substantial portion of all those millions of dollars

did go to facilitate this oxycodone distribution network.

Mr. Smith was a big partner.

In the wake of the boat crash and the Murdoch double murder, the once

lawyer has now been accused of attempting to arrange his own killing

insurance money, stealing millions from clients and his own firm, and taking

part in a years -long money laundering and drug trafficking conspiracy.

The murders of his wife and son have also led to a new investigation of

obstruction of justice, in that boat crash case, as well as probes of the

mysterious death of Stephen Smith and Gloria Satterfield.

All this adds up to theories about what Murdoch might be capable of.

Up next, how will it all end for Alec Murdoch?

What say you, Richard L. S. Murdoch? Are you guilty or not guilty of the

felonies wherein you stand indicted?

Not guilty.

By the summer of 2022, a year has passed since the gruesome murders of Maggie

and Paul Murdock.

which remain unsolved.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has suggested their deaths were

homicides, but have made no arrests related to their killing.

Since Alec Murdoch first called police to report their deaths... Okay, did you

hear anything, or did you come home and find them?

I've been gone. I just came back.

He's been accused of a wide swath of crimes.

For generations, the Murdochs have ruled the area surrounding Hampton County.

Now, their name has been stripped from the law firm Murdoch's great

started in the early 1900s.

Most folks around here, like me, we grew up in working class or poor families.

How do you think people feel about a family with 100 years or a generation of

wealth? Not only getting wealthier off of doing these cases, like Hakeem

Pinckney, where you make millions in fees, but then you're also stealing

millions, too. Like, people are pissed.

As the months drag on, lawyer Eric Bland and his law partner help the

Satterfields collect $7 .5 million in settlements from various parties who

says... could have stopped Murdoch's theft but failed to do so.

Murdoch himself has admitted he's liable for $4 .3 million taken from the sons

of his former housekeeper.

Locked up at a jail in Columbia, South Carolina, he still faces at least a

lawsuits involving former clients, Mallory Beach and the boat crash

his firm, his insurer, and those who say he owes them money.

But some of his alleged victims, people who turn to him at the lowest point in

their lives, say no lawsuit will ever set things straight.

No, I'll never be made whole.

Two of Murdoch's alleged financial co -conspirators, attorney Corey Fleming

banker Russell Lafitte, who prosecutors say helped Murdoch steal and launder

money, are also charged in the case and have both pled not guilty.

Both Fleming and Lafitte have said they are victims of Murdoch's fraud and

misconduct.

For his part, Murdoch is facing 84 charges from 16 indictments that could

him more than 500 years in prison.

Still, in a phone call from jail with his surviving son Buster, The once

prominent lawyer seems to find humor about the many horrific crimes he's been

charged with.

In the coming months, the tally of

illegal stuff that Murdoch has allegedly done will only increase.

On July 12, 2021, the South Carolina Supreme Court disbars Alec Murdoch.

saying he's admitted to taking money from his law firm, stealing $4 .3

from the Satterfields, and orchestrating his own shooting for insurance money.

Just days later, the final shoe drops on the once respected attorney.

Now to a dramatic twist in a high -profile South Carolina murder case.

Murdoch is now charged with the murder of his wife and son.

On July 14th, a grand jury indicts Murdoch on charges of killing his wife

rifle and his son with a shotgun.

Following

Murdoch's

indictment, prosecutors say there's evidence showing him with his wife and

About an hour and 20 minutes before calling 911.

Two sources close to the case tell NBC News authorities have cell phone video

that they believe puts him at the scene of the murders shortly before they took

place. Evidence that would appear to contradict his previous timeline of

I've been gone. I just came back.

At the bond hearing, Prosecutor Creighton Waters gives the first

of how the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, made the

many thought might never be cracked.

The evidence of the case is substantial, and it all points back to Alec Murdoch.

There's forensic evidence, as well as other evidence of his guilt of these

murders, and so the state is ready. While not giving much away, Waters also

hints at a motive.

that the murders were all about the money.

Much of the information that's been gathered in the state -wide grand jury

on the 81 allegations of white -collar fraud and other crimes, drugs and the

like, that's been gathered against Mr. Murdoch over the course of that long

investigation, a lot of that provides the background and the motive for what

happened on June 7, 2021.

Murdoch's attorneys have said he had no reason to kill his wife and son, that he

loved both of them, and that he was unfairly singled out by law enforcement

day one.

Now,

Murdoch's fate will be decided before a jury of his peers at a courthouse.

where generations of Murdochs have wielded their legal power.

Whatever the outcome of Alec Murdoch's many cases, it's clear that the lawyer's

actions have taken a toll on his family's once revered name.

The Murdoch name has been burned up. He has single -handedly destroyed whatever

goodwill and good deeds that family has ever done.