All language subtitles for The Fall of the House of Murdaugh s01e05.eng

I was just
another dollar sign.

You really just
can't trust anyone.

I lied to my clients.

I misled my clients.

And I stole money
from my clients.

It's devastating.

Attorney: Did you
ultimately borrow

$1 million roughly
from the plyler girls

Without their knowledge?

A million--

Attorney: Does that sound right?

It's pure theft.

Alex murdaugh: I took money
that I shouldn't have taken.

And just about
everything that he told us,

You know, we went along with it.

Attorney: Do you remember
looking tony satterfield

In the eye and lying to him?

I remember lying
to tony satterfield,

And I remember looking him
in the eye on many occasions.

Obviously, you
know, we believed him.

Just because you steal with
a pen or a stroke of a key

On a computer, doesn't
make you any less

Dangerous than somebody
who does it with a gun.

To understand that he
was making these decisions

And doing these things
is very disappointing.

It's like a wound being
open over and over and over.

This part's tough
to talk about.

I know.

Let's get it out of the way.

Ok.

Do you want to get up?

Do you need a minute?

It's a multi-million
dollar scheme that

Targeted the most vulnerable.

A high powered attorney admitted
to stealing from children who

Lost their mother and brother,
from a quadriplegic former

Football star, and
from two brothers

Who considered the accused like
family, just to name a few.

Some of the money was taken
from wrongful death settlements

And then used to fund
a lavish lifestyle.

That attorney's name
is alex murdaugh.

According to prosecutors,
this elaborate scheme spans

Back long before the now
self-described opioid addict

Was convicted in the
killing of his wife

Maggie and his son paul.

We follow the money and bring
you the emotional stories

Of murdaugh's other victims.

Alex murdaugh: This is alex
murdaugh at 4147 moselle road.

I need the police and an
ambulance immediately.

My wife and child
have been shot badly.

Please hurry!

Host: Colleton county,
south carolina.

Oh what a tangled
web we weave.

Host: The world watched
as alex murdaugh,

Heir to a legal dynasty, took
the stand in his own defense.

It was south carolina's
trial of the century.

Alex said a tangled web,
and he's the one that said it.

But it's very true.

And this was his tangled web as
I think anyone has ever seen.

Host: Lead prosecutor
creighton waters would know.

He spent years
untangling that web.

Everyone who thought
they were close to him,

Everyone who thought
they knew he was who

He was, he's fooled them all.

Host: At trial, the
state illustrated

Murdaugh's motive for murder.

The motive that
the state gave was,

He was under such financial
pressures that it broke him.

He was hemorrhaging cash.

Host: Murdaugh won large
settlements for these families

Of the dead, disabled,
and desperate,

And then kept the money for
himself, leaving those in need

In the dark.

We were following the money
that alex murdaugh was spending

And losing, spending and losing,
spending and stealing, spending

And stealing.

Listen to that gathering
storm that all came to a head

On June 7, 2021, the day,
the evidence will show,

He killed maggie and paul.

Host: That storm, according
to federal prosecutors,

Started brewing
as early as 2005.

The once prominent
personal injury attorney

Was the man everyone
in town turned

To during some of the worst
moments in their lives.

Nobody would suspect
that that person is just an

Ordinary garden variety thief.

Hannah plyler: So my
mom, she would be there

For anybody who needed her.

And my brother, he,
amazing as well,

Just the best older brother
you could ever ask for.

Host: Hannah plyler
and her sister alania

Were in the car with
their mom and brother

Justin on a hot summer day.

The family was headed
to sell newspapers

To make a little extra
money to help pay the bills.

I remember the cd I was
listening to was usher.

And I had my headphones on.

And I remember, I could
see mom talking to me.

I remember pausing it.

Then I heard a loud noise.

It almost resembled
a-- like a gunshot.

I remember mom screaming.

I remember seeing trees fly by.

I remember the smell of sweat
and blood and pine trees.

Their tire exploded.

And the explorer rolled off
the highway into the woods,

And it was a horrific crash.

Mom wasn't moving
or saying anything.

My brother's seat had fallen
all the way back into my lap,

Essentially.

So he was laying
pretty much in my lap.

Hannah was talking.

And I remember screaming,
telling her, hannah,

Go to the top of the hill.

Because I couldn't
get out of the car.

I was afraid no
one could see us.

And I thought we were all
going to die down there.

So hannah, being
eight-years-old,

Goes to the top of the
interstate and gets help.

I remember seeing
an 18-wheeler.

And I flagged him down.

And he pulled over.

And after he saw that, he--

I guess other witnesses
pulled over too.

And they came to me
and they rushed down.

And that's when they
called 911 and ems.

Still, it's kind
of a blur to me.

Host: But for her older
sister, images of that

Fateful Friday their
mother and brother died,

Are seared in her memory.

I remember them pulling
them out of the car

And immediately putting
them in a black body bag.

That was the last
time that I saw--

That's the last image that I
have of my mom and my brother.

Just traumatizing.

Alania plyler: We had a very
unstable life after mom died.

Host: The family
picked up the phone

And called one of the
area's most trusted

Attorneys, alex murdaugh.

Alex was the
rainmaker, the kingmaker.

I remember the first time
I talked to him on the phone.

He was just very reassuring.

He was a person I
would want on my side.

Host: Murdaugh sued the tire
manufacturer and car company

And promised the sisters
a large settlement.

It was like, you
know, we can't bring

Your mom and brother back.

But we can-- we're going to make
sure that you're going to be

Ok for the rest of your life.

He was like a bulldog.

Host: That bulldog attorney
won a multi-million dollar

Settlement for the sisters.

We were never told
how much money we had.

We just knew it was--

Well, what we were
told was a lot.

Alex said that the court
appointed a conservator for us.

And he would be in
control of our money.

And if we needed something we
would go to him and ask for it.

Only when they become 18
does the money become theirs.

The majority of
our requests were

For things that we
probably shouldn't

Of had to pay for as a child.

I mean, even down to
lunch money for the week,

Probably like $15
bucks that week.

Host: At the same time--

Alex is plundering
their bank accounts.

I don't think there was
anyone in our life as a child

After mom died that was in
our absolute best interest.

We were just almost
like breeding grounds,

Financially for bigger fish.

It was always about money.

We were dollar sign.

Host: The girls had no idea what
was going on behind the scenes

With their money, and
wouldn't for years.

In 2009, murdaugh took on
the case of hakeem pinckney,

A deaf former football star.

Eric bland: Hakeem pinckney
was a wonderful young man.

He was an excellent student and
an excellent football player.

And there was an accident.

Host: Hakeem was
headed to buy milk,

When just like the
plyler accident,

The car tire exploded.

And hakeem was paralyzed
from the neck down,

And he was a quadriplegic.

So it was a horrible,
horrible existence,

A horrible existence.

Host: Pictures show what
was left of the car.

It was a mangled mess.

Murdaugh sued the tire company
and won millions of dollars.

Days after the settlement, the
pinckney family would suffer

Another devastating blow.

In 2011, the plug
that was his apparatus

To breathe and live
somehow got dislodged

And he became brain dead.

Host: Hakeem died.

And the man the
family had turned

To in their time of need,
alex murdaugh, later

Skimmed up to $1 million from
hakeem's estate and his family.

Murdaugh then used the case
to talk about how important

Showing videos of clients
like hakeem during trial

Were to winning over the jury.

With so many clients, who
unfortunately have suffered

Catastrophic injuries, and
are unable to go about moving

Around the way we
take for granted,

To be able to show
a jury those things

Instead of telling
a jury about them,

The benefit is unexplainable.

There's absolutely no
better tool in the courtroom

Than to capture that in video.

The best storyteller in the
world cannot relay with full

Effect the way a video can.

Host: And that was coming
from alex, a great storyteller

In his own right.

So much so that he went on to
secretly pocket money meant

For other clients, like tommy
moore, a former south carolina

Highway patrol lieutenant,
who was injured in a crash

During a snowstorm while on the
job, arthur badger, a father

Of six, whose wife was
killed in a head-on crash

With a ups truck,
deon martin, the son

Of local funeral homeowners,
who was also injured in a crash.

And that is just to name a few.

I sat down with
alex's son, buster,

To discuss his father's
possible motivations.

What do you think
was driving it all?

I mean, we're talking
about millions of dollars.

Where did all that
money go and why

Did he need all of
that money from all

Of these different people?

That's a great question.

And it's a question that
I ask myself every day.

And I cannot come up
with an answer for it.

It's an unsurmountable
amount of money.

You know, even if you look
at the pill addiction,

You know, it's not
all going to that.

It's not all going
to our lifestyle.

I mean, we were comfortable.

But we're not know flying a
private jet to the maldives

Every two weeks.

So it just doesn't--

It hasn't added up to
me and it still doesn't.

And I can't really
fathom where all it went

Or where all it was going.

Host: It seemed no one was
safe from murdaugh's deception,

Not even the family of the
woman who helped raise his sons.

In 2018, a horrific accident,
right on murdaugh's front

Steps.

I just want to ask you a
little bit about the gloria

Satterfield situation.

Tell everybody who gloria
was to your family.

Gloria satterfield was
more than just a housemaid.

She was a part of our family.

She helped raise paul and I
from when we were little kids.

Host: As she was raising her
own sons, brian and tony.

She was a person that,
you know, liked to joke.

She'd make you laugh.

Tony satterfield:
She was outgoing.

Everybody loved her.

Her laugh, she would
help anybody she could.

She was a wonderful mother.

She was very
trusting, very honest.

She was just a gentle soul.

Host: Gloria's sister ginger
and the rest of the satterfield

Family had every reason in the
world to trust alex murdaugh.

Alex and I went
to school together.

We actually went all through
high school and everything.

And I felt like that, even in
my own relationship with him,

Felt like extended family.

We trust the murdaughs
with everything,

And a lot of other
people did too.

He was a friend.

He was part of the family.

You know, he was
part of our family

And we were part of his family.

Host: One day,
according to murdaugh,

Gloria arrived at
the family's home

To pick up a paycheck
when she took

A hard fall on the brick steps.

Eric bland: Maggie and
paul were sleeping.

They were awakened
by the dogs barking.

And when they came
running out, they

Saw the dogs circling gloria
at the bottom of the stairs.

The first call that
maggie makes is to alex.

And she calls alex and
says exactly what happened.

And alex says, I'm rushing home.

Then she called 911.

Maggie murdaugh: My
housekeeper has fallen

And her head is bleeding.

I cannot get her up.

Dispatch: Ok.

And you said she's fallen and
she's bleeding from the head?

Maggie murdaugh: Yes.

She fell going up the
steps, of the brick steps.

Alex tends to gloria.

And according to alex he
said, "what happened?"

And gloria whispered,
"the dogs."

Host: She was rushed to the
hospital with head trauma

From the fall and her
sons met her there.

So when she got
there, I was like, hey,

Are you ok or whatever?

What happened?

Obviously she was
not able to tell me.

Host: Gloria died three
weeks later with her family

At her side.

You know, just the idea of
her not being here anymore.

When she passed, it
was just hard-- you

Know, something hard to accept.

Host: Alex murdaugh, like
so many times before,

Had already concocted a plan.

And he approached the
boys at their mother's

Funeral to set it in motion.

Tony satterfield:
He told that, you

Know, obviously he would
help take care of us guys

Or whatever.

He just told us, you know, for
us to put a claim or a lawsuit

Against them for the
insurance company

To get some of the medical
bills paid and stuff.

And then if anything was left
over it would come to us.

It came off as trustworthy,
like a friend, like a family.

There was nothing in
that conversation to me

That seemed sketchy at the time.

Host: But it was sketchy.

There were settlements to the
tune of millions of dollars,

And alex redirected the funds
into one of his bank accounts

Without telling
the satterfields.

With brian and tony
kept at bay, catastrophe

Struck for another family
close to the murdaughs.

Alex's son paul, allegedly
drove his family boat

Into this piling, killing
19-year-old mallory beach.

Her family filed a
multi-million dollar lawsuit

Against alex and others.

This time it was
not alex's idea.

It was quite the opposite.

He was going to be
confronted in civil court

By this case brought by
the beach family that was,

In his mind, at that time,
potentially going to lead

To him being fully exposed.

Host: Soon after, the
satterfield family

Saw something peculiar
in the newspaper.

Murdaugh had won money
in their mom's case.

I called tony to see
if he had heard anything.

And she's like, hey,
have you seen this?

I'm like, no.

I was more, still,
you know, no, there's

Got to be an explanation.

You know.

There's got to be a reason.

There's no way that
money was received

And the boys weren't
told about it.

I don't believe
everything that, you know,

Goes in the newspaper.

I brushed it off, like,
ok, it's probably not true.

They would never
think to question alex.

He is the knight
in shining armor.

He is the alpha and
omega at that point.

I guess you can
kind of say I really

Didn't have the courage to.

Host: But tony
didn't need to muster

Up the courage to reach out.

Alex murdaugh extended
the olive branch

Himself and exchanged friendly
texts like these with tony.

It says, "hey, man.

Just checking in.

Been working on case and
made me think about you.

Hope all is good.

Call me anytime I can help."

"hey man.

I'm doing good.

By the way, how's
the case going?

Just curious, but how are you?"

"finally getting some
movement, still a ways to go.

Doing good.

Was just thinking about
and thought I'd check in.

Hope to see you soon."

So he was able to tamp
down the satterfields

And make them believe that
he was working on their case

At a time when he
already recovered

The money, the entirety
of the $4.3 million.

Host: To add to alex's
pressure cooker,

The chief financial officer
at his law firm confronted him

About separate missing funds.

I told him that I had
reason to believe that he had

Received the funds
himself and that I

Needed proof that he had not.

Attorney: Received
those fees himself?

Yes.

Host: With the beach
lawsuit about to expose

His financial records,
the satterfields

Questioning the news of a
potential financial settlement,

And now his own firm starting
to ask questions, alex, it

Is said, was looking
for a way to get

The hounds off his scent.

For the first time
in over a decade,

It appears he was not one step
ahead of his financial schemes.

And then just hours after being
confronted in his office--

Dispatch: I have an alex
murdaugh on the line,

Calling from 4147 moselle road.

He's advising that his
wife and child was shot.

Alex murdaugh: It's bad.

It's bad.

I'll checked their pulses.

Daniel greene: Yes, sir.

Alex murdaugh: They
are dead, aren't they?

Was your instinct
about what happened?

I don't know.

My whole body went
into a sense of shock.

I can remember basically
sitting on the foot of the bed.

I had lost all
feeling in my arms.

I couldn't really move.

I was in a serious
state of shock.

Obviously your first question
is, you know, I mean,

What happened?

And then you just--

I don't know.

My body almost kind
of quit working.

I remember thinking,
like, gosh, I

Know what it feels like to lose,
like, those two people as a mom

And a brother.

My heart broke for him.

Host: As law
enforcement investigated

The murders and any
possible motive,

All eyes were on murdaugh.

Do you think I killed maggie?

I have to go where the
evidence and the facts take me.

I understand that.

And you think I killed paul?

I have to go where the
evidence and the facts take me.

The pressure during the
summer was immense on alex.

You just had the murders
of maggie and paul.

And after the murder
he was trying to pacify

And tamp down tony
satterfield by telling him,

This is not true.

It hasn't settled yet.

I'm working on it.

I'm thinking that we're going
to be able to get some money

Before the end of the year.

Host: Then on
labor day weekend--

Eric bland: The law
firm confronted him.

Host: Again.

But this time--

Alex broke and came clean, and
said, I've been stealing money.

Host: Murdaugh was forced out
of the very firm his family

Had built its dynasty upon.

Alex was desperate
at that point in time.

Supposedly he had
a life insurance

Policy for $10 million.

And so he concocted,
allegedly, this scheme

Where he was going to be shot
and killed on the roadside.

Host: That scheme,
intended as a way

To get insurance
money for buster,

Involved alex asking an
acquaintance to shoot

Him on the side of the road.

Murdaugh even
slashed his own tire

To make it look
like he had a flat

And was shot at while fixing it.

Dispatch: Ok.

What's going on?

Alex murdaugh: I stopped.

I got a flat tire--

Dispatch: Mmm hmm.

Alex murdaugh: --And I stopped.

And somebody stopped to help me.

And when I turned my back,
they tried to shoot me.

Dispatch: Oh, ok.

Were you shot?

Alex murdaugh: Yes.

But, I mean, I'm ok.

Host: The shooting scheme
didn't go as planned.

But either way, he did
survive to tell another lie.

He was caught and the
story kind of unraveled.

Alex murdaugh: And I knew I
was about to lose everything.

And I figured he's better off
that way than dealing with me.

Host: Murdaugh admitted
to staging the shooting,

And he blamed a long,
expensive drug addiction.

It was all a lie.

And lied to you.

He did.

How did that make you feel?

It made me feel horrible.

And what made me feel
even worse was what

He was actually trying to do.

And to understand that he
thought that that was going

To be some kind of benefit,
giving all the things

That I had gone through prior,
you know, disappointed me.

And, you know, I told
him-- it was like, I mean,

You should know that this
is not the way to handle it.

This is not what I needed.

You know, I needed you
here, not attempting

Some kind of suicide stunt.

Host: Days after the botched
shooting, murdaugh's firm

Released a statement saying
he stole client funds.

The satterfields were
shocked, now realizing

That article about the
settlement they brushed off

Might be true.

They hired their own bulldog
attorney, eric bland.

He uncovered that murdaugh
stole more than $4 million

From the satterfields.

So when I found out
what alex had done,

You know, I felt, you know,
betrayed, shocked obviously,

You know, because I
was not expecting that.

If I would have received
a financial proceedings

Or settlement earlier,
obviously it would

Have changed both our lives.

He stole from these
boys who needed the money,

From brian especially,
who was living

In the trailer with his mother.

And that trailer
got foreclosed on.

If he would have give them
$1,000, $5,000, you know,

It would have been
a lot to them.

And we would have all
accepted that and would

Have thought no more about it.

The whole thing was just
unbelievable, just how someone

Could just do that to
anybody, much less people

That you treat and
think of as family

And they think of you as family.

Eric bland: The
satterfield case blew

The financial crime portion
of alex murdaugh wide open.

It was the wellspring to open
up to have every other plaintiff

Look into their files.

Host: Bland is brought on by
a number of murdaugh victims

To try and unravel
all of alex's schemes,

Including the plyler sisters.

Eric bland: Unlike a lot
of the other victims,

They did get their money,
but it was with stolen money,

Not only arthur badger's money
but some of the pickney money.

And that's the relationship
between all these cases.

Some get stolen from this
person to pay this person.

Some get stolen from this
person to pay that person.

It became a ponzi scheme.

When money was due
one person, alex would

Steal it from this client.

Host: And murdaugh lived
large on those stolen funds.

Eric bland: Bought moselle,
bought a ton of farm equipment,

Bought drugs, went on
extravagant vacations

To the islands, to
europe, rented planes,

Bought boats, deep
sea fishing trips.

The lifestyle that they live,
it was a very, very affluent

Lifestyle.

Host: Murdaugh was arrested
and eventually charged

By the state and the
federal government

With more than 100
financial crimes.

Many wonder, how did he get
away with stealing from so

Many people for so long?

Eric bland: I think that there
were people that knew what he

Was doing, but are
deathly afraid to come

Forward and confront him.

You know, the rules didn't
seem to apply to alex.

Host: While in
jail, murdaugh was

Charged with the murders of
his wife maggie and son paul

And faced a dramatic trial.

He had avoided
accountability his whole life.

He had relied on
his family name.

He had a powerful family.

He lived a wealthy life.

But now finally he was
facing complete ruin.

Son was facing charges
for the boat case.

He was facing a civil action.

He had an opiate addiction.

The entire illusion of his
life was about to be altered.

Host: At the double murder
trial, before murdaugh

Was convicted, he was
asked about a number

Of his fraud victims.

Attorney: Do you remember
looking tony satterfield

In the eye and lying to him?

I remember lying
to tony satterfield

And I remember looking him
in the eye on many occasions.

Attorney: And lying to him?

Yeah.

Attorney: And hakeem
pinckney, do you remember him?

I do.

I took monies from
hakeem pinckney

That did not belong to me,
that I should not have taken.

Attorney: Who were the plyers?

Did you get a sizable
recovery in the case?

Oh yeah.

It was millions of dollars.

Did you feel like
he betrayed them?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think he betrayed everybody
that he took money from.

I am sitting here
today in no way,

Shape, or form am
I trying to justify

The financial wrongdoings.

I'm very unsettled by them.

Pretty much all of
my family members

Are also unsettled by them.

And I think it's
very, very, very bad

And very horrible
thing to do to a lot

Of people who needed help.

Host: Both the
satterfields and plylers

Are focused on moving forward.

But they'll never forget
getting caught in the storm

That is alex murdaugh.

Hannah plyler: It's definitely
opened up old wounds

That I thought were healed.

And now I have to relive and
hear about the car accident,

You know.

And it just-- it's devastating.

It is.

And it's honestly
hard to talk about.

Tony satterfield: If I could
speak to him, I would tell him,

I do forgive you.

Just because, you know, I
forgive him doesn't mean,

You know, there are not
consequences for your actions

That you caused on yourself.

Host: They're using
their voices to fight

For justice and help others.

Alania plyler: I pursued a
career in law enforcement

Because I needed to
help people and I care.

Because I know what it feels
like to not be cared for.

I know what it feels
like to not feel loved.

I feel like that gloria
hasn't died in vain.

I feel like that god has worked
it out, to bring all this out.

And I think this is god's
way of just proving to people

That if you be deceitful
and you hurt truly innocent

Honest people that
god will fight for you

And he will bring
things to light.

I want everybody
to understand,

Alex murdaugh's never going
to get a fresh breath of air.

You can rest assured that
whatever outstanding charges

Exist, either known or unknown
to us at this time, that we

Will never stop
pursuing the truth,

And we will follow
all of the evidence

Wherever it leads us to,
whatever end it takes us to.

Host: Soon after we sat
down with the plylers

And satterfields, murdaugh,
who had already pled guilty

In federal court, pled
guilty in state court

To his financial
crimes, just days

Before the first of many more
trials were set to begin.

I agree that I wrongly took
all of that money, your honor,

And did all of those crimes.

I disagree with some
of the narrative,

But not the essential elements
of the facts of the crimes.

I am guilty.

And yes, sir, I believe that
I would be found guilty.

I'm glad to finally be given
the opportunity to plead guilty.

I am happy to be pleading
guilty to these charges

For a number of reasons.

Host: Bland says his clients
can start the healing process,

And while justice is
rarely pretty or perfect,

It was served.

Murdaugh is still appealing
his murder convictions.

We will stay on top
of all the twists

And turns in the murdaugh case.

Thank you for watching.

Repair and Synchronization by
Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0