Lawyer says Murdaugh retrial reopens wounds for victims of financial crimes

HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - A lawyer who represented victims of Alex Murdaugh’s financial crimes said the Supreme Court’s decision to grant Murdaugh a new murder trial is reopening old wounds for people who have been trying to move on with their lives.

Eric Bland, a Lowcountry attorney who represented the sons of Gloria Satterfield, said he disagrees with the South Carolina State Supreme Court’s ruling.

“I don’t agree that Becky Hill had such a profound effect on the jury that, as the Supreme Court said, she ‘put her thumb on the scales of justice,’” Bland said.

The state Supreme Court ruled Murdaugh is entitled to a new trial on charges he murdered his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, because the clerk of court at the time of the trial influenced the jury. The court also said prosecutors focused too much on Murdaugh’s financial crimes in his original 2023 murder trial.

A Colleton County jury convicted Murdaugh of the murders in 2023 after a six-week trial. That conviction has been thrown out.

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Financial crimes connection

Prosecutors made the case that Murdaugh committed the murders to distract from his mounting financial problems, including that he defrauded the sons of his former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, for millions of dollars after she died at the Murdaugh family estate.

Bland represented Gloria Satterfield’s sons. Tony Satterfield, one of the sons, testified at the 2023 murder trial.

“This all just brings up the bad memories of their mother and how she died, and how they were manipulated and exploited by Alex and Corey Fleming. So they’re not looking forward to, you know, a second trial,” Bland said.

It is unknown whether Tony Satterfield will be asked to testify again, given the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Despite getting a new trial on murder charges, Murdaugh will remain behind bars as he serves a 27-year state sentence and a 40-year federal sentence on the financial crimes.

“He’s on the Mount Rushmore of some of the most dastardly criminals our society has ever produced, and at the end of the day, we still want to be able to say he got the trial that he was entitled to under the Constitution,” Bland said.

No retrial date has been set. Attorney General Alan Wilson says his office is seeking to retry immediately, but with Wilson running for governor, Bland said he thinks a new trial would take place sometime in 2027.