Police investigating the double murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh have also reopened the case in a 2015 hit-and-run by teenager Stephen Smith
July 8, 2015: Teenage boy Stephen Smith dies
Smith was found on the side of the road.
Police are officially classifying his death as a hit-and-run, but he sustained blunt force trauma to his head.
His mother has since shared her belief that she believes he was killed in a hate crime because he was gay.
Case notes from revealed that Paul’s older brother Buster was named multiple times in the investigation.
The police wanted to know more about his relationship with Stephen.
Stephen’s mother said he had an affair.
Years later, one of Paul’s friends said in an affidavit that the family had “covered up” other murders.
He mentioned Smith’s death.
February 2, 2018: The Murdaugh family’s housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, dies
Gloria Sattlerfield, housekeeper of the Murdaugh family, dies
Gloria died after falling down the stairs at the family home
The family gave her family $500,000 for a wrongful death, but it’s unclear why her death was deemed her fault.
Alex Murdaugh was named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Satterfield was only 57 when she died.
She left behind a husband and children.
Her death was also mentioned in the testimony of Paul Murdaugh’s friend.
February 23, 2019: Mallory Beach dies after being thrown from a boat driven by Paul Murdaugh
Mallory Beach, 19, died in February 2019
Paul was later charged with drinking and behaving “aggressively” that night.
He had been released on bail.
One of the six teenagers on board testified that they were afraid to talk about the Murdaugh family because they knew how to “cover things up”.
The boy named Stephen Smith and the housekeeper and claimed Paul pushed Beach off the boat.
June 7, 2021: Paul and Maggie are murdered
The mother and son were found shot to death at the family home in Islandton, South Carolina.
Alex Murdaugh says he found her in the house.
The coroner said the couple had been dead an hour at most when he discovered them.
It was later revealed that Alex waited an hour to call 911 about her death.
Alex’s son Paul, 22, (left) and his wife Maggie, 52, (right) were found dead of multiple gunshot wounds at the family’s hunting lodge on June 7
Alex’s father, Randolph Murdaugh III, died “peacefully” at home three days after Maggie and Paul were found dead
June 10, 2021: Alex’s 81-year-old father, Randolph Murdaugh III, dies “naturally” and “peacefully” at home
Alex Murdaugh’s alibi for the night his wife and son were murdered was that he was visiting his ailing father in the hospital.
The father died just three days later as a result of cancer.
September 3, 2021: Alex resigns from his law firm amid allegations that he has misappropriated funds
The company hired a forensic investigator to review the accounts.
September 4, 2021: Alex calls 911 and claims he was shot in the head in a drive-by
He only had “superficial” wounds and was also able to call his brother.
September 6, 2021: Alex resigns from the law firm
In a statement, he said: “I’m resigning from my law practice and entering rehab after a long struggle that aggravated these killings.”
September 14, 2021: Police arrest a suspected killer in Alex’s shooting
Police said Alex Murdaugh staged his own shooting in a botched benefit scheme designed to allow his surviving son to collect a $10 million life insurance payment.
Curtis Edward Smith, 61, was arrested on charges of assisting suicide, assault and assault, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
Smith, of Walterboro, South Carolina, is a former client of Murdaugh, who represented him on minor transportation matters and in a 2015 lawsuit Smith filed against a forest management company.
According to police, Murdaugh paid him to shoot him in the head and kill him, making it look like a random drive-by attack.
September 15, 2021: Police launch a criminal investigation into the 2018 death of Satterfield
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) announced that it is investigating the 2018 death of Gloria Satterfield and the subsequent handling of her estate.
Satterfield, 57, was Murdaugh’s housekeeper and nanny for around 25 years when she suffered a fatal brain injury following a mysterious fall at the Murdaugh family home.
She died a few weeks later on February 26, 2018.
SLED said that Hit opened a criminal investigation into Satterfield’s death based on a request from the Hampton County Coroner and “information gathered during the course of our other ongoing investigations into Alex Murdaugh.”
September 16, 2021: Alex reports to the police about insurance fraud
Murdaugh turned himself in to police in connection with the insurance fraud scheme, where he arranged his own killing so his surviving son could collect a $10 million payout.
He faces charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and making a false police report.
November 29, 2021: Murdaugh faces 27 new charges after being charged with alleged financial crimes totaling $4.8 million
Murdaugh was charged with 27 additional charges, with prosecutors saying he stole nearly $5 million in settlement funds he received for his dead housekeeper, an injured state police officer and others, as well as fees for his legal practice.
December 6, 2021: Satterfield’s family is suing Bank of America for allowing Murdaugh to hide life insurance funds intended for them
The bank has been included as a defendant in the trial of Murdaugh, who is accused of cheating Gloria Ann Satterfield’s sons out of life insurance money after the housekeeper’s mysterious death.
Statterfield’s sons say the bank looked the other way when it allowed Murdaugh to set up a fake account and wire insurance payments to himself and a cousin.
June 28, 2022: Alex Murdaugh and Curtis Smith are charged with drug trafficking
Murdaugh is accused of writing 437 checks valued at $2.4 million that Curtis Smith – the man he hired to assassinate him – cashed over eight years to September 2021.
Smith kept some of the money for himself and used the rest for wide-ranging illegal activities, according to indictments released June 28.
According to prosecutors, this illegal activity included a “distribution network” for the painkiller oxycodone.
Both men were charged with possession, manufacture or distribution of narcotics.
Russell Lafitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank, is facing charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and misappropriation of bank funds for allegedly helping Murdaugh steal money from his clients’ settlements
July 21, 2022: Palmetto State Bank CEO faces bank fraud charges for “helping Murdaugh steal money from his customers”
A federal grand jury has indicted Russell Lafitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank, of allegedly conspiring with Murdaugh to steal $8.5 million from his client’s settlements.
He is accused of bank fraud, wire fraud and misuse of bank funds.
November 8, 2022: Lafitte faces a federal trial
The federal trial of Lafitte for bank fraud began Nov. 8.
The Associated Press reported that defense attorneys Bart Daniel and Matt Austin argue that Murdaugh manipulated people and lied to Lafitte.
They say he was just a pawn following Murdaugh’s instructions and did not knowingly participate in the alleged fraud.