At a later bond hearing before Magistrate Judge Molly Cherry, attorney Ronnie Richter spoke, telling her that the woman whose estate Murdaugh and Fleming plundered had been the family housekeeper for 30-plus years.

“She thought she was a Murdaugh,” attorney Ronnie Richter told Cherry Thursday, detailing the work she did for the family so that Cherry understood “the depth of this betrayal.”

Neither of the sons knew about the $4.3 million or received any of the money, he said.

Fleming, Murdaugh scheme involved Satterfield estate

Fleming is now the second close associate of Murdaugh’s to be tainted by their relationship to the man considered the state’s most notorious criminal, now serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders of his wife and youngest son.

Fleming was a law school classmate of Murdaugh’s at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Both graduated in 1994 and had remained close friends.

In November, another childhood friend, former Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte was found guilty in federal court of using his bank to help Murdaugh steal money from clients who had gotten sizeable payouts in personal injury cases.

An eight-page federal criminal charging document about Fleming, made public Wednesday, said Murdaugh used Fleming’s position as a lawyer to swindle Satterfield’s sons, Tony and Brian, out of $4.3 million owed to them from Murdaugh’s liability insurance.

After Satterfield died in 2018, Murdaugh persuaded her sons to hire Fleming to represent them and submit a claim against Murdaugh to collect from his homeowner’s insurance policy. Murdaugh had insurance on his property through Lloyd’s of London and Nautilus Insurance Group.

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