Wednesday’s hearing was scheduled as a bond hearing, but Murdaugh and his attorneys requested a formal trial. Asked if he was guilty or not guilty, Murdaugh, who appeared in the Walterboro courtroom wearing a white shirt and khaki pants, replied, “Not guilty.” Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found dead on the evening of June 7, 2021, after Murdaugh called 911 to report discovering their bodies on the family’s property in Islandton, South Carolina. He has denied involvement in their deaths, saying he was visiting his mother at the time they were killed. The murder charges are only the latest — though by far the most serious — brought against the now-disaffected scion of one of the state’s most powerful political families. For more than three generations, a member of the Murdaugh family has served as an attorney for the 14th Judicial Circuit, which oversees prosecutions for several counties in a region of South Carolina’s low country. Indeed, in the courtroom where Murdaugh appeared Wednesday, a portrait of his late grandfather, one of the attorneys, hung on the wall. Murdaugh was already being held in Columbia on $7 million bail for other alleged financial crimes related, in part, to allegations that the once-prominent attorney stole millions in a death settlement from the family of his late housekeeper Gloria Satterfield. South Carolina authorities launched an investigation into Satterfield’s death last year after questions arose about her death and how it was handled. The housekeeper died at the Murdaugh home in 2018 in what Murdaugh described as a “trip and fall” accident. According to South Carolina law enforcement, Murdaugh coordinated with Satterfield’s family to sue himself and reach an insurance settlement, saying he would give the family the proceeds. But he secretly deposited about $3 million of that money into an account he owned, according to affidavits released by SLED. It’s just one of the twists the Murdaugh saga has brought: Authorities have reopened the investigation into the unsolved death of a 19-year-old in 2015. Murdaugh has resigned as a lawyer for a prominent legal team. admitted to struggling with opioid abuse. and faces dozens of charges accusing him of stealing money from customers. Many of these developments came after an incident last September when Murdaugh called police to report a gunshot wound to the head. He soon admitted conspiring with another man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance payout, according to court documents. CNN’s Dianne Gallagher reported from Walterboro, South Carolina, while Dakin Andone reported and wrote this story in New York. CNN’s Ray Sanchez and Randi Kaye contributed to this report.
