SHADY

Judge Accused of Helping Alex Murdaugh Keep Dead Housekeeper’s Settlement Under Wraps

The settlement was allegedly kept private to protect the Murdaughs’ financial state from coming to light in a separate case, according to the complaint.

A South Carolina solicitor filed a complaint against a state judge affiliated with embattled lawyer Alex Murdaugh Tuesday, alleging the judge signed off on a private settlement to prevent the Murdaugh family’s finances from coming to light in a separate case related to his son’s fatal boat crash. According to the complaint, filed by 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe and obtained by The State, Judge Carmen Mullen signed off on a settlement to the heirs of Murdaugh housekeeper Gloria Satterfield knowing it would not be filed publicly in court, preventing those involved in the 2019 boat case—in which Murdaugh’s late son, Paul, was drunkenly involved—from gaining insight into the Murdaughs’ finances. That settlement came a month after Mullen recused herself from all matters involving the boat crash. “Judge Mullen’s pattern of alleged conduct threatens to erode public trust in our judiciary,” Pascoe wrote. “Impropriety and dishonesty by members of our State’s judiciary cause real harm to all South Carolinians.”