COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division on Tuesday released a 9-1-1 call from an accident involving Gloria Satterfield.

Satterfield, who worked as a housekeeper for the Murdaugh family for nearly two decades, died following what was described as a trip and fall accident at the Murdaugh’s home in Colleton County back in 2018.

In the February 2 call, a woman – identified in a call log as Maggie – is heard explaining to an operator that Satterfield had fallen, and her head was bleeding. “I cannot get her up,” the voice said.

A caller says that Satterfield fell while going up a set of eight steps outside the home on Moselle Road, and that she was on the ground and not very responsive.

The 9-1-1 operator attempted to ask questions about Satterfield’s state. A male voice on the call stated that Satterfield couldn’t talk, cracked her head on the concrete and was bleeding out of her left ear and from the top of her head.

The unidentified male on the line became agitated as the 9-1-1 operator continued to ask questions about the incident and information about Satterfield.

OPERATOR: Do you guys know who she is?

MALE: Yes, she works for us.

OPERATOR: Okay, do you know if she’s ever had a stroke or anything before?

MALE: Ma’am can you stop asking me all these questions and send us an ambulance?

OPERATOR: I already have them on the way. Me asking questions does not slow them down in any way. These are relevant questions that I have to ask for the ambulance.

Eric Bland, who represents the Satterfield Estate, released the following statement on behalf of the family:

Obviously, it was very sad for my clients to have to listen to the tape and the statements about Gloria’s injuries from the fall.  We do not read anything into the tape other than the accident happened the way that Alex described it to the family. Although Maggie didn’t mention the dogs in the 911 call as having caused the fall, Maggie seemed genuine in her concerns for Gloria. At times, both Maggie and Paul were short with and talking down to the 911 operator who was just doing her job but maybe the stress of the situation caused them to be a little too caustic with the woman who was just helping them. It is just tough for my clients to hear these things about their mother and sister. As to Mr. Murdaugh’s subsequent conduct in creating an opportunity for profit out of this tragedy, our positions as set forth in numerous court filings is unchanged.

Documents show Satterfield was airlifted to a hospital for further treatment. She later died at the hospital.

But a letter sent to SLED by Coroner Angela Topper – and released to the media in September 2021 – said that Satterfield’s “death was not reported to the Coroner at the time, nor was an autopsy performed. On the death certificate, the manner of death was ruled ‘Natural,’ which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident.”

SLED announced in September it was opening an investigation into her death “based upon a request from the Hampton County Coroner… as well as information gathered during the course of [the] other investigations involving Alex Murdaugh.”

A wrongful death lawsuit was eventually filed against the Murdaugh family on behalf of the estate and it was later discovered Alex Murdaugh had been stealing the settlement funds.

Murdaugh was arrested in October by agents with the State Law Enforcement Division and Florida Department of Law Enforcement for two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses at the time of his release from a drug rehabilitation facility in Orlando, Florida.

A second and final settlement was reached in the wrongful death case in November.