The morning of June 7, 2021 — the same day Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son were found murdered at the family estate in Colleton County — a partner of Murdaugh’s law firm confronted him about missing legal fees.
That stunning disclosure was made Tuesday by prosecutor Emily Limehouse in her opening statement on the first day of the financial fraud trial of Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank.
At the time of the murders, Murdaugh’s hidden life was beginning to unravel, Limehouse told the jury.
The disclosure, which Limehouse did not elaborate on, was apparently meant to show the pressure Murdaugh was under at the time his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, were killed as his financial life was coming under increasing outside scrutiny.
Limehouse did not identify the partner, nor did she elaborate on the partners’ conversations Tuesday.
Murdaugh, an unindicted co-conspirator in Laffitte’s trial, was charged in July by the state with murder.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Although Murdaugh is not charged criminally in Laffitte’s case, his name will figure prominently throughout the trial as he is alleged to have taken part in many of Laffitte’s alleged criminal actions and transactions, lawyers said Tuesday.
Laffitte, 51, is in Charleston federal court accused of being Murdaugh’s accomplice in schemes to misuse nearly $2 million of money belonging to Murdaugh’s clients that had been deposited in Laffitte’s bank.
In her opening 45-minute statement, Limehouse told jurors that Laffitte and Murdaugh were among the most powerful people in their Hampton County community, as Laffitte controlled money through his bank and Murdaugh was a prominent member of a powerful law firm.
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Limehouse told jurors.
The government will show that Laffitte and Murdaugh not only conspired to steal nearly $2 million but they were engaged in a cover up to conceal their misdeeds, Limehouse said.
“Laffitte was Murdaugh’s point of contact and really served as Murdaugh’s personal banker,” Limehouse said.
Murdaugh would bring Laffitte large sums of money from settlements and Laffitte would set up conservatorships. Laffitte then would help Murdaugh steal money from those conservatorships, Limehouse said.
Laffitte would profit because he used the money in conservatorships Murdaugh brought him to give himself big loans, Limehouse added.
“Their absolute corruption has brought us here today,” Limehouse said. “Why would Laffitte do all this for Murdaugh? Because Laffitte made hundreds of thousands of dollars from Murdaugh.”
Russell Laffitte’s defense
In his opening statement, Laffitte’s lawyer Bart Daniel portrayed his client as a victim of Murdaugh’s, whom Daniel described as “a master manipulator and a world class con man, ... an evil genius, patient and cunning and brilliant.”
The jury will see that Laffitte cooperated extensively with the FBI and the State Law Enforcement Division, Daniel said.
“The measure of a man is when he’s confronted is how he acts,” Daniel said, stressing that Laffitte went out of his way to help both law agencies find documents that are now evidence in the case against him.
Laffitte was indicted on state charges earlier this year by a state grand jury but has not yet been tried.
But Daniel told the jury Tuesday that SLED did not like what Laffitte was telling then.
“It did not fit their narrative, and they rushed to indict him,” Daniel said.
Daniel did not elaborate on SLED’s attitude toward Laffitte, saying Laffitte “made mistakes, he’ll tell you that.”
But, he added, Laffitte’s main mistake was trusting Murdaugh, a man who even fooled his own law partners, who are “shrewd, sophisticated lawyers, some of the best lawyers in the state of South Carolina,” he said.
And what has come to pass with all the various criminal accusations is “the most unbelievable story anybody has ever heard,” Daniel said, adding, “If it were a John Grisham novel, or a movie, you would say, ‘That couldn’t happen.’”
“I have never come across a more complicated figure than Alex Murdaugh. Everyone trusted him, ... and many loved, that’s right, loved, Alex Murdaugh,” Daniel said. “Alex Murdaugh helped people every day. He was friends with everyone. He never met a stranger, he was empathetic, he seemed to care for everyone. He knew everyone’s names and knew the names of their children.”
Despite Murdaugh’s seemingly caring nature and a “very, very big personality,” Daniel said teere was another side to him that not even his own family saw.
“He tricked, fooled and he stole from his clients” including his family members, law partners and vulnerable people, Daniel said.
Keep in mind, Daniel said, that the government is alleging that Laffitte borrowed money from conservatorships.
“Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea, but it certainly wasn’t illegal,” he said.
In contrast to all the sensational allegations, Daniel described Laffitte as mostly “a homebody,” and ”not the kind of guy to go partying around.” Laffitte, Daniel said, likes nothing better than to have dinner at home with his wife, Susie, and their two children.
Laffitte is not required to testify, but “a team of wild horses couldn’t keep Russell Laffitte off that witness stand,” Daniel said.
“I want you to remember throughout this case that Russell Laffitte always acted in good faith, and he never received a single cent of Alex Murdaugh’s stolen money,” Daniel told the jury.
State calls first witness: Norris Laffitte
Norris Laffitte, a member of the Palmetto State Bank’s board of directors, was the first witness for the government.
Under questioning by prosecutor Winston Holliday, Norris Laffitte testified that as the summer of 2021 wore on, he became increasingly concerned at what he was learning about Russell Laffitte’s efforts at the bank to make loans to Murdaugh, who was overdrawing his accounts at the time.
Russell Laffitte is a cousin of Norris Laffitte.
Norris Laffitte said he learned that Murdaugh had apparently lost his job at his law firm, that he was trying to use property that wasn’t his as collateral for loans and that Murdaugh was using money in conservatorships that Russell Laffitte oversaw.
“This is a horrible offense,” Norris Laffitte testified. “You are not supposed to take people’s money and use it that way. Banks live on trust.”
When Charlie Laffitte, Russell’s father and the bank chairman, learned that his son had initiated a highly questionable payout of $680,000 to help Murdaugh, he said the bank would make good on the payments, Norris Laffitte testified.
Charlie Laffitte’s attitude was, “We are going to pay this $680,000, don’t get in the way of it,” Norris Laffitte testified.
Holliday asked Norris Laffitte if Charlie Laffitte’s attitude followed bank procedure.
Norris Laffitte replied, “It doesn’t come close.”
Once, on learning about one of Russell Laffitte’s actions with the bank’s money, Norris Laffitte testified that he was so shocked he had to stop the car he was driving and pull off the road.
All the bank’s top officials and members of the board of directors are members of the Laffitte family, Norris Laffitte testified.
So is Jan Malinowski, the bank’s executive vice president, who is married to a Laffitte, Norris Laffitte testified.
Norris Laffitte’s testimony was so long and complex that Judge Richard Gergel, at 5:40 p.m., finally halted testimony because the jury’s attention was flagging.
Testimony will continue 9 a.m. Wednesday.
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