SLED charges man with assisted suicide in Alex Murdaugh shooting for $10M insurance payout
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Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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This story first published on Sept. 14, 2021.
A Walterboro man was arrested in Colleton County on Tuesday in the Sept. 4 shooting of Alex Murdaugh, according to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.
Curtis Edward Smith, 61, is facing one count each of assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, SLED’s Tuesday night news release said.
Smith is accused of conspiring with Murdaugh to assist Murdaugh’s suicide, the arrest warrants say.
According to the warrants, Murdaugh gave Smith a gun and told him to shoot Murdaugh in the head so Buster Murdaugh could receive a $10 million insurance payout. Buster is Alex Murdaugh’s sole surviving son.
Smith later threw the gun away in an undisclosed location, an affidavit in the case says.
Murdaugh admitted to the botched scheme in a statement to SLED on Monday, according to the warrants.
Alex Murdaugh has not been arrested in the case, but SLED indicated Tuesday night “additional charges in the case are expected.”
Smith has also been charged with distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.
Smith’s arrest is the latest surprising turn of events in an ongoing case that has captivated the state and involves grisly murders, the death of a young woman in a deadly boat crash, the alleged theft of millions and the fall from prominence of what was once one of South Carolina’s most respected legal families — the Murdaughs, three generations of whom held the solicitor’s office in the southeastern part of the state for more than 80 years.
The arrest documents dispute the account of the shooting provided by Murdaugh’s attorney in the days after the shooting.
On Sept. 4, Murdaugh, 53, was airlifted to a Savannah hospital and treated for “a superficial gunshot wound to the head,” according to SLED.
But attorney Jim Griffin said Murdaugh pulled off Salkehatchie Road in Hampton County on Sept. 4 because he was experiencing car trouble. Murdaugh got out of his car when a blue pickup truck passed by, Griffin said. The truck turned around, he said. The driver drove back to Murdaugh, “rolled his window down, came to a stop, and asked if he had car trouble,” Griffin said, and then shot Murdaugh.
Griffin, who spoke to reporters the week of Sept. 6, said he was repeating a version of events provided him by the Murdaugh family.
Murdaugh called 911 and reported the shooting himself, but the audio of that call has not been released by law enforcement.
A warrant in the case described the shooting this way: ”On Sept. 4, 2021, Mr. Smith followed Mr. Murdaugh to Old Salkehatchie Road and shot Mr. Murdaugh as he stood in the roadway. After shooting Mr. Murdaugh in the head, Mr. Smith drove to an unknown location where he disposed of the firearm. Mr. Murdaugh survived the shooting and was transported to the hospital for treatment.”
Two days after the shooting, Murdaugh released a statement announcing he was resigning from his family’s law firm and entering drug treatment.
Hours later, his law firm, Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth Detrick, released a statement accusing Murdaugh of taking money from the firm, saying the firm confronted him on Sept. 3, and Murdaugh’s response was that he intended to resign. SLED announced this week that it was investigating the allegations of missing money. The amount of money in question is around $5 million, a source familiar with the case said.
On Monday, the warrant said, Murdaugh gave a statement to SLED “admitting to the scheme of having Mr. Smith murder him for the purpose of having his son collecting a life insurance policy valued at approximately ten million dollars.”
On Tuesday, the warrant said, Smith “admitted being present during the shooting of Mr. Murdaugh and disposing of the firearm afterwards.”
The warrant did not say what kind of firearm was used to shoot Murdaugh.
The 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, which prosecutes cases for five counties, said last week that Murdaugh would no longer be authorized to volunteer with the agency or prosecute cases on its behalf. The S.C. Supreme Court has suspended his law license.
Murdaugh murders
The arrest in Murdaugh’s shooting comes in the midst of national attention on the unsolved murders June 7 of Murdaugh’s younger son, Paul, and wife, Maggie, at their Colleton County estate. Alex Murdaugh called 911 to report that he had discovered their bodies.
National news outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post are following the case.
On Monday night, national cable news network CNN aired a special 10-minute report on the Murdaugh saga and deaths linked to the family — a segment that mentioning several other deaths allegedly linked to the Murdaughs besides the June 7 slayings. Those deaths included the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, whose body was found on a rural road in Hampton County, and the 2019 drowning of Mallory Beach, 19, who died after a boat crash near Parris Island.
Paul Murdaugh was charged with felony boating under the influence in that crash and was awaiting trial at the time of his murder.
A student at the University of South Carolina, Paul Murdaugh, 22, was shot in the head and upper body with a shotgun, while his mother, 52, was killed with what appeared to be an assault rifle, sources familiar with the investigation said, adding that casings were recovered at the scene. Their bodies were found separated from one another on the ground at the family’s estate in Colleton County.
Their deaths have prompted rumors and speculation, especially in the state’s legal and law enforcement communities, where Alex Murdaugh, his law firm and his family are widely known. Murdaugh’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather ran the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office for nearly a century.
Nearly three months after the murders, SLED has yet to make an arrest or announce a suspect or a motive.
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This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 11:04 PM with the headline "SLED charges man with assisted suicide in Alex Murdaugh shooting for $10M insurance payout."
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