Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh admitted to investigators that he hired his drug dealer to help him stage his own death.
Murdaugh’s lawyer, Jim Griffin, told The New York Times that Murdaugh struggled with opioid addiction, and Curtis Edward Smith, 61, was his primary source of oxycodone.
Murdaugh reportedly hired Smith to kill him so that his son would receive a $10 million life insurance payout that he believed would be denied if he committed suicide. On September 4, Smith shot Murdaugh while he changed a tire on the side of the road. He suffered only a superficial wound and survived.
Both men were arrested in connection to the shooting. Murdaugh faces insurance fraud charges, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false public report. He is currently free on a $20,000 bond.
For his part in the conspiracy, Smith faces charges of assisted suicide, aggravated assault and battery, insurance fraud, and various drug charges. He is being held on a $55,000 bond.
In June, Murdaugh discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, and their adult son, Paul. They were shot multiple times, and the murders remain unsolved. His attorneys maintain he had nothing to do with their deaths.
On September 3, he was fired from his family’s law firm after discovering he misappropriated funds. The next day he decided to commit suicide and hired Smith to help carry it out.
