Alex Murdaugh, Curtis Edward Smith.Photo: Facebook; Colleton County Sheriff’s Office/AP/Shutterstock
The man whoAlex Murdaughallegedly hired in abotched suicide-for-hire plotwas his primary oxycodone supplier, the disgraced attorney allegedly told police.
In an interview with theNew York Times, Murdaugh’s attorney Jim Griffin said that his client struggled with addiction and that he told police that Curtis Edward Smith, 61, was the one who furnished him with the drugs.
Both men were arrested after authorities say that Murdaugh hired Smith to kill him so that his son, Buster, would receive a $10 million insurance policy. Murdaugh believed that the insurance company wouldn’t pay any money if he committed suicide.
On Thursday, agents of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) arrested Murdaugh, 53, “in connection to a shooting incident on Sept. 4 in which he conspired with Curtis Edward Smith to assist him in committing suicide for the explicit purpose of allowing a beneficiary to collect life insurance,” the state’s highest law enforcement agency said in a news release.
Murdaugh is charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. He has been released on $20,000 bond and has not yet entered a plea.
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From left, Buster Murdaugh, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, Paul Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh.Maggie Murdaugh/Facebook
The Sept. 4 incident came a day after Murdaugh was fired from the law firm that his great-grandfather started more than 100 years ago. The firm alleged that he misappropriated funds from their accounts. SLED announced on Monday that it had opened an investigation into the allegations.
Murdaugh’s arrest came more than three months after the June 7 murders of his wife, Maggie, 52, and son, Paul, 22. Police have not arrested anyone in connection with their deaths.
source: people.com
