Video After The Jump
South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh arranged for another man to kill him earlier this month so that his son could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy, authorities said Tuesday.
Murdaugh, 53, survived the Sept. 4 shooting, which happened months after the unsolved slayings of his wife and adult son. Police say that Murdaugh told 911 that he was shot in the head while changing a flat tire and that the shooting caused only a "superficial" wound.
His attorney, Richard Harpootlian, told NBC's "TODAY" show on Wednesday that his client was trying to get off opioids he was taking to get over the death of his son and wife when he became depressed. Believing his insurance policy had a suicide clause, Murdaugh enlisted a man to kill him during a "fake car breakdown," according to the attorney.
The scheme was an "attempt on his part to do something to protect his child," Harpootlian said.
In a written statement, Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, another attorney for Murdaugh, said it had become "clear Alex believed that ending his life was his only option. Today, he knows that’s not true."
"For the last 20 years, there have been many people feeding his addiction to opioids. During that time, these individuals took advantage of his addiction and his ability to pay substantial funds for illegal drugs," the statement said. "One of those individuals took advantage of his mental illness and agreed to take Alex's life, by shooting him in the head."
On Tuesday, Curtis Edward Smith, 61, was arrested on charges of assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, according to the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Officials with the agency said that Smith, of Walterboro, was also arrested on charges of distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.
Smith was being held in jail Tuesday night, officials said. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. Colleton County records show Murdaugh had been Smith’s lawyer in a 2013 speeding case, The Associated Press reported.
Additional charges were expected in the case, according to SLED.
Murdaugh allegedly gave Smith a gun and directed Smith to kill him, documents released by investigators Tuesday stated.
Murdaugh allegedly admitted to the law enforcement agency that the plan was for Smith to kill him, so that Murdaugh's surviving son could collect a life insurance policy worth approximately $10 million, according to the documents.
"Alex is totally cooperating," Harpootlian said Wednesday. "We called SLED; they didn’t call us."
He "didn’t want law enforcement to spend time on this fake crime instead of on Maggie and Paul."
Earlier this summer Margaret and Paul were found dead near dog kennels on the family's hunting property in Colleton County, west of Charleston. Their deaths have been classified by state investigators as a double homicide.
Source: NBC News
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