By HEATHER RUPPE
A Walterboro man is charged with assisting in the attempting suicide of Alex Murdaugh, the once prominent lawyer-turned-embezzlement suspect whose wife and son were also shot to death earlier this year.
Curtis E. Smith, 61, is charged with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, distributing meth, possession of marijuana, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. He was taken into custody by SLED on Sept. 14th and is booked at the Colleton County Detention Center in Walterboro.
According to details and warrants released by the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 14th, Smith was hired by Alex Murdaugh to help him commit suicide. In turn, Murdaugh promised Smith a payout from his life insurance policy.
Originally, Murdaugh, who survived the very-botched shooting, claimed to have been shot in the head on Sept. 4th on Old Salkehatchie Road near Varnville while he said to have been changing a flat tire on his deceased wife’s Mercedes-Benz SUV. However, in an affidavit signed by a Colleton County Magistrate, Smith is said to have been hired by Murdaugh to help him commit suicide.
In a detailed affidavit, Murdaugh gave Smith a firearm and told him to shoot him in the head. Murdaugh promised Smith a payment from his life insurance money. Murdaugh stood in the roadway on Old Salkehatchie Road, waiting for Smith to shoot him in the head. After the shooting – which created a “superficial head wound,” according to authorities – Smith then drove to an unknown location and disposed of the firearm, the affidavit states.
Murdaugh gave these statements to SLED on Sept. 13th. He admitted to hiring Smith to murder him, so that his surviving son, known as Buster Murdaugh, could collect a life insurance policy of $10 million.
Smith has also admitted these details to SLED authorities.
Original reports from the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office said Murdaugh did not have a visible wound when authorities arrived on scene; however, updated reports said he did have a wound. SLED was called to the scene on Sept. 4th by Hampton County authorities, and SLED later confirmed that Murdaugh suffered from a “superficial head wound.” He was flown to a Savannah hospital for treatment.
From the hospital, on Sept. 6th, Murdaugh released a personal statement saying he was going to enter a drug rehab facility. Then, one day later, Murdaugh’s namesake law firm and longtime employer, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, P.A., released information that Murdaugh had been terminated for allegedly embezzling money. The law firm has confirmed these claims, but they have not released the amount of suspected stolen cash. The firm has ordered that a fiscal audit be done and they are asking their clients who might be concerned about their cases to reach out to them.
All of this comes after Murdaugh’s wife and son, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh and 22-year-odl Paul Murdaugh – were found shot to death on the family’s rural property in Colleton County in June. Alex Murdaugh is the one who discovered the bodies and made the initial 911-calls.
SLED has open investigations into the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh and into the embezzlement claims against Alex Murdaugh.
