Alex Murdaugh's alleged hitman has claimed he knew nothing about the plot to kill the legal scion for a multi-million-dollar insurance...
Alex Murdaugh's alleged hitman has claimed he knew nothing about the plot to kill the legal scion for a multi-million-dollar insurance windfall until he met him by the side of a road and was told 'I want you to shoot me in the head'.
Curtis Edward Smith, 61, told the New York Times that Murdaugh - who is one of his distant cousins - was accidentally shot when he tried to wrestle the gun from him to stop him from killing himself.
Smith denied conspiring with Murdaugh, 53, saying 'betrayed' doesn't even cover how he feels after was slapped with charges for allegedly trying to save the man he 'loved like a brother.'
'I don't know if betrayed is even the word for it,' he said.
'I thought of him as a brother, you know, and loved him like a brother. And I would've done almost anything for him. Almost.'
The 61-year-old, who has been accused of being Murdaugh's opioid dealer, said he got a phone call from Murdaugh on the morning of September 4 asking him to drive in his work truck to meet him in Hampton.
Murdaugh didn't tell Smith the reason for the meeting, Smith said, but he went anyway.
Smith said he arrived at the location and Murdaugh drove past, honking his horn for him to follow in his vehicle.
When they arrived along a rural road, Murdaugh pulled over at the side of the road so Smith did the same, he said.
Smith claimed that it was only then that he learned about Murdaugh's reason for their meeting.
Murdaugh allegedly got out a loaded gun and asked Smith to shoot him in the head with it, killing him.
'I want you to shoot me in the back of the head,' Murdaugh allegedly told him.
Smith insisted he refused to do Murdaugh's bidding, allegedly telling him: 'It ain't going to happen.'
When he refused, Smith said Murdaugh moved as though to shoot himself in the head.
At this point, the alleged hitman said he grabbed Murdaugh's arm, twisting it behind his back to stop him shooting himself.
The gun accidentally discharged, shooting Murdaugh in the head, he said.
Smith, 61, is seen at his bond hearing last month at Hampton County Detention Center
Smith has denied being a co-conspirator and said Murdaugh - a distant cousin - was accidentally shot when he tried to wrestle the gun from him to stop him from killing himself
Smith said he saw Murdaugh sink to the ground holding his head and asked if he was okay.
He said Murdaugh - who only suffered superficial injuries - confirmed he was fine so he swore at the legal scion and drove off in his truck with the gun, leaving Murdaugh by the side of the road.
Murdaugh called 911 and was airlifted to hospital where he survived.
At the time, Murdaugh claimed he had been the victim of a drive-by shooting as he changed a tire by the side of the road, fueling speculation he was targeted amid the ongoing investigation into the double murders of his wife and son.
But his story quickly fell apart and he confessed to orchestrating the plot so that his surviving son Buster would receive a $10 million life insurance payout.
It is not clear what Murdaugh has told investigators about Smith's involvement in the botched assisted suicide plot.
It emerged Murdaugh was in the grips of financial ruin due to a 20-year opioid addiction which he has been accused of funding by siphoning off money from both his law firm PMPED and from a settlement for the family of his housekeeper who died in a mystery 'trip and fall.'
He checked himself into rehab days later for opioid addiction and resigned from PMPED in shame.
Murduagh in court last month after he admitted to plotting the hit so his surviving son Buster could get a $10 million insurance payout
A fire truck blocks the road on September 4 as investigators were on the scene of the shooting
Smith, according to Murdaugh's attorney, was his drug dealer and they met 'many years ago' when Murdaugh represented him in a legal case.
Police said Smith was paid by the disgraced attorney to carry out the hit making it look like a random, drive-by attach.
Murdaugh is said to have provided the gun for the shooting which Smith then drove off with and disposed in an unknown location.
Smith confessed to disposing of the gun and being present at the shooting but told investigators he wasn't in on the plot.
He appeared to maintain his innocence during his bond hearing last month muttering that 'it's all bogus' as he left the courtroom.
But, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed last month that Smith had allegedly been boasting about his involvement in the plot before his arrest.
Murdaugh in mug. Smith said 'betrayed' doesn't even cover how he feels after was slapped with charges for allegedly trying to save the man he 'loved like a brother'
Henry Vandermark, who has known Smith for more than a decade, said he had boasted that cops 'wouldn't find anything' when they searched his home and told him he was a suspect in the shooting.
Murdaugh represented Smith as his attorney in minor traffic matters as well as a 2015 lawsuit that Smith filed against a forest management company where he worked after he was left permanently disabled in a logging accident.
Smith, from Walterboro, South Carolina, had also reportedly done many odd jobs as a handyman for the Murdaughs over the years.
Smith was charged with multiple counts including assisted suicide and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
He was released on $55,000 bond.
Murdaugh was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false report and was also released on the condition that he entered an out-of-state rehab facility for his opioid addiction.
The botched hitman plot is just one part of the elaborate saga which has encircled the powerful legal dynasty family which has dominated South Carolina for the best part of a century.
Back on June 7, Murdaugh's wife Maggie and son Paul were found shot dead at the family's hunting lodge in a horrific double murder.
Buster, Maggie, Paul and Alex Murdaugh. Murdaugh's wife Maggie and son Paul were found shot dead at the family's hunting lodge in a horrific double murder
Buster (center) is hugged at the funeral for his mom and brother back on June 11. No arrests have been made for their murders
Now, more than four months on, their deaths remain a mystery with no arrests made and no suspects or persons of interest named.
Questions instantly swirled that the motive for the slayings could be tied to one of three mysterious past deaths connected to the Murdaugh family.
At the time of his murder, Paul was accused of causing the 2019 death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who was killed as a passenger in a boat he crashed while allegedly drunk driving.
Paul was due to stand trial for her death but was killed before his day in court.
Police have also reopened the investigation the 2015 death of gay teen Stephen Smith since the double murder.
The teen's death was ruled a hit-and-run, though no suspects have ever been named or charged and there was no evidence he was struck by a vehicle.
Stephen was a classmate of Buster's and there were rumors reported at the time that he was in a relationship with him.
Law enforcement also reopened the investigation into the mystery trip and fall death of the family's housekeeper of 25 years Gloria Satterfield in 2018.
Satterfield was found by Maggie on the front steps of the family home bleeding and the family said she had tripped over their dogs. She died weeks later.
Smith being escorted to jail last month over the alleged hitman plot involving the legal scion
The 57-year-old's death was not reported to the coroner at the time and no autopsy was carried out.
The death certificate cites the manner of death as 'natural' - something that is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fail accident.
This does not match the information documented in the wrongful death suit which said she died as a 'result of injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident, in Hampton County'.
Murdaugh allegedly then defrauded the Satterfield family out of a $4.3 million wrongful death settlement - which they said they had not received a dime of.
Last week, new legal documents claimed Murdaugh set up a fake firm called Forge to syphon off $3.5 million of the settlement money when it was paid out by his insurance firms.
The civil suit brought by Satterfield's sons Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriott said the payouts were redirected to what was essentially a PO Box in Hampton instead of to them.
Two other defendants were named in the civil suit - Murdaugh's old college roommate Cory Fleming, who acted as a lawyer on behalf of Satterfield's families, and Chad Westendorf, Vice President of Palmetto State Bank who took over the sons as personal representative of their mom's estate.
Fleming has his law license suspended Friday but has insisted he was also a victim of Murdaugh's deceit.
No comments