Man charged in Alex Murdaugh shooting is ‘fall guy’ in failed murder scheme, SC lawyer says
READ MORE
Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
Expand All
A lawyer for the Colleton County man accused of shooting Alex Murdaugh in the head as part of a staged murder attempt said Murdaugh is making his client out to be “the fall guy.”
Curtis Edward Smith, 61, plans to plead not guilty to charges brought by S.C. Law Enforcement Division in a Sept. 4 shooting, Smith’s lawyer, Jarrett Bouchette, said in an interview.
SLED accused Smith of conspiring with Murdaugh, a suspended Hampton lawyer, to shoot the lawyer in the head so Murdaugh’s son could receive a $10 million life insurance payout. Murdaugh lived, and both men were charged.
Bouchette, a Surfside Beach-based defense attorney, said that’s not what occurred, according to his client. Bouchette said Smith never knew about any alleged scheme. The basis for SLED’s charges is apparently what Murdaugh told police, he said.
“It appears to be based primarily upon Mr. Murdaugh’s testimony, because the whole alleged scheme as best as I can tell came to the attention of SLED through Mr. Murdaugh,” Bouchette said on Tuesday evening.
Asked by phone for comment, Murdaugh’s lawyer, Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, said, “No comment. That would be my comment.”
Tommy Crosby, a spokesperson for SLED, said it would be inappropriate to speak about the case while it’s ongoing.
‘The gun did go off’
On Sept. 4, Bouchette said, Murdaugh called Smith and told him to bring his truck, which he “presumed to mean he was going to do some kind of work helping fix something.”
Smith did odd jobs for Murdaugh, and they maintained a friendship over the years, he said. After Smith received the call, he met Murdaugh on Old Salkehatchie Road, a rural road in Hampton County.
According to SLED’s affidavits, the two men met “for the purpose of Mr. Smith assisting Mr. Murdaugh to commit suicide.”
“Mr. Murdaugh provided Mr. Smith with a firearm and directed Mr. Smith to shoot him in the head for the purpose of causing Mr. Murdaugh’s death,” according to SLED’s affidavit. “And allowing for the payment of a stated death benefit to a beneficiary of the insured, Mr. Murdaugh.”
But Bouchette said Smith was not aware of any insurance fraud scheme or plan to shoot when he went to meet Murdaugh.
He said when Smith arrived that Murdaugh was “suicidal.”
“I don’t think there’s any dispute from the co-defendant (Murdaugh) or his attorneys that during this time period (Murdaugh) was going through either withdrawals or was in a serious opioid episode,” he said.
Bouchette confirmed what Smith had said to the New York Post in an interview earlier this month.
“The gun did go off at some point while (Smith) was trying to wrestle the gun away from (Murdaugh). That would seem to make sense given the scene he arrived upon,” according to Bouchette.
Smith left “scared” and “in a temporary state of shock,” according to his lawyer.
He said Smith disposed of the gun, “which, given the emotional reaction that he had, I think that’s certainly understandable,” Bouchette said.
Alex Murdaugh’s injury?
In the late afternoon of Sept. 4, news broke that Alex Murdaugh had been shot in the head and hospitalized.
Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh’s lawyers, told reporters that Murdaugh pulled off on the road because he was experiencing car trouble, when a person in a passing blue pickup truck shot Murdaugh.
In the week after the shooting, Griffin said the events he described were what Murdaugh had told him. That included descriptions of injuries — Griffin said Murdaugh had an entry and exit wound, a brain bleed in two places, and a skull fracture.
Regarding Murdaugh’s injuries, Bouchette said Smith “didn’t say one way or another, but as far as I’m aware he did not see any injury.”
At a bond hearing for Alex Murdaugh’s charges on Sept. 16, viewers noted that Murdaugh’s head appeared unscathed from the shooting. His lawyers maintained he sustained head injuries.
Opioid addiction
On Sept. 13, Murdaugh gave a statement to SLED “admitting to the scheme of having Mr. Smith murder him for the purpose of his son collecting a life insurance policy valued at approximately ten million dollars,” according to the affidavit.
On Sept. 14, SLED charged Smith with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
That same day, Smith told SLED only that he was present during the shooting and disposed of the gun afterwards, the affidavit said.
Two days later, Alex Murdaugh turned himself in after warrants were obtained for charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and falsifying a police report.
During the Sept. 16 bond hearing, Murdaugh’s lawyers painted a picture of a man struggling with a 20-year opioid addiction who made a mistake.
“He has had a tremendous opioid addiction. The death of his wife and son have put him over the edge in terms to that addiction,” Harpootlian said in court. “That is why one of the major reasons he was considering having himself killed.”
Talking to reporters after the hearing, Harpootlian said Smith was Murdaugh’s drug dealer for about a decade.
Bouchette disputed that.
He said his client denied ever having dealt drugs to Murdaugh. Bouchette said Smith has had no prior charges related to drug use.
However, on Sept. 14, Smith was charged in Colleton County with distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana. Warrants said the drugs were found when police executed a search warrant on his home in Walterboro.
A former client of Murdaugh’s, Smith used to play softball with Murdaugh, Bouchette said. They stayed in touched and had a close friendship, he said.
As to whether Smith had any involvement in the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh on June 7, Bouchette said no.
“There’s no evidence of that at all,” he said.
This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 9:02 PM.
_fitted.png)
