Alex Murdaugh: The hot shot US lawyer and the hit man

Police say that prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh ordered a hit on himself so that his son could collect $10m (£7.24m) in life insurance.

The incident comes just three months after Mr Murdaugh’s wife and other son were found shot dead, the latest crime twist in a series of tragedies and scandal that has plagued the family.

Here’s what we know about the case.

Alex Murdaugh, 53, is the scion of a well-connected legal family in South Carolina. Over the course of three generations, his great-grandfather, grandfather and father all served as the top prosecutor for a five-county region in the state.

In June, Mr Murdaugh’s wife Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22, were found murdered near their home.

At the time of his death, Paul was also facing criminal charges stemming from a 2019 incident in which authorities say he drunkenly caused a boating accident that left a woman dead.

Mr Murdaugh was shot in early September. No arrests have been made in the incident, which came a day after Mr Murdaugh resigned from his law firm.

The law firm later claimed he misappropriated funds, which his lawyer says he primarily used to fund an opioid addiction. Mr Murdaugh entered rehab several days after the shooting.

Mr Murdaugh was found with “superficial” wounds to his head after being shot on a roadside on 4 September.

Originally, Mr Murdaugh’s attorneys had claimed that he was changing a tyre when an unidentified assailant shot him. He was released from hospital two days later.

Now, police allege – and Mr Murdaugh’s lawyers admit – that he arranged for a man to shoot him so that his surviving son would be able to collect the insurance money.

The shooter, a 61-year-old former client named Curtis Edward Smith, now faces a slew of criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, assault and battery, assisted suicide and possession of drugs. Mr Smith has admitted his involvement.

Although Mr Murdaugh has not been charged, police say additional charges are expected.

Mr Murdaugh’s attorney said on Wednesday that he devised the plan in the mistaken belief that his son would not be able to collect insurance money if he took his own life.

“He called this guy [Mr Smith] who met him on the side of the road and agreed to shoot him in the head,” attorney Dick Harpootlian told NBC. “It was an attempt, on his part, to do something to protect his child.”

Mr Harpootlian added that Mr Murdaugh is cooperating with authorities and didn’t want a “fake crime” to distract them as they investigate the killing of his wife and son.

Police have not charged anyone in the killing of Paul and Margaret Murdaugh in June and have not suggested that Mr Murdaugh is involved.

Speaking to NBC’s Morning programme on Wednesday, Mr Harpootlian denied that Mr Murdaugh had anything to do with their deaths.

“He is totally distraught,” Mr Harpootlian said. “He did not murder them.”

The Murdaugh case also prompted police to open an investigation into the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old found dead in the same county, less than 10 miles away.

His death was first deemed to be a shooting, but was then ruled to be a probable hit-and-run. Police have not said what information was recovered during the Murdaugh investigation that led them to look into the Smith case.

Police have no comment about possible suspects in the June deaths of Paul and Margaret.

Following the murders, Mr Murdaugh’s brothers, Randy and John, said they were unaware if the family had enemies, although they claimed Paul had received threats.

On Wednesday, attorney Mr Harpootlian said that Mr Murdaugh doesn’t know who killed his family.

However, Mr Harpootlian added that he is investigating “an individual, or individuals, we believe have some culpability or have done it”.

“We think we’ll know this week whether the one suspect we’re looking at bears further scrutiny,” he said. “We’ll make that information available to law enforcement”.

Although he declined to give further details, Mr Harpootlian said that the “motive would be personal”.

Source: bbc.co.uk