South Carolina

Alex Murdaugh will turn himself in after alleged suicide plot with $10M insurance payout

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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.

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Hampton lawyer Alex Murdaugh plans to turn himself in to law enforcement on Thursday after police obtained an arrest warrant to charge him with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, his lawyer said.

Murdaugh is expected to leave an out-of-state drug rehabilitation clinic on Thursday and voluntarily surrender in Hampton, according to his lawyer Jim Griffin.

Griffin said they learned Wednesday that the S.C. Law Enforcement Division obtained a warrant for Murdaugh’s arrest.

“The arraignment and bond hearing will be held at 4 p.m. at the Hampton County Magistrate Court,” Griffin said.

Murdaugh’s lawyer did not disclose which drug treatment facility Murdaugh was staying in.

On Tuesday, SLED accused a Walterboro man with assisting in a suicide plot to shoot Alex Murdaugh on Sept. 4 in Hampton County, in order for Murdaugh’s surviving son to collect a $10 million life insurance policy.

The man, Curtis Edward Smith, is a former client of Murdaugh’s from a 2010 personal injury lawsuit.

SLED accused Murdaugh of conspiring with Smith, calling him a “co-defendant.”

Although Murdaugh’s former Hampton County law firm has alleged he stole substantial amounts of money from the firm, no criminal charges have been placed against Murdaugh in that case.

SLED said it is investigating the accusations of Murdaugh taking funds from the firm.

News of Smith’s arrest shocked South Carolinians as details of the alleged scheme emerged. This was the first arrest in over three months after SLED began investigating the murders of Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son on June 7.

SLED has not indicated Smith’s arrest is related to the murders, and Murdaugh has maintained his innocence.

This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 8:32 PM with the headline "Alex Murdaugh will turn himself in after alleged suicide plot with $10M insurance payout."

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Jake Shore
The Island Packet
Jake Shore is a senior writer covering breaking news for The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. He reports on criminal justice, police, and the courts system in Beaufort and Jasper Counties. Jake originally comes from sunny California and attended school at Fordham University in New York City. In 2020, Jake won a first place award for beat reporting on the police from the South Carolina Press Association.
JM
John Monk
The State
John Monk has covered courts, crime, politics, public corruption, the environment and other issues in the Carolinas for more than 40 years. A U.S. Army veteran who covered the 1989 American invasion of Panama, Monk is a former Washington correspondent for The Charlotte Observer. He has covered numerous death penalty trials, including those of the Charleston church killer, Dylann Roof, serial killer Pee Wee Gaskins and child killer Tim Jones. Monk’s hobbies include hiking, books, languages, music and a lot of other things.
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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.