Shocking Alex Murdaugh's Botched Suicide Plot Makes Claim About What Disgraced Lawyer

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Shocking Alex Murdaugh's Botched Suicide Plot Makes Claim About What Disgraced Lawyer
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Transcript

00:00 Man charged in Alex Murdaugh's botched suicide plot

00:03 makes shocking claim about what disgraced lawyer told him.

00:06 Alex Murdaugh, 55, is currently serving

00:08 two consecutive life sentences for the 2021 murders

00:12 of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

00:13 Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney

00:16 who was convicted of killing his wife

00:18 and youngest son earlier this year,

00:20 allegedly told his cousin to shoot him

00:22 because he believed prosecutors had enough evidence

00:24 to convict him of the murders, his cousin claims.

00:27 Curtis Eddie Smith, 62, Murdaugh's cousin and former client,

00:31 dropped the bombshell accusation in the second season

00:34 of the Netflix series "Murdaugh Murders,"

00:36 a seven scandal which was released Wednesday

00:38 and recaps Murdaugh's highly publicized

00:40 six-week murder trial.

00:41 Murdaugh, 55, who is serving two consecutive life sentences,

00:45 was found guilty of the murders of his wife Maggie, 52,

00:49 and son Paul, 22, this past March.

00:51 In August 2021, Murdaugh allegedly tried

00:54 to stage his own death so that his one surviving son,

00:57 Luster Murdaugh, then 26, could benefit

01:00 from a $10 million life insurance settlement,

01:03 according to past reporting by PU Pill.

01:05 According to prosecutors, Murdaugh had Smith shoot him

01:08 on the side of the road, but the shooting was unsuccessful

01:10 and Murdaugh suffered only superficial wounds.

01:13 In the episode, Smith says he asked Murdaugh

01:15 why he wanted him to shoot him.

01:16 "Caused a gunner to be able to prove

01:18 that I was responsible for Maggie and Paul,"

01:20 Murdaugh allegedly replied.

01:22 "And I knew I hadn't shot him," Smith says.

01:24 "There wasn't no blood on him.

01:25 There wasn't no blood on me.

01:27 So I went home."

01:28 Smith alleges that paranoid Murdaugh asked him

01:30 to meet him at a funeral home to discuss the botched

01:33 suicide-for-hire plot ahead of time.

01:35 At this point, it has been about two months

01:37 since Maggie and Paul were found shot dead

01:39 near the dog kennels of the Murdaugh family's

01:41 1,770-acre hunting estate in Islington.

01:45 SC authorities said Murdaugh killed his wife and son

01:48 as his substance abuse and financial problems

01:50 became overwhelming.

01:51 "And when I pulled up there and I rolled the window down,

01:54 he's coming up to my window with a gun,"

01:56 Smith claims in the episode.

01:57 "I figured I'd put some sense into him,

01:59 and I fired it in the air."

02:01 All six foot five, or minus six, of him

02:03 hit the asphalt like that.

02:05 On September 4, 2021, Murdaugh called 911

02:08 to say he'd been shot by someone driving by in a pickup

02:11 truck.

02:12 But authorities, and even Murdaugh's lawyer,

02:14 previously said Murdaugh engineered the shooting

02:16 himself.

02:17 P.U.Pill reported in 2021, "Smith was arrested on September

02:20 14, 2021, and charged with assisted suicide.

02:24 Aggravated assault and battery and insurance fraud

02:26 in connection with the shooting."

02:28 According to Today, Smith still has not yet

02:30 entered pleas to any of the charges.

02:32 Smith previously told Today that he did not pull the trigger.

02:35 "I didn't shoot him," Smith said in 2021, per the outlet.

02:38 "I'm innocent.

02:39 If I have shot him, he'd be dead.

02:41 He's alive."

02:42 Shortly after Smith's arrest, Murdaugh

02:44 admitted to his role in the failed Suicide for Hire plot.

02:47 His lawyer, Dick Harputlian, told Today in 2021

02:50 that his client wanted his surviving son

02:52 to claim life insurance monies, but believed

02:55 that $10 million policy had a suicide exclusion,

02:58 not realizing the exclusion had expired.

03:00 The shocking claim by Smith was brought to light just one day

03:03 before a judge accepted a guilty plea from Murdaugh

03:06 on charges of fraud and money laundering,

03:08 according to ABC News 4 and the Associated Press.

03:11 "I want to take responsibility," Murdaugh said in court

03:14 on Thursday, the Associated Press reports.

03:16 "I want my son to see me take responsibility.

03:18 It's my hope that by taking responsibility

03:21 that the people I've hurt can begin to heal."

03:23 The 22-count federal indictment issued in May

03:25 includes charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering,

03:29 conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, and more.

03:32 It states that Murdaugh engaged in three different schemes

03:35 to get money and property from his clients

03:37 who were working with him on personal injury cases.

03:40 It's unclear when Murdaugh will be sentenced in that case.

03:43 Some of the charges are punishable by maximum sentences

03:45 of up to 30 years, as well as fines

03:47 that could total to millions of dollars.

03:49 Murdaugh was convicted in March of both murders.

03:52 At one point during the trial,

03:54 Murdaugh took the stand in his own defense

03:56 and admitted that he had lied about his whereabouts

03:58 on the day his wife and son were killed.

04:00 He cited his mistrust of police and paranoia

04:02 that stemmed from a 20-year opioid addiction.

04:05 People previously reported.

04:06 Despite this, Murdaugh has denied killing them.

04:09 "I'm innocent," he told Judge Clifton Newman

04:11 prior to sentencing.

04:12 "I would never hurt my wife, Maggie,

04:14 and I would never hurt my son, Papa."

Shocking Alex Murdaugh's Botched Suicide Plot Makes Claim About What Disgraced Lawyer

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