Curtis Edward Smith, 61, of Colleton County, has been charged with assisted suicide; conspiracy to commit insurance fraud; pointing and presenting a firearm; and assault and battery of a high and aggravated character, according to a law enforcement division of South Carolina.
According to the affidavit filed to support the charges, Murdaugh allegedly conspired with Smith in the Sept. 4 shooting, providing him with the firearm and instructing Smith to shoot him in the head.
According to the affidavit, the purpose was for Smith to kill Murdaugh so that his son could take out life insurance of approximately $ 10 million.
Murdaugh, who survived the shooting, entered the scheme Monday, according to the affidavit. On Tuesday, Smith admitted to being present at the Murdaugh shooting and disposing of the firearm, according to the affidavit.
Murdaugh is described as a co-defendant in the affidavit, although no charges have been announced against the 53-year-old lawyer.
SLED said additional charges are expected in the case. Smith has also been charged with methamphetamine distribution and marijuana possession, according to SLED.
It is unclear whether Smith has retained legal counsel at this time. CNN has contacted a spokesman for the Murdaugh family to comment.
Immediately after the shooting, Murdaugh called 911 to report that he had been shot on a Hampton County highway, according to a statement from SLED spokesman Tommy Crosby. He was taken to a hospital in Savannah, Georgia, where he was treated for a “superficial gunshot wound to the head,” according to the statement.
The following week, a family spokesman issued a statement stating that the injury was more serious and explaining more details of the incident.
“Alex stopped after seeing a low tire indicator light. A male driver with a blue pickup truck asked him if he had any problems with the car, as soon as Alex responded, he was shot,” the communiqué.
Notable family in South Carolina
Murdaugh is a member of a well-known family in South Carolina legal circles. The Murdaugh family has had three generations as an applicant for Circuit 14, which runs processes for Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties in the southern part of South Carolina.
More recently, they have been embroiled in a series of bloody tragedies, including the fatal shootings of Murdaugh’s wife and son, Margaret and Paul, in June.
The day before the shooting incident, Murdaugh had resigned from the law firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED), according to the firm.
Days later, the firm said Murdaugh’s resignation came “after PMPED’s discovery that Alex had misappropriated funds in violation of PMPED rules and policies.”
His license was subsequently suspended, according to the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Randy Murdaugh IV, Alex Murdaugh’s brother and also a lawyer for the PMPED law firm, issued a statement on the waiver in which he acknowledged what lawyer Jim Griffin would later specify as Alex Murdaugh’s opioid addiction.
“I was surprised, like the rest of my PMPED family, to find out about my brother, Alex, drug addiction and money theft,” Randy Murdaugh wrote in the statement.
SLED announced Monday that it has opened an investigation into Murdaugh based on allegations of the misappropriation fund.
A family tragedy
Two days after the shooting, Murdaugh issued a statement saying he was in rehab.
“The murders of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult time in my life. I have made many decisions that I truly regret,” she said in the statement. “I am resigning from my law firm and entering rehab after a long battle that has been aggravated by these murders. I deeply regret all those I have harmed, including my family, friends and co-workers. I ask for prayers while I rehabilitate myself and my relationships. “
On June 7, Alex Murdaugh called 911 and reported that he found his wife Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22, shot outside his home in Islandton, a small community in about an hour north of Hilton Head Island, according to the SLED. .
Colleton County Sheriff’s deputies determined the two victims had multiple gunshot wounds.
His brothers, John Marvin Murdaugh and Randolph “Randy” Murdaugh IV, soon after spoke to “Good Morning America” about the murders and said they did not believe Alex was involved.
“My brother loved Maggie and loved Paul like nothing else on this earth, just as he loves Buster (his other son),” Randy told GMA. “So there’s no possible way to have anything to do with it, I can assure you.”
The SLED asked the public to withhold the trial until the investigation is complete.
While investigating the deaths of mother and son, SLED gathered information that prompted them to reopen an investigation into the unresolved death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, whose body was found on the road in 2015 in the county. of Hampton, the agency said.
CNN’s Melissa Alonso and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.