Disgraced South Carolina legal scion Alex Murdaugh will surrender to police on Thursday for allegedly hatching a botched suicide plot to claim millions of dollars in life insurance payout for his son, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Murdaugh's decision to surrender comes after an arrest warrant was issued on Tuesday.
A bond hearing for Murdaugh is set for 4 pm on Thursday at Hampton County Magistrate Court, his attorney, Jim Griffin said. The news comes amid a series of shocking secrets being unearthed about the beleaguered attorney and his family.
Wise Decision
Murdaugh's decision to surrender comes a day after police said that the disgraced lawyer orchestrated his own shooting in a botched assisted suicide plot wherein his plan was to secure $10 million in life insurance claims for his only surviving son. Murdaugh's wife and youngest son were tragically killed in June.
Following that, Murdaugh's law firm also accused him of stealing money. In between, on September 3, Murdaugh allegedly orchestrated his own roadside shooting so that his surviving son could get $10 million in life insurance. However, the plan didn't fall in place and after Murdaugh survived the September 4 shooting he was airlifted to hospital.
Two days later, he checked himself into rehab for substance abuse. Curtis Edward Smitt, the man who Murdaugh allegedly hired to shoot him in the botched plot was arrested Tuesday.
All these were revealed following an investigation and Murdaugh has now finally decided to surrender to police.
"We have been informed that there is a warrant for his arrest for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. He plans to voluntarily surrender tomorrow and the arraignment and bond hearing will be held at 4 p.m. at the Hampton County magistrate court," Griffin says in a statement on Wednesday.
Still in the Dark
Police in addition to investigating Murdaugh's botched suicide plot is also probing the misallocation of millions from his law firm. Besides, they are also investigation newly revealed 'trip-and-fall' death of his housekeeper in 2018, and the murder of his wife and son in June.
Police started a probe into the mysterious death of Murdaugh's longtime housekeep, Gloria Satterfield, and are now suspecting foul play. Satterfield, 57, died in February 2018 after "a trip and fall accident" in the family's home, according to a new lawsuit filed by the housekeeper's children.
On the other hand, Smitt, a former client of Murdaugh, who is also a suspected drug dealer, was charged with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, one of Murdaugh's attorneys, Dick Harpootlian, said on NBC's Today that the June 7 murders of his client's wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, and the death of his father, Randolph "Buster" Murdaugh Jr., 81, of cancer three days later, had left him in a "massive depression."
According to Harpootlian, on the day of the shooting, Murdaugh was in the midst of a withdrawal from opioids. However, Hartpoolian has also insisted that Murdaugh is innocent in the June 7 murder of wife and son, and claimed that the identity of the true killer could be revealed as soon as this week.
