COLUMBIA, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh, the prominent South Carolina lawyer who confessed to a plot to stage his own murder so his son could receive a $10 million insurance payout, turned himself in to Hampton County police late Thursday morning.
He was booked at the Hampton County Detention Center.
Warrants were obtained for his arrest Wednesday on charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and falsifying a police report, according to the Sout Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). His case will be prosecuted by the state attorney general’s office.
A bond hearing for the charges is scheduled for 4 p.m. local time Thursday in Hampton.
The 53-year-old Murdaugh, who was shot in the head on Sept. 4, had originally told police someone shot him as he was fixing a flat tire on his car on the side of a rural Hampton County road. He was flown to a Savannah hospital for treatment, and then entered an out-of-state drug rehab facility.
Shortly after Murdaugh’s arrest, his former law firm — a firm started by his great-grandfather — released a statement saying the firm was focused on representing its clients.
“Alex Murdaugh is no longer associated with our firm in any manner,” the statement said. “Questions related to Alex’s arrest should be directed to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.”
On Tuesday, SLED accused a Walterboro man with assisting in the plot.
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.”
According to the warrants, Murdaugh gave Smith a gun and told him to shoot Murdaugh in the head so Buster Murdaugh could receive a $10 million insurance payout. Buster is Alex Murdaugh’s sole surviving son.
Smith later threw the gun away in an undisclosed location, an affidavit in the case says.
Murdaugh admitted to the botched scheme in a statement to SLED on Monday, according to the warrants.
“I can assure you that SLED agents will continue working to bring justice to anyone involved with any criminal act associated with these ongoing investigations,” said SLED Chief Mark Keel in a Thursday statement. “The arrests in this case are only the first step in that process.”
