On Friday, South Carolina authorities released three 911 phone calls pertaining to last month’s alleged suicide-for-hire plot involving disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh.
WJCL reported that in a call placed on September 4, two witnesses told a 911 dispatcher that they spotted a bloody man, presumably Murdaugh, waving on the side of the road in Hampton County. The female caller explained why she did not help the man, who was next to an SUV. A man then takes the phone to describe the SUV, which he says is undamaged but had its caution lights on and the trunk opened.
“He looks fine but it kinda looks like a setup so we didn’t stop,” the woman says.
“Oh I don’t blame you,” the 911 dispatcher responds.
The other two calls were reportedly made by Murdaugh, 53, who claimed he was changing a flat tire on the side of the road when someone shot him in the head. He is heard telling the dispatcher that he will need EMS as he is unable to drive.
“I have trouble seeing and I’m bleeding a lot,” he says.
Murdaugh claimed the shooter had pulled over as if he was going to help him with a flat tire. He then described the shooter as being younger than him and having short hair.
The 911 calls were released by South Carolina Law Enforcement, which has since investigated Murdaugh for various crimes.
Authorities first arrested Murdaugh on September 16, alleging that he had ex-client Curtis Smith, 61, try to fatally shoot him on September 4 so Murdaugh’s surviving son would receive a $10 million life insurance payout. A day before the shooting, Murdaugh was forced out of his family law firm amid allegations he misappropriated funds. He announced he was entering rehabilitation for drugs two days after the shooting.
Murdaugh was charged with insurance fraud in connection with the September 4 shooting, while Smith was charged with assisted suicide, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and insurance fraud. Smith has denied involvement in the apparent suicide-for-hire plot. Both men were freed on bond.
However, Murdaugh was rearrested in Florida on October 14, amid accusations that he stole $3.4 million from the two sons of his late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, 57, who died in 2018 after falling on Murdaugh’s property. In September of this year, her sons filed a lawsuit accusing Murdaugh, attorney Corey Fleming, and Hampton banker Chad Westendorf of stealing $4 million from their late mother’s estate, which included payouts from a wrongful death settlement.
The disgraced lawyer allegedly devised the suicide plot following the murders of his wife and son, Maggie and Paul, 52 and 22. On June 7, Alex Murdaugh called 911 claiming he discovered Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, 52 and 22, fatally shot near some dog kennels on their 1,770-acre estate in Colleton County.
No arrests have been made in connection with Paul and Maggie’s murders. Meanwhile, Alex remains jailed without bond.
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[Featured image: Alex Murdaugh/Orange County Sheriff’s Office]
