A South Carolina man who was accused of shooting prominent lawyer Alex Murdaugh, 53, in a staged suicide attempt claims he was set up and that the lawyer shot himself after his gun accidentally went off while he was waving it in the air.
Curtis Smith, 61, of Walterboro, South Carolina, who has been charged in the September 4 botched suicide plot, allegedly used to sell drugs to Murdaugh.
'It was the craziest situation I ever been involved with. I was set up to be the fall guy,' he told the New York Post. 'I know what they're trying to say about me and it ain't true.'
Since the shooting, Murdaugh has admitted a 20-year opioid addiction, and has been checked into an out-of-state rehabilitation facility - without GPS monitoring - after being released on $20,000 bond while he faces charges for misappropriating millions from his legal firm.
The shooting came only months after Murdaugh's son Paul and wife Maggie were gunned down and murdered in their hunting lodge in Islandton on June 7. No arrests have been made in that case.
Murdaugh admitted to his lawyers around September 13 that he hired Smith to kill him so his surviving son Buster could collect the $10million insurance policy.
But, Smith claimed the twisted story is completely false and claims that the Labor Day weekend shooting was accidental.
A South Carolina man who was accused of shooting prominent lawyer Alex Murdaugh, 53, in a staged suicide attempt claims he was set up. Curtis Smith, 61, of Walterboro, South Carolina, who has been charged in the September 4 botched suicide plot, allegedly used to sell drugs to Murdaugh
He told the New York Post that he didn't conspire with Murdaugh about the assisted suicide attempt, but that he got a call from Murdaugh that Saturday afternoon.
'I get a call from Alex that Saturday afternoon to come to where he was and I thought it was maybe to fix something,' Smith told the New York Post.
Smith didn't question it and got into his silver Chevy pickup and 'went over there.'
He said when he got to the rural stretch of Old Salkehatchie Road, he found Murdaugh in his car. When the lawyer got out, he was waving around a gun.
Smith said he wrestled with him to get the gun before it went off and he ran.
'The gun kind of went off above his head and I got scared to death and I ran to my truck and took off,' he told the Post.
Smith, who was still in possession of Murdaugh's gun, said he didn't look back and didn't know how badly the other man was injured. Murdaugh had no visible injury when he arrived at his bonding hearing on Wednesday.
Smith, who doesn't have any legal representation yet, but hopes to find one 'with a bone to pick' toward the family, said: 'I never did nothing. I've never heard anyone. It's that simple.'
He also claimed he was 'naïve' to be caught up in the family's drama.
Murdaugh's lawyer also alleged that Smith was Alex's longtime drug dealer, which he denies.
Murdaugh's other son Paul (second to right) and his wife Maggie (middle) were gunned down and murdered in their hunting lodge in Islandton on June 7. He has one remaining son, Buster (left)
Controversy is not far from the family: Paul (pictured) was accused of driving a boat recklessly while drunk in 2019 and killing Mallory Beach, 19, (pictured). An investigation has also been launched into the family's longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield's accidental death after she apparently had a 'trip and fall' accident inside the family's home
Despite being 'set up,' Smith admitted to the New York Post that he didn't hold a grudge against Murdaugh, but advised him not to mess with him.
'I wouldn't advise him to try to set me up. I'd strongly advise against that,' he told the Post.
Curtis has been 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
The Murdaugh family has been wrapped up in controversy lately after their belated son Paul crashed a boat in 2019, killing a girl and the mysterious death of the family's longtime housekeeper.
Paul Murdaugh, 22, was accused of driving a boat recklessly while drunk when it smashed into Archer's Creek Bridge in Beaufort County in February 2019.
There were six friends on board, including Mallory Beach, 19, who died when she was thrown from the vessel. Her body was found on in the water by a fisherman a week later.
Murdaugh was later charged with three felony counts, including causing Beach's death. He was awaiting trial when he and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, were found gunned down on their hunting estate in Islandton in June. Their murders remain a mystery.
The longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield's children recently filed a lawsuit involving a huge insurance payout that was tied to the woman's death.
Satterfield, 57, apparently had a 'trip and fall accident' inside the Murdaugh's home, which killed her. The exact details of the fall remain unclear to this day.
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