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He faces charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report, according to a statement from the Law Enforcement Division of Caroline from the south. The case will be pursued by the state attorney general’s office.
An SUV containing Murdaugh pulled into the Hampton County Law Enforcement Center late Thursday morning, and Murdaugh was seen exiting the vehicle shortly after entering a door.
“I can assure you that SLED officers will continue to work to bring justice to anyone involved in any criminal act associated with these ongoing investigations,” SLED chief Mark Keel said in the statement. “The arrests in this case are only the first step in this process.”
The murders of his wife and son on June 7 have not been resolved and Murdaugh has denied responsibility.
Murdaugh decided to end his life but believed his life insurance policy had a suicide exclusion, his other lawyer Dick Harpootlian told NBC’s “Today Show” and that the scheme “was an attempt on his part. to do something to protect “his eldest and only living child.
Murdaugh appeared in court Thursday, where Hampton County investigating judge Tonja Alexander posted a personal bond of $ 20,000. Murdaugh had to surrender his passport to SLED and sign an extradition waiver.
Harpootlian said in court that Murdaugh would return to an out-of-state rehab facility where he is being treated for an opioid addiction which Harpootlian says contributed to his financial woes.
Murdaugh entered the courthouse in handcuffs, dressed in a beige prison jumpsuit and mask, his glasses perched above his head. At one point, Murdaugh appeared to wipe tears from under his glasses as Harpootlian described the murders of his wife Margaret and son Paul and the toll of their deaths.
“He fell out of favor,†said Harpootlian. “But before this fall happened, his wife and son were brutally murdered, and it had an amazing effect on him. So we ask that you allow him to go and help him heal himself.”
If Murdaugh leaves the facility without permission, the judge said, his bail will be revoked and an arrest warrant will be issued against his arrest.
Former client charged with suicide scheme
Smith, 61, was charged Wednesday with assisted suicide, grievous and aggravated bodily harm, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Hampton County Judge Alexander on Thursday set the bond for Smith at $ 55,000. When asked if he was interested in a public defender, Smith replied, “I’m probably going to watch one, yes,” adding that he would probably ask for one early next week.
Alexander ordered Smith to appear on appeal on October 25 at the Hampton County Courthouse. Smith must get a lawyer within 15 days or his bond will be revoked, Alexander said, and he must notify the court of any change of address.
Smith had a separate bail hearing Wednesday in Colleton County and received a $ 5,000 cash bond for a methamphetamine charge and a personal recognizance on a marijuana charge. He was transferred to the Hampton County Detention Center on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
Authorities initially described Murdaugh’s injury as a “superficial gunshot wound to the head,” although Murdaugh’s lawyers said his skull was fractured in the shooting.
Murdaugh allegedly provided Smith with a gun and ordered him to shoot him in the head. Smith admitted on Tuesday that he was present during the shooting and disposed of the gun afterwards, the affidavit states.
Murdaugh had represented Smith as an attorney on at least two occasions since 2010, according to court records from the 14th Colleton County Judicial Circuit. He first represented Smith in a personal injury lawsuit that Smith brought against a land management company. Murdaugh is also listed as Smith’s attorney for a traffic violation in 2013, according to court documents.
Authorities are now investigating several deaths
Murdaugh’s arrest on Thursday is the latest development in what has become a sprawling, high-profile criminal saga unfolding in the southern region of Palmetto state, where the Murdaugh family has been a powerful legal dynasty for decades.
For 87 consecutive years, three generations of Murdaughs served as the 14th Circuit Lawyer, an office that monitors prosecutions in Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.
Tragedy first struck in early June, when Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son Margaret and Paul, 22, were gunned down outside the family home in Islandton, about an hour north of the island of Hilton Head, according to SLED. Colleton County Sheriff’s Deputies determined that the two victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing Influence Boating (BUI) charges causing grievous bodily harm and death in a 2019 boating accident that claimed the life of Mallory Beach, 19 years old, according to court records. spectacle. Paul had pleaded not guilty and court records show the charges were dropped after his death.
About two weeks after the murders, SLED announced that, based on information gathered during the investigation, it was reopening an investigation into the death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old whose body was found on a road County of Hampton in 2015.
The inquest has been opened, SLED said, at the request of the Hampton County Coroner, who highlighted inconsistencies with Satterfield’s reported mode of death, as well as information gathered in other ongoing inquests. SLED involving Alex Murdaugh.
“The deceased’s death was not reported to the coroner at the time, and no autopsy was performed,” the coroner told SLED. “On the death certificate, the mode of death was rated ‘natural’, which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip-and-fall accident.”
CNN’s Eric Levenson, Amanda Watts, Gregory Lemos, Melissa Alonso, Caroline Kenny and Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.
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