South Carolina lawyer who plotted own shooting will turn himself in for arrest - media

[September 16, 2021]  (Reuters) - A prominent South Carolina attorney whose wife and son were murdered in June and who conspired with a man to have himself shot dead so a surviving son could collect a $10 million insurance payout will surrender to authorities on Thursday, an ABC affiliate reported.

Alex Murdaugh's attorney confirmed to WCIV on Wednesday night that South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division had issued warrants for Murdaugh's arrest.

Murdaugh's attorney said his client would turn himself in on Thursday and will go before a magistrate for a bond hearing on charges of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud Thursday afternoon in Hampton County, according to the media report.

Murdaugh, a 53-year-old attorney who survived the Sept. 4 shooting, has admitted to plotting with Curtis Edward Smith, 61, to cause his own death, according to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division affidavit made public on Tuesday.

Murdaugh's addiction to opioids and the onset of a "massive depression" over the deaths of his wife and son drove him to arrange for his own shooting, NBC reported earlier, citing comments by his attorney.

Murdaugh was listed as a co-defendant in the case involving Smith, who faces charges including assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, police said.

The developments are the latest twist in a saga involving the prominent lawyer, whose family members have for decades served as local prosecutors in Hampton.

On June 7, Murdaugh's wife Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22, were shot and killed outside of the family's hunting estate. Murdaugh reported their deaths to 911, which remain under investigation.

The insurance payout was to benefit his surviving son, Buster.

Earlier this week, the police announced that they were investigating Murdaugh after his former employer, local law firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth, & Detrick, alleged that he had misappropriated funds.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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