Lawyer at centre of US crime drama to turn himself in to police

Washington: A prominent US lawyer who allegedly attempted to stage his own murder was expected to turn himself in to the authorities on Thursday to face charges of insurance fraud in the latest twist in a bizarre crime saga.

Alex Murdaugh, 53, disconsolate over the murder of his wife and son, his legal troubles and his opioid addiction, paid a man to shoot him in the head so his surviving son could collect on a $10 million insurance policy, according to his attorneys.

Murdaugh survived the September 4 shooting on the side of a country road and police have arrested Curtis Smith, 61, and charged him with assisted suicide, aggravated assault and battery, and insurance fraud.

Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh’s attorneys, told CNN that Murdaugh would turn himself in to police on Thursday afternoon to face charges of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and lying to the police.

Murdaugh’s staged murder attempt came a day after he was forced out of his law firm for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars. Police have opened an investigation into the allegations that Murdaugh misappropriated funds from the firm based in Hampton, South Carolina.

The staged hit on Murdaugh took place three months after the mysterious and unsolved shooting deaths of Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, a 22-year-old college student. No arrests have been made in their June 7 deaths, which occurred at the sprawling family hunting lodge in Islandton, in southwestern South Carolina.

One line of speculation surrounding the double murder related to the fact that Paul Murdaugh, at the time of his death, was awaiting trial on charges stemming from a February 2019 boat crash that left a 19-year-old woman dead.

One of Murdaugh’s lawyers, Dick Harpootlian, told the NBC News "Today" show on Wednesday that Murdaugh had sought to stage his own murder because he was experiencing "massive depression" and believed in error that his life insurance policy would not be paid out to his older son Buster if he himself committed suicide.