Alex Murdaugh, the scion of a prominent legal family in South Carolina's Lowcountry, was charged in connection with an investigation into missing funds from a settlement involving the death of his longtime housekeeper, authorities say.
Murdaugh was taken into custody in Orlando, Florida, after he was released from a drug rehabilitation facility there, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED. He will be held until an extradition hearing and faces two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.
Murdaugh's arrest — his second in two months — is the latest in a twisting saga that has raised questions about the family's powerful connections.
"My wife and child were just shot badly," he said after finding their bodies near dog kennels on the property. His personal life unraveled when his attorneys say he hired a friend and former client, Curtis Edward Smith, to kill him over Labor Day weekend so that another son, Buster, could benefit from a $10 million life insurance policy.
Griffin said Smith stood about 5 feet away when he met Murdaugh on a rural road in Hampton County and obliged his request by firing a .38-caliber revolver at his head. Griffin also responded to questions regarding why Murdaugh appeared to have no visible head injuries when he appeared in court last month, even though he insisted to police that Smith shot him.
Smith, 61, has said that Murdaugh had called him and asked to meet him on the roadside with his work truck. When he got there, he saw that Murdaugh had a gun and it appeared he was going to shoot himself, which is when Smith said he intervened. The gun fired. Once Smith realized that Murdaugh was OK, he said he drove off.
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