"Murdaugh” Episode Nine | The Roadside Shooting

JIM : September 3rd of 2021, Alex Murdaugh's law firm calls a meeting to discuss $1 million missing from the firm's coffers.

JIM : They meet with Alex, who agrees to resign and shocks the firm when he blames the theft on a 20-year-old addiction to paying pills.

JIM : Then, the very next day, the police are dispatched to the side of a highway after Alex Murdaugh is shot in the head.

JIM : Welcome to Exposed, Scandalous Files of the Elite, Murdaugh, Episode 9, The Highway Shooting.

JIM : Hey everyone and welcome back to Exposed Scandalous Files of the Elite. I am your host Jim Chapman and we are continuing the Murdahl series with this ninth episode. But before we get into it, just quickly I want to thank everyone for listening, sharing, and especially rating the podcast. That is the most important part.

JIM : If you're enjoying the content, please give us a rating. Wherever you listen, there should be some option to rate the podcast. I can't tell you how much it helps. So thank you so much for doing so. And to our Patreon celebrity members, thank you so much for all you do to support Exposed Scandalous Files of the Elite.

JIM : We have a lot of big stuff coming up. So stay tuned for all of that. Now, the last time we left you in the Murdahl series, Alex Murdahl had conducted his second. Official interrogation was SLED. And we learned a lot. Most notably, we learned that he was indeed the primary suspect in the murders of his wife and son.

JIM : So after leaving that interrogation, as you can imagine, major panic set in for Alex Murdaugh. And police continue investigating. They're digging deep, right? The noose is starting to tighten. On Alex Murdaugh. And then, just two months after that second interrogation, on September 4th of 2021, this happens.

ALEX MURDAUGH: 10-10-911, what is the emergency? On Salkahackie Road. Okay, what's the address on Salkahackie Road? I'm by the church. What church?

ALEX MURDAUGH: What church are you talking about? I don't know the name of it with the red roof.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Oh, okay. And what end of sarcastic rule? Because I don't know what you're talking about. At the Hampton County side.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay, and what's going on? I got a flat tire. And somebody stopped to help me. And when I turned my back, they tried to shoot me. Oh, okay. Were you shot? Yes. But, I mean, I'm okay. You shot where? Where were you shot at?

ALEX MURDAUGH: They actually shoot you. They probably shoot you. They shot me. But, okay, wait. You need EMS? Well, I mean, yes. I can't drive. Okay. I'm bleeding a lot. Where's your body? I'm not sure. Somewhere on my head. Your head? Somebody just stopped for me, Ma'Am. For 911. Okay. Okay, let me speak to him, see if he can tell me exactly where you are. Okay, I see. That's very good. Okay. Yeah, hurry, please.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay, and what's your name? I'm still here. I'm going to stay on the line with you. What's your name? Alex Murdock.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes, Ma'Am. Yes, Ma'Am. Yes, Ma'Am. Yes, Ma'Am.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And can you give me a description of the person that shot you or shot at you? Yes, Ma'Am. I mean, it was a white fella.

ALEX MURDAUGH: I'd say the white hair, a fair amount younger than me, really, really short hair.

ALEX MURDAUGH: You have an ambulance coming in? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Stay on the line. I got them on the way. You think one of Y'All can drive me to the hospital? Yes, sir. You want to get the truck, though? Because I think one of Y'All can get in this car and drive me? They're going to drive me to the hospital. Ma'Am.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yeah, it could be chronic.

ALEX MURDAUGH: 911, where's your emergency? My law team, this young lady is driving me to the hospital. She's carrying you to the hospital? Yes, Ma'Am. Okay, and who is this? This is Alec Murdoch. I was on the phone a minute ago. Okay, all right. He said they're taking him to the hospital.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Oh yeah, we got a flat tire. Sorry. Ma'Am, I need the ambulance. You need the ambulance? Okay. Are you still in the same location? Yes, Ma'Am. Okay. Which way are Y'All heading?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Are Y'All driving down the road?

ALEX MURDAUGH: No, Ma'Am. I got a flat tire. Okay. Sit tight right there, okay? Yeah, you can sit.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay, yes sir, we're still here. We're still here. Hold on, we're in this section. Now, I'm giving them information. Where are you at? All right, now they're taking me to the hospital. Okay, so where are Y'All traveling?

ALEX MURDAUGH: We're coming down Salkahatchee Road to the hospital. Y'All coming down Salkahatchee? Ma'Am? Y'All coming down Salkahatchee Road to the hospital? Yes Ma'Am. Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: They said that they're coming down Salkahatchee Road towards the hospital. We're going to keep EMS en route to you, okay?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay. Are you coming off of Walterburg Highway? We'll be at Walterburg Highway in 10 minutes or so. They said in about 10 minutes or so they'll be in Walterburg Highway..

ALEX MURDAUGH: What kind of vehicle are you in? A White Nissan Rogue. It's a White Nissan Rogue. It's a White Nissan Rogue. White Nissan Rogue. Is the glasses on? This time, there's no 2017 to the hospital.

ALEX MURDAUGH: You're still on the...

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yeah, this is the... Okay. You're still 17. Do you have your flashes on, on the vehicle? Is the flashes on? Is the flashes on?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yeah. How's that flow?

ALEX MURDAUGH: They're on Baltimore Highway. All right, we see the ambulance, so we can fly over.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay, tell them we're in the white car. Nissan Rogue on Waterborough Highway. They are pulling over. They see the EMS.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay, do you stop?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I see them. Yeah, Waterborough Highway? And where? They're here. Okay.

JIM : Okay. I'm going to hang up now. Okay. So let's break this one down. Alex Murdaugh calls 911, and he claims he gets a flat. He pulls over on the roadway, and someone pulls over. He assumes that person is pulling over to help him, and as soon as they get out of the car, they shoot him in the head.

JIM : They drive away, he calls 911, and while he's on the phone, some people pull up. They notice him in distress, right? And they even offer to drive him to the hospital. Now, some odd things that I picked up on in that 911 call prior to that while listening to it.

JIM : He apparently gets in that car with those good Samaritans, we'll call them, but he's concerned about getting blood from the hole in his head on the car. Now, that just struck me as strange. I don't know. I mean, it's very nice of him, I guess. But if one is shot in the head, it just seems weird to me to be concerned about that. Now, eventually, they drive off. He's still on the phone with 911.

JIM : They see the ambulance. They pull over so that Murdahl can get into the ambulance. And let me deviate for just a second from this. Could you imagine being those people in hindsight of everything that has happened with the Murdahl case since then? I mean, talk about getting pulled into a story.

JIM : These people, I bet to this day, have one heck of a story to tell. Yep, we gave a lift to Alex Murdahl when he was shot in the head. Holy smokes, could you imagine being those people now? I don't know, I just thought about that after I heard that 911 call. So I'll get back to it. And as you know, news travels really fast, especially anything to do with Murdahl.

JIM : So almost immediately following him going to the hospital, an article comes out reporting that Alex Murdahl was shot. And it reads like this. Nearly three months after his wife and son were savagely murdered in a still unsolved double homicide.

JIM : Lowcountry South Carolina attorney Alex Murdahl, who remains a person of interest in that ongoing investigation, was wounded in a shooting in Hampton County. Murdahl was reportedly airlifted to the Parkers Emergency And Trauma Center in Savannah, Georgia on Saturday afternoon with at least one gunshot wound in the aftermath of the incident.

JIM : Agents of the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, known as SLED, were called to the crime scene at the request of the Hampton County Sheriff's Office. SLED has been requested to investigate a shooting that occurred in Hampton County, that from Tommy Crosby, an agency spokesman.

JIM : Crosby declined to identify Murdahl as the victim of the shooting initially. However, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed the 53-year-old lawyer was the individual who was wounded. Shortly before 6 p. m. On Saturday, SLED confirmed the Hampton County case it was investigating involves Alex Murdaugh. The person involved is Alex Murdaugh.

JIM : Our agents are actively investigating the incident. The shooting reportedly took place near Vaughanville, South Carolina, on a highway road, a location which was confirmed by defense attorney Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh's lawyers. Griffin told reporters that his client stopped on the side of the road after experiencing car trouble while traveling to Charleston, South Carolina from his home.

JIM : Alex was changing a tire when a car passed him. The vehicle turned around and someone in the car shot him. Griffin further told reporters the shots were fired from the truck that had passed Murdahl on the road and circled back as he was working on his vehicle.

JIM : As of this writing, there is no information available as to any suspects being sought or apprehended in connection with the shooting. Again, as such information becomes available, it will be passed on. That didn't take long. And, you know, when I read that article, it almost seems like even the media was already having doubts as to the legitimacy of this.

JIM : But one thing that was for sure, Alex Murdaugh 100% had a gunshot wound to his head. There was no debate there. Now, as if police were not busy enough with all the other Murdahl-related things going on, they are now investigating his attempted murder.

JIM : In the meantime, just three days after the shooting, on September 7th of 2021, it comes out that Alex Murdaugh is accused of stealing $1 million from his law firm. I say comes out because the law firm actually met with Murdaugh regarding this million dollars on September 3rd, which was just one day prior to the highway shooting incident.

JIM : So the partners in the firm, they confronted Alex and... After being confronted about this million dollars, Murdoch agreed to resign from that law firm. In a statement, one of his attorneys, Jim Griffin, said that Alex resigned from the law firm after being accused of diverting lawyers fees.

JIM : These allegations prompted him to confront his dependency and he voluntarily checked into an inpatient substance abuse rehab facility after being charged from the hospital on Monday. So, as you would think would happen, on September 8th, the next day, Alex's law license was temporarily suspended by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

JIM : And also on September 8th, Randy Murdaugh, his brother, releases a statement to denounce the criminal actions against his brother. He said he was shocked just as the rest of his... Law family to learn my brother Alex's drug addiction and stealing of money. I love my law firm, my family, and I also love Alex as my brother.

JIM : While I will support him in his recovery, I do not support, condone, or excuse his conduct and stealing by manipulating his most trusted relationships. So four days pass. Alex is about to check out of the hospital. And after that, he's going to go to a rehab facility. This is on the 13th of September of 2021.

JIM : And investigators from SLED that were investigating the roadside shooting, they arranged for an interview with Alex in the hospital the day he's checking out and his counsel via phone call. So it was in this interview in particular that Alex finally broke on many things. This interview was played during Alex's trial.

JIM : That was the first time anybody heard it. So you're going to hear a break or two during which the prosecution is going to clarify some things for the jurors. But it's extremely important that you hear this. So here it is. It's that full interview with Alex Murdaugh on September 13th, 2021.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Right now, my all day with SLED. How are you? Hey, my name is Joe. Yes. We're in a office in Atlanta. I can get and I'm here.

ALEX MURDAUGH: You know, let me start. First of all. We only have about 30 to 40 minutes before we can get out of here. Okay. Okay. No problem, sir. Sorry about that. We, you caught me. I was halfway to summerville. So I had to turn around and get into a place or. We got in here. We got a long. Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And. We want to keep our television wandering around. Okay. Well, let's get started. Can we just have, for the purpose of our notes, you know, obviously, we prefer not to do telephone interviews. This is how Y'All requested, so obviously, you know, we don't really have a choice. But we just, I'm going to need Alex to identify himself, you know, on the call.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And, you know, basically what we do is I'm going to ask him his His date of birth and the last board of his social. Okay, go ahead. Alex, this is... Hello. Give me your full name. Okay, Richard Alexander Mervick. Okay, and what's your date of birth? My date of birth is May 27, 1868. Last board of his social. 7483.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay. And I understand, you know, obviously this is a unique situation conducting this interview over the phone. We need to, obviously you've been receiving some treatment. So are, you know, just for the overall, you know, sake of your competency to be giving us information, are you right now, you know, sound body, sound mind?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes, sir. Okay. Are you talking to us willingly? Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Dick, go, go ahead, sir. Let me take the record. It's attorney Jim Griffin and Dick Ardick in here. We spent the last hour talking to him. We believe, that he is a found body. He's minded by the evidence. He's got to say that he is no way. Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: We're going to talk about the experience since the week ago Saturday where he was shot in the head. And why it was done. Okay. We don't want to talk about what happened in Modell, and we don't want to talk about when he was involved in the final visit at the law firm. Is that okay? Yes. Okay. So.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Let's talk about last Saturday morning. Let me go through this briefly. Did you meet with and talk to last Saturday morning? I met with Bill Gibson at PTSD. I met with Chris Wilson at my mom's house. Okay. And you and Chris were talking about what?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Everything I've done. Everything you've done. I'm concerned. You know, last, now, when you take me, first of all, I'm back up to say, is that a longstanding pot to cotton or? Yes, sir. How many years?

ALEX MURDAUGH: That's, I can remember, around 20 years, 18 to 20 years. Now, on this particular day, on this Saturday, were you taking the oxygen? I was taking some, but, you know, I was taking it off that I had someone else. And I was taking some at like 4 a. m., so I was having some withdrawal.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And, they do come out about your. And then we can find money to offer money back, right? And how do you find it? Mind at that time? And play, what does that mean? I thought it would be better for me. Not anymore. What do you mean by that? It would make it easier on my family.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Well, for me, he did. He was your family's death. I had a fair amount of life insurance debts.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Now, it's locked in my head for like $10 million, $12 million. And so you decided to end your life. Yes. And tell me, what happened? How you went about arranging that? I called Senator Sandy Smith on the telephone. Senator Sandy Smith is the man who produced after he failed for years and he was making a lot of money.

ALEX MURDAUGH: In my records, it may be a week where there would be $50,000, $60,000 that you would give him for pills. Yes, sir. Did you know he was called? Yes, sir. I met him that day. I'm not sure, but I asked him. Was it after you met with him, brother? It was after I met with him. I think you met with him.

ALEX MURDAUGH: That's when you call them. He met me out not too far from my mom's house where he was on the side of the road. I think he had to kill him. Did Y'All call? Not there. He followed me in town over where I stopped by the Sunoco gas station.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Did Y'All have a discussion there? Yes, sir. Did Y'All get out of your car? I don't think we got out of our car. And what did you call you in? I was in my wife's Mercedes. And what was the deal? He was in a gray pickup truck. And what did Y'All discuss?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I told him that things were getting ready to get really bad, and that I would be better off not here. And I asked him to excuse me.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And you asked him to do it right what was his response you know i think at first he was a little surprised but then he said okay did you tell him where you wanted him to do this yes sir where did you tell me one and you said did you tell him i didn't know right back what can you do yes sir He called me out and said I would make a flat tire and he would go past me and turn around and come back and do it.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And he called you up? He did. How? Where did he get the gun? I gave it to him. Where did he get the gun? He stopped. Did Y'All have a discussion there? Did Y'All have a discussion? I'm not sure.

ALEX MURDAUGH: I was worried about cars coming and it was a very fast turn. What weapon did you get? A revolver pistol. What caliber? 38. Yes, sir. And so he called you out to where? To the Hatch Brothers. You pulled off the road? Yes, sir. You pulled off the road with this? I stopped.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Made my car last. How did you make your car last? With a knife. Good night. Nice. What did you and I bet we made a car? Good. We saw it. That's the way. Walk the road. Walk the road. Get there. And there's a voice over there. I did. You know, get dressed. Let's get dressed. You did that. He passed you. He passed you if you were doing that.

ALEX MURDAUGH: I think that he had already passed me and was in front of me and went down the road. He turned around and come back. Now, when he was coming back and you gave him an official, what was your intent? He went and killed me. And when he was back, he didn't stop, didn't pull up, you know? He did. And when he pulled up, did you look in his face? I don't think so.

ALEX MURDAUGH: I stood close to his car. He shot me. Where did he hit you? He missed and hit me in the back of the head. And as we were being hit in the back of the head, did that have any physical effect on you? It did. What else?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I lost my vision for a little bit. I'm not sure if it got me to the ground or not, but I was disoriented. It took me like a minute and a half to get here from my site to come back. You remember the drive-off? Drive-off? It was beyond two hours. Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: You came here then. Did you do some of that? I came back. Okay. And what was the first time you were coming from the hill? I remember there were two cars that came, and one of them got stopped, and one of them did stop.

ALEX MURDAUGH: One of the jobs they did they tried to help me in getting me to the amp and in any way that first first we got in and they were crowded in their car for some reason why their car was crowded and i'm not sure what that was but so the young lady got in my car and was gonna drive me to the hospital and What are they thinking about the flat side?

ALEX MURDAUGH: So we had to get out of that. And then they worked it out somehow to me to be able to get in their car and. Passion mistakes.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Can you meet Angela? How do you want to get you called 9? Yes, sir. And. At my request, your intention to have him still use the car here wasn't my plan, but I knew I was about to lose everything. I figured he's better off that way then, even with me.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Now, this gentleman, this doctor, he's sitting in that car, standing there, service 30, sure, one-time vehicle, he's on. Great job.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Just i think i'm probably not how long was it we already discussed again before you know sir how long is this brand fire between the signs then we were passed the sonoco station in barnville and how long after that to be able to how long it takes to drive from there to Fuck, I actually read it.

ALEX MURDAUGH: More than half an ounce? I don't think so. Did he ever ask you to reconsider? If you're saying, God, same dark, same sadness, did he ever, you know, convince you to do otherwise? No, sir. You find that's great. I think, yeah. I'm so concerned.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay. Thank you, sir.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes, sir, we are. Okay. Yep. So, Alex, so, how long have you known Curtis Smith?

ALEX MURDAUGH: And this is Ryan officer kelly before we start i just want to tell you i apologize for you for lying and you in the hospital wasn't very bad play no so we understand we understand and i do appreciate you you know you know kind of you know helping us figure this out now so that's in the past so let's just focus on what we're doing now how long have you known Curtis I've known him for years. I represented him.

ALEX MURDAUGH: He knew my dad somehow for playing softball, and he came to my dad with a lawsuit, and I handled that case. So I would guess 10, 12 years ago. How often would Y'All talk on the phone? Very frequently.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay. And what would Y'All talk about? Getting pills. Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And you would pay him money to get you pills, correct? Yes, sir. Okay. How often would you pay him?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Frequently. Okay. Well, I mean, once a week, twice a week?

ALEX MURDAUGH: It would vary sometimes, but it was several times a week. How would you pay him? In cash, and mostly in checks, but in some cash, too. Okay. And what accounts would those checks come from? The vast majority of them would come from the Bank Of America account, but there would also be some funds that would come from the Colorado State account. And whose accounts are those? Mine.

ALEX MURDAUGH: The Bank Of America accounts are in my name, and then there's another account there that I created that's the DBA. That's my name, DBA Ford, and then my second account at Home And State Bank. Okay, so there's two accounts at Bank Of America? Yes, sir. The DBA, and then you're checking? Yes, sir. Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And what is the DBA board or gd thank you okay and then the palmetto is your was the other checking account yes sir okay and and who is he so you were paying him the money do you know he was who he was getting the drugs from let me tell you oh i was told that he got him from a black guy in walterborough and i was told that he had some connections in the universe but did he give you a name no sir i never i never saw those guys i never dealt with those guys so i don't know that's what he told me would you ever give anybody else money for drugs yes sir who else did you get money I have given Kenny Hughes money.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Who's Kenny Hughes? He's a guy that I called up and asked him if he knew anybody that he could get pills from. And I told him he had a client that had issues and couldn't get them medically.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And I would pay him as well, but I called him up and asked him to do it. All right. How much money do you think you gave him? I have no idea. Okay. Did you write him a check or pay him cash? So. Okay. All right. Did you pay anybody else? No, sir. So it was just Curtis Smith and Kenny Hughes.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes sir sure about that thank you in the past i have paid other people okay who are those other people i had a lady that worked at our house that at our mom's house that who's that Barbara nixon but that was on a very very few occasions and you pay her a casting check or how'd you pay him i'm not sure that was on very limited occasion okay is there anybody else Nothing I can think of right now.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay. So the.38 revolver, it was your revolver? Yes, sir. Okay. Where did you get that from? It was at my mom's house. When did you pick it up? When I went up there that day.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Do you know where it is now? No, sir. So you gave the gun to Curtis. And you don't know what he did with it? That's correct. Has anybody in your family had any communications with Curtis recently? I don't know.

JIM : Why?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Well, because when we interviewed him, he said he had to talk to his attorney first, and he listed you. And then when we said that wasn't possible, he listed Randy. So we're just trying to figure out. Randy's not going to represent you. And let me say this, maybe. Hold on, Doc, one more question. Does Randy have any knowledge of this?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Does Randy have any knowledge of what? Of this attempted suicide slash agreement with Curtis. I have told.

ALEX MURDAUGH: I told both my brothers and my son very recently. When was it, Jeff? Yesterday. Yesterday. After we told them we're coming here so that he could tell you. He wanted them to hear from him first. Okay, so Randy didn't have any knowledge last week? Previously, no. Absolutely not. I lied to him, too.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Alan told me up in May about 4.15 and then... I scored a 10-0 in the off and then later on I learned that, and I talked to Alec, and he had called Buster, John Marvin, and Randy after I spoke with him at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Okay. And I think he did about six times. And before that, I told them the same lies that I told you.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Now, here's an important thing. This particular, have you talked to the two? Yes, I'm not sure. I'm in the beginning of my detox, and I can just see where I tried to call on the phone. I know I talked to him, but I don't have it. You called him or he called you? I called him.

SLED OFFICER: Do you remember what you told him?

ALEX MURDAUGH: No, sir.

SLED OFFICER: And this is when you were in the hospital in Savannah?

ALEX MURDAUGH: No, this is when I was in detox, too.

SLED OFFICER: Okay, so you've called him since you went to detox?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes, sir.

SLED OFFICER: Has the investigation revealed, as you testified before, that the defendant, like Murad, did call Eddie Smith, trying to use staff phones as well, while he was at the hospital additionally in Savannah? Yes, Mr. Murdoch was able to contact Mr. Smith while staying at the Hospital Of Savannah. When?

SLED OFFICER: Monday night?

ALEX MURDAUGH: That's right. You can call him over. Oh, I'm sorry.

ALEX MURDAUGH: You don't remember, Paul? I don't, but I'll tell you from past experience that when the draws began, you did just about anything to make them quit, and I probably was calling them for that purpose. Probably.

SLED OFFICER: All right, so you don't know where the gun is at?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes, sir.

SLED OFFICER: But you last saw it in Curtis Smith's possession.

SLED OFFICER: I gave it to him yes sir all right the so the accounts that you were writing the checks to Curtis were Bank Of America and palmetto state bank yes sir all right and the funds where were those funds coming from well that's the mention area we don't want to talk about but just let's say both of them were not legitimately a thing okay and i'm not trying to be coy it's just that you know mr Murdoch is independently wealthy you know so well i understand that but you know I think it's a pertinent question.

ALEX MURDAUGH: So if he was independently wealthy, but there's a significant amount of money, this is a client's fault.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Okay. So the money came from ill-gotten gains? Is that what some of it? I would say the majority of it. But some of it, I'm sure I use my own personal funds, too. Okay. I mean, I was, you know, I was, I was buying still maybe.

SLED OFFICER: All right. So just let me get this straight. So you entered into a, did you pay Curtis any money for this?

ALEX MURDAUGH: No, sir.

SLED OFFICER: You didn't pay him anything so you just asked of a favor and he did yes sir and so and and these checks that you were paying to Curtis i mean they were pretty significant right yes sir And when was the last time, I know, I mean, I'm not trying to get you to it. When was the last time you made a payment to Curtis? Was it before the shooting?

ALEX MURDAUGH: It would have been not like right before the shooting, but it would have been several days.

SLED OFFICER: Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Did you remember how much you paid him? No, sir. I think the last few times I paid him were all in checks, and I was trying to, you know, see him as little as possible.

SLED OFFICER: All right. Now let me ask you this. Do you owe money to any drug dealers?

ALEX MURDAUGH: No, sir.

SLED OFFICER: So there's not a threat out there that we need to worry about for Buster?

ALEX MURDAUGH: No threat. No threat.

SLED OFFICER: Okay, so the money that you were paying to Curtis to get money from his dealer or his supplier, you were paying full in those payments. So there's no... Outstanding debt that we need to worry about. Yes, sir.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And Ryan, that's a building that has all the money.

SLED OFFICER: Well, no, I understand. I understand. And, you know, we'll...

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yeah.

SLED OFFICER: So to the best of your knowledge, you don't owe anybody.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes, sir.

SLED OFFICER: Okay.

SLED OFFICER: So, so the money that you paid him, you don't remember how much you paid him, but it was for pills. And you're saying that you, you didn't pay him at all for him to shoot you.

SLED OFFICER: Correct. I'm going to be honest. That doesn't make any sense to me.

SLED OFFICER: And I know that, like, you know, whether you did or you didn't, it really doesn't have that much of a difference, so I'm not going to, you know. But I appreciate your being forthcoming and your making every attempt to be honest at this point. And so.

SLED OFFICER: You know i just want to make sure they're all on the same page so you did not make any financial payment to Curtis to have him shoot you no i did not okay but you entered into a verbal agreement with him to set up a scheme where he would shoot you it would be a suicide set up as a robbery homicide And you doing so was in order for your son to get your life insurance policy.

ALEX MURDAUGH: You don't know about a robbery, but everything else is bad. Well, let me say this. He's had a policy for 10 years. I've had a policy.

SLED OFFICER: Now, I understand that policies, I mean, what is the policy with? Where is it at? I don't i mean i don't know where the actual policy is okay did you intend did you intend to have that paperwork in the Mercedes like your the will and all that information was that left in there intentionally well i've been down to meet with some lawyers about some.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Things and it was in there from that day I can call her name now, my girlfriend's employee. Yeah. Can you meet with her? Why did you have to do that? Just putting up. I've been down in that with him one time before.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And, Ron, there's a three-year statutory ban on any suicide. It's still a concern. You have to follow the work that appears.

ALEX MURDAUGH: You can commit suicide and still collect. Okay. That's not. Now, what he thought, it really doesn't matter.

SLED OFFICER: Thought yeah it would have been a problem okay but you still entered into an agreement basically to to have him kill you so your son would then reap the insurance benefits and yeah okay okay all right so did you ever how did you get the knife Was it your knife? Yeah, I think that Eddie gave it to me.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Curtis Eddie Smith gave it to me.

SLED OFFICER: Okay. And then how did you make the tire fly?

SLED OFFICER: So you punctured the tire with the knife?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes, sir.

SLED OFFICER: Okay, so Eddie gave you the knife. You took the knife and punctured the tire.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Correct.

SLED OFFICER: And then what did you do with the knife?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Threw it.

SLED OFFICER: Threw it where?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I believe across the road, but I'm not absolutely positive.

SLED OFFICER: Okay. You disposed of it in the area where the Mercedes parked?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I think I threw it across the road where it was parked.

SLED OFFICER: Okay.

SLED OFFICER: Do you know if they disposed of the gun out there?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I do not know. Okay.

SLED OFFICER: Okay, is that done registered to anybody?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Probably.

SLED OFFICER: Probably to who?

ALEX MURDAUGH: It could have been. I believe that I purchased it, so I believe it would be registered to me.

SLED OFFICER: Do you remember when you purchased it?

ALEX MURDAUGH: No, sir. When would you purchase it? I got no idea.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Sir. If Y'All have them, we'll we'd love to get it. Yes, it will be my piece.

SLED OFFICER: Yeah. 843908.

ALEX MURDAUGH: 1534.

ALEX MURDAUGH: The whole number is 843-538-4691.

SLED OFFICER: Alex, did you ever have any dealings with anybody else besides Eddie, any of his friends, family, girlfriend?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I mean, I knew who his girlfriend was, but I never had any dealings with her about Phil.

SLED OFFICER: Who's his girlfriend?

ALEX MURDAUGH: A lady named Donna Eaton.

ALEX MURDAUGH: I don't know her very well but i've just helped her with a couple of little legal issues over the years okay but i never i mean she never was involved in the exchange is there a property up in hugen a property where in hugi up 41 just do you do you guys own any property up there oh yes yes sir and outside of out of thompson yes yes sir tell me about that there's a piece of property that i own with a bunch of other people that nobody else would pay and so i've been paying for it and he did some work up there digging some ditches right when did he do that he started within the last couple of months that's not where's it at in the fusion just it's also on united road united drive okay i think it's called red beard and zero united drive We're going to have to jump here in a minute.

SLED OFFICER: Alex, is there anything else that we're missing that we're not asking you?

ALEX MURDAUGH: In regards to what? Not that I can think of, but what are you thinking?

SLED OFFICER: I'll just kind of leave that open-ended. Like I said, I'm not trying to get like I'm not involved in the other aspects of whatever other investigations. You know, we're keeping those separate. So you communicated with Curtis. You would communicate with him over cell phone?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes.

SLED OFFICER: Okay. How many phones do you have, Alex? I had one phone.

ALEX MURDAUGH: 1227 was my primary phone. And then... Yeah, then I have to download that phone, Brian. You know, last started focusing on Allison's target. We started doing our own work. So I took that, sent it to a guy to download, and he had to get a separate phone, and that was that other number. And then you all see both of those.

SLED OFFICER: And then he's got a third phone that he got prior to going to the treatment center.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yeah, from Walmart. Okay. What is his extended what's your what's your expected length of treatment there in alpharetta well it's unclear right now but you go from here in the rehab at this point okay okay.

SLED OFFICER: So anytime you're you know obviously this is So you've identified Curtis Smith as the individual who shot you.

SLED OFFICER: And Y'All entered into an agreement, so Y'All kind of were hand in hand in this.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Very much so.

SLED OFFICER: And he never tried to talk you out of it?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I don't know. I don't think he did. Okay.

SLED OFFICER: Did anybody know about this plan besides you and Curtis?

SLED OFFICER: Yeah, okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: All right.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Do you know what?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yeah, I did not tell anybody to prove until yesterday. Until yesterday afternoon.

SLED OFFICER: Okay.

ALEX MURDAUGH: I've been really, really sick, and it's really the first day where I had any coherence, thought process.

ALEX MURDAUGH: And I sincerely apologize again for lying to you all about everything that I did.

SLED OFFICER: Yes, sir.

SLED OFFICER: And you have no idea where the gun is?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I do not.

SLED OFFICER: Alex, you're right-handed, right?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I'm right-handed.

SLED OFFICER: Okay, and you did not shoot yourself, correct?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I did not shoot myself.

SLED OFFICER: And what was the plan for Curtis to follow you out there and you would immobilize your vehicle? So did he stop? To make it fly, for you to give me the knife first?

SLED OFFICER: I mean, how did that play? Because, you know, you got the knife from Curtis. When did you get the knife from him?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I think I got it from him when I gave him the gun.

SLED OFFICER: Okay. Over in when you were at the Sunoco?

ALEX MURDAUGH: No, we didn't do it then. That's when.

SLED OFFICER: Okay. When you pulled off the side of the road in South Aachen? Yeah.

ALEX MURDAUGH: Shortly after we made the turn onto sarkovski we stopped and and just did a quick exchange okay so you stopped pulled.

SLED OFFICER: Over the side of the road stuck the tire where was Curtis at when you when you were disabling the tire believe he was going past me okay so he turned around And you were, where were you at when he turned around?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I'm not sure. I mean, I would have been on the side of the road, I think.

SLED OFFICER: Okay. So did he pull up, kind of like you said, you know, just past your car?

ALEX MURDAUGH: That's the thing. Basically, the way I told you it happened is kind of how it happened, except it was arranged by me. Okay.

SLED OFFICER: So as you turned around and turned your back to him. About how far do you think you were from the car?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I don't know. Four or five feet.

SLED OFFICER: Okay, four or five feet. And did you just stand there and wait for him to shoot you?

SLED OFFICER: Yes, sir. Okay. I'm assuming he just fired once?

ALEX MURDAUGH: Yes, sir.

SLED OFFICER: And then you fell to the ground or stumbled off?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I'm still not positive about that part, but I did lose my vision for about a minute and a half to two minutes.

SLED OFFICER: Okay. And why weren't you truthful with us when this initially happened?

ALEX MURDAUGH: I don't have a good reason. I was in a bad, bad, bad place.

SLED OFFICER: All right, gentlemen. Well, I know our time's cut short, but...

ALEX MURDAUGH: Ryan, I'll call you from the car once we get out of here in just a couple minutes, and then I'll call you while we drive back to the airport.

SLED OFFICER: Okay. Yes, sir.

ALEX MURDAUGH: All right, gentlemen.

SLED OFFICER: So let's see. We'll finish this. We are finishing the reporting with Richard Alec Murdoch, his attorneys Dick Harplooian, and... Jim Griffith and Special Agent Ryan Kelly, Special Agent Joe Morave all day. It is now 4.58 on Monday, September 13th.

JIM : So there it is. To sum all that up, Alex's essential story here is that he was wanting to end his life because he wanted Buster to collect life insurance. And apparently he believed if he committed suicide, the life insurance policy would not be paid out, which is what I would think. And up until this point, I believe that's how all insurance policies work.

JIM : So it really shocked me in that interview when Jim Harpoolian, his lawyer, stated that his. Particular policy that Alex Mardahl had did, in fact, pay out after you had it a couple of years, even in the event of a suicide. But as he also further said, Alex probably didn't realize that.

JIM : Honestly, it's the first time I've ever heard of any policy that would allow for suicide at any point in time. And some things we learned in that, Alex admitted to that major opioid problem, $30,000 a week. And no one outside of his immediate family, which would come out later on, knew anything about an opioid problem. But most importantly, in that interview, we heard a name, Curtis Edward Smith, for the first time.

JIM : So, you know what happens next. The police, they go and they pay a visit to Curtis Edward Smith, who Alex alleged was his drug dealer and the guy who shot him. Incidentally, it would come out later that he's actually a distant cousin of Alex Murdoch. And next week, we're going to pick up with the police heading his way to get his side of this bizarre story.

JIM : And that is going to be really interesting. Again. I want to thank all of you for listening, sharing, and writing. Please rate the podcast if you have not done so and you're entertained by the content. And until next time, for Exposed Scandalous Files of the Elite, I am your host, Jim Chapman. Much love.