COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – The State Law Enforcement Division released Thursday redacted audio of 9-1-1 calls made following what was eventually described as a botched suicide attempt involving Alex Murdaugh.
Murdaugh was found shot along the side of a rural road in Hampton County in early September. Officials said Murdaugh had been shot in the head near his car after pulling over to deal with a flat tire.
In the newly released calls, one person, an unidentified female, tells Hampton County 9-1-1 operators that they discovered a man on the side of Old Salkehatchie Road “with blood all over him” and “waving his hands.”
The caller said the man, later identified as Murdaugh, looked fine but “it kind of looked like a set-up” and did not stop to assist.
(Mobile users, please click here to listen.)
Another call, from Murdaugh himself, tells emergency operators that he got a flat tire and that someone stopped to help him and then tried to shoot him while his back was turned.
9-1-1: “Were you shot?”
MURDAUGH: “Yes, but I mean I’m okay.”
9-1-1: “Where were you shot at?”
MURDAUGH: “Huh?”
9-1-1 “Did they try to shoot you or did they actually shoot you?”
MURDAUGH: “They shot me.”
9-1-1: “Okay, do you need EMS?”
MURDAUGH: “Well, I mean, yeah, I can’t drive. I’m having trouble seeing and I’m bleeding a lot.”
He told the operator that he wasn’t sure where he was shot, but believed it to be somewhere on his head. He described the so-called shooter as a “white fellow” with “really, really short hair.”
Murdaugh was later arrested by agents with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) after they said he orchestrated the shooting so that a beneficiary could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.
Curtis Edward Smith was also arrested and charged with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud for his role in the shooting.
According to SLED, Murdaugh gave Smith the gun and directed Smith to shoot him so that his son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.
