The jury in Alex Murdaugh's trial has finally been presented with evidence of his botched hitman plot months after the murders of his wife and son - including a sketch of the nonexistent man he claimed shot him.
SLED Senior Special Agent Ryan Kelly was called by the prosecution on 16 February to testify about the day Mr Murdaugh was shot in the head on the side of a road in Hampton County on 4 September 2021.
Jurors heard the 911 call in which Mr Murdaugh claimed he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while he was changing a tire on his vehicle.
He was taken to the hospital where he was treated for what police called a “superficial gunshot wound to the head”.
Mr Kelly testified about how a sketch artist was called in to help capture Mr Murdaugh’s description of the alleged shooter.
Mr Murdaugh described the shooter as a “nice-looking” white male, aged 30-40 with facial hair and close-cropped hair.
He said he did not know the person but would recognise him again.
Mr Kelly said Mr Murdaugh and the artist spent hours coming up with a sketch that was then entered into evidence.
That sketch bears stark contrast to the man Mr Murdaugh later admitted he had hired to shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot so that his surviving son Buster could get a $10m life insurance windfall.
On 13 September 2021, nine days after the shooting, Mr Murdaugh confessed told investigators that he had paid Curtis “Eddie” Smith – a former law firm client, distant cousin and allegedly his drug dealer – to carry out the shooting.
Both he and Mr Smith were arrested and charged over the incident.
At the Colleton County Courthouse on 16 February, Mr Murdaugh grimaced and looked generally uncomfortable throughout Mr Kelly’s testimony about his failed plot to have himself killed.
In the 911 call moments after the shooting, Mr Murdaugh tells a dispatcher: “I’ve got a flat tire. Somebody stopped to help me, and when I turned my back, they tried to shoot me.”
The disgraced legal scion said he was “bleeding a lot,” but remained conscious and was even able to describe the weapon he believed was used in his assault and the supposed make of the vehicle of his attacker.
“It sounded like a shotgun. It was so loud. It didn’t sound like a .22,” Mr Murdaugh said.
The court was also shown video of Mr Murdaugh speaking to investigators shortly after the shooting as he sat on a stretcher. He was able to give surprisingly specific details about the man he claimed shot him and the car the alleged suspect was driving.
Mr Murdaugh stuck to his story when interviewed later at the hospital, Mr Kelly testified.
But just over a week after the shooting, he relented and confessed that he’d orchestrated the ordeal.
Mr Murdaugh’s confession was played for the jury, in which he told authorities that he came up with the plot because he believed his family would be “better off without him.”
Mr Kelly’s testimony came after the defence and prosecution have repeatedly sparred over whether evidence of what’s been dubbed the “side of the road incident” in court could be presented to the trial.
The defence argued that the incident is beyond the scope of the murder case and could prejudice the jury, while the prosecution said it was key to helping establish Mr Murdaugh’s motive in shooting dead his wife and son.
One day before the shooting, Mr Murdaugh had been confronted by partners at his law firm PMPED about stealing millions of dollars from clients. He was forced to resign. A day after the shooting, he entered rehab for a 20-year opioid addiction.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters wanted to bring evidence of the incident up at the murder trial, saying that it forms part of Mr Murdaugh’s pattern of lying and creating violence in order to make himself a victim.
He pointed to the reaction of previous witnesses to the incident, revealing that they feared the killers of Maggie and Paul were “back” to kill Mr Murdaugh.
“The initial reaction was, ‘Oh my gosh, the real killers are back. The bad guys are back. Now they’re targeting Alex,’” he said.
Defence attorney Dick Harpootlian argued that the incident is irrelevant to the murder trial saying it is linked to his financial crimes but not the killings of Maggie and Paul.
Judge Clifton Newman initially sided with the defence on Wednesday morning, calling the evidence a “bridge too far”.
But hours later, Judge Newman reversed his decision and agreed to allow the testimony as a result of the defence “opening the door” to the incident in its cross-examination of SLED Special Agent David Owen.
The ultimate decision cleared the way for Mr Murdaugh’s alleged co-conspirator in the plot, Mr Smith, to testify about his role.
However, prosecutors have indicated that they may rely solely on law enforcement witnesses to the plot as opposed to calling Mr Smith due to credibility issues.
As well as his alleged co-conspirator in the botched hitman plot, Mr Smith is a former law firm client, distant cousin and allegedly drug dealer of Mr Murdaugh.
He is also charged in connection to Mr Murdaugh’s financial fraud schemes and is accused of helping him with a drug and $2.4m money laundering ring.
Mr Smith is currently awaiting trial on a string of charges involving Mr Murdaugh including assisted suicide, assault and battery of a highly aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
