Curtis ‘Cousin Eddie’ Smith, the man who shot Alex Murdaugh in the head in a botched hired hitman plot, has spoken out on the former prosecutor’s murder trial verdict. Murdaugh was convicted this week of the murder of his wife Maggie and son Paul on their family estate in June 2021. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison. Smith, who’s in prison on various charges related to the hitman plot, has now shared his thoughts on how things have played out.
In case you’re not familiar with Curtis Smith and his connection to Alex Murdaugh, here’s a refresher. Smith was a former law firm client of Murdaugh’s, as well as a distant cousin. A few months after Maggie and Paul were killed and just before he was going to be arrested for millions of dollars worth of financial crimes, Murdaugh came up with another hare-brained scam. He asked Smith to shoot him dead so that his living son, Buster, could claim millions in insurance money.
The “problem” (if you believe this plot ever existed) is that he didn’t do a very good job. Murdaugh wasn’t hurt at all. He had a slight graze wound, but that’s about it. Of course, he told police that someone tried to murder him, which was a lie. Smith was eventually arrested on multiple charges, and they even questioned whether or not he was involved in the murders of Maggie and Paul after he allegedly failed a lie detector test. However, no charges were ever filed in relation to those crimes.
Now that Alex Murdaugh has been found guilty of all charges against him, Curtis Smith has released a statement to FITS News (via Yahoo! News) via his attorneys, T. Jarrett Bouchett and Aimee Zmroczek.
Curtis ‘Cousin Eddie’ Smith could have been called as a witness in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial
Alex Murdaugh just taken out the back door of the courthouse. pic.twitter.com/I2kwmc4oN4
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) March 3, 2023
“It should now be clear that our client had nothing to do with the tragic deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.”
“For almost a year and a half, speculation, innuendo, half truths and outright falsehoods have permeated the public discussion of this case and our client however, neither the investigation conducted by law enforcement, which included extensive forensic and technological analysis, nor the testimony and evidence put forward by the defence team for Mr Murdaugh revealed any evidence that Mr Smith was in any way involved.”
Smith was said to be on the witness list for Murdaugh’s murder trial, but he was never called. His statement further addresses the idea that he was the “real killer” in this case.
“The reason for not calling Mr Smith is quite simple: he had no knowledge of anything relating to those horrific deaths,” the statement continued.
“Furthermore, despite months of filings and courtroom statements seeming to imply that Mr Smith was either the ‘real killer’ or knew who was, when the time came to present evidence, Mr Murdaugh’s defense team never attempted to call Mr Smith to testify despite the fact that he was available to do so.”
“In fact, when the issue of his testimony being presented by the state was raised, it was strenuously objected to by the defense.”
“Ultimately the jury determined that Mr Murdaugh was the sole party responsible for the deaths of his wife and son. As has happened so many times in this case, the initial representations by Mr Murdaugh have proven to be unsubstantiated.”
“Mr Smith is a good and decent man who was, like so many others, manipulated and taken advantage of by Mr Murdaugh and we look forward to the opportunity to present his story at trial.”
