Alex Murdaugh's hitman cousin Curtis Eddie Smith breaks silence after lawyer was found guilty of murdering wife and son
WALTERBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA: After six weeks of testimony, disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh has been found guilty of murdering his wife Maggie, and son Paul Murdaugh. Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina reached a verdict on Thursday, March 2, and sentenced the 54-year-old to 30 years to life in prison.
However, in light of Alex Murdaugh's conviction, his hitman cousin who he enlisted to shoot him in a botched suicide-by-hitman life insurance scam has spoken about his guilty verdict. Curtis Eddie Smith who remains in custody for lying to police and owning a firearm claimed that Murdaugh's conviction has served as his exoneration and that he had "nothing do with the tragic deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh." The victims were found fatally shot several times at the family's sprawling hunting lodge in Moselle, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021.
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Is Curtis Eddie Smith responsible for Maggie and Paul's murder?
During Murdaugh's trial, attorneys suggested that his cousin Smith might have been responsible for the fatal shooting of Maggie and Paul. Smith was also hired by Murdaugh to shoot him in a botched suicide-by-hitman life insurance scam that allows Murdaugh's surviving son Buster to inherit $11 million in life insurance payouts, reported authorities. However, after Maggie and Paul's murder, if Murdaugh died by suicide, Buster wouldn't have been able to inherit the money.
Nevertheless, a statement released through Smith's attorney after Murdaugh's guilty verdict read, "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," according to Daily Mail. Smith's attorney Aimee Zmroczek highlighted he wasn't called as a witness because he had "no knowledge" of the deaths.
'He was doing what he always did!'
"Murdaugh was the sole party responsible for the deaths of his wife and son," said attorney Zmroczek. "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." In a separate statement, Zmroczek added that Murdaugh never intended to pay Smith to shoot him, instead, she believes Murdaugh planned to kill Smith and frame the murders on him.
"When Alex called him out to the road. … People always say he was paid," she said. "He wasn’t paid. He was doing what he always did, being manipulated by Alex. I think that Alex fully intended to shoot Eddie and make him the killer, and all of these problems would have gone away," reported the source.