Murdaugh Murders: Did Alex Murdaugh hire someone to kill him? (Assisted suicide explained)

On the hunt for a gripping true crime documentary? The harrowing story of the infamous Murdaugh family has come to Netflix in a three-part series called Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. The docuseries chronicles the multiple deaths and crimes linked to the powerful South Carolina family that started in 2015, and how patriarch Alex Murdaugh almost got away with it all. The 63-year-old shamed lawyer is currently on trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul, who were shot dead in 2021.

On the evening of June 7, 2021, Alex called the police to alert them that he allegedly found the bodies of his wife and youngest son at their property in Islandton, South Carolina. His alibi was that he was supposedly visiting his father at the hospital. This was later proved false by the blood spatter analysis, however, which showed Alex was at the scene when the murders took place.

Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal is a shocking tale of betrayal, lies, and death, and it’s surprising that Netflix fit it all into just three episodes. The story moves fast in the docuseries, which could’ve benefitted from being more fleshed out with additional episodes. By the final episode, we learn about another incident in the Murdaugh family when Alex hired someone to kill him. But it didn’t go as planned. Here’s what happened.

Alex Murdaugh’s assisted suicide incident explained

On Sept. 4, 2021, Alex called authorities on the side of the road and claimed that after someone stopped to help him with a flat tire, he was shot. He later came out and admitted it was an attempted suicide, wanting to end his life after everything that happened but wanting someone else to do it. He wrongfully thought he would not be able to give his life insurance money to his only remaining son Buster if he had died by suicide, apparently.

As it turns out, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) ended up arresting a man named Curtis Edward Smith, a former client of Alex’s and his oxycodone dealer, for conspiring with Alex to have him killed. The man was eventually indicted on charges of assisted suicide, though he claims he thought he was being set up and did not conspire with Alex, explaining that if he meant to shoot him, he would be dead.

At this time, Alex Murdaugh is still accused of hiring Curtis Edward Smith to shoot him, though Smith denies it. With the Murdaugh trial going on right now, we expect more information about the incident to come out soon. It’s not known yet if Smith will take the stand to testify, but we will update you if he does.

All three episodes of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal are now streaming on Netflix.