A man allegedly tried to arrange for a hitman to end his life so his son would receive a $10 million life insurance payout, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
As reported by NBC News, personal injury attorney Alex Murdaugh, 53, managed to survive the shooting near his home on September 4 after only sustaining a superficial wound to the head.
The South Carolina lawyer is believed to have told 911 that he was targeted while changing a flat tire.
The incident took place months after the dead bodies of his wife Margaret and adult son Paul were discovered near dog kennels on the family's hunting property in Colleton County, west of Charleston over the summer.
The deaths of the mother and son were classified by state investigators as a double homicide, with the case still not having been solved.
The widower's attorney, Richard Harpootlian, told the TODAY show on Wednesday that Murdaugh had been trying to resist taking opioids, which he had become reliant on while mourning the tragedy.
Harpootlian also said that Murdaugh had asked a man to help kill him as part of a "fake car breakdown" as he believed his insurance policy had a suicide clause.
The plan was an "attempt on his part to do something to protect his child," Murdaugh's attorney said.
In a statement, Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, another of Murdaugh's attorneys, said it had become "clear Alex believed that ending his life was his only option. Today, he knows that’s not true."
"For the last 20 years, there have been many people feeding his addiction to opioids. During that time, these individuals took advantage of his addiction and his ability to pay substantial funds for illegal drugs," the statement read. "One of those individuals took advantage of his mental illness and agreed to take Alex's life, by shooting him in the head."
Earlier this week, 61-year-old Curtis Edward Smith was arrested on charges of assisted suicide, assault, and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
Murdaugh had reportedly given Smith a gun and asked him to end his life.
Harpootlian has also insisted that Murdaugh had nothing to do with the homicide of his wife and son.
"He is totally distraught," the attorney said. "He did not murder them."
Thus far, Murdaugh has not been charged by police, but Harpootlian expects he will be arrested soon.
A little while after the failed shooting arranged by Murdaugh, he said in a statement that he left his job at a law firm so that he could start treatment at a rehab facility. He said he "made a lot of decisions that I truly regret" and that the killings of his loved ones have caused him immense pain.
However, the law firm said that Murdaugh only left the business after it was allegedly discovered that he had misappropriated funds. As a result, his law license was indefinitely suspended.
