Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP #11 - Was Alex Murdaugh Actually Shot? Part One

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Alec Murdoch. I need police and an ambulance immediately. Murdoch, Death in the Family Official Podcast, is here. I'm joining Patricia Arquette, Jason Clark, and the cast to uncover all things Murdoch. Family first. To unravel the story piece by piece was really surprising because you don't want to believe it. Murdoch, Death in the Family Official Podcast, Wednesdays. And stream Murdoch, Death in the Family on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers.

Starting point is 00:00:29 Terms apply. I don't know if anyone shot Elyke Mardock. I'll repeat that statement. I don't know if anyone shot Elyke Mardock. But ever since the alleged shooting, we've watched the former prominent attorney's reputation unravel in front of us in real time. And again, the more we find out, the more disturbing it gets. My name is Mandy Matney, and I've been investigating the Mardock family for more than two years now.

Starting point is 00:00:55 This is The Mardock Murder's Podcast. Two weeks after Alec Murdoch appeared injury-free at his bond hearing in a suicide for hire scheme, one big question remains in the Made for Hollywood Murdoch murder saga. Was Elyke Murdoch actually shot? The disgraced attorney appeared without a scratch at his Hampton County bond hearing 13 days after the alleged shooting, raising major questions about everything we heard from Murdoch's attorneys Jim Griffin, and Dick Harpoon this month. Is he actually in rehab?

Starting point is 00:01:44 Was he ever shot? Where did all of his money go? Did he really have a drug problem? And what are they trying to distract us from? To recap, on September 4th, 2021, which was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we first broke the story that Ehrlich Murdoch was allegedly shot. Almost immediately, sources close to the situation told us

Starting point is 00:02:10 that ELEC's story was suspicious and not adding up. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which is the same agency that is investigating nearly all of the alleged crimes associated with the Murdoch family, released a statement the day after the shooting that said that Elyke's head wound was superficial. They never called him a victim. They never gave any suspect descriptions of the shooter. And they kept their statement simple, which to me was a hint that the story that the Murdoch camp was feeding the media was false. Around the same time, Alec Murdoch's lawyers, Dick Harputtlian and Jim Griffin started to embark on a week-long spin campaign in an attempt to control the narrative and make ELEC appear like the victim. They repeatedly fed the media a story that did not make sense, that Ehrlich was changing a tire on the side of a rural Hampton County road when a man drove up to him and shot him. And then things got weirder.

Starting point is 00:03:03 On Labor Day, that would be two days after the alleged shooting incident, a family spokesperson released. a statement saying that Elyke Murdoch was going into rehab and resigning from the law firm built by his family, and that would be P-M-P-E-D. The timing was interesting considering that the story about Murdoch's opioid addiction and issues at his law firm published just hours before that statement was released. And then they issued an apology from Ehrlich, which was also very strange considering he was supposed to be the victim of a shooting. In the statement, he said, I am immensely sorry for everyone I've hurt, including my family, friends, and colleagues. Then he asked for prayers as he rehabilitates.

Starting point is 00:03:43 So keep in mind, the Murdoch camp was really pushing this opioid addict storyline hard right after the alleged shooting, which they'd never done before. On that same day, PMPED, the law firm started by Eleg's great-grandfather in 1910, released a statement to the media claiming that Ehrlich Murdoch misappropriated millions of of dollars from their law firm. They leaked that story to the New York Times as if they wanted the whole world to know. These allegations obviously raise a lot of questions about the double homicide. And for another recap, three months before the shooting, Elek Murdoch's wife and son were found murdered on the family's 1,700 acre property in Collison County, South Carolina. Now that we know

Starting point is 00:04:27 that Ehrlich was stealing money from his own law firm and he had a hearing coming up in the boat crash lawsuit that would force him to reveal his financial situation. It's clear that Elyke was facing an immense amount of pressure around the time of the double homicide. The question is whether that pressure has anything to do with the double homicide. And keep in mind, Elic Murdoch is a person of interest in that investigation. And he has been the only one that law enforcement has referred to as a person of interest in the double homicide. Okay, so we're going to go back to Labor Day Weekend. On that Monday, which would be two days after the shooting, ELEC was allegedly released from the hospital and entered an out-of-state rehab.

Starting point is 00:05:15 So on that same week, which would still be days after the Labor Day shooting, or alleged shooting, shall I say, the South Carolina Supreme Court suspended ELEC Murdoch from practicing law due to evidence of misconduct that is under investigation. The next day, which would be September 8, 2021, a few days after the shooting, my boss broke a huge story confirming the first piece of this puzzle that this alleged shooting was basically sketch. Sources close to the situation told us that police recovered the knife that slashed Elyke Murdoch's tires from the alleged shooting scene. And that knife was connected to Elyke Murdoch. Harputiant and Griffin continued to serve the media. spoonfuls of stories that didn't make sense. Harputian claimed that Elyke had an entry and exit wound and was temporarily blinded in the shooting, while Griffin said that Elyke's skull was fractured and his brain hemorrhaged.

Starting point is 00:06:15 Murdoch's attorneys also told reporters that he was released from the hospital two days after the alleged shooting. So which is it? Was it a serious injury or was he released two days later? The injuries certainly were not the only holes poked in the stories coming from the Murdoch camp this month. They told reporters that Ehrlich was airlifted to MUSC in Charleston, but he was actually flown to a hospital in Savannah. He told reporters that Ehrlich was changing a tire on the side of the road, but the Mercedes-Benz SUV had run flat tires that he was driving that day. They told reporters

Starting point is 00:06:47 that Ehrlich was on his way to Charleston from Moselle, but the road what he was on was out of the way from that route. We've appeared to be the only media outlet holding the lawyers to account in calling out their lies. Everybody else was just running around acting like it was a normal thing. However, the Murdoch Spin campaign was abruptly thrown off course on September 10th when sled officials arrested 61-year-old Curtis Eddie Smith. Smith was hit with several serious charges, including assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. In the arrest warrants, we learned that Ehrlich Murdoch admitted to setting up a suicide scheme

Starting point is 00:07:41 so his son Buster could collect a $10 million insurance policy. News of Eddie Smith's arrest broke late at night on September 10th, around 11 p.m. But just hours later, Dick Harputlian appeared on The Today Show the next morning where he continued to push this opioid narrative. Herputley claimed that Murdoch was trying to get off opioids on the morning of September 4th and decided to end his life. He called this guy who met him on the side of the road, agreed to shoot him in the head, and this fake car breakdown. 30 minutes later, this guy's shooting him in the head. However, Eddie Smith tells a totally different story about what happened on September 4th, 2021.

Starting point is 00:08:29 So who is Eddie Smith? I spoke with Eddie's attorney, Jared Bichette, who told me about his relationship with Alec Murdoch and what he was saying he was doing on September 4, 2021. They met initially probably about, I think in excess of 30 years or so ago, when Eddie was participating in a other community or a church softball league. and Alec was, I think, still in law school at the time and was maybe home for a summer or was living in the area or something along those lines.

Starting point is 00:09:06 They played and knew each other casually then, and then subsequently didn't have a lot of contact except maybe seeing each other around town and social in that kind of thing until Mr. Murdoch represented him in a case, I believe it was a work as a comp case, approximately seven years or so ago. Eddie was a logger for most of his life. He was in a logging business and got injured with his lower back, which happens, unfortunately, a good bit of times for folks that work in that area.

Starting point is 00:09:38 I said it was about six or seven years ago. And after that, he does what he can, sort of when he can. He'd do some light mechanical, light welding type stuff. He had a small shop there in the back of his house, and he would do some work for the murder box and for others, And he would, sometimes it'd be for pay and then sometimes it would just kind of be as a favor for people. So here, Attorney Jarrett Bouchet is telling me about what his client says happened on September 4th, 2021. He received a call from Alec Murdoch that asked if he could go to, I believe it was his parents' house, Mr. Murdoch's parents' house,

Starting point is 00:10:18 and said to bring the truck, which was the, he understood to mean his work truck. and that work truck made Eddie believe that, well, he was coming to do some kind of odd job. They eventually did not, I think he was in route to the parents' house, and then they met there briefly, or he may have called him back to redirect him, and they went to, Eddie followed him to another location, and that's where he first encounters Mr. Murdoch in a suicidal, very agitated state. And he had a gun, correct? is what Eddie is saying

Starting point is 00:10:57 and Eddie possibly threatening to kill himself which is why Eddie reached for the gun, correct? That's right. He was at that time that Relo was requesting that Eddie essentially assistant in shooting

Starting point is 00:11:12 and wanted Eddie to shoot at that time to which he refused and the state of Mr. Hurlock just continued to deteriorate and there was a struggle for the weapon that went off at some point and, you know, after that very intense session,

Starting point is 00:11:30 Eddie left the scene, and Mr. Murdoch was still there with no visible signs of injury. According to Eddie Smith, he was not present when Ehrlich Murdoch called 911 to report that he had been shot on old Salcahadji Road near Barnville, South Carolina, at 134 p.m. on Saturday, September 4th. What's weird is that Ehrlich was driven away from the crime scene after calling 911 and transported via car by a couple of unknown quote-unquote good Samaritans.

Starting point is 00:12:02 This is weird that Ehrlich left the crime scene. And what's even weirder is that after calling helicopter companies, for hours, I figured out that a care flight helicopter actually was dispatched 12 minutes before the Hampton County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to the scene. Now, this timeline is super strange because the Hampton County Sheriff's Office should have been the lead law enforcement agency on scene that day. When for a shooting, they should have been dispatched immediately, which again, also raises the question was he even shot? And it also raises the question, why was a helicopter called when two weeks later we don't see

Starting point is 00:12:46 any signs of wounds? So when Curtis Smith was arrested, in arrest warrants, we'd learned that Elyke Murdoch admitted to setting up the suicide scheme so a son buster could collect a $10 million insurance policy. And this storyline just doesn't add up. What kind of a father would want to kill himself so his son, who just lost his mother and brother and a horrific double homicide, could collect insurance money? And why did he feel the need that he had to look like somebody was shooting him?

Starting point is 00:13:17 And how come we haven't seen any evidence that he was actually shot? Another thing that doesn't add up is that while the PR team said that Eddie Smith was Alec Murdoch's known drug dealer, Bouchette rejects that statement about his client and says it doesn't even make sense. What we can tell and what we know by what's been put into the public sphere already is that, you know, something doesn't add up with this case. And, you know, the first thing is just the narrative that's been put out there that, um, Eddie was Mr. Murdoch's long-time drug dealer, a drug dealer that apparently benefited to the tune of around $10 million, because I believe the statement was that the majority of the $10 million, which had been misappropriated from the law firm, had been used to pay for this opioid addiction, and by consequence, went to Eddie.

Starting point is 00:14:17 Eddie has little to no criminal record at all over the last 20 years, nothing drug-related. And so what that tells me is, you know, one of two things. Either Eddie is just one of the most successful drug dealers I've ever seen in terms of evading law enforcement, or, you know, he's not a drug dealer and certainly not a drug dealer that would have been able to supply and benefit from the quantities, you know, that have been stated in the that $10 million range. So when we start with that, we know that that doesn't make any sense. The second thing is that he doesn't have any criminal record. Nothing to suggest that Eddie would be complicit in a scheme, and not just complicit,

Starting point is 00:15:05 would be active in a scheme which would require him to shoot a fella in the head, presumably killing, for what doesn't appear to be any personal gain. The allegations as best I can tell only alleged that the supposed insurance proceeds would have gone to benefit Mr. Murdoch's son. There doesn't appear to be any real allegation that there was an arrangement whereby Eddie would get some percentage of it. I mean, it just doesn't seem that he'd have any benefit to doing that. Then we look at the fact that the majority of the allegations or the substance of the allegations seem to come from Mr. Murdoch, who was undisputedly in a serious opioid withdrawal or relapse or opioid episode of some kind. And so it's very concerning that they've placed so much credibility in his version of events,

Starting point is 00:16:06 which don't seem to add up just because, you know, within a few days of this incident, he has no visible signs of either an injury or of operation to his head. And I would think even a superficial gunshot wound to the hip, if that's even such a thing, would at least show where there had been some type of stitching or bandaging or hair shaves to access the area. None of that seems to be the case, so it's not even clear at this point that, Mr. Murdoch actually suffered a wound to the head. And if that's not established, then the entire scheme, the entire basis for the arrest starts to crumble and fall away. According to probable cause affidavits, the South Carolina law enforcement division appeared to rely a lot on Ellick Murdoch's narrative for Smith's arrest.

Starting point is 00:17:05 Considering the fact that Murdoch is an admitted drug addict on a downward spiral, who was also shown no physical signs of ever being shot, questions should be raised about Smith's charges too. Now two days after Smith was charged, Ehrlich was also charged with three felonies in this alleged suicide for hire scheme. In Hampton County Court that week, we watched two systems of justice play out in live action, one for people like Ehrlich Murdoch and one for people like Eddie Smith. So first of all, Elyke Murdoch showed up without a single scratch on his head at his bond hearing in Hampton County, South Carolina, which would be his home court, where his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father all ruled a solicitor for nearly a hundred years. Ehrlich didn't even bother to slap on a band-aid. His closely cropped hair provided no cover for the presence of a head wound, nor was any part of a scalp. which is what we would expect in this circumstance.

Starting point is 00:18:17 And this bond hearing was less than two weeks after the alleged shooting. Oh, and several hours before Alex Bond hearing, it appeared like his bond had already been set for him online in the public index, which showed a $20,000 PR bond, which means that he wouldn't have to pay for it. Now, during the bond hearing, Creton Waters, a prosecutor at the South Carolina Attorney General's office, argued that the bond should be much higher, a $100,000 surety, which means he would actually have to pay for it, or some of it. And he argued that ELEC should be considered a danger to the community. Your Honor, this time, we would request $100,000 surety as well as GPS.

Starting point is 00:19:01 Your Honor, the reason for that, he has no prior record. However, while the charges here under the law are not violent, the underlying facts are violent. and they indicated it was allegedly an intent to harm oneself, and that makes that person not only a danger to themselves, but that enhances the danger to the community in that regard. Indeed, they also have lost literacy, and that means working with others for criminal activities. So that enhances the danger to the community. However, Dick Rputland, who is Murdoch's high-price attorney, argued that his client is not a danger to the community, but only a danger to himself. He painted Elyke Murdoch as a desperate broke drug addict, while failing to mention how this desperate, broke drug addict could afford him as an attorney. But anyways, he asked for a low bond and argued that his client didn't have any money.

Starting point is 00:19:52 And guess what the judge set Elyke Murdoch's bond debt, $20,000, the exact amount that was online several hours before the bond hearing, which is not how it's supposed to work. Was there a fix-in before the bond hearing? And while the prosecutor asked for a GPS monitor, the judge denied that request also. So while L.A. Kermudk's bond was set at $20,000, Smiths, on the other hand, was set at $55,000 cash. And there's one more thing I went to mention about the bond hearing before I put it to rest. And I'm only mentioning this because I was in the media today again. And I just have to say something on my podcast that what happened with Dick Hark's, Harputlian at the bond hearing and his comment about me was not okay. For those of you who don't know,

Starting point is 00:20:43 State Senator Dick Harputtlian, Ehrlich Murdoch's lawyer, checked the room at the bond hearing and looked for me. He was caught on camera doing this. So when I wasn't there for personal reasons that I will disclose in a book someday, he made an incredibly rude, sexist comment about me. Again, while national cameras were rolling. Very possible. He may be coming out with the judge. Sorry. So what you're hearing there is the media

Starting point is 00:21:46 who wouldn't know the half of the story if it wasn't for me, laughing with him. The media has been gobbling up Dick Harputtly and spin campaign and failing to hold him accountable for months. So it's not surprising to see this. But it's jargon. to see across the board corruption from media to politics on full display.

Starting point is 00:22:08 I have no idea what Dick meant by the statement that I am my boss's alter sexual ego. But I never want to hear my name come out of Dick Harputlian's mouth along with the word sexual in my boss's name. That is disgusting and wrong. And to me, the statement implies that me, a woman, can't possibly be my own human separate from my boss, Woolfolks. And it also shows me that while Dick Harputlian should have been preparing for his client, he is thinking about me and who is going to hold him accountable in that room.

Starting point is 00:22:44 Remember, also, Dick Harputlian is a Democrat state senator. He's an elected official who has a lot of power in South Carolina, including his influence that the media often ignores his role in selection of judges in our state. He has not apologized to me for his sexist. comments and appears like he thinks he doesn't have to. He has not earned the grace that the media constantly is giving him in this case, but he's highly quotable and entertaining to some of the media who would rather share a laugh with him than hold his feet to fire, as they should be doing. It is no wonder our state is in shambles when we have reporters who will not hold the most

Starting point is 00:23:25 powerful people in our state to account. I totally understand that I am not the victim in the story. I speak with the actual victims in the saga almost daily. And if any person in that crowd knew the victims like I did and knew their pain, they would not be laughing with Dick Harputlian. But this good old boy behavior must be called out. Otherwise, they're just going to keep good old boying. I made a big deal about the media covering this case because it's our job to expose those contributing to the system that is failing so many people. But yet this Sunday, October 3rd, the state newspaper, one of the largest newspapers in South Carolina, published a fanboy puff piece about the two quote-unquote bulldog attorneys, Jim Griffin and Dick Harpaitland.

Starting point is 00:24:12 The piece was written by an old-school journalist named John Monk, and it basically praises the two attorneys while briefly mentioning this awkward comment and not mentioning that it's sexist and wrong. While they will do puff pieces like that, I will continue to expose the truth in this case wherever it leads. And while Alex might have gotten off easy in court this month, his battle with the law is far from over, both in the criminal and civil side of court. There are six criminal investigations related to the Murdoch family right now. We will not rest until we get answers for each of them. So stay tuned for the latest updates in this story. A special thank you to the Surge Restaurant Group for their gift certificate to nectar farm kitchen. Following the story is hard,

Starting point is 00:24:58 but being able to enjoy the most amazing meal at Nectar Farm Kitchen on Hilton Head Island was simply divine. I can't wait for Nectar Farm Kitchen to open and bluffton this winter. Check out Necterfarmc Kitchen.com to learn more. Stay tuned to the Murdoch Murders podcast for the latest updates in this insane saga. There's so much to unpack in this case and Mandy works tirelessly to expose the truth. But the truth is she works hard and she does get tired. If you believe, like I do, that Mandy is the best in the business, and I'm a little biased, visit Murdochmurterspodcast.com and click the support the show link to learn how you can help.

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Starting point is 00:26:05 slash Mandy M-A-N-D-Y, Matney, M-A-T-N-E-Y. And don't forget to leave a five-star review unless you're going to be nasty and talk about my vocal fright. The Murdoch Murder's podcast is created by me, Mandy Matney, and my fiance, David Moses. Produced by Luna Shark Productions. Ha hafh!

Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP #11 - Was Alex Murdaugh Actually Shot? Part One

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