911 calls from Alex Murdaugh shooting, assisted suicide attempt released by SLED

HAMPTON, SC (WCIV) — State police have released recordings of three 911 calls made the day attorney Alex Murdaugh was shot in what authorities have called an assisted suicide attempt.The incident occurred Saturday, Sept. 3, along a rural stretch of Old Salkehatchie Highway in Hampton County, a few miles outside the town of Varnville.

Read More: Murdaugh Murders Special Section

Murdaugh initially told dispatchers and later police that he'd been shot in the head by an unknown person who pulled up beside his vehicle. Murdaugh was outside the SUV at the time, claiming he'd gotten out to deal with a flat tire.

Murdaugh can be heard telling dispatchers he's bleeding pretty badly from the shooting, and can't see very well.

He negotiates with a passerby to take him to the hospital, first attempting to have them drive him to the hospital in his own Mercedes SUV, before suddenly remembering it has a flat tire and can't be driven.

Another couple opted not to stop when they saw Murdaugh alongside the road, saying it looked like a setup. The 911 dispatcher who took their call said, "I don't blame you."

The couple who did eventually stop to help Murdaugh drove him toward Hampton, and were met along the way by EMS. Paramedics treated Murdaugh at the scene, and he was then flown by medical helicopter to Savannah.

In the 911 calls, Murdaugh claims the suspect who shot him was white man with very short hair, who was much younger than himself. Alex is in his early 50s.

A week later, Murdaugh changed his story, reportedly admitting the shooting was part of a botched life insurance fraud scheme he hatched with friend, former client and alleged drug dealer Eddie Smith. Eddie Smith is 61, nine years Alex's elder.

The goal, according to criminal affidavits filed by State Law Enforcement Division detectives, was for Alex Murdaugh to have himself killed so his surviving son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.

Murdaugh's attorneys, Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian, have said the suicide attempt was the act of a disgraced, distraught person who saw no other option to escape his grief and shame following the unsolved murders of his wife and son, his ouster from his family's namesake lawfirm over embezzlement, and the torrent of criminal charges soon to follow.

Meanwhile, Eddie Smith, has proclaimed innocence in the matter. Smith, who has said Murdaugh was like a brother to him, says he had no prior knowledge of Alex's plan, and was an unwilling participant in what transpired along the secluded stretch of highway that September afternoon.

Smith claims it was a setup. Smith claims when he and Murdaugh stopped on the side of the road, Alex got out with a gun and told Eddie to shoot him. Smith says he refused, then wrestled with Murdaugh to take the gun away. The gun went off during the tussle, Smith said.

Smith said in a recent interview he didn't believe the bullet struck Murdaugh, telling the Today Show he was "1,000%" sure Murdaugh wasn't shot when he left the scene.

Speculation over whether or not Alex was actually shot the day of the incident flamed up again when Alex Murdaugh showed up in court a week later with no visible injury to his head.

Hospital records released by Murdaugh's attorneys show Murdaugh suffered two wounds on the upper left side of his head from an apparent gunshot, resulting in significant bleeding, a minor skull fracture, and bleeding on his brain. He also had a variety of prescription drugs and illegal narcotics in his system, blood samples showed.

Murdaugh is currently in jail without bond on unrelated charges over a stolen life insurance settlement from his former housekeeper, but was previously released on bond in mid-September for charges related to the assisted suicide plot.

He'll face trial later on charges of insurance fraud, criminal conspiracy and filing a false police report related to the September shooting. Eddie Smith also is awaiting trial on the same charges, plus drug possession