Alex Murdaugh medical records detail injuries from alleged suicide-for-hire plot

Hospital records provided by Alex Murdaugh's attorneys show that the former Hampton County lawyer charged in an alleged suicide-for-hire scheme suffered gunshot wounds and a skull fracture after a reported shooting on Sept. 4.

Four pages of medical notes from Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia, sent to The Greenville News show Murdaugh was treated for a laceration to his scalp, a small subdural hemorrhage and a skull fracture consistent with two superficial bullet wounds to the head.

Money, murder, mystery:Another twist unfolds in case of former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh

Murdaugh is facing charges tied to this shooting, being accused of a botched suicide-for-hire plot that involved Murdaugh getting someone to kill him in order to cash in on a $10 million life insurance policy to be paid out to Murdaugh's son Buster.

The alleged shooter, Curtis Edward Smith, is also facing charges tied to the alleged scheme.

Smith's attorney, Jarrett Bouchette, told The Greenville News on Friday that the medical record is insignificant. Smith has never argued that Murdaugh was not injured at all but rather has refuted claims that Smith deliberately shot Murdaugh after agreeing to stage a suicide, Bouchette said.

"The public is going to have to make a determination at this point as to which of two scenarios is more likely. The scenario put out by Mr. Murdaugh is that he called my client in a suicidal state and requested our client shoot him for no apparent reason and then our client just obliged," Bouchette said. "Or the other scenario we believe is more likely in which in that situation he was requesting our client to shoot him, our client refused and wrestled the gun away from him and at some point the gun went off. I think the latter is infinitely more likely."

More:Alex Murdaugh arrested in Hampton County; granted $20,000 P.R. bond, no plea given

Background:SLED, HCSO release incident report on Alex Murdaugh shooting incident

Murdaugh attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin declined to comment Friday apart from producing the medical records.

Murdaugh initially called 911 himself and stated he was on the side of a roadway changing a flat tire when he was shot in the back of the head by an unknown gunman, the medical report states.

Murdaugh was admitted to the hospital's trauma unit and underwent an X-ray, a CT scan and a neurological evaluation before given a referral for a follow-up appointment, according to the medical records.

The State Law Enforcement Division charged Alex Murdaugh in September with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report in connection to this shooting.

Smith, Murdaugh's former client, was charged Sept. 14 with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

According to SLED, Alex Murdaugh admitted to the plot and Smith later confessed to being present at his shooting and disposing of the gun.

The medical records that show injuries came a day after Smith appeared on the Today show for a nationally televised interview.

More info:Alex Murdaugh's shooting suspect took advantage of his mental illness, addiction: Attorneys

“I didn't shoot him,” the 61-year-old said during the Thursday morning interview. “I’m innocent. If I’d have shot him, he’d be dead. He’s alive.”

The medical records also show a drug screening that took place while Murdaugh was in the hospital. The screening revealed Alex Murdaugh tested positive for opiates and barbiturates.

Murdaugh's attorneys have made public statements about their client going through an opioid addiction and has been in rehab receiving treatment. He entered rehab on Sept. 6 primarily as a result of the shooting deaths of his wife and son, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, on June 7. He released a statement upon entering rehab stating he's going through "an incredibly difficult time" in his life.

On Thursday, Alex Murdaugh was arrested again in Orange County, Florida, in connection with the 2018 death of the Murdaugh family housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.

SLED has charged him with two felony counts of obtaining money by false pretenses stemming from a misappropriation of death settlement funds related to Satterfield's death and a lawsuit that followed.

Also a part of the saga is a state investigation into the death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, a case that was reopened in light of the Maggie and Paul Murdaugh killings.

A SLED investigation into the Satterfield death is also ongoing after Hampton County Coroner Angie Toper said her cause of death being listed as "natural" was inconsistent with her apparent trip and fall incident inside the Murdaugh home in 2018.

Check back for more on this developing story.

Daniel J. Gross is an investigative watchdog reporter focusing on public safety and law enforcement for The Greenville News. Reach him at dgross@greenvillenews.com or on Twitter @danieljgross. Subscribe to The Greenville News at greenvillenews.com/subscribe.