The uncoiling saga of the
Murdaugh family, a well-connected legal dynasty in South Carolina, has thrown a spotlight on the state's rampant black market for prescription opioids and how officials have struggled to contain the booming drug crisis during the pandemic.
Among the questions that state investigators must untangle involving lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who was
charged Thursday in connection with trying to stage his own death, are how much money he allegedly stole from his family's law firm, how it was spent and who profited from.
Reports suggest "millions of dollars" were misappropriated, and his attorney, Richard "Dick" Harpootlian, said on NBC's "TODAY" show Wednesday that the "vast majority" of the funds were used to buy opioids and that there were "checks written to drug dealers."
The public fall of Murdaugh, a once-prominent personal injury attorney whose family patriarchs had previously wielded power as the
top prosecutor in South Carolina's coastal Lowcountry, underscores how opioid abuse can ravage people of all backgrounds, said Christina Andrews, an associate professor in the department of health services policy and management at the University of South Carolina.
In addition, the perception from the outside that Murdaugh could hold a job — he also volunteered on cases for the 14th Circuit solicitor's office — should be a cautionary tale, she added.
"It's a common misconception that if you have a serious addiction that the signs will be unmissable," Andrews said. "It's not the case. People can absolutely abuse opioids for years and others miss it."
During his
initial court appearance after surrendering to authorities Thursday, Murdaugh, 53, was granted a $20,000 bond as he faces charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and falsifying a police report — stemming from his part in attempting to set up his own death earlier this month so that his son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. Murdaugh did not enter a plea.
Harpootlian told a Hampton County judge that his client is a 20-year opioid addict, and his actions were the result of suffering from mental anguish in the wake of the
June slayings of his wife, Margaret, and another son, Paul. Their deaths remain unsolved; Murdaugh's legal team has denied his involvement as the initial killings
spawn other criminal investigations tied to the family.
Magistrate Judge Tonja Alexander ordered Murdaugh to surrender his passport but permitted him to return to a drug rehabilitation center out of state.
According to his attorneys, Murdaugh told South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents that his "primary" opioid supplier was Curtis Edward Smith, a former client now accused of aiding him in the botched effort to stage his own death
during a faked roadside attack over Labor Day weekend. Prosecutors say Murdaugh provided Smith with a gun and directed him to shoot him in the head, but Murdaugh was only superficially grazed.
Smith has been charged with conspiracy and insurance fraud and assisting a person in suicide, among other counts.
Murdaugh's attorneys have said their client suffers from an oxycodone addiction and was attempting to get off drugs when he started thinking about suicide. It's unclear how his drug dependence began, and a lawyer for Murdaugh did not respond to questions about whether he previously sought treatment for his addiction or whether his family and his colleagues knew the extent of it.
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