Where Is Curtis Edward Smith Now? Inside His Life 4 Years After Alex Murdaugh Hired Him for a Deadly Scheme

NEED TO KNOW

• Alex Murdaugh was a prominent South Carolina lawyer who was found guilty of murdering his wife and son

• Curtis Edward Smith is a distant relative of Murdaugh, who was involved in a botched suicide-for-hire scheme

• Smith was arrested and spent 235 days in jail before being released in April 2023, and he continues awaiting pending charges

Alex Murdaugh‘s complicated web of secrets and lies entangled those around him, including immediate family members and distant relatives, like Curtis Edward “Eddie” Smith.

In March 2023, Murdaugh was charged with the murders of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and their younger son, Paul Murdaugh, both of whom were found fatally shot on their property on June 7, 2021.

Murdaugh has maintained his innocence in the killing of his family members, but the murders were just the beginning of the dark and twisted life Murdaugh was trying to hide. The prominent South Carolina lawyer had a severe opioid addiction and conducted years-long financial fraud.

In the end, Murdaugh devised one last plan that would result in his death and a life insurance payout for his last surviving son. Although Murdaugh sought his cousin’s help, Smith later claimed that he didn’t shoot him, and Murdaugh manipulated the crime scene.

So, where is Curtis Edward Smith now? Here’s everything to know about his connection to Alex Murdaugh and his involvement in his crimes.

Who is Curtis Edward Smith?

Smith, also known as “Cousin Eddie,” is a distant cousin of Murdaugh’s who became involved in his money laundering and drug dealing activities.

“I met Alex in the late ’80s, early ’90s. I knew his father, I’m half Murdaugh, don’t tell nobody,” Smith said in Netflix’s Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.

Speaking to WLOS News 13 in September 2021, he elaborated on their relationship.

“I’d had done anything in the world for him, almost, anyway,” Smith said. “I consider him one of my best friends. He’s like a brother to me.”

In addition to being related, Murdaugh was previously Smith’s lawyer. Murdaugh represented Smith when he was in a logging accident “that left him permanently disabled.”

How was Curtis Edward Smith involved in Alex Murdaugh’s crimes?

Smith ran for Murdaugh, and according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, between October 2013 and February 2021, Smith cashed 437 checks for Murdaugh, totaling $2.4 million.

Despite their close connection, Smith claimed that he had unknowingly gotten mixed up in his cousin’s rule-breaking ways.

“I asked him several times, ‘Now this is not money laundering, is it?’ ” he recalled asking Murdaugh. “No, it’s just doing me a favor, you cashing my check out of my account, and all the checks I got were out of his account.”

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office also brought several narcotics charges against Smith, and he denied selling or trafficking.

“No, nope. If I was a drug dealer I wasn’t a good one, I would only have one client — it was Alex Murdaugh,” he said in the Murdaugh Murders. “[It was] nothing, other than me running errands for him.”

Did Curtis Edward Smith try to kill Alex Murdaugh?

Smith did not try to kill Murdaugh, but allegedly assisted him in an attempted suicide plot.

In August 2021, two months after the deaths of Maggie and Paul, Murdaugh allegedly planned his own murder, so his surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, would receive the $10 million in life insurance.

In a season 2 episode of Netflix’s Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, Smith recalled asking Murdaugh why he wanted to be shot, with Murdaugh allegedly replying that authorities would be “able to prove that I was responsible for Maggie and Paul.”

On Sept. 4, 2021, Murdaugh called 911, reporting that someone in a pickup truck drove by and shot him while he was trying to change a tire. It was later revealed that the man was Smith, and Murdaugh had hired him.

“I didn’t shoot him,” Smith told Today in an October 2021 interview. “I’m innocent. If I’d have shot him, he’d be dead. He’s alive.”

According to Smith, when they met up to carry out the plot, Murdaugh was holding the gun.

“And he’s standing like this. He said, ‘You gonna shoot me?’ ” Smith recalled. “I said, ‘No,’ He said, ‘Well, you’ve got to do it.’ And he made this move like this, and I just grabbed his arm.”

Smith said he “shoved” the gun “up behind him,” between the two of them, and then it went off. He was “1000%” sure neither one of them was hit by the bullet.

Smith then went home and later learned that Murdaugh had called and told the authorities that a man had shot him on the side of the road.

Medical records later confirmed that Murdaugh was shot in the back of the head, “but just peripherally.”

Was Curtis Edward Smith arrested?

Yes, Smith was arrested on Sept. 14, 2021, on charges connected to the Sept. 4 shooting. At the time, the list included aggravated assault, assisted suicide and battery and insurance fraud, among others, per the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

A few weeks later, in November 2021, Smith was indicted by the Colleton County Grand Jury with charges for intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.

Later on, in June 2022, Smith was indicted by the South Carolina State Grand Jury with a narcotics count related to oxycodone, four counts of money laundering, three counts of forgery, trafficking methamphetamine 10-28 grams, one count of unlawful possession of a schedule II controlled substance and possession of marijuana.

Where is Curtis Edward Smith now?

After a South Carolina Grand Jury indicted him in June 2022, a bond was set for Smith. It was revoked in August 2022 when he violated his house arrest, and it was revealed he had lied about how much money he had in his bank accounts, according to WCSC News.

Smith ultimately spent 235 days in jail before being released in April 2023, the outlet later reported. He was then placed under house arrest, with permission to attend church and doctor’s appointments.

Now, Smith is awaiting to head back to court for the Sept. 4 shooting involving Murdaugh.

Per Greenville News, Robert Kittle, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, said, “The charges are still pending on Curtis Edward Smith, but there are no hearings or trial dates yet.”

Another layer to Smith and Murdaugh’s dealings was unearthed in the summer of 2025, when text messages between the two men were shown in court, revealing they had been in contact the week of the murders of Murdaugh’s wife and son.

According to one of Murdaugh’s attorneys, Dick Harpootlian, this evidence wasn’t presented to the defense during the trial, and it could contribute to Murdaugh’s appeal case.

“These messages offer new insight into the timeline of drug distributions, some of them happening the very week of the murders,” Harpootlian said, per Fox News.

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