Greed or Hopelessness? Murdaugh Schemes for Money
--By Giulia Nichols
According to an USA Today article South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh attempted to have another man kill him for his son to be given a $10 million life insurance payout after the double murder of his wife and other son.
Murdaugh is the co-defendant of the case against the man who shot him, “Curtis Edward Smith, 61, who faces counts of assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.” The actions that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is critical. Life insurance payouts have been linked to several cases in the past that I have read and watched about, so I agree that these types of cases should always be taken seriously. When we learn about cases similar to this one, such as people actually getting murdered for money, we see how far people will go for money, and the greed that is within them. They might do anything to try to get away with these sorts of crimes or do what they feel needs to be taken care of. Knowing that Murdaugh's wife and younger son were murdered, we can tell that he has been in a possible dark place. Perhaps their deaths lead him to his decision of using opioids, or if he had been using them or other drugs prior made his habit of taking them worse. Murdaugh had another problem with money where he stole money from his law firm to pay for the drugs. This enhances the fact that he had money issues, thinking that it will help things get better in his life. He thought his life insurance payout would not go to his surviving son once he would be made accountable for the law firm's money. By having someone else murder him, he thought that his death would not have been ruled as a suicide. I think it is a shame that this played out, as Murdaugh had admitted himself into rehab, wanting to get off the drugs. While there is no excuse for the actions he has taken to try to make things work for him and his son, he should have gotten help with his problems sooner so that hopefully, he would have not tried to get away with a crime that probably would have lead to more charges against him.
Sources: