Meet Curtis "Eddie" Smith, the man police say shot Alex Murdaugh in the head along a rural stretch of Hampton County highway — but not out of malice. Eddie maintains he and Alex were longtime friends, like brothers.

Authorities say Eddie also was (allegedly) a personal drug dealer to Alex. State investigators say Alex asked Eddie to kill him as part of an assisted suicide plot and insurance fraud scheme meant to benefit Alex's surviving son, Buster, in the form of a $10 million life insurance settlement.

Eddie denies he was involved in the scheme, saying it was instead a set-up and he never shot Alex. And the public speculated the shooting never happened either, after Murdaugh showed up to a bond court appearance just over a week after the alleged shooting with no visible injury.

Medical records provided by Murdaugh's attorney, Dick Harpootlian, show Alex was indeed shot, suffering a skull fracture and a brain bleed.

Yet as serious as those injuries sound, Alex spent only a handful of days in the hospital, soon transferring to a drug rehab facility after it was revealed he was battling a years-long addiction to prescription pain pills.

Also coming out in the wash was Alex had been forced to resign from his family's law firm a day before he was shot following the firm's discovery he'd been stealing money from the business.

Read more on the Murdaughs at this link: https://abcnews4.com/news/murdaugh-murders

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