COLUMBIA, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh’s injuries in a Sept. 4 shooting in Hampton County included an entry and exit wound, a skull fracture and minor brain bleeding in two places, his lawyer said Thursday. The wound, he said, was not self-inflicted.
The accounting of Murdaugh’s injuries disputes what police have said about a superficial gunshot wound and no “visible injury,” according to a Hampton County Sheriff’s Office report. Murdaugh lawyer Jim Griffin said the report is incorrect.
He said a Murdaugh family member told him about Murdaugh’s wounds.
Griffin provided more details about Saturday’s shooting, after which Murdaugh, whose wife and younger son were killed June 7, was airlifted to a Savannah hospital. Griffin’s recounting includes information on a possible suspect.
Griffin said Alex Murdaugh provided the following information to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the agency investigating the shooting.
Murdaugh was on Salkehatchie Road in Hampton County on Sept. 4, driving to Charleston, when he noticed an indicator light that he had a low tire on his car, which was his late wife’s Mercedes-Benz, according to Griffin.
He pulled over and got out of his car when a truck passed by. The pickup truck turned around at St. John’s Baptist Church and drove back to Murdaugh.
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“The driver of the truck rolled his window down, came to a stop and asked if he had car trouble,” Griffin said.
Murdaugh said he didn’t know if he could change the tire nor whether he had the equipment to do so, and then Murdaugh was shot, according to his lawyer.
The driver was male and driving a blue pickup truck, Griffin said. He said he did not have more information about the driver’s features.
Alex Murdaugh provided details to a SLED sketch artist. The sketch has not been released, Griffin said, because SLED was not satisfied with it and Murdaugh needs to meet with investigators again for further details.
Murdaugh is in drug treatment and plans to meet with SLED again after he completes the first phase of his detox, Griffin said. In a statement released to the public, Murdaugh said he would go to treatment and issued a vague apology to family, friends and colleagues on Monday before news broke of accusations that he misappropriated money from his family law firm.
In a statement released Sunday, a spokesperson for SLED said Murdaugh sustained a “superficial gunshot wound to the head” and that he called 911 at 1:34 p.m. He was airlifted to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah.
A report by the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office released Thursday checked a box saying “no” to “visible injury” in the shooting of Murdaugh. Reached by phone, Hampton County Sheriff T.C. Smalls told a reporter that it was likely a computer error.
Rumors have circulated about the motive for the shooting, with people speculating about whether it was self-inflicted. Griffin denied that, saying he believes what Murdaugh reported.
“I don’t think you choose to have a flat tire or stage a flat tire to commit suicide. That makes no sense,” Griffin said. “There are many things (being reported) that are incongruent.”
Griffin said there was no gun found on the side of the road, in Murdaugh’s car or in the area by SLED.
He also said a SLED agent who was on the scene told him that the side wall of Murdaugh’s tire was sliced.
Griffin said he was on the phone with Alex Murdaugh and a SLED agent on Monday. The SLED agent discussed how the agency is testing the blood in Murdaugh’s car, which spilled from his wound when he was retrieving his phone to call 911 after the shooting, according to Griffin.
Griffin also said two good Samaritans found Murdaugh injured at the scene and took him in their car. Murdaugh called 911 from the car. The two people delivered Murdaugh to an ambulance farther down the road, he said. From the ambulance, he was then airlifted to Savannah.
Both people have been interviewed by SLED, Griffin said.
SLED spokesperson Tommy Crosby declined to comment on any part of the agency’s investigation into the shooting.
Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son were found dead June 7 at the family’s Colleton County estate. The murders have been under investigation since. Police have not announced any suspects or motives in the case.
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