Alleged co-conspirator of Alex Murdaugh failed lie detector test, documents say

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - A reported co-conspirator of Alex Murdaugh is the subject of a new filing by the disgraced lawyer’s attorneys as the clock is ticking down until his double murder trial.

The defense team has turned their attention towards Curtis “Eddie” Smith, a man accused of helping Murdaugh attempt to commit suicide for insurance money and selling him drugs.’’

READ MORE: Court documents show Murdaugh and Curtis Smith indicted by grand jury in failed suicide-for-hire scheme

A motion to compel filed on Friday indicates that they believe state investigators turned a “blind eye” to Smith during the 13-month investigation into the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

The court documents focus on a polygraph test conducted on Smith by a SLED agent in May 2022.

Smith reportedly failed this test. The report notes three times that his responses were " indicative of attempted deception”; Twice when asked if he shot Maggie and Paul and a third time when an investigator asked if he was present when they were.

Smith denied that he was anywhere near the crime scene at the time and had friends at his home the evening of the murders.

“I know I was nowhere near the place where Maggie and Paul got killed at,” he told the SLED agent.

When asked what he knew about their deaths, he told investigators it was Paul who caught his mother and an unnamed groundskeeper together in one of the barns at the family Moselle property, and in a rage shot his mother. Smith went on to say that when Paul turned his rifle towards the groundskeeper, he shot him with a shotgun.

Amiee Zmroczek, Smith’s lawyer, dismisses these accusations.

“Eddie continues to be a pawn for Alex Murdaugh. If SLED had any indication, he was involved in the murders he would have been charged. There’s a reason that polygraphs are not admissible in court because they’re not accurate,” she said.

The defense claims the state has not turned over all the data related to this polygraph test, or even obtained Smith’s DNA to compare to the crime scene. They’re also requesting a laundry list of evidence, including that obtained from Smith’s house and cellphone during two search warrants, and any agreements between the prosecution and Smith.

Attorney General’s Office spokesman Robert Kittle sent a statement late Friday night, saying the response will be filed Monday.

“To date, we have provided over three-quarters of a terabyte of information to the defense. No Brady material will be withheld and, as always, we will address these issues in our pleadings and in the courtroom and will not try this case outside the courtroom,” Kittle said.

Murdaugh’s defense team calls the current state’s case a “weak circumstantial” one that relies on two parts. One, that Murdaugh was at the crime scene within the hour of their deaths and that there was a “miniscule” amount of Maggie’s blood on his shirt. The defense claims this was “transferred when he frantically attended to his wife’s bloody corpse.”

Murdaugh is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

READ MORE: State police release 911 calls in Alex Murdaugh shooting

Smith is facing other crimes including attempted assisted suicide and drug trafficking.

A judge revoked his bond in August, and he remains in the Lexington County jail under protective custody.

The murder trial against Murdaugh is expected to go ahead on Jan. 23 of next year in Colleton County.

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