Alex Murdaugh attorney mocked for ‘spicy’ cross-examination of agent over botched hitman plot

Alex Murdaugh’s defence attorney has been mocked online for his “spicy” cross-examination of a law enforcement official who testified about the accused killer’s botched hitman plot.

Dick Harpootlian resorted to shouting at SLED Senior Special Agent Ryan Kelly during an intensely combative exchange on Friday, which marked day 20 of Mr Murdaugh’s trial for the double murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

During testimony on Thursday, jurors heard Mr Murdaugh’s 911 call and police interview on 4 September 2021 – where he claimed he was the victim of a drive-by shooting.

Jurors then heard a police interview on 13 September, where Mr Murdaugh confessed to orchestrating the plot with alleged accomplice Curtis Eddie Smith.

Under cross-examination, Mr Harpootlian sought to question whether the disgraced attorney was competent to answer questions during his initial police interview on 4 September – due to his head injury from the shooting and him allegedly being under the influence of opioids.

He grilled the special agent about whether he had asked doctors for Mr Murdaugh’s medical records that day.

Mr Harpootlian then grew increasingly frustrated that Agent Kelly would not simply give a yes or no answer – as the agent responded that the hospital would not have handed those over, presumably due to patient confidentiality.

At one especially combative point, Mr Harpootlian appeared to snear as he called the officer “special agent” and then carefully and slowly spelled out each word of his question.

“They didn’t talk to me about his medical records,” the agent continued.

“Did you ask them?” he asked.

The back and forth continued multiple times until Mr Harpootlian reached fever pitch, shouting: “Did you ask them?”

The testy exchange was disrupted by several objections from the prosecution – with at least one for the defence “badgering the witness” – and the judge at one point telling Mr Harpootlian “you must allow the witness to answer”.

At another point – when Mr Harpootlian appeared to begin to recount his own version of events – Judge Clifton Newman interjected, telling him: “Mr Harpootlian you cannot testify.”

Mr Harpootlian’s frustration was not lost on social media users tuning into the high-profile trial at home, with many branding him “spicy”,

“@Harpootlian4SC woke up and chose to be spicy this morning. Sir, this is NOT a good look for you,” one person tweeted.

“It’s the blood rising more and more in his face I thought he was gonna explode,” chimed another person.

Another person tweeted: “#Harpootlian is loosing the playground to Det Kelly. Jury sees all.”

Others took to posting memes mocking the South Carolina attorney and state lawmaker for his courtroom antics.

The tense exchange came after the defence were dealt a blow in court this week when the judge ruled that jurors could hear evidence of the botched hitman plot.

On 4 September 2021 – three months on from the murders – the disgraced attorney was ambushed in what he initially claimed was a drive-by shooting along a road in Hampton County.

He checked into rehab the following day, announcing that he was struggling with a 20-year opioid addiction and that he had resigned from his law firm PMPED.

But, Mr Murdaugh’s story about the roadside shooting soon unravelled and he confessed to law enforcement that he had orchestrated the saga, getting Mr Smith to shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot so that his surviving son Buster could get a $10m life insurance windfall.

Both Mr Smith and Mr Murdaugh were then arrested and charged over the incident.

The judge initially said the roadside shooting incident was beyond the scope of the trial.

But, after another tense cross-examination from the defence, he reversed his ruling saying that Mr Murdaugh’s team opened the door to the testimony.

On Thursday, jurors heard Mr Murdaugh claim – first in the 911 call and then in a police interview in hospital – that he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting by a “nice-looking” white male, aged 30-40 with facial hair and close-cropped hair.

Mr Kelly testified that a sketch artist was then called in to help capture Mr Murdaugh’s description of the non-existent man, with the sketch being presented in court.

Jurors then heard audio of a call Mr Murdaugh and his lawyers made to Agent Kelly on 13 September 2021 – nine days after the shooting – where he confessed to orchestrating the entire plot with Mr Smith.

In the call, which had never been heard before, Mr Murdaugh told the agent he had believed his family would be “better off without him” because he knew his ousting from his law firm and his string of financial crimes were about to come out.

“I was in a very bad place,” he said. “I thought it would be better for me not to be here anymore. I thought that it would make it easier on my family for me to be dead.”

He insisted that he did not pay Mr Smith to kill him, something the agent told him “doesn’t make any sense to me”.

In the audio he also admitted he had spent up to $60,000 a week buying drugs from Mr Smith – using “ill gotten” money – but dismissed any connection between his drug abuse and the murders of Maggie and Paul.

Prosecutors claim that the roadside shooting saga was part of Mr Murdaugh’s pattern of creating violence to get away with things – with the shooting coming just one day after he was confronted by PMPED for stealing millions from his law firm clients.