SC - Stephen Smith, 19, homicide, Hampton Co, 9 Jul 2015 *new death investigation 2023*

[evilwise]

Buster, now would be the perfect time for any skeletons and anything else to come out of the closet.

 

[passionflower]

Wondering who will defend this case if the M family is involved

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Stephen Smith Death: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Stephen Smith was a 19-year-old South Carolina man whose mysterious 2015 death along a roadway is being investigated again by state law enforcement officials in the wake of the Alex Murdaugh investigation.

heavy.com

Stephen Smith Death: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know​

• Updated Mar 4, 2023 at 8:16pm

A reporter for The Island Packet newspaper posted investigative documents from the case on Document Cloud. FITS news has also published some case documents here, as well as a timeline of the Smith death investigation.

According to Jake Shore of the Island Packet, South Carolina Highway Patrol investigator Todd Proctor wrote the posted investigative report, which says that he began investigating a “possible hit and run” on Sandy Run Road near Joe Miley Road on July 8, 2015.

As he headed to the scene, another law enforcement official, identified only as Cpl. Allen, said that “it was a homicide, not a hit and run,” the report says. Proctor advised Allen to make sure that was the coroner’s ruling, according to the investigative report.

When he arrived at the scene, he saw a “white male lying in the roadway on the center line with head trauma to the right side above his brow,” the report says, adding that Coroner Ernie Washington said the death was a homicide and that the wound was a “gunshot wound and showed me the entry point.”

There was also a “defensive wound to the hand,” the report says. He walked the scene and “saw no evidence of any car parts or pieces,” according to the report.

South Carolina Highway Patrol investigator Todd Proctor.

Buster’s maternal aunt’s last name is the same as the investigator. I’m curious about a possible connection.

 

[arielilane]

Mom of Buster Murdaugh’s slain classmate wants answers: ‘Time for justice’

BARNWELL, S.C. —The mother of a young gay man who was found dead on a remote road near the Murdaugh family’s home is demanding answers about her son’s mysterious death in the wake of Alex Murdaugh’s conviction.

“This circus is over and now it’s time to bring justice for other people,” Sandy Smith, 56, told The Post Sunday.

Smith’s son Stephen, 19, was found dead on July 8, 2015, on Sandy Run Road close to the 1,700-acre Moselle estate where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh would be murdered by Alex six years later.

While the teen was a classmate of Murdaugh’s son Buster, 26, at Wade Hampton High School in the tiny town of Hampton, the slain teen’s mom has been baffled by the well-heeled family’s possible connections to his death.

Before law enforcement had even confirmed to Sandy and her late husband Joel that it was indeed their son’s remains found on the road, Alex Murdaugh’s older brother Randy had called the family, the mom recalled.

 

[Marysmith]

Mom of Buster Murdaugh’s slain classmate wants answers: ‘Time for justice’

BARNWELL, S.C. —The mother of a young gay man who was found dead on a remote road near the Murdaugh family’s home is demanding answers about her son’s mysterious death in the wake of Alex Murdaugh’s conviction.

“This circus is over and now it’s time to bring justice for other people,” Sandy Smith, 56, told The Post Sunday.

Smith’s son Stephen, 19, was found dead on July 8, 2015, on Sandy Run Road close to the 1,700-acre Moselle estate where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh would be murdered by Alex six years later.

While the teen was a classmate of Murdaugh’s son Buster, 26, at Wade Hampton High School in the tiny town of Hampton, the slain teen’s mom has been baffled by the well-heeled family’s possible connections to his death.

Before law enforcement had even confirmed to Sandy and her late husband Joel that it was indeed their son’s remains found on the road, Alex Murdaugh’s older brother Randy had called the family, the mom recalled.

That is just wild that Randy called them first…

 

[arielilane]

What Really Happened to Stephen Smith from "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal"?

What really happened to Buster Murdaugh's classmate, Stephen Smith, whose mysterious death was mentioned on "Murdaugh Murders"? Here's everything we know.

www.yahoo.com

What Really Happened to Stephen Smith from "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal"?​

Content warning: This article contains references to murder some may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised.

The past few months have been a whirlwind of pure chaos for both the Murdaughs and followers of their insane true crime story, which was recently explored in a three-part docuseries on Netflix called Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.

The family patriarch, Alex Murdaugh, a now-disgraced lawyer from South Carolina who was recently convicted for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, is going to spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility of parole. (This was not a death penalty case, so received the maximum sentence he could.)

 

[arielilane]

Mother Of Buster Murdaugh's Late Classmate Stephen Smith Speaks Out As Police 'Make Progress' After Reopening Death Investigation

Mother Of Buster Murdaugh's Late Classmate Stephen Smith Speaks Out As Police 'Make Progress' After Reopening Death Investigation​

The mother of the late Stephen Smith, an openly gay South Carolina teen whose death and alleged connections to Buster Murdaugh have raised questions, has spoken out for the first time since Alex Murdaugh's conviction, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Stephen's mom, Sandy Smith, 56, revealed that she just wanted answers after police announced they are making progress on the investigation after reopening the case.

19-year-old Stephen's body was found in the middle of the road in Hampton County, South Carolina, in 2015. Initially, investigators ruled Stephen had been hit by a car and refused to listen to his family's pleas to look deeper into his death. The family hired an investigator who said the evidence did not make it look like Stephen was hit by a car. Instead, he claimed it appeared Stephen was potentially murdered.

Sandy spoke to The Post following Alex's conviction — and she revealed her thoughts on the rumored Murdaugh connection to her son's death. After the murders of Paul and Maggie at Moselle, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) reopened Stephen's case.

 

[Spartygirl]

Wondering who will defend this case if the M family is involved

Pretty sure it will be the same clowns that defended AM and were defending PM ...seems to be norm for the M family

 

[arielilane]

No member of the Murdaugh family has ever been officially implicated in Smith’s death.

New audio and video released in 2015 death of Stephen Smith

Documents and files obtained through a Freedom of Information Act reveal investigators heard rumors in the days after Smith’s death that it wasn’t an accident.

www.wistv.com

But at several points, investigators told the people they were interviewing they were not afraid of the Murdaughs and wanted more answers into how Smith died.

“My office is around Charleston,” said Trooper Proctor. “I don’t work around Hampton, and I know the Murdaughs are highfalutin around Hampton and people say they have a lot of power or whatever, but that name doesn’t mean anything to me... you don’t have to agree with Stephen’s lifestyle but that don’t mean he gets to be killed and no one gets to find out what happened.”

Investigators also told people they interviewed that they were not making progress, but were still looking into the case as a murder.

“I’m going to be honest with you, we are at a loss, even the sheriff’s department, everybody, there is nothing and it’s one of the reasons why I don’t think it’s a hit and run, and I’ve looked at the body itself, I’m not saying it couldn’t be... I’m not leaning towards that,” said Cpl. Duncan while speaking with the victim’s sister.

Then less than a year later L/CPL James told a person who he was interviewing that Smith “didn’t get hit by a car.”

According to a spokesperson for the SC Department of Public Safety, the agency that oversees SCHP, all findings in the case have been turned over to SLED.

“SLED’s investigation into this case is ongoing, and we will not have further comment about specifics of the initial investigation at this time beyond what was released,” said the spokesperson.

 

[arielilane]

Stephen Smith: All About the Teen's Mysterious 2015 Death and Reopened Investigation After Murdaugh Murders

Here's everything to know about the suspicious 2015 death of Stephen Smith, which has been reinvestigated by authorities since 2021.

people.com

Stephen Smith: All About the Teen's Mysterious 2015 Death and Reopened Investigation After Murdaugh Murders​

An investigation into the 2015 death of Stephen Smith was reopened in 2021 following the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh​

Stephen Smith's death has been considered mysterious since he was found dead in the middle of a rural South Carolina road in 2015 — and questions have only intensified since the 2021 murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, a mother-and-son from a prominent South Carolina family.


Smith, a 19-year-old nursing student from Hampton, South Carolina, was found dead in the early morning hours of July 8, 2015. He was discovered lying in the middle of a dark country road — 3 miles away from where his car had run out of gas — with deep gashes on his forehead, several local news outlets reported. Authorities initially thought Smith had been shot, but his death was later ruled a hit-and-run — a claim that his mother, Sandy Smith, disputes to this day.


"Sandy and I both believe that this was a murder," Smith family attorney Mike Hemlepp told PEOPLE in 2022. "Whoever did this to Stephen should go to prison."

 

[Gardenista]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1633855389669416960

 

[lonetraveler]

The Corrupt World Behind the Murdaugh Murders

More jolting swerves followed the murder of Paul and Maggie, as the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced that it was examining two more fatalities potentially connected to the Murdaughs. The first, from 2015, involved a young nursing student, Stephen Smith, who had been found dead in the middle of a road near Hampton, with a serious head injury. Superficial appearances suggested that he’d run out of gas, begun walking home, and been accidentally hit by a vehicle. But none of the usual evidence of a hit-and-run had been found. “I saw no vehicle debris, skid marks, or injuries consistent with someone being struck by a vehicle,” a highway-patrol officer at the scene reported. Days after the killing, Smith’s mother told the police she’d heard that Paul and Buster Murdaugh were behind it. Officers investigated the tip, and the possibility of a hate crime emerged: Smith was gay, and his name was linked with Buster’s in the gossip mill of former high-school classmates. (Buster could not be reached for comment.) But before the officers could track the rumor to its source, the pathologist in the case described Smith’s death as the result of being struck by a motor vehicle—contradicting the opinions of the county coroner and at least one highway-patrol investigator. No Murdaughs were ever questioned.

Maybe the pathologist needs a bit of investigating.

 

[SuziQ]

Maybe the pathologist needs a bit of investigating.

I agree.

 

[sds71]

Stephen Smith Investigation: An Update - FITSNews

Will the truth ever be uncovered?

www.fitsnews.com

 

[Carolina Girl]

Marking a place here. Posted relating to this in wrong thread. Apologies to all.

 

[vls12345]

Copying and pasting a post I made in the AM thread here because it is relevant here...

Seeing that it was information gathered during the course of the double homicide, my guess it is more than one or two things.

Also Im leaning towards something in writing. Like an old email, or an old out of date phone that still has texts on it or even a ghost app on an old phone or old tablet. Also there are so many anonymous messaging apps now.

The investigation into Stephen's death was reopened on June 22, 2021, so just a couple of weeks after Maggie and Paul were murdered.

If it was that quickly, I am thinking they may not have had time to extensively search old electronics so my guess is physical evidence like photos, handwritten notes, or something that might look like it had been used to inflict blunt force trauma.

Since BM was mentioned in relation (possibly) to Stephen, but BM never really lived at Moselle (they moved there after he had already moved away for college), I wonder if the item(s) were kept as blackmail/insurance? If so, who would have kept it and why? AM or PM trying to keep BM or acquaintances of BM in line?

All speculation and MOO.

Stephen Smith: All About the Teen's Mysterious 2015 Death and Reopened Investigation After Murdaugh Murders

Here's everything to know about the suspicious 2015 death of Stephen Smith, which has been reinvestigated by authorities since 2021.

people.com

 

[Ray_of_hope]

I remember being so angry that a police officer argued with higher ups that Stephen Smith's death was a homicide and he was removed from the case.

Cops investigating teen's death questioned his links to the Murdaughs

Incident reports obtained by DailyMail.com show cops investigating the 2015 death of Stephen Smith received tips questioning the teen's relationship to Richard 'Buster' Murdaugh, 26.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[TeaTime]

Once there was a lawyer whom lived in my neighborhood. He killed 2 sons-in-law by means which were initially considered accidents on his property. Both were insured. Then he shot part of his hand off and collected insurance, then he yanked out his own eye with his prosthetic hand and collected insurance.

He feigned illness but was still ordered to trial where he appeared on a gurney. Judge wasn't having any of his BS. While out on appeal, he was found dead in the trunk of a car in a parking lot. Determined to be suicide. ??

His last name was *advertiser censored* and there was a book written about it. Everyone thought he was nuts before all of this came out, but WOW, no one expected the outcome of his exposure.

 

[Procrastinator]

Once there was a lawyer whom lived in my neighborhood. He killed 2 sons-in-law by means which were initially considered accidents on his property. Both were insured. Then he shot part of his hand off and collected insurance, then he yanked out his own eye with his prosthetic hand and collected insurance.

He feigned illness but was still ordered to trial where he appeared on a gurney. Judge wasn't having any of his BS. While out on appeal, he was found dead in the trunk of a car in a parking lot. Determined to be suicide. ??

His last name was *advertiser censored* and there was a book written about it. Everyone thought he was nuts before all of this came out, but WOW, no one expected the outcome of his exposure.

DBM

 

[TeaTime]

Why was his name censored? His name was Leonard F a g o t. The book is "Deadly Relations". Written by 2 of his daughters who lost their husbands to his murderous ways.