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

[Seattle1]

There were already allegations of a drunk driver by two officers but the drunk driver allegedly recanted and lawyered up:

Adding MSM link that Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly are the only named POI's by SLED so not an allegation:

Stephen Smith Case Files: The Initial Interviews - FITSNews

Promising leads coming full circle? Or a cold case getting colder ...

www.fitsnews.com

March 30, 2023

Two individuals currently viewed by SLED as persons of interest in connection with Smith’s death – Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly – were embroiled in various legal actions tied to the Murdaugh family in the months following the murder.

As previously reported by this news outlet, on December 18, 2015 – five months after Smith’s murder – SCHP investigators received a tip from Wilson’s self-described step-father, Darrell Williams of Varnville, S.C. According to Williams, Wilson informed him that Connelly – another Hampton County teenager – was driving a vehicle which “struck and killed Stephen Smith.”

Who told him to share this information? Randy Murdaugh – Alex Murdaugh’s older brother.

According to case notes contained in the MAIT report, Williams “stated that the reason he was passing this information on was because Randy Murdaugh told him to call.”

Both Wilson and Connelly lived in the area near where Stephen Smith’s body was found … and there is information obtained by SLED investigators which has reportedly drawn a sharper focus on them as potential suspects.

[..]

At the time of Wilson’s “confession,” he was facing attempted murder charges. Those charges were later dropped by the office of S.C. fourteenth circuit solicitor Duffie Stone – which employed Alex Murdaugh as a badge-carrying assistant solicitor at the time. Stone followed Murdaugh’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather into office – and “served at the pleasure of the Murdaughs,” according to one Hampton historian.

Meanwhile on August 7, 2015 – a month after Smith’s death – Randy Murdaugh filed a motor vehicle accident lawsuit against Connelly on behalf of his client, Christopher Still. Less than a year later – on May 17, 2016 – yet another Murdaugh attorney filed a separate motor vehicle accident lawsuit against Connelly.

Both actions were later dismissed by Murdaugh-friendly judges in the fourteenth judicial circuit.

[..]

July 2015

Stephanie Smith Full Interview - Stephen Smith Investigation Files​

Sandy Smith Full Interview - Stephen Smith Investigation Files​

August 2015

David Uram Full Interview - Stephen Smith Investigation Files​

July 2015

Mark Bickhardt Full Interview - Stephen Smith Investigation Files

Get the full story on FITSNews.comFITSNews is THE new media in South Carolina.Connect with us for the best South Carolina #News coverage. https://linktr.ee/f...

www.youtube.com

Mark Bickhardt Full Interview - Stephen Smith Investigation Files​

 

[Kittybunny]

The Murdaughs are so shady that it's easy to automatically assume that they're involved in every death in the low country, and it's not a stretch at all, seriously. But in this case, I do think the answer is the hit and run, and their involvement is limited to pulling strings on behalf of clients. It does sound plausible that if the only thing that hit Stephen was the mirror that there wouldn't be a lot of debris. Also, it's very possible that the boys did realize that they hit something, stopped, backed up and cleaned up any big pieces of glass. I do trust Dr. Kenneth. As to why this was not investigated more fully could simply be law-enforcement old fashioned negligence and perhaps prejudice against the victim based on orientation. But yes! Agree it's still a crime!

JMO

 

[passionflower]

Exactly this!!! BM now wants to give an alibi but the witnesses are dead. I know he has support from his Murdaugh family and probly his girlfriend but he is AM 2.0, IMO. He was, is and will always be an empty suit and unlike AM doesn't have the b*lls, ambition or fortitude to be anything but a follower and a wannbe. A little man in a grown man's body,all JMO.

I believe Sandy, and true to the Murdaugh way, AM and RM are on the scene trying to control what goes on. Grandpa must have been busy that morning. How would they know and why would they care that SS was a victim of a fatal accident unless a family member or LE told them and they knew him or his lifestyle?? As ambulance chasers, there was no one to sue, yet. There's more to it than RM's connection to father Joel, JMO.

Today I found Alex M addressing Buster in court. His wording was a bit off when he said he was sorry he wasn’t with him through this??? JMOO

 

[Seattle1]

The Murdaughs are so shady that it's easy to automatically assume that they're involved in every death in the low country, and it's not a stretch at all, seriously. But in this case, I do think the answer is the hit and run, and their involvement is limited to pulling strings on behalf of clients. It does sound plausible that if the only thing that hit Stephen was the mirror that there wouldn't be a lot of debris. Also, it's very possible that the boys did realize that they hit something, stopped, backed up and cleaned up any big pieces of glass. I do trust Dr. Kenneth. As to why this was not investigated more fully could simply be law-enforcement old fashioned negligence and perhaps prejudice against the victim based on orientation. But yes! Agree it's still a crime!

JMO

Having just listened to all the police interviews made public, I agree that the hit and run was most likely independent of the Murdaugh clan and their shady side.

The police interviews were conducted within days of SS death -- long before anybody could change their story.

Mom Sandy confirmed SS's behavior had changed shortly before his death which I think can be explained by SS experimenting with putting himself out as a gay man but knowing he was not necessarily being smart and/or safe about it by using Craig's List.

I hope Sandy takes comfort knowing SS was almost instinctively being clingy towards her in his last days of life. I also think the sister was trying to protect both her brother and her father, and understand why she was holding back.

I believe the the person SS met once on CL (Uram) was most likely the well heeled party extending an invite for deep sea fishing in Florida and not a Murdaugh, more specifically, not BM.

Nonetheless, somebody was behind the wheel that knowingly or unknowingly caused SS's fatal head injury, and I hope they will be held accountable. At only 19, SS was robbed of a life full of promise since I think he was truly born to be a medical provider. MOO #RIP young man.

 

[Seattle1]

Murdaugh Classmate Stephen Smith Died from Head Injury Caused by Hit and Run: Experts​

Nov 29, 2023 #StephenSmith #Murdaugh #LawAndCrime

A second autopsy performed on Stephen Smith, a former classmate of Buster Murdaugh, confirmed the findings that the teen died as the result of a hit-and-run. Smith — who was an openly gay teenager — was found dead in the middle of a South Carolina road in 2015.

Documentaries and podcasts have often discussed whether or not Buster had something to do with Smith’s death. The Law&Crime Network’s Angenette Levy spoke with the forensic pathologist who oversaw the the second autopsy.

 

[Seattle1]

9/27/23-- Stephen Smith Death Investigation: Latest News

video with Chanley Painter and Dr Kinsey at the road scene.

 

[rescuemom]

I thought hit and run was ruled out for many reasons, so now it's back in???? Unless I missed it and I watched EB and RR on the recent 48 Hours, what is the NEW evidence they are advertising??

 

[GMS]

I thought hit and run was ruled out for many reasons, so now it's back in???? Unless I missed it and I watched EB and RR on the recent 48 Hours, what is the NEW evidence they are advertising??

From my understanding, based on the skull fracture, they believe it was an object extending from a vehicle; ie. larger mirror, ladder, etc. that struck SS. His position in the road, blood trail, etc. seemed consistent with this theory and did not appear to be staged as previously speculated.

 

[arielilane]

RUMORS SWIRL OF MURDAUGH INVOLVEMENT​

Soon after Stephen Smith was killed, Hampton County Guardian managing editor Michael DeWitt says he began hearing persistent rumors all over town.

Nikki Battiste: What are the rumors?

Michael DeWitt: That at least one Murdaugh child was in a vehicle with other boys and allegedly, somebody in the vehicle … struck the young man with a baseball bat and killed him.


Sandy says those same rumors hit her doorstep as soon as Stephen's body was taken for an autopsy.

Sandy Smith: It made no sense to me.

Nikki Battiste: At any point did you think that someone in the Murdaugh family was involved?

Sandy Smith: Well, the longer it went on, the more I was asking myself questions. … But I just couldn't find the connection … a powerful family, and then you got Stephen, who was just Stephen.

Sandy couldn't help but think back to her last conversation with Stephen a week before he was killed.

Sandy Smith: Somebody was messaging him a lot.

Sandy Smith: He told me that he was goin' … deep sea fishin'. … he said, "Key West." And I said, "Well, who are you goin' with?" He said, "Well, I can't tell you."


Nikki Battiste: Did that make you pause?

Sandy Smith: Yeah. … He said, "You'd be surprised. … it's kinda, like, a prominent person." And then all I could say was, "Well, I hope you have fun."

Sandy says Stephen had become more secretive the last couple of weeks. But it never crossed her mind he might be talking about a Murdaugh.

What do Stephen Smith's injuries tell about the SC teen's death? New findings revealed.

11.26.2023

 

[arielilane]

Bland and Richter also hired Dr. Kenny Kinsey, a crime scene expert and star prosecution witness in the Murdaugh murder trial, to conduct an independent investigation into Stephen's death. On May 16, 2023, he told CBS News' Nikki Battiste about his findings.


"I'm as close to a degree of scientific certainty as I've ever felt," says Dr. Kinsey. He believes Stephen was struck in the head by something hanging off of a vehicle traveling at high speed. "It's a gamut of things it could've been," he says, "But it was most probably affixed to that vehicle or secured on that vehicle." A side mirror on a truck, for example, would be plausible.

"So, a hit-and-run, but an atypical hit-and-run?" Battiste asks.

"Yeah," says Dr. Kinsey, "Very atypical."

All of the information gathered by Dr. Kinsey and Dr. DuPre has been turned over to SLED for their ongoing investigation

Timeline: The mysterious death of Stephen Smith in Murdaugh country

11.26.2023

 

[arielilane]

The unlocking of SS's electronics with reveal a goldmine, hopefully! moo

 

[Seattle1]

From my understanding, based on the skull fracture, they believe it was an object extending from a vehicle; ie. larger mirror, ladder, etc. that struck SS. His position in the road, blood trail, etc. seemed consistent with this theory and did not appear to be staged as previously speculated.

Yes, and Dr. Kinsey opined it was most likely an object on the passenger side of the vehicle that struck SS. I don't know how tall SS was but seems he was struck at eye/forehead level. IMO, SS was killed instantly on impact and dropped to the ground.

Hearing this, it reminded me of the 2013 death of Texas trucking magnet Bill Hall who was killed when his wife (Francis Hall) knocked her husband’s motorcycle off a San Antonio highway while she was chasing his mistress, who was in another vehicle on the same road (motorcycle was following behind the GF).

In the accident reconstruction, it was the bikes extended mirror that likely made contact/shattered the passenger side back window of the Cadillac SUV the wife was driving. Although the wife was convicted of causing his death, she was only sentenced to two years in prison for his death. The wife alleged she didn't realize she hit him after passing him on the road and thought the noise was a from a piece of granite she was hauling in the the rear cargo area that had been slamming around in the compartment when the GF kept braking ahead of her. This crime story was recently featured on Dateline.

 

[GMS]

Yes, and Dr. Kinsey opined it was most likely an object on the passenger side of the vehicle that struck SS. I don't know how tall SS was but seems he was struck at eye/forehead level. IMO, SS was killed instantly on impact and dropped to the ground.

Reports list SS as 5'8" in height - which if it was a vehicle side mirror - would align with a pick-up truck or a vehicle sitting higher off-the ground - that's based on the idea SS was standing or walking as opposed to kneeling, for instance, to tie a shoelace.

 

[EllaMinnowP]

The unlocking of SS's electronics with reveal a goldmine, hopefully! moo

Yes, I’m looking forward to that information, too. I’d sure like to know if he’d phoned a ‘friend’ about his car trouble, and if he had reason to believe that the oncoming vehicle was his ride….
MOO

 

[rescuemom]

I can't put my hands on where I read this but I remember there was 1 or maybe 2 black men who when BM's age played ball with BM and were thought to be with BM after a game in a pick up truck. It was insinuated that it was on the night of SS's murder and they could have been witness to the muder but have naturally disappeared or left the area???? Anyone else even remember something like this????

 

[arielilane]

@CourtTV

Eric Bland said investigators were able to access Stephen Smith's tablet despite reports it was damaged beyond repair.

10:00 AM · Dec 18, 2023

https://twitter.com/x/status/1736763389437718966

 

[arielilane]

10+ minute video

--- The phone has been unlocked for years...
--- The tablet unlocked within the past year...
--- SLED has the tablet....
--- BM has never answered the question: does he have any knowledge of what happened to Stephen...
--- SS (Stephen's mom) said that she, her daughter, and another son saw RM and AM at the scene. RM claimed that he was there, but that he was there the following day.

Stephen Smith's Tablet Unlocked 8 Years After Murder​

Eric Bland, the Smith's family attorney, said investigators now have access to Stephen Smith's tablet despite reports it was damaged beyond repair. Smith was found dead in 2015 and the case was ruled a homicide during Alex Murdaugh's double murder investigation.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

BBM: The Doctor is talking about that a bat was not used because that usually causes a pattern of injuries. I don't agree with him. This was one blow. Not a pattern of blows. I know I'm not a Doctor but this is what my opinion. I believe that if it was a side mirror, there would have been glass or parts of the mirror on the highway. JMO

I borrowed this photo. It is a good representation of how my side view mirror (glass part only), looks on my pickup truck after striking the oncoming mirror of another pickup truck on a narrow bridge. If it had been a human head, they would be dead and no glass or parts of the sideview mirror would have been left at the scene.

 

[rescuemom]

I borrowed this photo. It is a good representation of how my side view mirror (glass part only), looks on my pickup truck after striking the oncoming mirror of another pickup truck on a narrow bridge. If it had been a human head, they would be dead and no glass or parts of the sideview mirror would have been left at the scene.
View attachment 469574

 

[rescuemom]

Totally agree