![]() ![]() “I hope to find the real reason for Stephen’s death and the real why,” said Ms Smith. On Monday, Smith’s mother and attorneys held a press conference where they announced plans to exhume the 19-year-old’s body and conduct an independent autopsy, after she had raised more than $70,000 through a GoFundMe campaign. The development comes just one day after Smith’s mother held a press conference announcing an independent investigation and Buster broke his silence to deny any involvement in his death. This January, the agency said that “progress” had been made – but had provided no other details until Tuesday’s major announcement. In June 2021 – mere days after Alex Murdaugh gunned down his wife Maggie and son Paul on the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre estate in Islandton on 7 June 2021 – SLED announced it was opening an investigation into Smith’s death. The attorneys added that SLED officials had also “welcomed a partnership” with the attorneys representing Smith’s family and believe that “working together will help to bring new leads and information to light and will ultimately lead to a resolution in this case”. “We have a chance to right eight years of wrongs, and we intend to do just that,” Mr Bland added. We are committed to finding out what really happened, and getting the peace and justice the Smith family deserves.” “However, they will be present and participate in any exhumation of Stephen’s body to gather more evidence. “SLED officials have revealed that they did not need to exhume Stephen Smith’s body to convince them that his death was a homicide,” the attorneys said in a joint statement. They said that law enforcement did not need to exhume Smith’s body to reach the conclusion that there was foul play in his death. “SLED is investigating Stephen Smith’s 2015 death as a homicide and been investigating this since 2021,” agency spokesperson Renée Wunderlich said Tuesday.Īttorneys Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter, who are representing Ms Smith, described the update as “extraordinary” and “a shocking announcement after eight years of being proclaimed a highway vehicular manslaughter”. In a bombshell development, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) chief Mark Keel informed the Smith family on Tuesday in a phone call, the family attorneys said – calling it a major development in the case. Now, after Smith’s mother Sandy Smith has spent almost eight years fighting for justice and answers about what happened to her son, the state law enforcement agency has now confirmed that his death is being investigated as a homicide. Police reports also revealed that some of Smith’s injuries were inconsistent with being struck by a car. There were no skid marks around his body, no vehicular debris, and the victim’s loosely tied shoes were still on his feet. ![]() Alex Murdaugh’s son Buster breaks silence about ‘vicious rumours’ around Stephen Smith’s death.Stephen Smith’s mother flagged Buster Murdaugh as a potential suspect in his murder in 2016 letter to the FBI.Dead in a road, inconsistent injuries and Murdaugh family murmurs: What happened to Stephen Smith?.Questions about Smith’s death were reignited amid the weeks-long trial for Alex Murdaugh who was ultimately convicted in the killings of his wife and youngest son. At the time, investigators said that it appeared Smith was hit by a vehicle while standing outside his vehicle that had run out of gas. Smith, 19, was found dead with a head injury along Sandy Run Road in Hampton County in July 2015. I am requesting that the media immediately stop publishing these defamatory comments and rumors about me.” I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family. These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false. He continued, “I haven’t spoken up until now because I want to live in private while I cope with their deaths and my father’s incarceration.īefore, during and since my father’s trial, I have been targeted and harassed by the media and followers of this story. I love them so much and miss them terribly,” Murdaugh said in his statement. “I have tried my best to ignore the vicious rumors about my involvement in Stephen Smith’s tragic death that continue to be published in the media as I grieve over the brutal murders of my mother and brother. ALSO ON WJBF: SC prosecutors discuss team effort during Murdaugh trial
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