Thank you, God!. That's not even the end of the story. SCHP detectives noted the cars gas cap was unscrewed and hanging outside of the gas cap door. "He had his cell phone, he was six miles from the house," she insisted. A man driving on the road that evening called police just before 5 a.m.to report a person lying in the roadside,according to police reports. The Murdaugh family (/ m r d k / MUR-dok) is an American legal family in the Low Country region of South Carolina.From 1920 to 2006, three members of the family consecutively served as solicitor (i.e., district attorney), in charge of prosecuting all criminal cases in the state's 14th circuit district, leading locals to call the five-county district, "Murdaugh Country". Officially, Smiths death was classified as a hit and run. As any investigator, you go off of the evidence there was no evidence that pointed towards this being a hit and run, or a vehicle even being involved in it. Stephen's death is one of several mysterious or accidental deaths that have swirled around the Murdaugh family in recent years. SCHP: Allen tells Duncan and SCHP that they are not needed at the autopsy, according to SLED and HCSO. . "And it's amazing to be a part of that and to see it. They called me back and said they were looking into Stephens case because they have to see if my family is involved in the shooting of Paul and Maggie (Murdaugh), Sandy Smith said. It looked like it was more staged like possibly the body had been placed in the roadway.". Like the probe of the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, the 2015 investigation into Smiths death was chaotic from the beginning clouded by jurisdictional confusion and suspicions of investigative interference. Smith was found dead just before 4:00 a.m. EDT on July 8, 2015. Proctor then spoke withKelly Greene, Hampton County deputy coroner and a SLED agent who both attended the autopsy and said they didnt make any reference to the pathologist about the victim being struck by a vehicle, only that he was found in the road. Evidence in. 6:12 a.m. SLED: SLED Crime Scene was requested by Chief Deputy Billy Jarrell, HCSO, to assist in the investigation of a possible homicide in Hampton County.. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? "As any investigator [does],you go off of the evidence. Is Outer Banks based on a true story? Now, police investigating the shooting deaths of. Stephen Smith, a teenager from Hampton . Alex's. Additionally, the episode will reveal new details in the death of Stephen Smith, who was found dead in 2015 after an alleged hit and run. Photo: Facebook. 4:15 p.m. SCHP: Sgt. HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The mother of a 19-year-old found dead in 2015 said the grand jury indictment of former Lowcountry attorney Alex Murdaugh in the killings of his own wife and son gives her hope for justice for her son's case. The official cause of death at the time was that Smith, 19, died from a hit and run. Murdaugh murders: Cops clueless about motive, refuse to release 911 call details Another deceased person's name has reemerged in the case - Stephen Smith, a gay man from Hampton who died in 2015. Murdaugh's. At the time, investigators said it appeared he was killed in a hit-and-run collision while walking. Files with the state highway patrol showed that a Murdaugh family member - a. She was devastated to hear the news that she and her family were now being viewed as possible persons of interest in the savage slayings last Monday at Moselle the Murdaugh family hunting lodge in Colleton county. But Sandy Smith told the Hampton County Guardian, as reported in the Augusta Chronicle, that there was no glass or plastic shards on the road where Stephens body was found nothing that would indicate the young man was hit in the head by a mirror. Like the probe of the2019 boat crashthat killedMallory Beach, the 2015 investigation into Smiths death was chaotic from the beginning clouded by jurisdictional confusion and suspicions of investigative interference. All victims have been submitted by law enforcement or the victims' families. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? I guarantee you that Stephen was not in that road, she said. Mandy also hosts the Murdaugh Murders podcast. On July 8, 2015 Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of Sandy Run Road with a 7.25-inch gaping hole on the right side of his forehead and no other major injuries. He stated he would have to go with the doctors ruling, Moore wrote. 8:25 a.m. SLED: Tallon and Burke arrive at the scene. However, his mother, Sandy, told the the Hampton County Guardian, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2015. He was bright and determined to make a better life for himself. An investigator for the South Carolina Highway Patrol says that he thinks Stephen Smith's body was staged the night of his death in July 2015. In the letter, she said that they were told that the Murdaugh brothers were involved in her sons death. How he died remains a mystery to this day. Last Sunday afternoon, family and friends of Stephen Smith, a South Carolina teen who died under mysterious circumstances in 2015, traveled to the Gooding Cemetery in Hampton County, S.C. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. To what historical information she possessed, I am unaware.. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. His name is going to be right there with everyone elses name and I dont care who knows it.. Nothing about this case from the very beginning pointed towards it being a hit and run, Proctor said. He instead calls Smalls to see if he can get the information. A 48-year-old man has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years' jail for a hit-and-run crash that left cyclist and Perth university professor Thomas Lyons, with a serious and ongoing brain injury . Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Stephen Smith's body was found in the middle of a rural road, Buster, Maggie, Paul and Alex, all members of the prominent Murdaugh family, Mallory Beach died after a boating accident in 2019, Murdaugh familys link to Stephen Smiths death probed in explosive 20/20 doc & teens twin speaks out, Murdaugh family latest - Mallory Beach's parents reveal harrowing moment they 'knew she was dead' in 20/20 documentary, I won a $1.6million lottery jackpot after listening to my mom's advice - here's how she helped me win my fortune, Shock discovery of 90 peoples' remains found in abandoned church linked to man charged with abusing rotting corpses, Terrifying moment skier George McQuinn is knocked unconscious in brutal crash and slides face-first across finish line, UKs bird flu 'patient zero' is distraught after being told he cannot keep ducks for a year, Endangered elephants scavenge for food in dump increasing fears for their welfare, Prince Andrew 'fears being left completely BROKE' as he fights sex allegations as 'private citizen', I woke up from a five-week Covid coma and met my baby son for the first time, Tell your stories of meeting The Queen as we prepare to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. She told FITSNews this week that SLED came to her house to tell her they were opening an investigation. "My hope is that she finds answers that will give her a little bit of peace," she adds. Smith, 19, of Hampton, was found dead in the middle of a rural road in Hampton County in 2015, three miles from where his car had run out of gas, investigators said, WIS, The Augusta Chronicle,. Moore, of SCHP, gets a call from Cpl. So Moore calls Smalls again and gets voicemail. Or an issue youd like to address proactively? In the aftermath of her sons death, Sandy said shes learned that there are two different justice systems in the Palmetto State one for people like the Murdaughs and another for everyone else. Kurt Busch might have received a proper sendoff this weekend in Las Vegas, where his hometown track treated him cruelly over 21 tries until he broke through for a win in 2020. SCHP: Moore calls Peeples-Rhoden Funeral Home and speaks with a funeral home director. She also says shes received a book deal offer and even a Netflix movie opportunity about the case, but shes turned it all down. The family was skeptical of Randy Murdaughs offer and thought it was weird. Cold Cases Database. The case is being reexamined, partly because some Murdaugh family members were among those first on the scene. When asked if theyve had been contacted by a lawyer, the family member tells police that Randy Murdaugh was the second person to call Stephens father after the coroner on the day of Stephens death. The case was mysteriously bounced from investigator to investigator without reasons or notification, Sandy Smith wrote in the letter. Stephens murder was ruled a hit-and-run with no one arrested for the crime, but in 2021, the case was reopened. Smiths mother, Sandy Smith, agrees. This did, however, cause theSouth Carolina Law Enforcement Division to open up the case in June 2021, but at this time it doesnt look like there have been any new developments since then. Since the murders of Paul Murdaugh, 22, and Maggie Murdaugh 52, the State Law Enforcement Division, the agency that has been investigating the homicides, announced that it will now be investigating the death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. "There was no evidence of this being a hit and run. Murdaugh will face three charges in the shooting, but with several ongoing investigations and. Kacen Bayless/AP At the time, police said Smith had a massive head wound and they. Duncan does not include this in his casenotes. Cops investigating the double murder have also reopened the case into a 2015 hit-and-run of teen Stephen Smith Murdaugh family housekeeper Gloria Sattlerfield dies Mallory Beach, 19, died in . I think its a situation when you grow up and your family is kinda high-profile and you get away withsome things because of your family name, Proctor said in 2015. His body was found in the middle of Sandy Run. Investigation files revealed (part one). No they dont they care about protecting themselves.. It looked like it was more staged, like possibly the body had been placed in the roadway.. Others in the community reached out to Sandy with rumors that a "Murdaugh boy" may be involved with her son's death. "She now has more people than she knows what to do with," says Andrews. Randolph "Randy" Murdaugh is the older brother of Alex Murdaugh, a member of the influential Hampton family. The victim was covered with a sheet., A hole in the skull was located above the victims right eye, SLED agents wrote. SLED is investigating every angle in the Murdaugh case something that Sandy wishes they would have done with Stephens death six years ago. At the time of his death, Smith was a 19-year-old Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College student who was studying to become a nurse. Not only is it believed he swept crimes committed by his family under the rug and has been involved in fraud, but hes also been accused of murder. They found engine oil in the vehicle but could not get the car to start. His death was officially ruled a hit-and-run, but deep gashes to his head suggested to some he was beaten to death. Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. 5:15 a.m. SCHP: J.L.Booker, of SCHP, was notified by Lt. Bruce Brock, also of SCHP, of the incident. And while South Carolina investigators havent said what evidence prompted them to open the investigation into Smiths death, Proctor told Fox that the Murdaugh name came up during the investigation and that the family was not particularly cooperative. Names and stories of the Murdaugh family surfaced six years ago regarding the death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, a young gay man found dead in the middle of a lonely rural road with several deep gashes in his head, but investigators said they were never able to directly connect anyone in the family to the incident. Cr. The final autopsy report said that Stephens cause of death was blunt head trauma, motor vehicle crash, pedestrian vs. vehicle. He was in school for nursing at the time of his death. Investigators reported he was the victim. She tells him that she and Tallon were called at 6:10 a.m. by HCSO and that they arrived on scene at 9 a.m. Burke said she didnt think Stephens injury looked like a gunshot wound. Send your tips tomandy@fitsnews.com. At the time of his death, Paul was awaiting trial after being charged with several felonies in connection to the deadly crash, including boating under the influence. Proctor also wrote in his report that Greene was fired sometime between July 22 August 18, 2015. June 7, 2021: Alex Murdaugh, 53, calls 911 and reports he found his wife Margaret, 52, and son Paul, then 22, shot dead outside of their home in Islandton, a small community about an hour north of . Murdaugh Murders: What happened to Gloria Satterfield? No other evidence was located at the scene, the SLED agent wrote. The old way of doing business in Hampton does not exist anymore. However, a pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina ruled the death caused by "blunt head trauma sustained in a motor vehicle crash," according to the final autopsy report. The late Stephen Smith with his mother . At the time, her death was classified as an accidental slip and fall, but authorities have reopened the investigation. The 19-year-old nursing student who had been a classmate of Buster Murdaugh at Wade Hampton High School was found dead with a head wound on Sandy Run. To what historical information she possessed, I am unaware.. It doesnt matter what his sexual preferences were, he was still my son and he was not messing with anybody and was going to school to better himself.. The doctor ruled out a gunshot wound and said it was possible the injury was a result of the impact from theside-view mirror of a semi-truck. Mallory Beach's parents also spoke out in the 20/20 documentary, remembering their daughter who died after an accident involving a Murdaugh family boat. Its also unclear if the MAIT team ever examined Stephens phone, which was tossed between agencies before it was finally unlocked by the FBI several years after his death. The boating incident also revived questions about the 2015 hit-and-run death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, who was found dead on a rural road about 10 miles from the Murdaugh family's home . The Hampton County Coroner's office authorized the autopsy. 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