An unforeseen consequence in the trial of Alex Murdaugh was the light that has been shined on his son, Buster.
The case of Stephen Smith, Buster’s friend whose death was originally ruled a hit-and-run in 2015, has been reopened. An attorney for Sandy Smith, Stephen’s mother, said Tuesday that the head of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) does not believe the 19-year-old was killed by vehicular accident but instead died by intentional homicide. They are prepared to exhume the body if necessary.
Smith’s car broke down just miles from the Murdaugh family’s South Carolina hunting estate, and he was a classmate of Buster Murdaugh.
South Carolina State Highway Patrol said Stehen died by a hit-and-run, but Sandy Smith said her son would have “walked through the woods” on his way home if his car was not working instead of walking along the side of the road. She also said her son would not have left his wallet in the broken-down vehicle, as investigators determined in 2015.
Eric Bland, an attorney from Bland Richter Law Firm who represents Sandy Smith, announced on Tuesday that he spoke with SLED chief Mark Keel and learned the boy’s death is now considered a homicide, eight years later.
Bland made this revelation to hosts of the Murdaugh Murders Podcast, saying Keel told him he did not have to exhume Smith’s body to prove to SLED that Smith died by homicide and not by a vehicular accident.
“He said, ‘if you want to go out in public and say SLED supports you, that Stephen Smith died by homicide, that he was killed somewhere else, or died in a way that was intentional and not just hit by a car, you have our permission to do so,’” Bland said.
The ruling that Smith’s death was caused by hit-and-run – still a form of homicide – has been controversial.
In fact, former South Carolina State Trooper Todd Proctor, who led the preliminary investigation into Smith’s death, told Fox News that there was no evidence pointing toward the death being a hit-and-run, or even involving a vehicle.
“It looked like it was more staged,” he said in 2021. “Like possibly the body had been placed in the roadway.” There were no tire marks on the road or broken car parts at the scene of the crime, nor did Smith show any signs that he slid across the asphalt after being hit.
On Tuesday, Proctor responded to the news. “SLED has requested that I not speak about the case,” he said. “That news is not surprising, though. I’ve said that for years now.”
Buster Murdaugh, in a statement shared on Monday by his family’s attorney, Jim Griffin, said he “unequivocally” denies any involvement in Smith’s death.
“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,” he said, adding that he has been “targeted and harassed” by members of the media and public.
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