It would repeatedly get to a certain point, then the assigned investigator would bow out, perhaps not wanting to take on Solicitor Murdaugh.. Murdaugh will face three charges in the shooting, but with several ongoing investigations and. The key located in the victims pocket was used to open the vehicle. MAIT is a division of the South Carolina HighwayPatrol unit that initially responded to the scene. Smith was found dead with deep gashes to his head in the middle of a dark Hampton County road on July 8, 2015. A SCHP flyer is made asking for tips in the case. Washington tells him its been taken to the funeral home per the familys wishes at the time of the death notification.. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. Smith died on a rural road in Hampton County in 2015, in what was ruled a hit-and-run. All Rights Reserved. In the summer of 2015, 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of a rural highway in South Carolina. State police said information they gathered in the Murdaugh investigations also led them to review what was initially reported as the hit-and-run death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith in Hampton . Everything to Know About the Murdaugh Family Murders and the Ongoing Drama Surrounding Dad Alex Murdaugh, Hampton County Detention Center/AP/Shutterstock, Alex Murdaugh Allegedly Lured Wife to Cabin On Night She Was Killed and She Texted Friend It Seemed 'Fishy', Everything to Know About the Murdaugh Family Murders, Including Details of Allegations Against Alex, Alex Murdaugh's Slain Son Paul Allegedly Strangled Ex-Girlfriend in 2017, She Says in Netflix Documentary, Investigators Will Exhume Body of Murdaugh Family Housekeeper Who Died Under Mysterious Circumstances. Stephen's murder was ruled a hit-and-run with no one arrested for the crime, but in 2021, the case was reopened. The former S.C. Highway Patrol trooper had recently told several media outlets that Stephen Smith's 2015 death was likely a murder staged to look like a hit-and-run. No one's going to feel like they're being held accountable if we don't bring attention to it.". Smith's case had gone cold in the months following his July 2015 death, which was officially ruled a vehicular hit-and-run despite strong objections from the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Feb. 26, 2018: Satterfield dies from her injuries. In June, SLED announced that they planned to exhume her body. Michael E. Duncan of the incident. To submit your loved one for . I then reminded him that earlier that morning they were certain it was a gunshot wound and he told me he had to go by the opinion of the doctor. Moore asks where Smiths body is. In early June, a son and mother, both members of a. Shortly after 1 p.m. SCHP: Duncan calls Stephen Smiths mother Sandy Smith. Sunday's vigil was held just days after news broke that disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was indicted by a grand jury on murder charges in connection with the June 2021 deaths of his wife Maggie, 52, and 22-year-old son Paul. Todd Proctor, S.C. Highway Patrol's lead investigator in the 2015 Stephen Smith case, tells multiple news outlets that he still doesn't believe Smith died as a result of a hit-and-run. Smith died on a rural road in Hampton County, in 2015 that was ruled a hit-and-run.. Smith's mother, Sandy, told the the Hampton County Guardian, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2015 that she believed her son's death was the result of foul play and a possible hate crime because her son was gay. Crime scene photos obtained by FITSNews are horrific Stephens entire face was covered in blood that cascaded from a 7.25-inch gaping hole on the right side of his forehead. According to Live 5 News, the Murdaugh family is mentioned several times in the investigative files of Stephen Smith, who died by hit-and-run in July 2015. The family has now offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Myth? Mandy also hosts the Murdaugh Murders podcast. 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 . The family member says that Stephen was recently acting secretive and started coming home late. Alex Murdaugh is currently in jail, on a $7 million bond that he has yet to meet, facing 51 charges for financial crimes, and multiple lawsuits. Two Murdaughs also work for the prominent Hampton, S.C. law firm of Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick(PMPED). His head was misshapen by blunt force. CLICK HERE. We have got to keep the light on his story and to keep the fire underneath other people's behinds to get it solved. Sandy has been begging law enforcement officials for years to open an investigation into her sons unsolved death. Now, police investigating the shooting deaths of. He said Stephen was harassed by Rednecks in a big truck with big mud tires.. They were very withdrawn with what they knew or thought.. The statements are the latest to be revealed in court filings by Dominion as part of its billion-dollar defamation suit against the . Sandy says shes skeptical of the man claiming to be Stephens boyfriend. Evidence in. Alex Murdaugh Pauls father and Maggies husband is said to have discovered the bodies that evening after returning to the property. Nothing about this case from the very beginning pointed towards it being a hit and run, Proctor said. Stephen Smith was 19 when he died in what investigators called a hit-and-run in Hampton County in 2015. He would have seen headlights coming and got off the road. The final autopsy report said that Stephens cause of death was blunt head trauma, motor vehicle crash, pedestrian vs. vehicle. His death was ruled a hit-and-run, but his mother Sandy Smith, who attended Sunday's unveiling, has long suspected he was murdered. He gets voicemail. The Hampton County Coroner's office authorized the autopsy. The killings also led the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to open a new inquiry into the unsolved death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old whose body was found on a rural road in the area in . Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal is now streaming on Netflix, telling the story of the wealthy Murdaugh family in South Carolina. No additional details were provided. (Center) Alex Murdaugh in Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. Following Killings of S.C. The three-part series chronicles the string of deaths that the family is connected to, including a teenager named Mallory Beach who tragically died in a boating accident. And before too long, some of them including the Murdaugh family stopped cooperating at all, he said. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? The vehicle was in park. So why didnt they investigate Stephens death as a homicide? She had no evidence other than that for the statement being put in the report., Proctor said that he explained to her that law enforcement officers had no evidence of this individual being struck by a vehicle.. Years before Maggie and Paul were killed, there was another murder in South Carolina that also might have ties to the Murdaugh family. Here's what we know. Shes an investigative journalist from Kansas who has worked for newspapers in Missouri, Illinois, and South Carolina before making the switch to FITS. It was also reported that Alex and another family member took to Paul's rescue as legal counsel while he was detained. His loosely tied shoes were still on and his clothes appeared untouched. "That no family, no community, no friends, no one had come to help her try to get a headstone. His phone and keys were still in his pocket. Law enforcement officers believed Smith ran out of gas and started walking home before he was killed. The killings also led the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to open an investigation into the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old man whose body was found in a road 10 miles from. Maybe there's even manufactured evidence in this case. At the time, investigators said it appeared he was killed in a hit-and-run collision while walking. After Paul and Maggie Murdaugh's murders, SLED announced that their investigation had led them to look into Stephen's death. Investigators with the S.C. Highway Patrol (SCHP) received multiple tips in the aftermath of Smiths death linking his untimely demise to the Murdaugh family. At nearly $29 million, Clark is set to have the third-largest cap hit in 2023 of any defensive end. Upon entering the scene, agents observed that the scene was secured by HCSO personnel and yellow barrier tape, the SLED agent wrote. Want to contact Mandy? As I was leaving she stated that the report was preliminary and it was my job to figure out what struck him, not hers, Proctor wrote. Here is a look at the events surrounding his indictments:June 7, 2021: Murdaugh calls police to report his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22, have been fatally shot near a dog kennel on their property.June 23, 2021: An investigation into the hit-and-run death of Stephen Smith, 19, unsolved for six years, is reopened based on information . These boys were coming from a baseball game and I think that they were right behind him, so when he had to pull over, they were right there. He said he would take Stephens case free of charge. She tells police Stephen was going to school in Orangeburg and hung out at Bobcat Landing a lot recently. In light of historical information and the autopsy findings, it is the opinion of the pathologist that the decedent died as the result of blunt head trauma sustained in a motor vehicle crash in which the decedent was a pedestrian struck by a vehicle, the autopsy report says. Cr. Mandy Matneyis the news director at FITSNews. "Stephen's getting his final resting place honored and recognized," says Andrews. No they dont they care about protecting themselves.. in. The official cause of death at the time was that Smith, 19, died from a hit and run. The Murdaugh family has loomed large in the Lowcountry for nearly a century with three generations of its members serving as solicitor (South Carolinas version of a district attorney) over a five-county region between 1920 and 2007. The 19-year-old had his skull partially crushed and his shoulder dislocated. Moore calls Croft to ask which agents were at the scene that morning. Fox News boss Rupert Murdoch said in a deposition under oath that any Fox News executives who knowingly allowed lies to be broadcast on the air "should be reprimanded" or "maybe got rid of," according to a new court filing on Monday by Dominion Voting Systems. The victim was covered with a sheet., A hole in the skull was located above the victims right eye, SLED agents wrote. Smith's death was attributed to severe head trauma and controversially ruled a hit and run at the time, which the family and some investigators have disputed, and official investigations into his . 6:25 a.m. SCHP: Moore arrives at the scene and speaks with Hampton County Coroner Ernie Washington, who tells him it is a homicide. Im telling you man to man I didnt kill him.. A spokesperson confirmed the investigation into the 2015 hit-and-run case, citing "the information gathered in the Murdaugh homicide investigation." Murdaugh's. Or "king's ransom" waiting to be found Stephen Smith Case Files: Why Was Hampton Teens Death Ruled A Hit And Run In 2015? As I was leaving she stated that the report was preliminary and it was my job to figure out what struck him, not hers, Proctor wrote. Duncan does not include this in his casenotes. Murdaugh Murders: What happened to Gloria Satterfield? As if all of the foregoing wasn't wild enough, apparently, information gathered from the Murdaugh double murder investigation has prompted law enforcement to reopen a case regarding the 2015 death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. Build your customFanSided TV email newsletter with news and analysis onNetflix and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. According to the autopsy, Greene was responsible for evidence transfer in the case. Stephen's death is one of several mysterious or accidental deaths that have swirled around the Murdaugh family in recent years. One theory posits that Stephen ran out of gas and decided to walk home when he was clipped by a semi truck, but Stephen's mother Sandy Smith discounted that hypothesis in the 20/20 documentary. Smith was released on bond and now faces six felony charges in the shooting of Alex Murdaugh. We have an open microphone policy here at FITSNews! The mother of the 19-year-old Stephen Smith has told news outlets for the past six years that she thought her son was beaten to death and not hit by a vehicle in Hampton County and she thought someone in the area covered up the crime. July 10, 2015, SCHP: Stephens Clothes and iPhone sent to SLED, 5 p.m.: Stephens wake is held at the Peeples-Rhoden Funeral Home chapel in Hampton on Mulberry Street East. I wouldn't put shit by wealthy, corrupt, powerful, relatively young or barely "mature", highly intelligent men, privileged in every way. In their search, investigators from SCHP, the Hampton County sheriffs office, and SLED found virtually no evidence no bullets, no gunshot residue, no tire marks, no debris from a vehicle. Detectives speculated a truck had side-swiped him with a rearview mirror as Smith walked along the dark road, according to incident reports. Todd Proctor, former. HAMPTON, S.C. 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