![]() ![]() This is about Stephen Smith.Grand jurors are reviewing the mysterious death of a South Carolina teenager whose case has received renewed attention after Alex Murdaugh murdered his wife and son, Law&Crime reports.Įric Bland, an attorney for the mother of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, told the news outlet that a grand jury has been empaneled and is receiving evidence related to the teen’s death on July 8, 2015. The legal team representing Sandy Smith reacted to the statement during a press conference Monday, saying in part, "this is not about Buster Murdaugh. "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. "Before, during and since my father's trial, I have been targeted and harassed by the media and followers of this story. "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. I love them so much and miss them terribly. ![]() "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. "It is a huge expense, but we are hoping that with your support we can make this happen and finally get the answers we need," the page says, adding, "We believe 2023 is Stephen's year."īuster Murdaugh released a statement Monday morning, saying: SEE ALSO: What happened to Stephen Smith? Spinoff investigations heat up in wake of Murdaugh family murders The autopsy would cost about $7,000, it says, and a private medical examiner would also need to be present throughout the process - at a rate of about $750 per hour. Smith's family started the GoFundMe in an effort to seek a "new, unbiased look at his body and an accurate determination of his cause of death based on facts," reads the page, which originally sought $15,000. Smith's shoes were also both on and loosely tied, the report added, and investigators saw no evidence suggesting he was struck by a vehicle. However, while a pathologist cited in a SLED report states Smith appeared to have been hit by a vehicle, the responding officer referenced in a report by the state highway patrol's Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team noted "no vehicle debris, skid marks, or injuries consistent with someone being struck by a vehicle." An incident report from the state highway patrol indicated he suffered blunt force trauma to the head, and his death was initially deemed a hit and run. ![]() The body of the 19-year-old nursing student was discovered on July 8, 2015. "SLED has made progress in the death investigation of Stephen Smith," the agency said in a statement to CNN Sunday, "however this investigation remains active and ongoing." SLED did not detail what that information was. Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison and has since appealed his conviction, according to his attorney.Ībout two weeks after Maggie and Paul were killed, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, announced it was reopening the Smith investigation due to information gleaned from the Murdaugh case. We will pursue the exhumation immediately and provide updates along the way."Īuthorities have not announced a connection between Smith's death and the Murdaugh family, whose patriarch, Alex Murdaugh, was found guilty earlier this month of murdering his wife and son at their rural estate the night of June 7, 2021. "Thank you for not allowing Stephen's story to be swept under a rug. "I could not have imagined when we began this fundraiser that it would take off the way that it did," Sandy Smith wrote. The family of Stephen Smith has raised about $60,000 to put towards the exhumation and a private autopsy in what his mother described on a GoFundMe page as a "fight for justice." The body of a 19-year-old found dead in the middle of a South Carolina road in 2015 will be exhumed, his family announced last week, almost two years after state authorities reopened a probe into his death based on information learned while investigating the murders of Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh. New details as spin-off investigations heat up as disgraced legal scion Alex Mudaugh sits in prison, including the mysterious death of Stephen Smith.ĬHARLESTON, S.C. ![]()
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