However, Alex Murdaugh is currently in jail awaiting trial on five criminal charges from two separate cases that have come to the forefront since Maggie and Paul were murdered.įirst, Alex was accused in September of hatching a fraud scheme that involved having himself killed so Buster could reap the benefits of a $10 million life insurance policy Alex had on himself. No arrests or charges have been announced in that case. SLED, which assisted Highway Patrol in its initial investigation of Smith’s death, has not said what information or evidence it uncovered related to Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s murders that led its agents to reexamine Stephen Smith’s death beginning this summer.Īlex Murdaugh, husband and father of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, has been named a person of interest in his wife and son's death. MORE | Renewed interest in Stephen Smith case spurs fundraising effort for headstone at gravesite With leads into several possible suspects reaching apparent dead ends over the next several months, Stephen Smith's case went cold. Additionally, attempts to reach Buster for questioning went unanswered, records showed. However, law enforcement was never able to formally tie Buster Murdaugh to the case nor track down the original source of the rumors. MORE COVERAGE | Sandy Smith says 'no justice' for her son amid new SLED investigationĪs weeks progressed in the case, investigators were repeatedly directed toward Buster Murdaugh being someone law enforcement should question in connection to Stephen’s death, according to investigative files from Highway Patrol.Ĭase files indicated 10 of 18 people interviewed by Highway Patrol had mentioned Murdaugh possibly being involved, with some indicating Stephen and Buster may have been in a relationship. Smith’s family has emphatically maintained Stephen wouldn’t have been walking in the middle of the night along the road where he was found dead. The Hampton County Coroner at the time also objected to the autopsy ruling by the medical examiner, public records show. Erin Presnell ruling a vehicle collision the cause of Stephen's death despite a lack of clear evidence. One trooper looking into the case noted the alleged accident scene where Stephen’s body was discovered looked staged, and was strongly critical of MUSC medical examiner Dr. 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 troopers who investigated the still unsolved case. RELATED | Stephen Smith's family remembers him 6 years after his death SLED relaunched the Smith investigation based on information gathered in its probe of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh's murders in early June of this year. Witnesses interviewed as part of the original investigation into Smith's death repeatedly implicated Alex Murdaugh's surviving son, Buster, as having been involved in a relationship with Stephen and potentially connected to Smith's death, according to South Carolina Highway Patrol investigative files obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. Paul and his mother, Maggie, were murdered outside a family home in Colleton County in June 2021. Savage went onto clarify he was specifically referring to Paul Murdaugh in his statements Wednesday. READ MORE | Former SC trooper says he believes evidence shows 2015 death of teen was by murderĬrosby declined to elaborate further, saying additional comments would be inappropriate given the ongoing investigation. 'SLED has made progress in the death investigation,' agency spokesperson Tommy Crosby said Wednesday when asked for a comment about Savage's statements. Savage has represented Stephen Smith's family since summer 2021, beginning shortly after South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division announced it had reopened an investigation into Smith's death. Given what's been found through ongoing investigations, Savage said the family and his firm would be staying silent on the case going forward. Savage said details on other potential suspects in the case of Stephen Smith have since come to light in part through work by a private investigator his firm has employed on behalf of Smith's family. Savage, a noted criminal defense and personal injury lawyer from Charleston, made the revelations Wednesday as his reason for denying a request by ABC News 4's Anne Emerson to interview Stephen Smith's mother, Sandy Smith.

'There are suspects we have in sight that are unconnected to Murdaugh,' Smith family attorney Andy Savage said on Wednesday, adding 'he focus any in the media have on Murdaugh may be unfounded.' Speculation Alex Murdaugh's family members were involved in the 2015 death of Hampton County man Stephen Smith may be untrue, according to the Smith family's attorney, Andy Savage.

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