Stephen Smith: A Death In Murdaugh Country | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[Music] this has been a Hampton County story this has been a Hampton County Scandal a jury found the disgraced South
Carolina attorney guilty of murdering his wife and his youngest son this has been the downfall of a family Dynasty
today is not the end it's the next step and a long road to justice for every person who has been victimized by Alex
Murdock Justice for Steven Smith Alex Steven Smith was another body in this orbit of the Muro family Steven was a
gay young man in the low country of South Carolina that is courageous and and of itself I can't imagine the terror
he was in that night in the early morning hours of July 8th 2015 19-year-old Steven Smith was found
dead in the middle of a rural road there was an autopsy that basically said is a hit and run there was no vehicle
debris no broken headlight paint scrapes or or anything you never believed it no
not at all they never would have been walking in that road not voluntarily do you
believe Steven was murdered I do an investigation of some sort took place that led
nowhere and then it went cold I wanted a second opinion Sandy Smith is unique in this
whole story she doesn't know who killed her son she doesn't know why people in town really believed that it was
connected to the murdocks in some way the name Buster Murdoch kept coming up I never had anything to do with his murder
and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level of of any regard the
rumors also suggest uh a cover up we are aware of no evidence today that would suggest that any mdll
played any role in Steven Smith's death or played any role in trying to cover up
the investigation into his death all I want is peace and knowing what happened to my son he's my world and I'm going
fight to the end this is a woman that has fought this battle alone since 2015 screaming as loud as she could with
not a lot of people listening CBS News confirming that the South Carolina law enforcement division
is now investigating Steven Smith's death as a homicide the Murdoch case for all
Steven's Cold Case to life somehow some way in the Mur murder investigation a new thread was opened up into Steven
Smith our primary function right now is to have that body exhumed have a true independent set of eyes look at it and
tell us once and for all what really happened to Steven Smith the gash was from part of this eyebrow across here
the injuries can tell us so much about what happened and in this case they did they
did set the scene for me on July 8th 2015 here Steven was was somewhat right here in the
road how confident are you that you know what happened to Stephen Smith that night I'm as close to a degree of
scientific certainty as I've ever felt [Music] [Music] like his mother Sandy Steven Smith was
born a fighter he was a preey he weighed 2 lb 12 O a twin yeah twin born at 27 weeks with his sister Stephanie Sandy
says Steven couldn't breathe on his own after several months she was told he might not make it and she was finally
allowed to hold her baby for the first time how was that moment oh my gosh it was amazing it was supposed to be my
goodbye but he started breathing on his own cuz he felt you yeah that's why he was my
heart Sandy never dreamed she'd W day be fighting for answers in her son's death
how would you describe the journey that you've been on for justice it's been a hard journey just living day by day and
fighting day by day on July 8th 2015 Steven was found dead on a country road in Hampton County the same county where
three generations of myall men had held the top prosecutor job for nearly a century the myall still loomed large
over small town life Alec Mur coached Steven's baseball team at one point when they were little I think Steven was like
or eight Steven and Stephanie were also classmates of myrdal's older son Buster before Steven went to nursing school
with dreams of one day becoming a doctor he wanted to be a doctor but it was more
expensive so he just started with nursing school he loved dealing with medicine and I he just loved it you must
been so proud oh I was but instead Sandy says those dreams were buried with her son you decided to bury him and his his
scrubs scrubs Dr Steven Smith he had everything he needed in his pockets he had his stethoscope and everything he
needed Steven had just completed a semester of school and was taking summer classes shuttling back and forth between
his parents who lived apart he had visited Sandy a week before he was killed a storm started Brewing I told
him that he needed to hurry up and get back to his dad's house so when he made it he texts me and says I made it safe
Mom Mom I love you Sandy says those were Steven's last words to her days later she would hear the news that would alter
the course of her life July 8 I was on my way to work and I was listening to a local radio station and I heard that
they had found a body Sandy called her daughter Stephanie right away she said Mama did Steven stay with you last night
CU he didn't come home last night then my stomach dropped and I knew it was him [Music]
Sandy says Steven's father Joel went to the Sheriff's Office for confirmation that it was Steven that's when she says
they received a call I was on the phone with Joel the whole time while we were waiting for the sheriff to come out and
that's when Joel asked me to hold on because Randy murd was calling Randy murall is Alec mural's older brother and
had been representing Joel Smith in a worker's comp case but now he was calling about Steven when Joel got back
on the phone he said Randy asked if that was our Steven and that he wanted to help pro bono did you think it was
strange that Randy offered to help pro bono well I did but Joel thought it was a nice gesture later
that morning Sandy says she was surprised again as she drove past the scene where Steven's body had reportedly
been found there was Alex and Randy standing on the opposite side of the road Murdoch Murdoch
a few minutes later Sandy says Randy myall called again and asked if that was me that passed by he said I wish you'd
have stopped so I could have met you Randy myall declined our request for an interview but through his attorney he
provided a written statement to 48 hours in which he said quote I was not aware of Steven's death until Joel told me
they wanted my involvement and I contacted law enforcement on their behalf murall said he went to the scene
with a private investigator after meeting with jool and Stephanie adding quote claims that I visited the scene of
Steven's death with my brother Alec are false Joel Smith passed away three months after
stepen but Stephanie and Sandy told us they never asked the mdll for help and there were other things about Steven's
case that didn't sit well with Sandy from the moment the sheriff confirmed the body was Steven's at first he told
them Steven had been shot what were you thinking who would shoot him it made no sense I lost it then I left my job and
just drove back to Hampton and we just mourned together we just couldn't understand why or who it was
just a bigest shock of our life within hours Steven's cause of death was suddenly changed to a hit and
run toward the evening time we were contacted by the Sheriff's Office and after his autopsy there was not any type
of bullet or bullet fragment found in his head because his body was in the roadway it was being ruled to hit and
run retired South Carolina Highway Patrol lieutenant Thomas Moore was the on scene supervisor I was told that the
medical exam made that ruing when I reached out to her it became a little bit heated give me an answer medically
that would lead you to believe he was hit by a car there was no medical reason did you see any signs of a run no ma'am
none any type of debris any kind of glass car parts piece of plastic anything that looks like it may be
related to a vehicle also unusual for a hit and run Steven's clothing was intact
and his shoes which were Loosely tied were still on generally clothes are torn or unraveled and shoes have come off and
Steven's car keys and cell phone were in his front pocket unharmed and mo says Steven's body appeared staged
his body was laying like it had been placed in a certain position not what you would typically see and it looked
like somebody had hit him in the head with some kind of object meanwhile Steven's wallet was still in his car
which investigators found three miles away with the doors locked and the gas cap hanging open in all the years I've
worked a car sitting on the side of the road a gas cap off is not normal I thought it was staged like his body was
staged in the roadway Sandy says she wondered if Steven might have been the victim of a hate crime did you think
that it was possibly because of his sexuality I did think that I know he was teased a lot at school but he still held
his head high but Sandy says in the days leading up to his death Stephen was worried about his safety he' called his
sister Stephanie for help the day before he was killed Stephanie said the battery
cable was loosen on his car so she had met him and then she tightened the battery cable and she asked to get out
the car and help her and he said no I'm not getting out like he was scared right
but he never said why despite what Lieutenant Moore felt were suspicious circumstances he says
once Steven's death was ruled a hdden run it became the highway Patrol's job to solve the case instead of the Hampton
County Sheriff's office or sled the South Carolina law enforcement Division I felt like the case for lack of better
word was being pwned off on us no matter what we said we were going to be the ones investigating that case as we were
getting started certain names started coming up which names [Music] murd soon after Steven Smith was killed
Hampton County Guardian managing editor Michael dwit says he began hearing persistent rumors all over town what are
the rumors that at least one Murdoch child was in a vehicle with other boys and allegedly somebody in the vehicle
struck the young man with the baseball bat and killed him Sandy says those same rumors had
heard doorstep as soon as Steven's body was taken for an autopsy it made no sense to me at any point did you think
that someone in the murof family was involved well the longer it went on the more I was asking myself
questions but I just couldn't find a connection powerful family and then you got stepen who was just Steven Sandy
couldn't help but think back to her last conversation with Steven a week before he was killed somebody was messaging him
a lot he told me that he was going deep sea fishing and he said ke wish and I said well who are you going with he said
well I can't tell you that make you pause yeah he said you'd be surprised just kind of like a prominent person and
then all I could say was well I hope you have fun Sandy says Steven had become more secretive the last couple weeks but
it never crossed her mind he might be talking about a myll the original rumor was that Steven was planning to go away
with Buster Murdoch and his family that they were together romantically Liz frell is the writer and co-host of the
murall murders podcast there's no evidence of that that we know of and 48 Hours found no evidence to support the
rumors retired Highway Patrol lieutenant Thomas Moore says the mere mention of the myalls made it difficult to get help
from local agencies we tried to hand that case File over to the Sheriff's Office and they physically would not
take it from our hand the mot name was still very powerful very well connected in law enforcement and the Rumor
suggested well the local cops aren't going to dig into it instead the case was handled so by the highway Patrol's
multidisciplinary accident investigation team called mate which specializes in complex vehicle crashes to make team was
from out of town and we wanted outside eyes involved in this the myall name appears dozens of
times in mate's 2015 case File which we obtained through a freedom of information request in his audio notes
Corporal Michael Duncan makes it clear he doesn't think Steven's death is a hit and run there is no body trauma other
than to the Head area does not appear to be in my opinion struck by a vehicle another investigator Todd Proctor goes
further typically you don't see the highway patrol working a murder and that's what this is he hints at a
conflict of interest for the local sheriff's department there's a reason why Hampton County Sheriff's Department
is not handling this and I'll leave it at that in this interview with Proctor local teen Taylor Dobson shares a
detailed version of that story about several young men in a truck I heard that these two maybe three young men
were in a vehicle they were riding down 601 saw the car on the side of the road I guess saw the boy walking um they
turned back around then stuck something out the window he offers a name reluctantly he goes by Buster murder
Dobson says he grew up with Buster kind of out of character to who I knew it was
just strictly hear sa from all I know Proctor reassures him the mydal are already aware authorities want to speak
with Buster they know that he's on our radar matter of fact I talked to one of their guys yesterday and and told him
you know I'm I'm going to talk to Buster here soon you know and they said okay that's fine but according to the case
File a call to Buster Mall in October 2015 was never returned and in December following a front page story in the
Hampton County Guardian mate received a tip called in at the direction of Randy myrdle Buster's Uncle a man named Daryl
Williams called a Hampton police officer to report the tip which involved two teens Sean Connelly and Patrick Wilson
in a recorded phone call the officer relays to Corporal Duncan what Williams told him Daryl called me and he said
Patrick come over here to the house he said he that Sean Connelly was was drunk and hit something he went back the
next day to see what it was he had hit and he seen a lot of police out there Patrick was crying telling him and after
he got finished telling the story he walked outside his house and threw up did he go into any detail about how it
happened supposedly he had fixed his mirror wanted to mirror us up on the truck the side mirror story matched
Steven's original death certificate for reasons that are unclear there is no record of Duncan or Proctor ever
speaking to Connelly or Wilson Wilson had no comment to 48 Hours messages to the Hampton County Sheriff's Office
Williams and Connelly have not been answered Sandy Smith says she asked Sean Connelly Point Blank if he killed Steven
and he said he said no ma'am I did not I gave you my word I promise you I never killed your son do you believe him yeah
if he lied to you if that turns out to be the case it won't be the first time I'm lied to but you know if you did it
you need to pay in September 2016 fed up with what she calls the lack of an investigation
Sandy began a letter writing campaign that included the FBI what did your letter say I was just letting them know
that my son was murdered and there's no progress being done and I think it had something to do with the Murdo family
and please help just please help me Sandy also told the FBI she believed someone was deliberately trying to
derail the investigation did you ever get a response from the FBI I did and I had two agents come to my house she
asked them to unlock Steven's phone and they did do you know if anyone actually was able to read Steven's text messages
or see where he might have been based on cell phone evidence what I heard from the FBI agent there was a a lot of
interesting information in the phone that needed to be looked at but she says that didn't prompt a local or state
authorities to pursue the case further there's something in that phone that nobody wants out
there by late 2016 the investigation into Steven Smith's death went cold what do you think it took for Stephen's case
to finally get the attention it deserves that you wanted somebody else had to [Music]
what information do you think was found on Steven's phone chat now on Facebook and
X the murders of Paul and Maggie myall in June of 2021 caused a seismic shift in small town Hampton and gave Sandy
Smith a Lifeline she desperately needed now it took this to get Steven's name back out there
so somebody would start paying attention in a strange twist of fate while investigating the murders of Paula
Maggie murall sled announced it had stumbled on a new lead in Steven's death and would be taking over the case they
did not say what that evidence was it seems like all roads lead to the murd family around here yes is that
coincidence or is there a reason for that around here it's natural it would be another two years
while authorities focused on getting a conviction against Alec myall but Sandy now has a high octane legal team in her
Corner after eight years of waiting for your turn Sandy Smith finally just had enough Ronnie and I are like arsonists
we started to fire Ronnie RoR and Eric Bland are representing Sandy pro bono our sole goal was to
rekindle the interest in Steven's death and they turned up the heat on sled in March of 2023 sled publicly acknowledged
it was treating Steven's case as a homicide the same week Buster murall released a statement through his
father's attorney saying quote these baseless rumors of my involvement with Steven and his death are false I
unequivocally deny any involvement in his death and my heart goes out to the Smith family those words are now in
cement I take him at his word that he had nothing all to do with Steven's death rather than old rumors Bland and
RoR say they're focusing on a new investigation made possible by $130,000 in GoFundMe donations from
Sandy supporters the resources were made available for us to do some private investigative work that's going to start
with hiring a pathology team they were also able to have Steven's body exuded something Sandy had
wanted for years years our primary function right now is to have a true independent set of eyes look at it and
tell us once and for all what really happened to Steven Smith in April of 20123 Dr Michelle Dupri a former
investigator and forensic pathologist who's performed more than 3,000 autopsies oversaw the examination of
Steven's body the injuries can tell us so much about what happened and in this case they did I did Dupri says the
autopsy confirmed Steven died from a single blow to his forehead severely fracturing his skull that's a big gash
that's 7 and 1/2 in almost there would be another gash in this posterior area from hitting
the pavement so hard literally split his skull and split his skull they were also able to put to rest
some rumors including the one that Steven had been beaten with a baseball bat it wasn't a baseball bat no those
type of injuries would cause something that we call pattern injuries and we don't see that here this is a linear
fracture um as well as this is here just as important is what they found du PRI says is what they didn't find we didn't
find fractures of any part of the body except for the head there was a little road rash which you would expect any
signs of a struggle no any signs of a beating no any injuries below his head other than the road rash none whatsoever
[Music] she says that eliminates the possibility Steven was hit by a car headon Dupri
says the findings also refute early theories that Steven's body might have been staged were you able to determine
whether Steven was struck and fell or he might have been struck and then placed there we don't believe that he was
placed there we believe that whatever happened happened right there Dr Kenny kiny agrees you think he was killed
right here right there a crime scene expert and star prosecution witness in the murall murder trial Kinsey worked
with DUI to analyze Steven's case he says the evidence at the scene is clear that's a massive amount of blood and if
he had that kind of injury somewhere else it wouldn't be that uniform due to their sensitive nature we
created versions of the crime scene photos in which the blood and body are shown as Graphics the quantity of blood
the direction of the flow in the road and then the direction of all the the blood on his person led me to the only
conclusion Kinsey is convinced an object attached to a vehicle traveling at high
speed caused the single fatal blow to Steven's head but whatever hit him was fast and it was large so a hit and run
but an atypical hit and run yeah very atypical a hit and run with no vehicle debris at the scene it's a conclusion no
one was expecting how confident are you that you know what happened to Steven Smith that night I'm as close to a
degree of scientific certainty as I've ever felt what no one can say with certainty
is whether Steven's death was accidental or not but still RoR points out he was left there to die someone left him in
that condition in the roadway and that is a very serious felony Steven's body was found about 3
miles from his car Kinsey tried to retrace his steps I wanted to walk every possible path that Mr Smith may have
taken Steven's family has always insisted if Steven had car trouble he would have felt safer walking through
the woods so where was Steven's car Steven's car was located if you look at this gate here it was not grown up then
you could access that gate but in this area really close to the woods but to cut through the woods Stephen would have
had to scale a fence that was 8 ft tall and from what I understand from interviewing NE s it's been there for
well over a decade Kinsey theorizes Steven was walking along the road trying to flag someone down for help he is
walking this direction in the in the lane facing traffic whatever was attached to the
vehicle or hanging off of the vehicle whenever it struck Steven he went down in in this
area somewhat on this line here the vehicle that struck Steven was coming toward him just like that vehicle
in the photograph like this yes going that direction Kinsey says the evidence suggests the driver saw something in the
road and changed lanes and sometime before it struck Steven I believe it changed into the oncoming
Lane that's when he says an object from the passenger side struck stepen what kind of object could it be
it could be anything it could be a ladder hanging off the back of a work truck it could be a extended side mirror
the metal type that you see on some Farm vehicles or some larger vehicles that scenario matches up with the tip from
2015 involving Patrick Wilson and Shan Connelly which Kinsey calls plausible that certainly would be possible that
would be one of the places I would start sled has kept its investigation close to the best but bland and rter say
a grand jury was impanel and is issuing subpoenas they're honing in on specific individuals and I think there's about
five or less that sled believes has information regarding Steven's death he don't know who those
individuals are in an interview on Fox Nation in August of 2023 Buster myall again denied the rumors of his
involvement I never had anything to do with his murder and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level of of
any regard he also provided an alibi the night Steven was killed I was at our Edisto beach house with your family with
my mom and my brother sy's team says it's turned over all of its findings to sled but Kinsey
says it's still going to take someone coming forward somebody knows oh they know yes ma'am
do you think Steven's death was an accident or intentional see a timeline of the case at 48
hours.com as a grand jury zeros in on potential suspects in Steven Smith's death the legal wrangling hasn't slowed
down for Alec murall you've got local charges you got State charges the legal civil cases are going to go on for years
on November 17 2023 I am guilty and yes sir Mall agreed to a plea deal encompassing all of the
State financial charges he faced for defrauding and stealing Millions from clients and law partners he had
previously pleaded guilty to 22 Federal conspiracy wire fraud and moneya laundering charges Alex prayed on the
vulnerable whom he also thought would never figure out his schemes correct it's people that are at the worst times
of their lives where you need a lawyer to be the best for you not the worst for you perhaps none more so than Elena and
Hannah plyer who are now represented by Bland and RoR who were the flowers they were two young girls from
Colombia they were just 12 and8 when they survived a deadly crash due to a faulty Tire they killed their mother and
14-year-old brother in 2005 and became the youngest of the financial victims to whom myrdle admitted he lied and stole
from when questioned at his murder trial what loss did they suffer who died uh their mother their mother did he only
mentioned your mom yeah that bothered me that because you don't remember that a 14-year-old
was killed in that wreck Alec he got a very good paycheck off of my brother's death both women are now mothers and
Elena is a detective with the Lexington County Sheriff's Office since all of this has come out there's a lot of pain
that's still there Alina was old enough to remember the details of the last road
trip she and her sister would ever take with their mom and brother my brother and I had gotten into an argument I
wanted to start sitting in the front seat we thought about it and fought about it and finally mom was like you
know what Justin's going to ride on the way to Colombia and on the way back home Elena
gets to ride up front and I was so happy Elena and Hannah who were still sitting
in the back seat survived the crash so you must think about that all the time I do actually had a lot of guilt for
several years that guilt is something she says she's learned to let go as she recounts
her and her little sister's harrowing survival we hadn't been on the road too long pah was sleeping and I was
listening to usher and I remember Mom saying Lany you awake and so I remember pulling my headphones down and said yeah
Mom within seconds I heard this loud pop and then I immediately heard my mom scream I looked out the window and my
Usher CD was spinning on a tree limb their mother Angela and brother Justin died instantly Elena realized she
was trapped and couldn't move and had to send Hannah for help I said I need you to get out of the car and I need you to
go to the top the hill to the interstate and you're only 12 I'm 12 right so many
things could have went worse 8-year-old Hannah climbed up to the interstate there was an 18-wheeler and I
was able to flag him down and I think by that point an ambulance came in and they
had taken me to the hospital Elena waited alone until a fire rescue team arrived and cut her out of
the wreckage she watched as they removed her mother mother and brother and so I watched them put them in a black body
bag she was then airlifted to a hospital and would need numerous surgeries what was the moment like when you were able
to see each other again after that I remember it I remember hugging her and thanking her for not dying for
not leaving me and then from there I was just in the hospital bed with you you you couldn't keep us apart the sisters
say they were passed around to live with family members we didn't have a bedroom
just had each other just each other yeah we lived at a little plastic Bend when a family friend referred the
plyers to Alec myall he promised to change all of that do you remember the first time you met Alec murdle yeah I
remember when he walked in he seemed really arrogant like a bulldog just tall almost intimidating in a sense he told
us they took your family from you and we're going to make this right going to pay to two young girls who had lost
everything mdll seemed Larger than Life I always felt at peace when I got to talk to Alec people listened to him you
could tell there was a lot of control there how did he earn your trust really with his words he was a
smooth talker and he made you feel special but once the case settled the special treatment stopped he pretty much
checked out he had explained that the case had settled we won big money well Lan's case settled for $4.7 million you
know Hannah for right at $3 million uh that money was then entrusted to Russell lefit lefit was the CEO of PA Meadow
State Bank and Hampton and a close friend of myall who'd handpicked lefit to manage the funds as conservator until
the girls turned 18 so these two very wealthy prominent men basically helped themselves to these
kids piggy bank any money they needed had to be approved by lefit and a judge even if it was a dollar we had to have a
receipt for it when you and Eric took on their case what did you discover Russell
was making loans to Alex Alex would be overdrawn 50,000 100,000 $300,000 in his personal account and he need a money to
cover those shorts RoR says that at myrdal's Direction lefit transferred nearly 1.5 million
from the pilers money to Alec murall and himself when it came time for these young ladies to turn 18 the money was
supposed to be there so Alex had to go out and steal new money from different clients and put that money back murd was
never charged for Hannah and Alina's case but lefit was convicted on federal charges for his
role but still there's that toll of how do you trust going forward people were put in a position of Trust on their
behalfs when they were just children and then to learn as an adult that the entire time they saw you as nothing more
than a checkbook while the plyers can begin to heal Sandy Smith still waits for her Day of
Reckoning all this sweeping drama there's answers and there's closure for everybody else but not for Sandy Smith
it's time to put the spotlight on Steven Smith [Music] months after his Blockbuster trial Alex
murd verdict guilty convicted double murderer Alec murall and the crime of the century are still Hampton's biggest
attractions almost every day somebody's coming by taking a picture of the law firm or riding out to Mosel taking
pictures they just can't get enough The myall Craze was on full display at an auction for the family's
personal items from their Moselle property the infamous leather couch set where Alec testified he took a cat nap
while his wife and son were murdered sold for $30,000 and Maggie's dog Bubba who
helped prosecutors prove Alec was actually at the crime scene has become a local folk hero at that rambunctious
yellow lab hadn't have been doing what labs like to do Chase Birds we might not have solve this case and we might not
have gotten a conviction come Bubba Bubba Alex voice calling Bubba was caught in the background of phone video
Paul took minutes before he was killed Bubba and the other dogs at the kennels they were witnesses to a very
horrific event Bubba now lives a quiet life with the mall's housekeeper meanwhile Alec mdll is serving two life
terms in a Maximum Security Prison do you think Alec murall still thinks he can try to play the system 100% now
Mall's attorneys are hoping their latest motion will be a get out of jail free card we're focused on getting him a new
trial that's in September 2023 dick harlean and Jim Griffin announced their motion for a new trial based on
allegations of jury tampering by the colon County Clerk of Court Becky Hill what we had filed today supported by
sworn testimony of jurors is that the clerk of court had improper private Communications with the jurors the state
versus Richard Alexander Murdoch they argued that Hill violated mural's right to a fair trial when she allegedly told
jurors not to be fooled by his testimony and to watch his body language as Alec was about to take the stand I'm Alec
murck in a signed affidavit Hill denies all of the defense allegations and voluntary statements from a majority of
the jury support Hill's account roran Bland say even a new trial can save Alec murall if the motor convictions
overturned then you have the financial crimes so yes there's a theoretical Universe in which Alex murd could see
the sun again but it's theoretical only it's like rearranging the the deck chairs on the Titanic it's f
if you would a Rite a made for TV Southern legal drama you you couldn't have done a better job than this dit
writes about it in his book The Fall of the House of murall which he ends with Steven Smith it's kind of interesting
and tragic that the oldest story remains unsolved solving his murder I think this
will be the end of this sweeping Saga as sled continues its investigation of the Smith case behind closed doors
what investigators found after the murall murders Remains the subject of intense
speculation do you have any idea what the new evidence that may be presented to the grand jury is no uh I do know
that sled has Steven's phone I know that they have Steven's tablet could Steven's
phone reveal the identity of the prominent person with whom he told Sandy he'd planned to go deep SE
fishing that'll be interesting what sled has found out and what the grand jury is
going to determine whether the person that he was going to go away with deep sea fishing um had anything to do with
his death or his knowledge of his death how has this fight for justice been oh it has been a long road but it's
worth it Sandy is Keeping the Faith and keeping Steven's memory alive she recently EST established a college
scholarship in his name we are starting this scholarship fund so other children won't have it as hard as Steven did and
she's offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and now it's your turn that if you know
something that you say something what do you miss most about Stephen just I miss everything about
him what do you think stepen would think of your fight where we are today in his
case he said oh mama you would do that for me yep yep I would over and over [Music]
CBS next Saturday 48 Hours brings you backtack episodes all summer long next week killer creatures this man was
murdered and they blamed it on alligators someone being killed by a snake is not something that happens
every day 48 Hours Crime Time double feature next Saturday on CBS at streaming on Paramount Plus
[Music] this is postmortem I'm your host anarie green if you're a fan of 48 hours you
have definitely heard about the murdah The prominent wealthy family from Hampton County South Carolina in 2023
Alex Murda was found guilty of murdering his wife Maggie and his younger son Paul
but attention to those murders also ignited a new investigation into the 2015 mysterious death of Steven Smith a
19-year-old whose death was rumored to be connected to the muros so I am joined today by CBS News National correspondent
Nikki batist and producer gyen kesan Mendes to discuss their episode Steven Smith a death in Murdoch country which
originally aired November 25th 2023 thank you so much for joining us so good to be here anarie thanks for having us
anarie let's listen to a recap of the episode when Steven Smith was found dead on a country road on July 8th 2015 his
mother Sandy was convinced it was no accident do you believe Steven was murdered I do the medical examiner ruled
it a hit and run but retired South Carolina Highway Patrol lieutenant Thomas Moore says the scene told a
different story did you see any signs of a hit and run no ma'am none any type of
debris any kind of glass car parts Steven's car was 3 miles away I thought it was staged like his body was staged
in the roadway it looked like somebody had hit him in the head with some kind of object early on rumors began to swirl
that the mylls Were Somehow involved the myll name comes up dozens of times in the case File by late 2016 the case went
cold all I want is peace and knowing what happened to my son in June of 2021 the murders of Paul and Maggie myall
reignited interest in Steven Smith's case somehow some way in the Mur murder investigation a new thread was opened up
into Steven Smith attorneys Ronnie RoR and Eric Bland are now helping Sandy Smith find answers we are aware of no
evidence today that would suggest that any murall played any role in Steven Smith's death our primary function right
now is to have that body exhumed have a true independent set of eyes look at it and tell us once and for all what really
happened to step Smith they brought on forensic pathologist Dr Michelle Dupri who says Steven died from a single blow
to his forehead literally split his skull and split his skull and oddly there were no injuries to his body to
indicate he'd been hit headon by a vehicle forensic crime scene expert Dr Kenny Kinsey was also hired Steven was
somewhat right here both experts believe Steven died on the spot neither thinks the scene was staged there was a
significant amount of blood at the scene too much for him to have been killed someplace else and then transported
there after examining all the evidence they reached a surprising conclusion how confident are you that you know what
happened to Stephen Smith that night I'm as close to a degree of scientific certainty as I've ever
felt what happened to step Smith is still under investigation so we do want to preface that during this postmortem
we're going to be discussing the theories that investigators lawyers family members have about what could
have happened happened to Steven Nikki guyan what is known about Steven Smith's relationship to the murd family or is it
all simply rumors and and hearsay emry that's a really good question there are very few facts that we know but I can
tell you in many conversations with Sandy Smith Stephen Smith's mother she has told us that stevenh and Buster were
classmates in school Sandy also told us that Alec mdal actually coached a baseball team Stephen was on when he was
a little bit younger but really for the most part this case as has the murdog case has really been driven by rumors
circulating connecting Buster and Stephen yeah go Steven and his sister were actually Trainers for the high
school football team of which Buster was a member and Stephen also tutored Buster
reportedly um in in some of his school subjects Stephen was a really good student so um you know those were all
sort of connections that they had you also spoke to a podcaster Liz frell I think she's been on the murdog case
almost from the beginning I mean Nikki you've been on from the beginning but I she has really sort of delve deep into
it before I think it even became kind of a national um story that's a really good
point because Liz farell was actually on the Steven Smith case before the murdog
case became the murdog case that we know about the double murder so I want to play a little bit of her sound from the
episode the original rumor was that Steven was planning to go away with Buster Murdoch and his family that they
were together romantically Liz frell is the writer and co-host of the murd murders podcast there's no evidence of
that that we know of and 48 Hours found no evidence to support the rumors Buster
murall released a statement through his father's attorney saying quote these baseless rumors of my involvement with
Steven and his death are false I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death and my heart goes out to the
Smith family those words are now in submit I take him at his word that he had nothing at all to do with Steven's
death now your team made numerous requests for an interview with Buster murd but he declined yes Buster myall
eventually did do a television interview on Fox Nation in it he said quote I never had anything to do with his murder
and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level of any regard and he
is is of course they're speaking about Steph Smith Amory in your reporting though for the broadcast what did the
people that you spoke to think about Steven's possible connection to the muros this is interesting I've worked on
many cases many criminal cases as has guyen and you and I can tell you I cannot remember a single case where it
was so difficult to get anyone to talk to us on camera about any of the mylls and because Steven's name was connected
to them at least by the rumor mill they wouldn't talk about Steven Smith either there definitely um was a lot of
curiosity around the case when we were filming on the road where Steven's body was found you know a couple driving by
stopped and wanted to know what we were doing wherever we were people whether or
not it was grounded in you know fact had a lot of opinions about what had happened and they spoke very
authoritatively about it but they didn't necessarily want to share those things and you know they weren't really things
that we could substantiate or report what's interesting is people had a lot to say off camera I remember being in a
restaurant and two women were talking about what they thought about Steven and Buster and what the connection might be
so people had a lot to say but no one wanted to talk about it on camera so much so that I had never experienced
anything like it before what were they afraid of did they talk about that some outright said they were afraid of the
mdll and the power that they had and if they said anything that might have upset
the myall in any way that somehow they'd be retaliated against even if they didn't know the myrdle I mean the sort
of power that the myd family had over this part of low country in South Carolina is hard to explain almost
pretty difficult to comprehend I think Guan and I have gotten a sense of it but they had a lot of money they had a lot
of power and they had a lot of influence not just recently but for a century and
I want to add to give context Amry and I think this really puts in perspective the power that they had a mdll has been
solic in the area for nearly 100 years that's essentially like the lead prosecutor for nearly a century in the
courtroom where Alec murd stood trial hung a picture of his great-grandfather who was once the solicitor which the
judge ordered be removed before his trial began to try not to sway the jury so that is the kind of power and
influence historically that we're talking about yeah um the evidence that actually reignited this case hasn't
actually been made public by sled sled is the South Carolina law enforcement division uh Nikki guyen what do we know
then what we know is for years following Steven's death his mother Sandy Smith she really wanted a second opinion his
death was initially ruled a hit and run and she just never bought that and since
the trial and conviction of Alec murof for the murders of his wife and son Paul and Maggie questions began circulating
around the death of Steven Smith while investigating those murders of Paul Maggie sled announced they found a new
lead into Steven's death they have never said yet what that evidence was and I I
will add that you know Sandy really didn't believe her son's death was accidental but it's important to point
out that even early on you know the cause of death was listed as uh blunt force trauma you know caused by a hidden
run but the manner of death which is whether or not it was an accident or murder that was left undetermined and
you know Sandy Sandy believed that there was Foul Play she believed her son was murdered and whoever did this should be
held responsible I got to say thank goodness for mothers um they push for further investigation they basically
become you know investigators themselves until they get to the bottom of of these
cases and this is a perfect example of that I was just going to add Sandy Smith really is remarkable because she is
single mom she doesn't have a lot of mean she'll be the first to tell you that and she fought powerful people for
a really long time and I don't think her son's case would have had a second look
I'm sure if it hadn't been for her and I think people might be wondering well why
would anyone want to hurt Stephen Smith and if you ask Sandy Smith that question
which I did you know she thought perhaps maybe it was because her son was gay and
we're talking about South Carolina Low Country which most people tell you there is probably relatively
conservative and there was also Steven's cell phone which is now also a sled we don't know what evidence was found but
Sandy told us that about a week before Steven died Steven was getting a a lot of texts and that Steven had told her
about going away with someone to Key West for a deep sea fishing triph in fact let's listen to an
interview that you did with Sandy Smith let's play some sound do you know if anyone actually was able to read
Stephen's text messages or see where he might have been based on cell phone evidence what I heard from the FBI agent
there was a a lot of interesting information in the phone that needed to be looked at but she says that didn't
prompt a local or state authorities to pursue the case further there's something in that phone that nobody
wants out there we should note that we most likely will not know what the New Evidence LED
has even if an arrest is made likely we'll learn what this evidence is if and when we do if the case is ever brought
to trial why is that you know in this case we got access to the original case File from 2015 but that's really the
only place where we even see how this investigation was conducted you know it seemed like at least according to what
was in the report potential interviews that were not followed up on or people that they never got a hold of and so I
think sled has really tried to keep everything very very close to the vest there's been so much public conversation
and opinion and rumor around this case that they they're really trying to you know keep it really tightly sealed this
must be so incredibly frustrating for Sandy though so frustrating for her but I think as we sit here and discuss this
you know she has perhaps more hope than she's ever had that she might just might
get some answers that's all she wants his answers and Justice though Justice is a tricky word when you've lost a
child you know but she at least wants someone to be held responsible you spoke to Dr Michelle dpri the pathologist who
oversaw the latest autopsy on Steven's remains in April of 2023 with their new findings confirm s suspicions of what
really happened to her son we'll talk about the new report the crime scene and what's next in the investigation into
Steven Smith's death when we get back welcome back Steven's cause of death was actually initially thought to be from a
gunshot wound at the scene of the crime but then that was changed to a hit and run by the medical examiner so here's a
clip from retired South Carolina Highway Patrol lieutenant Thomas Moore about his
observations from the crime scene I was told that the medical examiner made that
rule and when I reached out to her it became a a little bit heated give me an answer medically that would lead you to
believe he was hit by a car there was no medical reason did you see any signs of
a hit and run no ma'am none any type of debris any kind of glass car parts piece
of plastic anything that looks like it may be related to a vehicle it is such a confounding case something does not add
up Stephen Smith's Shoes were Loosely tied when his body was found they were still on his feet one thing that has
struck several experts I've talked to in covering Steven's case you just wouldn't
see that in a true hit and run because it just takes such little Force such little speed to knock someone's shoes
off Lieutenant Moore said you would expect to find the clothes shredded you know you would expect to find you know
and he's not a pathologist obviously but injuries in the legs where you would be
hit by a car and so um you know and he really felt that it looked staged because Steven's body was also found
three miles from where his car was found uh with the gas cap hanging open so in his experience covering car crashes and
hidden runs that was something he had not seen so the whole thing looked suspicious to him it looked staged
because this was being investigated as a hit and run it was under the highway patrols jurisdiction not the Hampton
County Sheriff's office or sled what kind of imp imp did that have on the case Lieutenant Moore with the highway
patrol said he really felt like this case was pwned off on that he believes the murall name was a deter and delving
into the case and getting help from local authorities Tommy Moore said usually you would work together with the
sheriff's department because it is a small community and so they would typically get help and in this case he
said we we physically tried to give them that case File and and they wouldn't take it from us and so to add to that on
how the investigation was handled since Steven's death was ruled a hit and run initially unfortunately according to the
highway patrol unit a lot of the evidence initially collected has been lost because of how Steven's death was
ruled initially which now obviously would be critical so we talked about this already but there's an important
person in the community who's sort of a through line through this broadcast and of course it's Stephen Smith's mother
these mothers are just absolute Heroes we heard from so many viewers and listeners who were really moved by Sandy
can you talk to me about just what it was like to interview her she is in pain but she is steadfast in her goal to
get Justice for her son we sat down and talked on camera for a couple hours probably collectively and guyan and I
spent many hours talking to her on the phone and I know I said this to Sandy that I was just so struck by her
strength you know we're the three of us were moms she's a mom and you know you know there is nothing worse than losing
a child I can't imagine and yet she for at least 8 years has fought for justice she didn't have the means to hire a big
powerful lawyer and and she decided to create a GoFundMe page to gather donations and it was with the help of
those donations and I think at one point it got up to Guyana remind me at least over 80,000
$130,000 wow so that money allowed her to do this new investigation and exume her son's body and see once in for all
what may have happened to him you know and and not just that I mean sany had written a letter to the FBI trying to
get the cell phone um looked at she just was vocal for years trying to get anyone
to look at her son's death what has that done to her making that pain your purpose in life did she talk any about
that at all when Nikki asked Sandy about her resilience um Sandy kind of said you
know she she didn't know until she was put in this position how much of a fighter she is she feels like she has
been the and she has in essence been the lead investigator in her son's case but
um you know as far as being a grieving mother she said there's time for that I can grieve later first I got to I have
to see this through and so she's she's amazing I mean she is no shrinking violet I mean she's tough and she says
it like it is and she's really not afraid of um what anyone one thinks so she's she's really uh an incredible
Force yeah I'm getting the chills guyan just hearing you recount some of what she said and then I remembered as you
were talking so Amry when we do our 48 hours we go on CBS mornings the Friday before it airs to
talk about the hour and I had text Sandy the night before I went on to talk about
this case airing and I said is there anything you'd like me to say she said I just want to thank everyone who
supported me and fight for my son and I think that was her saying you know well she may have a small support system at
home she has a massive support system and all of the people that have reached out um about Steven's case donated to
the GoFundMe and and just taking an interest um so that it gets the attention it deserves yeah and it's in
fact a because of sy's diligence determination eventually it led to Steven being exhumed which is not an
easy thing for loved ones to have to witness this happens nearly 8 years after Steven Smith's death a new autopsy
was performed and revealed that he died from a single blow to his forehead severely fracturing his skull I want to
play a clip of what Dr Dupri says they didn't find during the autopsy we didn't find fractures of any part of the body
except for the head there was a little road rash which you would expect any signs of a struggle no any signs of a
beating no any injuries below his head other than the road rash none whatsoever she says that eliminates the
possibility Steven was hit by a car headon Dupri says the findings also refute early theories that Steven's body
might have been staged were you able to determine whether Steven was struck and fell or he might have been struck and
then placed there we don't believe that he was placed there we believe that whatever happen happened happened right
there Dr ji rules out some of the initial theories that suggested Steven's death wasn't an accident Nikki guyen do
you know how Sandy Smith reacted to these findings she was very careful in discussing um the investigation I I
think she's also very cognizant of the fact that you know she doesn't want to hurt the progress that sled is making
but they've shared their findings with sled however Sandy did say you know that she would be accepting I mean Nikki
asked her various different scenarios of you know what if they come back and say
it was an accident what if you know this particular individual did it and she says she would accept it as long as she
felt like it was a thorough investigation but in her heart she she feels her son was murdered yeah well I
think you know for many people you look at the crime scene and you go it something just doesn't make sense here
it doesn't make sense uh crime scene expert Dr Kenny Kinsey examined Steven's case with Dr Dupri and he was also a
star witness for the prosecution in the Alex murau trial what did the crime scene reveal so we went with uh Dr
Kinsey to the crime scene and we looked at photos from the crime scene he actually got on the ground in the very
spot where Steven was found on the road to explain to us what he thought Dr Kinsey said Steven was most likely
killed in the spot his body was found because of the massive amount of blood found next to Steven's body you see a
pool of blood in the photos Dr Kinsey's exact words to me were that he believes that this was an atypical hdden run
meaning he doesn't believe that a car struck Stephen he believes that a car was driving and something was sticking
out and that that object struck Steven and that's what the killed him that was the Fatal blow and that and doctor
Kinsey's theory he says would explain why there aren't other marks on his body why there weren weren't broken bones the
big mystery at the center of this case though is whether or not this was an accident or whether it was intentional
do you know will we ever find out the answer to that question accident or deliberate I think that's sort of the
million-dollar question um and you know Dr Dupri and Dr Kinsey um who shared their findings with us have answered the
question of how stepen died but they can't really answer the why or the who apparently they do have some names
according to sy's attorney they had a handful of people that they were looking at subpoenas and warrants were being
issued um you know to gather more information by the investigative Grant jury that was impanel but it's been so
many years and because of the fact that you know maybe critical evidence wasn't gathered at the time maybe certain
things weren't followed up on that should have been they they are counting on someone to come forward and to
finally you know admit what they know whether they were involved or if they have firsthand knowledge of um someone
who was involved so then does that mean at least for now this case is at a standstill or can we expect anything
more in the investigation in the coming months we were told by multiple people on the record including sy's lawyers
that a grand jury had been impanel over this summer so sy's hope in the hope of family of stepen Smith and the new
lawyers working with Sandy is that there might be an arrest soon and I think that
Sandy believes there will be an arrest but we just don't know what will happen next or if and when what a excruciating
weight for her and everyone else who loved um Stephen whatever happens uh I know you guys will be following this
case I will be following this case we're going to keep our eyes our ears open uh
for what comes next uh Nikki guyen thank you so much for joining us thanks Amry thank you so much it was a
pleasure be sure to join us next Tuesday for another postm and watch 48 hours Saturdays 10 9 Central on CBS and
streaming on Paramount plus and if you are liking the show please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple podcast and
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New evidence discovered after the Murdaugh murders reignited a cold case. "48 Hours" obtained findings from independent forensic experts.

The "48 Hours "team discusses the reignited investigation of Stephen Smith’s murder after rumors circulate about another death possibly linked to the Murdaugh family. Watch "Stephen Smith: A Death In Murdaugh Country" and then catch up with CBS News national correspondent Nikki Battiste and producer Gayane Keshishyan Mendez on "Post Mortem" as they discuss new evidence and what it all could mean for Stephen Smith’s case.

00:01 Stephen Smith: A Death In Murdaugh Country 41:56 Listen to a post-mortem on the episode

Listen to "Post Mortem" wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/WuNz2DVg?sid=YT

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode investigates Steven Smith's death, linking it to the Murdoch family and revealing new autopsy findings suggesting murder, not an accident.

Key points

The Downfall of a Dynasty. A jury found the disgraced South Carolina attorney guilty of murdering his wife and son.
A Mother's Fight for Justice. Sandy Smith has fought alone for answers in her son's death since 2015.
New Investigation into Steven's Death. SLED announced it would take over the investigation into Steven Smith's death.
A Shocking Autopsy Revelation. The autopsy confirmed Steven died from a single blow to his forehead.
Rumors Put to Rest. The autopsy findings debunked rumors of Steven being beaten with a baseball bat.
Alec Murdoch's Legal Troubles. Alec Murdoch faces multiple charges, including murder, while the investigation into Steven's death continues.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Those were Steven's last words to her: 'Mom, I love you.'.

6:30WatchAug 23, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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