Stephen Smith’s new autopsy completed as SLED continues to investigate; reward offered
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The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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The second autopsy of Stephen Smith, a Hampton County teenager who was mysteriously found dead on Sandy Run Road in 2015, was quietly completed this weekend after years of speculation that he was not killed in a hit-and-run accident, as was officially ruled.
Stephen Smith’s mother, Sandy Smith, has contested the cause of her son’s death for years. On March 9, Sandy Smith created a GoFundMe page to pay for an “independent exhumation, autopsy and investigation” to potentially shed new light on Stephen’s death, which the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has been investigating anew since June 2021. SLED Chief Mark Keel confirmed March 21 the death is now a suspected murder.
Smith’s body was exhumed on March 31 and returned to its grave by April 2.
“I cannot thank SLED enough for making Sandy’s dream of exhuming Stephen and having a second autopsy be done become a reality, and her pleas regarding Stephen for the last eight years to finally be heard,” Eric Bland, a lawyer representing the family, said in a Sunday tweet. “The state of South Carolina spent a significant amount of money this past weekend, ensuring a smooth and orderly exhumation.”
Bland and Sandy Smith have since announced a $35,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of “any responsible party” in Stephen Smith’s death. The reward is funded through money collected from Sandy Smith’s GoFundMe page for the exhumation, which has collected just under $120,000 — far exceeding its original $15,000 goal.
FITSNews tweeted a photo on April 1 showing Smith’s headstone had been moved and his grave excavated. Bland rebuked the photo in his own tweet, writing that he’d “asked the media all day to respect the Smith family’s privacy this weekend” as the exhumation took place.
Earlier in the day, Bland tweeted, “To the media. We are receiving a number of requests from different media this weekend to provide comment on a number of topics. Out of respect for the Smith family, we will make no further comment this weekend on any of these matters and will be glad to discuss them with you next week.”
On March 29, spokeswoman Whitney McDuff told The Island Packet the exhumation would not take place until “later next week,” but that the effort was being expedited.
Authorities disagreed on cause of death
SLED’s renewed interest in Smith’s case emerged from unspecified evidence gathered during its investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s killings. Former Hampton County attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted of slaying his wife and son on March 3, after a six-week trial.
No evidence linking Smith’s death to the Murdaugh family has been shared publicly, despite swirling rumors and several mentions of the family in the state highway patrol’s investigative notes. Buster Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son, released a statement on March 20 denying any involvement in Smith’s death. Buster Murdaugh was a high school classmate of Smith’s.
SLED, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, former Hampton County Coroner Ernie Washington and Hampton County Sheriff’s deputies were all convinced Smith was murdered. In one report, Washington wrote Smith had a head wound consistent with being shot and had a “defensive wound” on his hand, a type of injury common in murder victims trying to protect themselves from a killer.
Confusion crept into the case when Medical University of South Carolina pathologist Dr. Erin Prisnell said Smith was killed after being struck in the head by a car’s side mirror. When highway patrol investigator Todd Proctor asked Prisnell about her conclusions, he said Prisnell offered no evidence to support her findings other than the fact Smith was found in the road.
No glass or other car debris was ever found near Smith’s body or elsewhere in the road, according to one of Prisnell’s reports, but a bullet was never recovered either.
This story was originally published April 2, 2023 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Stephen Smith’s new autopsy completed as SLED continues to investigate; reward offered."
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