Law&Crime Sidebar - Murdaugh Murders and Mysterious Death of Stephen Smith — What’s the Connection?

Episode Date: February 17, 2023

Leading up to the murders of Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son in June 2021, another person with connections to the disgraced lawyer’s family died. Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old nursing student from South Carolina, was found dead on the side of a road in Hampton County in 2015. Although originally ruled a hit-and-run, SLED investigators reopened the cold case investigation into Stephen’s death shortly after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed. Investigators have not revealed whether Stephen’s death is connected to the Murdaugh murders but are aware that Smith and the Murdaugh brothers knew each other. Supporters have continued to seek justice for Stephen to this day. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber is joined by Susanne Andrews, the Founder of Standing for Stephen.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Imagine what kind of doctor he was there to gaze him. But he's not because someone decided to bash his head in. The Alec Murdoch trial continues to develop. But how far back does this Murdoch saga go? We look into the mysterious 2015 death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. We then talk to Suzanne Andrews, the founder of Standing for Stephen.

Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. So as many of you know, we've been covering the Alec Murdoch trial here at Law and Crime. The once prominent South Carolina attorney is on trial for the murderers. of his wife and son, Maggie Murdoch and Paul Murdoch. They were found shot to death on their family property on June 7th, 2021. Defense says he didn't do it. The prosecution's evidence is flimsy.

And we here, we've been doing a very deep dive on all of the evidence that's been presented. Did Alec Murdoch murder his wife and son? Was it somebody else? Why did this happen? All these questions are eventually going to have to be decided by the jury. Thankfully, not us. We just analyze it. Not an easy question for the jury.

And with pretty much every murder trial, there are, of course, theories and rumors on how the murder happened, who's responsible, how it was carried out. We're seeing it here. So one theory is that Alec murdered his wife and son, right? Well, another theory is one that Alec actually suggested to police in his interview on the night of the murders. Have y'all been having any problems out here? trespassers people breaking in none that I know of the only thing

that what comes to my mind is my son Paul was in a boat wreck a couple years ago and there's been a you know he was charged with being arrested for being the driver there's been a lot of

negative publicity about that and there's been a lot of people online just really vile stuff but when Paul's out and about, I mean, people routinely, I don't think I know the full story, because I don't think they give it to me, but, I mean, he's been punched and hit and just attacked a lot, so, you know, but, I mean, nothing like this. Yeah. Any one person in particular or a group of people that you could think of?

That was a knot that I know, no, sir. As you see there, Alec suggests that someone may have had a vendetta against Paul because he was criminally charged for allegedly driving a boat drunk back in 2021 that resulted in the death of teenager Mallory Beach. In other words, there were unknown assailants that may have came to kill Paul. Maggie was a witness and they ended up shooting and killing her as well. Now, while that's not entirely clear, what is clear and what you may have noticed is that, that death seems to follow the Murdox. Paul and Maggie are shot and killed. Paul was allegedly driving the boat that crashed and ended up killing Mallory Beach. Their family housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, slips and falls to her death in their home. But that's a story for a

whole none of the time. And then there is another story that we have barely touched upon, but it is important to discuss. And that is the death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. So now let's go back seven and a half years ago. It's July 8th, 2015, and the police receive a 911 call from a man who found an unconscious person in the middle of a sandy run road in Hampton, South Carolina. And it was revealed that that person was Stephen Smith. And he was not unconscious. He was dead.

Now, the case was ruled a hit and run by investigators. After all, his body was found in the middle of the road. He was bleeding from his head, but here is where it gets interesting. There were no visible signs that he had been hit by a car. There was no bumper, glass, no fragments, nothing from part of a car anywhere to be found around the scene. Now, with Stephen's body, he had severe head trauma, only very few scratches on his arms, his legs. His shoes were still on. Blood was only found right next to his body, not along the road.

Now, of course, this is pure speculation, but it obviously. question would be if this was a hit and run do you think that there would be more damage there would be more physical evidence but the sheriff's department and the coroner were already on the scene and determined it was a hit and run now the highway patrol specifically a division that specializes in car racks had a different take highway patrol officer d b rowell scan the scene scan the scene and stated quote i saw no vehicle debris skid marks or injuries consistent with someone being struck by a vehicle. He wrote this in his original incident report dated July 8, 2015. The victim's shoes were loosely tied and both were still on. We see no evidence to suggest the victim was struck

by a vehicle. So the sheriff's department claimed it was a hit and run, but the South Carolina Highway Patrol believed that this was the scene of a murder. You don't see that every day, that difference of opinion, but there is a lot more. Stephen's car was found three miles away from his body. The car was found broken down. The gas cap was off. So one logical conclusion would be, well, maybe Stephen ran out of gas. It was walking down the road to go to the nearest gas station to get gas. Well, does that make sense? Well, one, he was walking in the opposite direction of the closest gas station. And two, he left his wallet in the car. Also, his phone was found on his body with battery life.

So the question is, why not call someone to pick you up? Let's also go back to Stephen's body. The main cause of his death was blunt force trauma to the head. And as I said, it was ruled a hit and run. And that was backed up by pathologist Dr. Aaron Presnell, who said she believed the injuries were consistent with being hit by a car. However, investigators asked Presnell if Smith could have suffered the head wound from being hit by someone with a baseball bat, she said no, but when investigators asked if Smith could have

been hit in the head from being struck by a bat or another object that was held by someone in a moving vehicle, she said, quote, well, I guess that's possible. So was it a hit and run or not? Now, you might be saying, what is all of this have to do with Alec Murdoch? Well, the Highway Patrol continues to investigate the case. Stevens car, though, was never dusted or tested for fingerprints or DNA because Stephen's death, as I said, was ruled a hit and run. The Highway Patrol tries asking people around Hampton County about Stephen. Many people won't talk about it. They seem to be shy to be talking about it.

At least that's what the reports indicate. And eventually, they speak to Stephen's mother, Sandy Smith. And she says that the rumor she keeps hearing, and let me emphasize that this is just a rumor, is that it was the Murdoch boys who are responsible for Stephen's death. And after many interviews, more than a dozen people brought up. off the name Buster Murdoch. Buster is Paul's older brother and Alex's oldest son. In fact, this is Alec talking a little bit more about Buster when he is interviewed during the course of the Paul and Maggie murder investigation. Do you have any other children? I do. I have a 24-year-old.

That's right. You said it. What's his name? Buster. Well, Richard Alexander Jr. Okay. He goes by Buster. He goes by Buster. Is he here tonight? He's on his way. Okay. I know that I talked to Buster. So I made a few phone calls. Okay.

Where was Buster? Buster was in Rock Hill. Is that where he lives or? No, he lives in Columbia, but he just started a new job. He's going back to law school in January. Okay. So he's working a little part-time job. with Wild Wings

through January you know just kind of killing time and he was in his girlfriend lives in Rock Hill she's studying for the bar exam so he had to be in Charlotte so he was staying with her in

Rock Hill her and her mom now there's something else I have to mention about Stephen Smith and that is that Stephen Smith was openly gay and according to Stephen mother, Stephen was supposed to go on a fishing trip with a prominent person. One of Stephen's friends said that he told him that he was messing around with a man from Hampton County. And if he had mentioned the name, people would be shocked. So again, pure

speculation. But one of the rumors that has circulated is that Stephen was in a relationship with Buster Murdoch. But again, no evidence to show that conclusively. And look, the problem is that all of the interviews with people from around Hampton County, they all had several different versions of rumors of what they heard had happened. So law enforcement had no evidence, nowhere to point the finger. Buster was never interviewed. No one has been charged for the death of Stephen Smith. And as you can imagine, Stephen's family has been devastated by his death.

In fact, exactly three months after Stephen's death, his father, Joel, dies of a heart attack in his sleep. And some have said that he died of heartbreak. And let me add this. In HBO's documentary low country, the Murdoch dynasty, a man named George Smith, who is a friend of Stephen's father, Joel, claims that he talked to Joel on his last day alive and told him, the Murdox killed my son because he was gay. I know my son. I know he was seeing Buster. Now, let me close this all out with the most curious aspect of this case that ties back to the Murdox. and that is that the morning Stephen's body is found,

Stephen's dad, Joel, goes down to the sheriff's department. Before Joel even gets to speak to the sheriff, he receives a call from Alec Murdoch's brother, Randy Murdoch. Randy offers to investigate the case. He tells Joel that he wanted the password to all of Stephen's electronics and social media accounts, and he tells Joel that he would represent him for free. then stephen's mother sandy reportedly claims to have seen alec and randy at the crime scene

about an hour after the body is moved why is this happening why are they there what does a supposed hit and run of a teenage boy have anything to do with the murdox in fact alec murdoch's law firm is mainly a personal injury firm so why are they willing to help stephen smith's family with a death investigation. The only question I'm asking, and I'm sure many of you are asking as well, is, are the Murdox trying to cover something up? And if so, why? As I mentioned, no one has been charged in connection with Stephen's death. But fast forward to June 22, 2021, just two weeks after Maggie and Paul's murders, Stephen Smith's case is reopened. Now, there's no new news of new evidence or anything like that, but the case is reopened. We believe this isn't

the hands of sled, the South Carolina law enforcement division, again, just two weeks after Maggie and Paul are killed. And that is very interesting. So as we continue our discussion of the death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, who was found dead on the road in South Carolina and the potential connection to the Murdoch family, we want to bring in a special guest. Joining me right now is the founder of Standing for Stephen, Suzanne Andrews. Suzanne, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much for coming here on Saibar and talking a little bit more about this story. Thank you. The pleasure is mine.

Thank you so very much. I'd like to start off with you telling everybody what is standing for Stephen. How did you become a part of this and why did you start the foundation? After the murders of Maggie and Paul, there were a bunch of Facebook pages popping up about the Murdoch murders. And Ashley Gandy, someone I did not know at the time, had posted a picture of Steven's gravesite and he did not have a headstone. It was just a plastic placard with his name, year of birth and year of death, and this little

ceramic cat. And as a mother of an 18-year-old, it broke my heart that at that time it had been six years that no one had helped his family get a headstone. So I was just led for whatever reason to try to get in touch with his mother, Sandy, to get her permission to raise money. I thought if we could do $2,000, that would be gravy. We've raised over $40,000. We got Stephen a headstone, as well as his father, who was buried next to him that I did not know at the time had passed three months after Stephen from a broken heart.

So we accomplished our goal then some. So it's been an amazing journey. That's a remarkable mission, a remarkable goal that you did. Congratulations on that. Hopefully, you know, as we share a little bit more of your story and Stephen's story, maybe, you know, that can grow. Did you know Stephen at all? Did you learn about him at all? I mean, when we talk about Stephen Smith, I think it's important for people to understand

the most we can about who he was. Sure. No, I had never met him or his family. The first time I met his mother, Miss Sandy, was at Stephen's gravesite. But from what I know, Stephen was a ham. He was funny. He was loving. He was giving kind.

He was just a good kid all the way around. He was in nursing school. wanted to become a doctor. He knew his parents couldn't afford to send him to medical school, so he started out in nursing so that he could send himself to medical school. He had so many friends that he supported and loved, and they loved and supported them back. He was just a good, a good kid. Yeah, and it's tragic to think about what happened and the mystery surrounding his death, and I do want to get into that a little bit. So it's my understanding. understanding Stephen was openly gay. Many people believe that he was killed because of that. As a matter of fact, the Smith family attorney, Mike Hemlet, believes that Stephen was killed because he was homosexual.

We don't know. I know what you're thinking. You're going, Mike, come on. You don't know what happened to Stephen. You don't know why he died. But here's what I'm here to tell you today. There are 28,000 gay teenagers in South Carolina to know exactly why he died. and I'm going to tell you I know exactly why he died. There's been a bill in the legislature to pass hate crime legislation, and the legislature's ready to do it. They're happy to do it when it comes to race, religion, gender. You know what they don't want to do? They don't want to include the 28,000 LGBT teens in South Carolina. That's why it hasn't passed.

Now, I understand that you are currently trying to get a hate crime. bill passed in the state of South Carolina. What can you tell us about that? Well, South Carolina, I've just recently found this out in the past year or so, is one of two states in this nation that does not have a hate crime bill. South Carolina and Wyoming are the only two. The House of Representatives passed a hate crime bill through, but our senators are holding it up. Well, they have this mental capacity that there's already federal laws in place for hate crime. why do we need state level? Well, why would we not? You know, all the other states have it. You know, we're marching in the opposite direction than all the other states. And, you know, to me,

it's more of a preventative measure than conviction type situation. Hopefully it would be a preventative measure to keep people from doing that. My father owns the Capitol Club here in Columbia, South Carolina, which is where we had Stevens fundraiser, and it's a private gay club that's been around for over 40 years. You know, it's not just about gays. It's about blacks, Jews, Catholics, white folks. You know, there are hate crimes against white people just as well. It's not just about gay people. And trust me, I see it a lot in my day and back and forth, and we see crimes about this all the time. I want to just pick up on something that you said. So you, when I mentioned that there's a belief that Stephen was killed because he was homosexual,

I heard you say yes. Now, I'm curious because I should tell you, and I will tell all our listeners, right now this is rumors and speculation. There hasn't been direct evidence. What leads you to believe that Stephen was killed because of his sexuality? I have to be careful with what I say. There is an open investigation. I would do nothing to hinder that investigation.

I really don't know how to answer that question. Well, let me ask you, let me ask you this then. Let me ask you this. So we know that Paul and Maggie are murdered. And then two weeks later, Stephen's case is reopened all this time later. That can't be a coincidence. I mean, what's your feeling about that. I don't think it's a coincidence. What that is, what that information is, I truly do not know. But I do believe that there was good reason for them to reopen it. And I'm, you know, just pray that it's going to get solved sooner rather than later. And his family deserves answers. And with this hate crime bill, I've started a petition on change.org. And it's Standing for Stephen, I'm not ready to down. Standing for Stephen dash SC dash hate crime bill. If my thought is this is kind of part two of standing for Stephen where I started it to raise money for a headstone is if, which I praise Ms. Sandy and the family gets answers. But if God forbid they don't, at least.

maybe we can get this bill passed in Stephen's honor as an advocate for the state of South Carolina or somehow honored for him and his family to get this bill passed. And look, it's such an odd case and a strange case and an unanswered case. And look, the reason I just explained it a little while ago is that there's a difference in opinion about what actually happened to him, right? So the initial ruling and the ruling that has been is that it was a hit and run. But there's evidence to suggest it was something more than that. What makes you believe this was not a simple hit and run? And let me ask you this. Why do you think, if you can, why do you think there was such a, I don't want to say rush to judgment, but there was a

conclusion to determine this a hit and run? Well, initial, regardless, it's a murder. Even at the bare minimum, I'm not saying this is the case, but at the bare minimum, somebody accidentally hit him, which is highly unlikely, they still killed them and they left the scene. It is still a murder, no matter how you look at it. As far as the hit and run,

I personally do not believe that. I may be wrong, but the pictures show, his crime scene pictures show his cell phone. There was not a crack on the cell phone screen. His shoes were still on them, not tied. There was no fragments of plastic, glass, there was nothing in the middle of the road to suggest there was an impact with a vehicle

other than he was found in the middle of the road. And I went through it why the Murdox have been kind of tied to this. What should we know about them? What should we know about their feeling in the community? And what were they feared in Hampton County at all? I mean, what was it about them? Yeah, I personally do not know the Murdox. I have some very close friends.

I live in Columbia. I have some very close friends that know them. I know the Murdox are the story you know that the press is wanting. To me, this is about Stephen. It doesn't matter whose name is attached to what happened to him. Whether it's the Murdox or Joe Blow, the family just deserves answers. But to answer your question, oh yes, they were feared. Very powerful. And people that are not from the South, do not understand the web and the connections. And everyone knows everyone. Judges or attorneys that are in front of judges on Friday are sitting in Sunday school with that same judge on Sunday. I mean, it is just such a small net community. And it's scary for a lot of people and especially people from lower economic statuses that don't feel like

they have a voice. And if they do try to speak, they're not going to be lessened to or they're going to be shunned or it's social suicide for them. And before I let you go, obviously the trial right now of Alec Murdoch is happening. Have you been following it? Is there some, do you want an outcome or are you anticipating an outcome might somehow be connected to Stephen in the end? Because look, all eyes are on Alec Murdoch and people are learning everything about the Murdox right now. Yeah, I don't know. That's the million dollar question, or maybe the $10 million question, or more. But I honestly don't know. Nothing at this point would surprise me with this trial. Nothing. Nothing. But if I could, if I could just ask anyone in the state of South Carolina, I have this petition

going online, change.org for standing for Stephen, hate crime bill. Please, we need as many signatures as possible so that our senators can no longer not listen to us anymore. Please go to your local House representatives, your senators beg for this to be pushed through, not just the sentence just about the hate crime bill and just about standing for Stephen. It's about us as people. I agree with you. And look, Suzanne, what we're going to do is we're going to pin some of those links as well for people to have easy access to it and for people to learn more. about your organization as well.

You're doing terrific work. I appreciate you taking the time to come on Sidebar and speak a little bit more about Stephen Smith. Well, thank you all for having us or having me and letting Standing for Stevens speak out. So I appreciate it very, very much. And that's all we have for you here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us.

Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.