Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP Remastered #2 - Who Killed Stephen Smith? Part One

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Starting point is 00:00:50 Reve app Your Reve Appal Service Online Then we can bestell in market uphold. The Stephen Smith case will always be the case that haunts me. The case that keeps me up at night questioning myself, if I did enough to try to help solve it, and if there is ever anything more that we can do

Starting point is 00:01:14 to get someone, somewhere, who knows something, to finally break this case wide open. This case sat on my desk for two years before I got enough guts to finally write about it in June of 2021. For two years, I chipped away at this investigation. I went through every word of this case file. I listened and relistened to all of the interviews, and still to this day, I don't understand why the Highway Patrol was in charge of a case for so long when there was no evidence of a vehicular homicide.

Starting point is 00:01:49 On the day that we released the first episode of MMP, SLED opened an investigation into Stephen Smith's homicide due to something that they found during the Murdoch investigation, something that to this day they still have not clarified. That day, I remember feeling so hopeful for Sandy Smith, Stephen's wonderful mother, hopeful that she would finally get answers related to her son's death. She had begged Sled for years to reopen the case. So, we are going to re-listen to this episode with the same hope that we had when we produced the second episode of MMP, that it will lead to answers injustice finally for the Smith family. Let's dive in.

Starting point is 00:02:40 I don't know who killed Stephen Smith, but I do know that his family has been waiting 2,180 days to get justice. and I am determined that someday they will get answers. My name is Mandy Matney. I have been investigating the Murdoch family for more than two years now. And this is the Murdoch Martyrs podcast. So to start off this podcast, I just want to say thank you to everyone, who tuned in and listened and to everyone who gave us a five-star review. My fiancé, who's also my producer, and I, were just shocked and overwhelmed by all of the support. So thank you. Also,

Starting point is 00:03:31 this week, I learned what vocal fry was for the first time. Ah, I hear it. Thank you, commenters. I am a journalist, not a podcaster. For the last three weeks, I have been on the phone all day, every day, chasing down leads in this case. Unlike the YouTubers and the other podcasters out there, literally all of the other podcasters working on this case. I'm actually doing real reporting here. It's exhausting. My voice will not be perfect, but the information will be accurate. I can promise you that. Also, it's just plain mean to say that somebody's voice sucks. I'm sorry, but that's like saying somebody's face is ugly. Like, I can't change it. So I don't know what you want me to do with that information, to all of you that emailed me to the girl that said, I sound like Kim

Starting point is 00:04:22 Kardashian, so change your voice. I can't change my voice. This is it. Take it or leave it. In our first episode called South Carolina's Chappaquitic, I gave a 30,000 foot view of the saga. All of that information is crucial if you want to fully understand this case. This story is extremely complicated and deserves so much more time and attention before jumping to conclusions. On June 22nd, huge news broke in this case. I was the first to report that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, also known as SLED, the same agency investigating the Murdoch murders, opened an investigation into the Steven Smith death. SLED told me that this was based on information gathered during the course of the double homicide investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdoch.

Starting point is 00:05:07 We don't know what information led them to that position, but it's important to look back on the 2015 case and see what went forward. wrong. So what happened to Stephen Smith? Like the probe of the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, the 2015 investigation and dismissed death was chaotic from the beginning, derailed by jurisdictional perplexity and suspicions of investigative interference. Smith was found dead just before 4 a.m. on July 8, 2015, he was found in the middle of Sandy Run Road in Hampton County, South Carolina. Hampton County, now, where's your emergency? Hello, I just going down to Rockerville Road. I see somebody laying out.

Starting point is 00:05:59 You're in the road. Oh, you're in the rules? Yeah. Uh-uh. Somebody's going to hit him at his talk. Uh-huh. Somebody going to hit him. All right.

Starting point is 00:06:10 We'll get it also headed out that way. Okay. All right, sir. All right. at 407 a.m. a man named Michael Bridges of the Hampton County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene just seconds after he was dispatched. I'll be clear here. It's hard to understand from all of the reports when exactly the Hampton County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene. Whatever time deputies arrived what they found was horrific. I know this because I've seen crime scene photos.

Starting point is 00:06:38 Steven's face was covered in blood. The bright young nursing student was dead. He was lying in the middle of a remote country road. Stephen had a seven-inch gash on the right side of his forehead. His head was warped by blunt force. Considering he had no other major injuries, investigators on scene were completely stumped. At first, they thought it was a hit and run and called highway patrol to the scene around 537 a.m. By 6 a.m., the South Carolina law enforcement division, also known as sled, was called to the scene. The coroner ruled a death of shooting homicide, forcing investigators to search the area for ballistics evidence. Investigators from the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the Hampton County Sheriff's Office, and the state police found virtually no evidence. No bullets, no gunshot residue,

Starting point is 00:07:23 no tire marks, no debris from a vehicle, nothing. Here is Corporal Michael Duncan, who is one of the initial investigators for the South Carolina Highway Patrol on scene. It is a two-lane roadway, level, sight distance, not an issue. However, exclusion occurred approximately at night, approximately 1 o'clock in the morning to 4 o'clock. So visibility will be used with headlights only. There's no other ambient lighting in the area. As far as evidence here, there is only evidence of where the body was found. There's no car parts, no any type of parts to a car, or truck, or any other vehicle.

Starting point is 00:08:18 Photographs and video were taken of the scene by Sergeant Booker. Also visited the mortuary, took pictures of the body at the mortuary. There is no body trauma other than to the head area. There is some scrapes and scratches on his left and right arm. on his knuckles, some across his face. It does not appear to be, in my opinion, struck by a vehicle. In fact, after coming through over 100 pages of documents, it's hard to find any officials who believe that Stephen Seth was a hit and run.

Starting point is 00:09:01 Hours later, Dr. Aaron Presnell, a pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina, also noticed MUSC, ruled that Stephen was killed in a hit-and-run incident. While the coroner believes that the death was a homicide in South Carolina, a pathologist who is a medical doctor must perform an autopsy on the victim to decide the cause and manner of death. Here is what the autopsy report said. The cause of death was blunt force head trauma due to a motor vehicle crash. There was a 7.25 inch laceration on the right side of Stephen's forehead, along with bruises on both sides of his forehead. The right side of Stephen's skull had multiple fractures, bruising and contusions. His right eyebrow was cut, his right shoulder was dislocated.

Starting point is 00:09:45 He had cuts and bruises on his right hand. There were cuts on his right arm. There were cuts on his right fingers. Blood was in his airways. The autopsy report mentions historical information that led the pathologist to believe that Stephen was killed by a vehicle. But there is no mention of any specific historical information that would lead them to this conclusion. Highway Patrol investigators were baffled by this ruling because they were told

Starting point is 00:10:12 by sled and the sheriff's office that they were not needed at the autopsy. They didn't think they were needed because they didn't think that this was a hit and run. The South Carolina Highway Patrol typically does not investigate murders. Highway Patrol investigators went to the scene multiple times to search for evidence. Time after time, they found nothing. The body was found right on the YL. The head was on one side of the YL and his feet were on the other. There's no marks from a vehicle, no skid marks in the roadway, nothing in the grass. Again, the evidence did not suggest that this was a hit and run.

Starting point is 00:10:55 His loosely tied shoes were still on his feet. That is a big deal. I have been a journalist for a long time, and I have many sources to turn to in cases like like this. And they all say that this is basic science. When a car hits a person, the shoes come off due to force and friction. Stephen's shoes stayed on. Hours after the accident, investigators found Smith's car about three miles away on the side of Bamberg Highway. His wallet was inside his car. Investigators noted that the car's gas cap wasn't screwed and hanging outside of the gas cap door. Law enforcement officials believed that Stephen ran out of gas and started walking home before he was killed.

Starting point is 00:11:39 The toxicology report showed that Stephen was completely sober. Investigators theorized that Stephen was killed by a truck mirror that struck only his face, which is why he didn't have any other serious injuries. From the reports, it appears like highway patrol officials were completely thrown off by the decision to give them the case. After the autopsy, Sergeant Moore was calling around to find Stephen's body. He then found out that Stephen's body was at the funeral home and his clothes were left in a paper bag completely unattended. This means that the chain of custody was broken.

Starting point is 00:12:10 Sergeant Moore of the Highway Patrol does not understand why Stephen's death was ruled a hit and run. He then calls Dr. Aaron Presnell to get more information. Presnell's explanation to Moore was simple. She said because she didn't find a gunshot wound or any bullets or any fragments and because Stephen was found in the road, the only thing that she could theorize was that he had to have been hit by a motor vehicle that caused his death.

Starting point is 00:12:38 Moore asked Presnell if there were any other injuries on Stephen and she said only a dislocated right shoulder. More than asked Presnell if she found any glass fragments or any other evidence from a motor vehicle and she said no according to his notes. More than asked Presnell why she made the ruling that it was a motor vehicle accident and what she thought caused Stephen's head injury.

Starting point is 00:13:01 It looks like Presnell snapped back at Moore at this point. Moore wrote in his report, quote, she told me it was not her job to figure that out. It was mine. I have read thousands of police reports in my lifetime, and I have never seen anything like this. For a public official to describe a confrontation with another official in a report, that is very weird.

Starting point is 00:13:22 Okay, so let's rewind here. First, SLED and the Hampton County Sheriff's Office told the highway patrol that they shouldn't be at the autopsy because it was not a motor vehicle accident, since there was no evidence of it being a motor vehicle accident. And remember, Slead combed the scene searching for evidence of a shooting. Also, I want to be clear that SLED was never in charge at this investigation. They were called to the scene for assistance. This investigation was not theirs until they opened it in 2021. At no point does anyone in any of these reports mention the possibility that he was beaten to death or struck by an object like a baseball bat and then they

Starting point is 00:14:02 would search for evidence for such things. Also, in all of these reports, I never saw them talking to any neighbors nearby to see if they saw anything or heard anything. And if you know anything about investigations, you know that canvassing the area in the immediate hours after something happens is so essential. People do not remember days later or weeks later or now years later if they heard something weird on a Wednesday night in July. So now we are left with the situation that is askew from the get-go. We're left with an agency that specializes an accident reconstruction, investigating a man's death where there is no evidence of a vehicle accident.

Starting point is 00:14:44 After pouring through hundreds of documents in these case files and listening to hours and hours of audio, it is hard in this case to determine if it's incompetence or corruption or both that failed Stephen, but either way, we failed Stephen. The justice system failed Stephen and his family. Stephen's family immediately rejected the idea that Stephen was killed by a vehicle.

Starting point is 00:15:10 Stephen was smart, he was hyper aware, and he was very careful. They all told me there was just no way he would let a vehicle hit him at night. How would a smart, sober kid get hit head on in the face by a truck mirror on a rule, lightly traveled road in the middle of the night. It just does not make any sense. On July 11, 2015, Stevens family held awake. The family kept the casket open so that people

Starting point is 00:15:38 could see what was done to him. Stop leaving savings behind at the pump. Get up to seven cents per liter in value every time you fill up at Petro Canada. That's 3 cents per liter in instant savings plus 20% more points when you link an eligible RBC card to your Petro points. Find out more at RBC.com slash Petro-Dash Canada. Conditions apply. Michelle's mother, Lisa McDaniel, has managed to keep her past buried. You said nobody wants to believe there's a monster in their family.

Starting point is 00:16:06 You think she's a monster? I don't want to. But I don't know how else you describe somebody who does those things to children. Michelle has lived in the shadow of her family's dark past for decades. But now she's ready to bring it into the light. Neither one of those children were, suffering because of a disease. Season 6 of Nobody Should Believe Me is out now.

Starting point is 00:16:30 Listen wherever you get your podcasts. On July 14th, 2015, the first of three des certificates for Stephen Smith was issued by coroner Ernie Washington to Stevens family. According to the death certificate, the time of injury was 3 a.m. Stevens actual or presumed time of death was also 3 a.m. Stevens cause of death was blunt force trauma and it says probably pedestrian in motor vehicle accident possibly struck by sidemere. So at this point in the investigation, on July 14th, 2015, Highway Patrol detectives start interviewing people. This is weird because if you are

Starting point is 00:17:19 investigating for a random hit and run, according to the death certificate, why would you interview people close to Stephen, as if it was an intentional homicide. One of the first people interviewed by Highway Patrol was a man who identified himself as Stephen's boyfriend. However, the family very much disputed this title as boyfriend. He was older. He was apparently paying for Stephen's phone. There was some kind of fleeing happening between them of some sort, but from what the family says he was not Stephen's boyfriend. He claims to be one of the last people who spoke to Stephen before his death. Because he already told me he was running out of gas, one of the calls before, and then

Starting point is 00:18:04 the cold dropped. I'll be clear here. It's hard to follow this man's interview. He talks about a lot of things that he's not asked about. He has said that he has memory problems and that he's done a lot of drugs and also has brain injuries. It's very hard to follow. The frustration sets in as far as you can remember this, but you can't remember that.

Starting point is 00:18:25 Because you're pulling, you've got to understand, I got a lot of brain injury. Okay. I got, and you're trying to hit me with them. Just to get a timeline, I mean, I had to think, because I'm thinking in my head that these calls are coming in Thursday morning. Okay. However, he does say some things that seem like they could be relevant. And he's been harassed in this time. They've been messing with his logs on the car.

Starting point is 00:18:49 They've been screwing with his battery. And when you say they, who are you talking about? I don't know. The only one that he told me that he made it very clear to me, the guy with the tattoo. When they later press this man about specifics, he said Stephen was harassed on the night he was killed at Snyder's Crossing. Is that where he said he felt like he was being following it? Yes, he said that he was being harassed at that store. About who?

Starting point is 00:19:16 He didn't say, he said it was a couple of guys in the pickup truck. If I called correctly, he said they were rednecks. On July 17, 2015, Corporal Duncan of the Highway Patrol interviews one of Stephen's family members. During the interview, it's the first time that the Marduk name is brought up in the investigation. We're going to alter the voice of the person that speaks here due to the sensitive nature of this topic. How about the rumors that you've been hearing on the street that you told me earlier that? possibly were involved? A bunch of people, like, I just left the house the first official time yesterday,

Starting point is 00:19:58 and I went into the store, and a bunch of people kept coming up in there and they're like, did you know, the Murdoch boys are behind it, you know, saying, Buster Murdoch, the one we went to school with it, and some of his friends, and I'm just thinking like, why? You know, it makes no sense. He's never said anything bad about Stephen. He's never been around Stephen. Duncan doesn't ask Stephen's relative a lot of follow-up questions. the statement. They just ask her where she got the information. She mentions a few people

Starting point is 00:20:23 and they move on. And then the Marnock name comes up again. No lawyers have contacted you about anything. Well, the day that Stephen passed away, Randy Mardock was the second person to call my dad after the coroner. And he said he wanted to take the case and it would be free of charge and everything. And my dad's a little iffy on that. So it's kind of weird. No lawyer sits here and says it'll be free, and you can have whatever money you want. Okay, so I know that the Highway Patrol is not used to investigating homicides. But here, Duncan doesn't ask any follow-up questions about this.

Starting point is 00:21:03 He just learned a few minutes before that this relative heard rumors that the Murdoch boys were involved in Stephen's death. Then, a few minutes later, he heard that Randy Murdoch was the first person to contact the family after the coroner to offer his services. Granted, Hampton is a very small town, but Duncan appears to not even make the connection between the Murdox being mentioned twice in the interview. He just asked a few more questions that don't have anything to do with that, and he ends the interview. And Duncan's notes from the interview, he does not mention the Murdox. According to his notes, this relative told him that Stephen became very secretive about two weeks before the incident,

Starting point is 00:21:42 and this relative didn't know of anybody who had a problem with Stephen. Later that day, Duncan calls Sandy Smith, Stephen's mother. Sandy tells Duncan different things about her son. She says that he'd recently been cutting school, which is unusual for him. But he would stay at my house, and he was a study person. He studied. But he would come to my house and stay there until about 1 o'clock in the morning before he would go home. Okay.

Starting point is 00:22:11 During the interview, Duncan asked Sandy if she's heard any rumors about her son's death. The rumors that's going around Hampton that everybody keeps coming up to me and saying it was Murdoch boys. The Murdoch boys? Yeah, whoever they are. Okay. Duncan didn't ask any follow-up questions to this. He doesn't appear to connect the rumors with anything Stephen's other relatives said just hours before. He asked Sandy a few more questions, and Sandy told Duncan about a young man who worked at Bilo,

Starting point is 00:22:40 who was making Stephen feel uncomfortable recently. In his case notes, Stephen writes about the man. at Bailow and suggested that another detective follow up by tracking him down. There was no mention of the Murdoch rumor in his notes again. So if there's something that you find out or somebody else that you feel like I need to talk to that just kind of comes about, let me know. Okay, I sure will. All right.

Starting point is 00:23:07 I appreciate all you doing. Hearing Sandy's voice here just breaks my heart. She's so polite and sweet and hopeful that the investigation will. will give her and her family answers. Fast forward almost six years. On a Saturday night, Sandy texted me. Days after her son's case was reopened by sled, almost every major news organization in the country

Starting point is 00:23:28 was saying Stephen Smith's name. She said, quote, there is nothing in this world I want more than to hold my baby in my arm one more time. The media wants a story, I just want justice. A lot happened in the Stephen Smith case after Sandy's interview in July 2015. The case took a couple strange turns before it went cold in 2016, and we will get to all of that in a later episode. It's too much for one episode.

Starting point is 00:24:03 So that brings us to the latest development in the double homicide case. So there haven't been a lot of updates in this case recently, but I don't think that that's concerning. We have to remember that it took the Attorney General. office two months to charge Paul Murdoch with three felonies after the BUI crash that killed Mallory Beach. So we still don't know who, if anyone, will be charged in the double homicide of Maggie and Paul Murdoch. But I do know that we have to give law enforcement space and time before jumping to conclusions. In another development this week, a spokesperson for the powerful Murdoch family released a statement about a reward that they are offering for information in the

Starting point is 00:24:45 high-profile investigation. Ehrlich and his son Buster Murdoch offered the $100,000 reward. In another update, Maggie Murdoch's cell phone was found along a rural South Carolina Road just outside of the family's hunting property where they were found dead.

Starting point is 00:25:02 And we still don't know what information sled obtained in the double homicide investigation that led them to reopen Stevens' case. I've seen some talking heads on TV say that it was reopened because of something that was found on scene. But we don't know that.

Starting point is 00:25:17 We can't guess that. We have to wait on law enforcement. And I just want to say, again, be careful when you watch national news and YouTubers and other podcasters, really most media, unfortunately, in this case, because no one is being careful with their backs. We don't know a lot of things, and we can't jump to conclusions, and we certainly can't just make things up to fill up air time. So for the latest developments on this case, follow me on Twitter at Twitter.com slash Mandy M-A-N-D-Y, Matney, M-A-T-N-E-Y. And don't forget to leave a five-star review unless you're going to be nasty and talk about my vocal fry. The Mardock Martyrs podcast is created by me, Mandy Matney, and my fiance, David Moses.

Starting point is 00:26:11 Luna Shark Productions. If you know anything that could help lead police to solve Steven Smith's homicide, please email tips at sled.s.gov or call 803-7379,000. With the money Sandy has raised from Stevens GoFundMe, she is offering a $50,000 reward for anyone with solid information. that helps lead police to an arrest. For more information, visit JusticeforSteven.com.

Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP Remastered #2 - Who Killed Stephen Smith? Part One

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