According to the autopsy, Greene was responsible for evidence transfer in the case. "At that point, I hadbeen working highway patrol for 15 years, I've worked several hit and run collisions, and nothing about this case from the very beginning pointed towards it being a hit and run," Inv. Proctor wrote that Presnell spoke in a negative tone and basically called (him) a liar when he said that hed already spoken to Hampton County CoronerErnie Washington. Allen informs Moore that it is a homicide, not a hit and run. Since the murders of Paul Murdaugh, 22, and Maggie Murdaugh 52, the State Law Enforcement Division, the agency that has been investigating the homicides, announced that it will now be investigating the death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team, told Fox News in an exclusivetelevisioninterview, Maggie Murdaugh's Cellphone Was Found Near Roadside Away From Crime Scene, Sources Reportedly Say, SLED Will Investigate Stephen Smith 2015 Death, Citing Emerging Details in Paul and Maggie Murdaugh Killings, New Redacted Report on Murdaugh Homicide Case Released. The killings also led the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to open an investigation into the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old man whose body was found in a road 10 miles from. It just doesnt make any sense. "I just couldn't believe it," she said. Perry Singleton and Chief Billy Jarrell, the SLED report said. Nothing about this case from the very beginning pointed towards it being a hit and run.. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division opened an investigation into Smith's death in June of 2021 after agents found information relating to . (latest case updates), Murdaugh Murders: Was Paul Murdaugh charged for Mallory Beachs death? Hemlepp tells PEOPLE: "I know there are people who know what happened to Stephen. 5:18 a.m. SCHP: Booker notifies Cpl. Smith was found dead with deep gashes to his head in the middle of a dark Hampton County road on July 8, 2015. In 2019, a boat operated by Paul Murdaugh crashed against a bridge pylon, killing 19-year-old Mallory Beach and seriously injuring two other passengers. The old way of doing business in Hampton does not exist anymore. "Stephen's getting his final resting place honored and recognized," says Andrews. MAIT investigators cited multiple times in case notes and incidentreports obtained by Inside Edition Digital that Smith's death appeared to be a homicide and said the wound on his skull to be consistent with a gunshot wound. Proctor then spoke with Kelly Greene, Hampton County deputy coroner and a SLED agent who both attended the autopsy and said they didnt make any reference to the pathologist about the victim being struck by a vehicle, only that he was found in the road. RELATED|Boat Crash Lawsuit: Murdaughs Refuse To Settle, Withhold Financial Records From Victims Family. More:Murdaughs killed in double homicide in Colleton County: What We Know Hes never said anything bad about Stephen. On July 8, 2015 Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of Sandy Run Road with a 7.25-inch gaping hole on the right side of his forehead and no other major injuries. They just throw their cases on a shelf to collect dust.. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? His body was found in the middle of Sandy Run Road on July 8 with deep gashes to the head. Murdaugh murders: Cops clueless about motive, refuse to release 911 call details Another deceased person's name has reemerged in the case - Stephen Smith, a gay man from Hampton who died in 2015. It began June 7, when the pretty, college-sweetheart wife and son of Alex Murdaugh, a prominent and powerful lawyer who knows everyone in town, were brutally gunned down at their hunting lodge in . Smith had a head wound consistent with being shot, the coroner explained in a report. Duncan didnt ask any follow-up questions and never mentioned this rumor in his notes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Send your tips tomandy@fitsnews.com. Stephen was sharp and hyper-aware of his surroundings.A toxicology report showed that Stephen was completely sober at the time of his death. His car was discovered three miles away with the gas cap off. The killings also led the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to open a new inquiry into the unsolved death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old whose body was found on a rural road in the area in . No other evidence was located at the scene, the SLED agent wrote. In the aftermath of her sons death, Sandy said shes learned that there are two different justice systems in the Palmetto State one for people like the Murdaughs and another for everyone else. Stephen's mother and his twin sister speak out to Melvin . Cold Cases Database. He would have seen headlights coming and got off the road. What a slap in the face.. While reporters from all over the nation contacted her last week about her sons story, she just wants the official call from law enforcement telling her they reopened the case. Im just sitting here like why? It makes no sense, she said. And while South Carolina investigators havent said what evidence prompted them to open the investigation into Smiths death, Proctor told Fox that the Murdaugh name came up during the investigation and that the family was not particularly cooperative. The coroners report on Smiths death said he was most likely hit in the head by the mirror of a passing tractor trailer truck as he walked along the dark, two-lane road after he ran out of gas. 10:30 a.m. SCHP: Moore notes that Washington told him that this is when Joel and Sandy Smith were notified of their sons death. Also buried close by is Stephen's brother, who died as a baby. Now, Stephen Smiths case is getting national attention and his mother Sandy finally has hope for a fair investigation that will lead to answers in her sons unsolved death. (Center) Alex Murdaugh in Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. She tells police Stephen was going to school in Orangeburg and hung out at Bobcat Landing a lot recently. According to the investigation file, Buster was rumored to have been linked to Stephen intimately but detectives never proved this connection. Rumors have swirled about a possible relationship between Stephen Smith and Buster Murdaugh. Email us atexclusive@the-sun.comor call212 416 4552. Smiths mother, Sandy Smith, agrees. The Smith case had originally been ruled a hit-and-run despite evidence from . She said that it was not a gunshot wound and no bullet or fragments were found during the X-ray and that it didnt look like a bullet wound in her opinion and that since the body was found in the roadway, she could only theorize that it had to be a motor vehicle that caused the death, Moores note said. SLEDs inquiry into the Smith family does not mean its agents believe they had anything to do with the deaths of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh. Six years later, Sandy Smith Stephens mother is still grappling with the pain of not knowing what happened to her son. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. In a recording that features in the documentary, a South Carolina State Trooper tells an unidentified phone tipster that he received at least "nine phone calls" about a rumor connecting the Murdaugh family to Stephen's mysterious roadside death. The statements are the latest to be revealed in court filings by Dominion as part of its billion-dollar defamation suit against the . Murdaugh's. 6:25 a.m. SCHP: Moore arrives at the scene and speaks with Hampton County Coroner Ernie Washington, who tells him it is a homicide. In a report (below) by Todd Proctor, a MAIT detective for SCHP, it was clear that investigators didnt agree with the pathologists conclusion to rule the death a hit and run. His death was ruled a hit-and-run, but his mother Sandy Smith, who attended Sunday's unveiling, has long suspected he was murdered. Photo: Facebook. The Hampton County Coroner's Office said the 19-year-old was hit and killed back in 2015 by blunt-force trauma to the head. Smith died on a rural road in Hampton County in 2015, in what was ruled a hit-and-run. (Is Outer Banks a real place?). Got a technical question or a glitch to report? She had no evidence other than that for the statement being put in the report., Proctor said that he explained to her that law enforcement officers had no evidence of this individual being struck by a vehicle.. A source close to the family also told FITSNews that the Beaches have not been questioned again since providing their statements and DNA. The family member says that Stephen was recently acting secretive and started coming home late. 8:53 a.m. SLED: Burke meets with Moore at Peeples Rhoden Funeral Home in Hampton to provide documentation from the original crime scene and to transfer evidence. CLICK HERE. Beach died when a 17-foot center console fishing boat allegedly driven by an inebriated Paul Murdaugh slammed into a pylon near theArchers Creek bridge on February 24, 2019 around 2:25 a.m. Murdaugh was charged with three felony counts of boating under the influence (BUI) in the aftermath of that crash. In the days after Stephen Smith was found dead on a Hampton County road, an autopsy was performed to determine the cause and manner of his death. His death was officially ruled a hit-and-run, but deep gashes to his head suggested to some he was beaten to death. You become invincible in a way and you get a little liquor and you think youre untouchable.. Sandy Smith told FITSNews that SLED is investigating her sons death as a homicide which is something she wishes they did six years ago. SCHP: Moore instructs Rowell to go back to the scene and make sure the body had been marked and to start looking for debris in both directions. Here's what we know. She said Stephen had been recently cutting school, which was unusual for him. It would repeatedly get to a certain point, then the assigned investigator would bow out, perhaps not wanting to take on Solicitor Murdaugh.. Then he was beat up, so the story just kept changing over and over," said Sandra Smith, Stephen's mother, this week. Murdaugh Murders: Family Releases Statement On $100,000 Reward, Latest Chapter Of Kathryn Dennis-Thomas Ravenel Custody Battle Features Change In Legal Lineup, #SC2018: Lindsey Graham Endorses Henry McMaster, Mark Powells Palmetto Past & Present: Lost Confederate Gold, Ron Paul: The Anti-War Movement Roars Back To Life, LIVE FEED Murdaugh Murders Trial: Day Twenty-Six, Washington points to wound on Smiths head and calls it a gunshot wound, showing Moore the entry point., Moore asked Greene if they were sure it was a homicide and their response was yes., Moore advises MAIT theyre no longer needed. Smith's death was attributed to severe head trauma and controversially ruled a hit and run at the time, which the family and some investigators have disputed, and official investigations into his . 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Stephens life mattered, too.. At the time, investigators said it appeared he was killed in a hit-and-run collision while walking. MAIT takes photos of the body and Smiths clothes. This database currently consists of unsolved homicides from 50 Florida counties, 46 U.S. states, and 3 international countries. She was devastated to hear the news that she and her family were now being viewed as possible persons of interest in the savage slayings last Monday at Moselle the Murdaugh family hunting lodge in Colleton county. 8:25 a.m. SLED: Tallon and Burke arrive at the scene. Investigation files revealed (part one). Tallon notes that an EMS worker stated that a projectile wound was located on the victims head the HCCO moved the victim prior to SLED Crime Scene arrival.. Stephen Smith's body was found along Sandy Run Road in Hampton County in July 2015. He would not let a car, let alone a truck, get close enough to hit him. For more on the ever-evolving Murdaugh case, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands Friday. However, a pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina ruled the death caused by "blunt head trauma sustained in a motor vehicle crash," according to the final autopsy report. there was no evidence that pointed towards this being a hit and run or a vehicle even being involved in it," he continued. Proctor told Fox News that was she said was true. The Hampton community is hoping a suspect can be identified, after 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead on Sandy Run Road in an apparent hit and run. Murdaugh, 54, has repeatedly denied any role in the deaths, saying he was visiting his mother and ailing father and discovered his son and wife slain when he returned to their estate. A NEW 20/20 documentary about the mysterious Murdaugh family includes claims by the twin sister of a teenager who died under strange circumstances in rural South Carolina. No one's going to feel like they're being held accountable if we don't bring attention to it.". According to the autopsy, Greene was responsible for evidence transfer in the case. He was an openly gay young man in the small town of Hampton, South Carolina, which wasnt easy, but he made the best of it, his friends told FITSNews. . His right shoulder was partially dislocated. SCHP: Moore, Rowell, Booker and Duncan go to Sandy Run Road to document the scene and looked for any evidence at the scene for approximately 100 yards in both directions. Smith was found dead just before 4:00 a.m. EDT on July 8, 2015. 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