{"id":59827,"date":"2023-03-21T21:30:01","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T01:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/south-carolina-law-enforcement-to-investigate-stephen-smiths-death-as-homicide-attorney-59827"},"modified":"2023-03-21T21:30:01","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T01:30:01","slug":"south-carolina-law-enforcement-to-investigate-stephen-smiths-death-as-homicide-attorney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/south-carolina-law-enforcement-to-investigate-stephen-smiths-death-as-homicide-attorney-59827","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina law enforcement to investigate Stephen Smith’s death as homicide: attorney"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

An attorney for Sandy Smith, the mother of Stephen Smith whose death was originally ruled a hit-and-run, said Tuesday that the head of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division<\/a> (SLED) does not believe the 19-year-old was killed by vehicular accident but instead died by intentional homicide.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s car broke down just miles from the Murdaugh family\u2019s South Carolina hunting estate, and he was a classmate of Buster Murdaugh.<\/p>\n

South Carolina State Highway Patrol<\/a> said the 19-year-old died by a hit-and-run, but Sandy Smith said her son would have “walked through the woods” on his way home if his car was not working instead of walking along the side of the road. She also said her son would not have left his wallet in the broken-down vehicle, as investigators determined in 2015.<\/p>\n

MURDAUGH FALLOUT: LAWYERS FOR STEPHEN SMITH’S FAMILY \u2018DONT ACCEPT\u2019 ORIGINAL CAUSE OF DEATH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Sandy Smith was not the only skeptic.<\/p>\n

Eric Bland, an attorney from Bland Richter Law Firm who represents Sandy Smith announced on Tuesday that he spoke with SLED chief Mark Keel and learned the boy\u2019s death is now considered a homicide<\/a>, eight years later.<\/p>\n

Bland unveiled the revelation to hosts of the Murdaugh Murders Podcast, saying Keel told him he did not have to exhume Smith\u2019s body to prove to SLED that Smith died by homicide and not by a vehicular accident.<\/p>\n

ALEX MURDAUGH FALLOUT: DEATH OF BUSTER MURDAUGH’S HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE BACK IN SPOTLIGHT AFTER VERDICT<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“He said, \u2018if you want to go out in public and say SLED supports you, that Stephen Smith died by homicide, that he was killed somewhere else<\/a>, or died in a way that was intentional and not just hit by a car, you have our permission to do so,\u2019” Bland said, adding that the chief said if they decide to go forward with exhuming the body, SLED wants to partner up and be part of the process to find out what happened to Stephen.<\/p>\n

Bland doubled down on the statements in a press release on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“We have a chance to right eight years of wrongs, and we intend to do just that,” he said.<\/p>\n

SLED did not immediately respond to inquiries about Bland\u2019s statements on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

ALEX MURDAUGH: TIMELINE OF ONCE-POWERFUL SOUTH CAROLINA LAWYER’S SPECTACULAR DOWNFALL<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The ruling that Smith\u2019s death was caused by hit-and-run \u2013 still a form of homicide \u2013 has been controversial.<\/p>\n

In fact, former South Carolina State Trooper Todd Proctor, who led the preliminary investigation into Smith\u2019s death, told Fox News that there was no evidence pointing toward the death being a hit-and-run, or even involving a vehicle.<\/p>\n

“It looked like it was more staged,” he said in 2021. “Like possibly the body had been placed in the roadway.”<\/p>\n

There were no tire marks on the road or broken car parts at the scene of the crime, nor did Smith show any signs that he slid across the asphalt after being hit.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Proctor responded to the news.<\/p>\n

“SLED has requested that I not speak about the case,” he said. “That news is not surprising, though. I’ve said that for years now.”<\/p>\n

Questions about the death arose after a jury found Alex Murdaugh guilty in the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul.<\/p>\n

Buster Murdaugh, in a statement shared on Monday by his family\u2019s attorney, Jim Griffin, said he “unequivocally” denies any involvement in Smith\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

“I haven\u2019t spoken up until now because I want to live in private while I cope with their deaths and my father\u2019s incarceration,” he said, adding that he has been “targeted and harassed” by members of the media and public.<\/p>\n

Ronnie Richter, partner at Bland Richter LLP, said in a Monday press conference that this was not about Buster Murdaugh.<\/p>\n

“This is about Stephen Smith,” he said. “It\u2019s about trying to get answers to questions that his mother desperately needs answers for. So, there\u2019s no reason to discuss Buster at all, and there\u2019s no comment to make back to Buster at all. We\u2019re going to find out, God willing or willing, what was Stephen Smith\u2019s true cause of death?”<\/p>\n

Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/south-carolina-law-enforcement-investigate-stephen-smiths-death-as-homicide <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An attorney for Sandy Smith, the mother of Stephen Smith whose death was originally ruled a hit-and-run, said Tuesday that the head of the South […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-59827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Carolina law enforcement to investigate Stephen Smith's death as homicide: attorney - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/south-carolina-law-enforcement-to-investigate-stephen-smiths-death-as-homicide-attorney-59827\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Carolina law enforcement to investigate Stephen Smith's death as homicide: attorney - 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