Murder trial gives cold case inquiry a boost

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A mother whose son was found dead in the middle of a South Carolina road eight years ago is opening a private investigation into his death after raising almost $90,000 amid the publicity surrounding the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh.

There is no current evidence linking Stephen Smith’s death to the Murdaugh family, the lawyers for the mother say. State investigators, who are also looking into Smith’s death, have remained tight-lipped about taking over the case around the same time police said Murdaugh killed his wife and son. He is serving a life sentence for those killings.

But the lack of evidence hasn’t stopped speculation. And that attention in turn helped Sandy Smith raise in less than two weeks more than $87,000 through Go Fund Me. Her goal was $15,000 — enough to pay to exhume her son’s body and have a private autopsy.

“It’s important to me because I love my son and since I couldn’t protect him, I’m going to fight for him,” Sandy Smith told reporters Monday.

Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of a two-lane Hampton County road on July 8, 2015. His car with the gas cap removed and his wallet still inside was found a short distance away.

Smith’s family thinks his injuries, including head injuries and a dislocated arm bent behind him, indicate he was beaten to death and dropped on the highway.

State agents took over the case in 2021, though they have never said why they decided to do that or whether it is linked to information found during the investigation into the death of Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son.

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel reached out to Smith’s new lawyers to ask if they will share any new information they find through the autopsy or any other investigation, agency spokesperson Renée Wunderlich said.

“We do believe it was a murder,” Keel told the State newspaper on Tuesday night. “We don’t believe it was a hit-and-run.”

Smith and Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, went to the same high school, leading to rumors that the Murdaugh family was involved in his death.

The talk has gotten so loud, Buster Murdaugh issued a statement Monday, saying he could no longer ignore the “vicious rumors.”

“I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family,” he wrote.