Smith family attorney Eric Bland discusses new evidence found that caused Stephen Smith's death to be ruled a homicide.The Murdaugh family headlines keep coming. The most recent relates to the announcement by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division that it is reclassifying as a homicide the 2015 death of high school student Stephen Smith, whose body was found on a remote country road not far from the Murdaugh family estate.
And then there is the 2015 death of Stephen Smith. After his car broke down, Smith was found deceased in the middle of the night on a road roughly 15 miles from the Murdaugh's rural home. Smith had suffered a blunt-force trauma wound to his right forehead. Due to the body’s condition – in the road’s center, shoes still on, a single localized wound visible – responding officers assessed the death a gunshot homicide.
Which is where it appears to have gone cold. While much is not public – South Carolina law heavily shields official documents – what has been released shows the last investigatory activity to have been in 2016. that caused them to announce that it was opening on the Smith case. And as of last week, not as a hit-and-run, but as a homicide.
Officers at the scene would have taken photos, filed reports, and recorded impressions in emails. The reason some officers were skeptical of the hit-and-run theory is that there were no skid marks or debris typical of a pedestrian auto collision. Smith’s loosely tied shoes were also still on his feet – atypical for a fatal vehicle impact. Furthermore, the body’s position in the road’s center seems unlikely for a pedestrian hit while walking along a roadside.
God what a damned mess. What was Murduagh brother doing offering assistance to Mom Smith?