Officials originally suspected foul play in the death of South Carolina teen Stephen Smith — and had heard “rumors” about the student’s link to Buster Murdaugh within weeks of the mysterious hit-an-run, files from the initial investigation reveal.
The extensive reports, released this week by FitsNews, include details from officers who responded to the grisly scene in the early hours of July 8, 2015.
A suspicious death
Smith, 19, was found face-down in the middle of Sandy Run Road in Hampton County, SC, with “some sort of blunt force trauma to the head,” South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) Officer D.B. Rowell’s summary of the scene reads.
“We see no evidence to suggest the victim was struck by a vehicle,” the note continues.
The nursing student was spotted around 4 a.m. by Ronnie Capers, Jr. who drove by the body on his way to work and called 911.
He was found with his iPhone and car keys in his pocket and his car was later found a couple of miles from the scene, parked off the roadway with the gas tank door open and the gas cap hanging down.
Several write-ups from other responding officers, including one from a South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) investigator identified as “Booker,” note that Smith’s death “appeared to be a homicide.”
Multiple early reports also state that Smith had what appeared to be a gunshot wound above his right brow, and a defensive wound to one of his hands.
A conflicting autopsy
The nature of Smith’s death, however, was changed later that day following an autopsy by pathologist Dr. Erin Presnell, who ruled that the teen was killed by a vehicle hit-and-run.
Sgt. Moore reportedly had a “heated” conversation with Presnell about her findings. When pressed further by SCHP investigator Proctor, she said she determined the cause of death because there was no gunshot wound, and Smith “‘was in the road.’”
“As I was leaving she stated that the report was preliminary and it was my job to figure out what it was struck him not hers,” Proctor recalled of the tense meeting.
In mid-August, over one month after Smith’s death, Hampton County Coroner Ernie Washington told Proctor that he did not agree with Presnell’s conclusion and that she had allegedly been let go from his office.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Moore’s own report on Smith’s death noted that there were no glass fragments or other evidence of a motor vehicle at the scene or on Smith’s body.
Bizarre behavior
The trove of documents from the weeks following Smith’s death also show that his family – including his parents, Joel and Sandy Smith – doubted the official conclusion that their son was struck down while walking in the middle of the road.
A handwritten report by Corporal M.E. Duncan dated July 9 states that the family said Smith was “skittish” and would “never have been walking in the middle of the roadway.”
Smith’s twin sister, Stephanie, told Duncan on July 17 that her brother became “very secretive” in the two weeks before he died.
Sandy Smith corroborated this assessment, saying she became concerned when her son stopped studying and started missing school.
Police also interviewed Marc Bickhardt, an older man who claimed that he and Smith were in a relationship.
According to a few officers’ notes, Bickhardt insisted Smith’s death was the result of foul play — but often confused his own timelines.
Later in July, he reported anonymous phone calls that promised “he would die like his boyfriend,” and accused Sandy Smith of harassing him in person.
Bickhardt also posted a rambling Facebook update apparently aimed at Smith’s family, blaming them for his death.
The Murdaugh connection
Within a month of Smith’s death, investigators received multiple tips that suggested Buster Murdaugh may have been involved in the incident.
Buster, now 26, is the only surviving son of Low Country legal scion Alex Murdaugh, who was sentenced to two consecutive life terms earlier this month for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul.
Buster and Smith were high school classmates, and Smith’s body was notably found not far from the 1,700-acre Moselle estate where Alex Murdaugh later gunned down his loved ones.
On August 7, 2015, Corporal Duncan notes that a source named Angela Carol reported that a “boy named Brendan [Strother]” asked if Smith and Buster had been in a relationship.
But when Duncan followed up with Brendan a few days later, he clarified the comments were “just rumors.”
In mid-December, Duncan recorded an anonymous tip email that alleged “‘Dontero Aiken along with another black male and a white male (Murdaugh) are the ones involved in [Smith’s] death.”
Just days later, Duncan reportedly received a call from a man named Darrell Williams, who said that his stepson, Patrick Wilson, told him that someone named Shawn Conley struck and killed Smith.
Williams, who did not return the officers’ follow-up calls, said he reached out because “[Alex Murdaugh’s brother] Randy Murdaugh told him to call.”
In another bizarre twist, Smith’s family recently claimed that Randy Murdaugh also reached out to them after his death, and offered to investigate the incident pro bono before allegedly ditching the case.
Unanswered questions
The release of the early files on Stephen Smith’s death are part of an avalanche of information that has come to light since the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) reopened the investigation in June 2021 — based on information gleaned during the probe into Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s shooting deaths.
Late last week, Sandy Smith announced that a GoFundMe for the family had far surpassed its goal, and would enable her son’s body to be exhumed for a second, independent autopsy.
Just days later, SLED announced Smith’s death had officially been relisted as a homicide.
While Smith’s death has been largely overshadowed by the Murdaugh family saga, Sandy Smith recently told The Post that she hopes Alex Murdaugh’s conviction will help shed light on her son’s demise.
“[The jury] seen through the lies and a Murdaugh is finally brought down,” she said.
“Now that this case is back over, they can get on Stephen’s case full-time.”
In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper this week, the grieving mother reiterated that she feels some “peace” knowing that she may finally learn the truth.
“The only dispute I had was that it was not a hit-and-run. And that’s what I have been saying from the beginning. And I felt my son was murdered, he was beaten to death, and I think it was a hate crime [because Stephen was openly gay],” she told the veteran journalist.
Meanwhile, Buster Murdaugh issued his own statement on Monday denying the “vicious rumors” linking him to his former classmate’s death.
“These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false,” he said.
“I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family,” he added.