According to his family, the body of a young South Carolina man who died mysteriously just a few miles from the infamous Murdaugh family’s home will be exhumed.
After his death on July 8, 2015, received renewed attention during Alex Murdaugh’s trial, Stephen Smith’s family announced Thursday that they will exhume his body for an independent autopsy.
After his death on July 8, 2015, received renewed attention during Alex Murdaugh’s trial, Stephen Smith’s family announced that they will exhume his body for an independent autopsy, according to WYFF.
Smith, 19, was found dead on Sandy Run Road outside Hampton County, not far from the Moselle estate where Alex Murdaugh shot his wife and son six years later.
His death was ruled a hit-and-run at the time, but authorities reopened the investigation into Smith’s death in June 2021 based on information uncovered during the investigation into Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, and son Paul’s shooting deaths earlier that month.
Authorities have never publicly stated whether there was a connection between Smith’s death and the Murdaugh family, but some witnesses have speculated about possible foul play involving Smith’s classmate, Buster Murdaugh, the elder Murdaugh son.
Sandy Smith, Smith’s mother, announced plans to proceed with the exhumation and independent autopsy on a GoFundMe page on Thursday, with a goal of raising $15,000 to do so. It had earned more than $40,000 as of Friday morning.
“Our family is so very grateful to all of you who came together to help us in our fight for justice for Stephen. I could not have imagined when we began this fundraiser that it would take off the way that it did. Thank you for not allowing Stephen’s story to be swept under a rug,” Sandy Smith wrote in the update on the page.
Sandy said she was relieved to see Murdaugh behind bars after he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for killing Maggie and Paul earlier this month.
“That jury done excellent. They seen through the lies and a Murdaugh is finally brought down,” she told The Post.
“Now that this case is back over, they can get on Stephen’s case full-time.”
