Todd Proctor, S.C. Highway Patrol's lead investigator in the 2015 Stephen Smith case, tells multiple news outlets that he still doesn't believe Smith died as a result of a hit-and-run. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. is not perfect, but the information is straight from the 100+ page case file. Murdaugh Murders: Family Releases Statement On $100,000 Reward, Latest Chapter Of Kathryn Dennis-Thomas Ravenel Custody Battle Features Change In Legal Lineup, #SC2018: Lindsey Graham Endorses Henry McMaster, Mark Powells Palmetto Past & Present: Lost Confederate Gold, Ron Paul: The Anti-War Movement Roars Back To Life, LIVE FEED Murdaugh Murders Trial: Day Twenty-Six, Washington points to wound on Smiths head and calls it a gunshot wound, showing Moore the entry point., Moore asked Greene if they were sure it was a homicide and their response was yes., Moore advises MAIT theyre no longer needed. The three-part series chronicles the string of deaths that the family is connected to, including a teenager named Mallory Beach who tragically died in a boating accident. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Myth? "When they told me hit and run I said that's impossible because Stephen wouldn't have been walking in the road to start with. in. His death was first. Paul had pleaded not guilty to the charges and was not incarcerated. SCHP: Allen tells Duncan and SCHP that they are not needed at the autopsy, according to SLED and HCSO. According to the autopsy, Greene was responsible for evidence transfer in the case. At first, when police arrived, they suspected his death was a result of a hit-and-run. Its also unclear if the MAIT team ever examined Stephens phone, which was tossed between agencies before it was finally unlocked by the FBI several years after his death. His head was misshapen by blunt force. What I ended up finding [was] there were a lot of people who didnt want to assist or communicate with us, he said. Like the probe of the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, the 2015 investigation into Smiths death was chaotic from the beginning clouded by jurisdictional confusion and suspicions of investigative interference. Well keep you updated if and when we hear anything. As if all of the foregoing wasn't wild enough, apparently, information gathered from the Murdaugh double murder investigation has prompted law enforcement to reopen a case regarding the 2015 death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith. Multi-Action Disciplinary Team case notes obtained by Inside Edition Digital through a Freedom of Information Act request offer insight from the night Stephen Smith was killed. He said Stephen was harassed by Rednecks in a big truck with big mud tires.. Alex's. An official autopsy had ruled the death as a possible hit-and-run, yet some authorities refuted that report after making their own observations at the scene. "[Stephen's mother] has said it was from a broken heart," Susanne Andrews, the founder of #StandingforStephen, a group that raised funds for the headstone, tells PEOPLE. 4:30 a.m. Tuesday: Sandy Smith, mother of Stephen Smith, who was found dead on a rural Hampton County road in 2015, is feeling vindicated, finally, for her instincts. Whoever they are, she tells Duncan. A mother knows her child, and my son would not do that," Sandy said. Duncan didnt ask any follow-up questions and never mentioned this rumor in his notes. "He wouldve called somebody.. Officials couldnt nail down a cause or manner of death. 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The investigation was opened "based upon information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh," a SLED spokesperson said. To be fair, police appeared to be pursuing other persons of interest as well and never named anyone as a suspect. The driver reportedly told police he first thought Smithwas an animal, but took a second glance and noticed "a white male lying in the middle of the road.". Then he was beat up, so the story just kept changing over and over," said Sandra Smith, Stephen's mother, this week. July 22, 2015, SCHP: Proctor visits Presnell at MUSC to get some sort of clarification on the Smith case. Smith, 19, of Hampton, was found dead in the middle of a rural road in Hampton County in 2015, three miles from where his car had run out of gas, investigators said, WIS, The Augusta Chronicle,. Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team, told Fox News in an exclusivetelevisioninterview, Maggie Murdaugh's Cellphone Was Found Near Roadside Away From Crime Scene, Sources Reportedly Say, SLED Will Investigate Stephen Smith 2015 Death, Citing Emerging Details in Paul and Maggie Murdaugh Killings, New Redacted Report on Murdaugh Homicide Case Released. Mallory and Paul were part of a group of six teenagers who went out on the boat in 2019. Moore calls Croft to ask which agents were at the scene that morning. He tells them to meet him at the funeral home. In the aftermath of her sons death, Sandy said shes learned that there are two different justice systems in the Palmetto State one for people like the Murdaughs and another for everyone else. How injury occurred: Subject was apparently hit by a motor vehicle possibly a truck. They found engine oil in the vehicle but could not get the car to start. The boating incident also revived questions about the 2015 hit-and-run death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, who was found dead on a rural road about 10 miles from the Murdaugh family's home . As I was leaving she stated that the report was preliminary and it was my job to figure out what struck him, not hers, Proctor wrote. We have got to keep the light on his story and to keep the fire underneath other people's behinds to get it solved. In the letter, she said that they were told that the Murdaugh brothers were involved in her sons death. They search the area for cartridge cases. Proctor wrote that Presnell spoke in a negative tone and basically called (him) a liar when he said that hed already spoken to Hampton County CoronerErnie Washington. His death was ruled a hit-and-run, but his mother Sandy Smith, who attended Sunday's unveiling, has long suspected he was murdered. I think its a situation when you grow up and your family is kinda high-profile and you get away withsome things because of your family name, Proctor said in 2015. 11:03 a.m. SCHP: Duncan travels to Hampton County and interviews a member of the Smith family at the DMV office (a substation for SCHP). The former S.C. Highway Patrol trooper had recently told several media outlets that Stephen Smith's 2015 death was likely a murder staged to look like a hit-and-run. SCHP: Moore calls Presnell to try and understand what made her decide Stephen was killed in a hit and run. Shortly after 1 p.m. SCHP: Duncan calls Stephen Smiths mother Sandy Smith. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman Tommy Crosby said earlier this week that SLED was opening its own investigation into Smiths death not a reopening of another agencys probe but rather bringing a fresh set of eyes onto the case. Six years later, Stephens case is still unsolved. State police reopen hit-and-run death investigation from details gathered in Murdaugh case. He also said SLED has not contacted Proctor to assist in their investigationat the time of the interview. She said there appeared to be missing evidence in the case such as the DNA under Stephens fingernails, the clothes he was wearing, and the rape kit. Stephens life mattered, too.. Investigators bid to solve last weeks double homicide draws fresh scrutiny on 2015 cold case . It has been apparent from the first week of the investigation that authorities are covering up critical evidence and we no longer know who to trust, Smith wrote. In August 2015, the coroner told Proctor that he did not agree with the final autopsy results in the Stephen Smith case. Investigation files revealed (part one). Moore then Walked the scene and saw no evidence of any car parts or pieces and then had all units clear the scene.. That would be Stephen Smith, a gay teenager who was found dead in the street inHampton County. He was an openly gay young man in the small town of Hampton, South Carolina, which wasnt easy, but he made the best of it, his friends told FITSNews. Sandy Smith was told that if she wanted her sons case to be looked at by SLED, she would have to write a letter. Crime scene photos obtained by FITSNews are horrific Stephens entire face was covered in blood that cascaded from a 7.25-inch gaping hole on the right side of his forehead. Murdaugh's. It looked like it was more staged like possibly the body had been placed in the roadway.". Sunday's vigil was held just days after news broke that disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was indicted by a grand jury on murder charges in connection with the June 2021 deaths of his wife Maggie, 52, and 22-year-old son Paul. It began June 7, when the pretty, college-sweetheart wife and son of Alex Murdaugh, a prominent and powerful lawyer who knows everyone in town, were brutally gunned down at their hunting lodge in . Stephen's mother and his twin sister speak out to Melvin . Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. SCHP: Moore calls Mitch Altman and tells him to go to the scene and see if he can find any debris. Ive been waiting on this day for 2,174 days, she said. Even Dr. Erin Presnell, a pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), didnt give much information to police about what led her to decide a motor vehicle killed Stephen. One theory posits that Stephen ran out of gas and decided to walk home when he was clipped by a semi truck, but Stephen's mother Sandy Smith discounted that hypothesis in the 20/20 documentary. SLED is continuing to cast a wide net as it looks to exclude individuals in connection with the double homicidethat took place at the Murdaughs 1,700-acre hunting property located near Islandton, S.C. on the evening of June 7, 2021. After his autopsy, however, Smith's death was ruled a hit-and-run. Smith died on a rural road in Hampton County, in 2015 that was ruled a hit-and-run.. Smith's mother, Sandy, told the the Hampton County Guardian, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2015 that she believed her son's death was the result of foul play and a possible hate crime because her son was gay. They just throw their cases on a shelf to collect dust.. The family has now offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Law enforcement officers believed Smith ran out of gas and started walking home before he was killed. 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