BUSTER MURDAUGH STEVEN SMITH TRIAL

Alex Murdaugh’s attorney Dick Harpootlian says people sending him hate mail ‘don’t understand justice system’.

It likely sentenced him to 700 extra years Alex Murdaugh made a desperate confession to avoid a murder conviction.

BUSTER MURDAUGH STEVEN SMITH TRIAL

Alex Murdaugh trial – live: Killer’s attorney reveals hate mail over case as ‘egg juror’ asks to be left alone.While responding officers originally thought Smith's death was from a gunshot wound, prior to ruling it a vehicular homicide, a gunshot residue test taken at the crime scene revealed no GSR. 'The rape kit changed hands several times, and I don't know where it's at now,' said Bland. Media outlets over the years have also reported that evidence such as Smith's clothing has also disappeared or been misplaced in the chain of custody transfers from county to state police agencies. Pain, lessons linger: Where does Hampton County, SC go after Alex Murdaugh verdict?Ī 'rape kit' was taken at the scene in 2015 but, according to Bland, it was never processed and now appears to be unaccounted for. 'This was not random, this was not drug or gang-related, the only thing that sets Stephen Smith apart from other 19-year-olds is that he was openly gay in an area of the state where it's not easy to do that in 2015,' commented Bland.īuster Murdaugh speaks: Says 'vicious rumors' about involvement in Stephen Smith's death Despite widespread rumors at the time, there is no physical evidence connecting Smith's death to the Murdaugh family of Hampton County, Bland added. Investigators still consider this murder a 'hate crime' based on Smith's openly gay sexuality, and not a random act of violence. 'Once we get a proper Certificate of Death, then I think Stephen can rest in peace,' Bland said, adding that the Smith's private investigative team is 'within a week, week and a half' of exhuming Smith's body from its current resting place at Gooding Cemetery in Hampton County. 'We plan on putting a fresh set of eyes on this case as if we were just walking up to the crime scene for the first time.'

'I think the case will be solved by phone evidence or computer evidence, both before and after the killing,' said Bland. With the case being eight years old, and passed from one law enforcement agency to another in what the Smith family has criticized as a half-hearted and misguided investigation, technological evidence may be more valuable that any forensic evidence that might still exist.Īttorneys and investigators hope that complete forensic downloads of Smith's devices will tell them who he was talking to, who he was dating, and who he was generally associating with both prior to and during the time of his murder. Here's what you need to know: Stephen Smith, Gloria Satterfield bodies to be exhumed.Ĭrime scene guru Kenny Kinsey: He helped convict Alex Murdaugh, now eyes Stephen Smith's killer Originally ruled a vehicular hit-and-run homicide in 2015, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) reopened the case in June 2021 and on March 23 of this year, SLED confirmed to the Smith family that it was officially considering the case a murder investigation. Smith's body was found lying in the middle of Sandy Run Road in rural Hampton County in the early morning hours of July 8, 2015, with fatal blunt force trauma to the head and other, secondary injuries.

Buster murdaugh steven smith