Topline
Buster Murdaugh, son of convicted double-murderer and ex-South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, “unequivocally” denied any involvement in the death of his purported former classmate Stephen Smith Monday after months of unsubstantiated speculation that he was involved in Smith’s 2015 death.
Buster Murdaugh, the son of Alex Murdaugh, listens as Alex Murdaugh’s verdict is read at the … [+]
Key Facts
In a statement released by his lawyers Monday, Murdaugh, 26, denied any involvement in the death of Smith and said the “baseless rumors” arguing otherwise are false.
Smith was found dead in the middle of the road in Hampton County, South Carolina, in 2015, 15 miles from Murdaugh and a few miles from where Smith’s car purportedly ran out of gas.
Murdaugh said he tried to ignore the “vicious rumors” about his involvement in Smith’s “tragic death,” but couldn’t given the extensive media coverage of the case.
Murdaugh also asked the media to stop publishing “defamatory comments and rumors” about him as he grieves the deaths of his mother and brother and the incarceration of his father.
Sandy Smith, Smith’s mother, told NBC News Friday she will exhume Smith’s body to conduct an independent medical examination, as she does not believe her son was killed in a hit-and-run.
Crucial Quote
“As we sit here today, Buster is a victim,” Eric Bland, a lawyer representing Smith’s mom, told the New York Times. “He lost a mother, brother, now his father’s in jail… we have no knowledge at all of Buster or the Murdaughs having anything to do with this right now.”
Tangent
Buster Murdaugh’s father, Alex Murdaugh, was convicted of murdering his wife and son earlier this month in a South Carolina court. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Key Background
In July 2015, police said Smith, a 19-year old nursing student who reportedly attended the same high school as Murdaugh, was struck by a vehicle while waiting outside his car after it had run out of gas, according to reporting by WCBD in Charleston, South Carolina. After his death, multiple people involved with the investigation made contradictory remarks about how Smith was killed. A pathologist cited in a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) report said Smith suffered blunt force trauma to the head and appeared to have been hit by a vehicle, CNN reported. But a responding officer from South Carolina’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team said there was “no vehicle debris, skid marks, or injuries consistent with someone being struck by a vehicle,” CNN reported. A few weeks after Murdaugh’s father killed his mother and brother in 2021, SLED announced it was reopening the investigation into Smith’s death due to information obtained during the Murdaugh investigation, the Augusta Chronicle reported. SLED has not released any evidence linking Buster Murdaugh to Smith’s death. This is part of the Murdaugh family story online followers and the media have clung to since the Murdaugh double-murder case garnered national attention. Last week, through a GoFundMe page, Smith’s mom raised more than $60,000 to exhume his body and get clarity on his cause of death, saying: “We need a new, unbiased look at his body and an accurate determination of cause of death based on facts.”
Further Reading
How Alex Murdaugh Opened The Door For Convictions On Financial And Tax Crime Charges (Forbes)
Alex Murdaugh Found Guilty Of Murdering Wife And Son (Forbes)
Murdaugh Gets Consecutive Life Sentences For Murdering Wife And Son (Forbes)
Alex Murdaugh Was Found Guilty Of Murdering His Wife And Son—Here’s What Legal Experts Say Led To His Conviction (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/03/20/buster-murdaugh-denies-involvement-stephen-smiths-2015-killing–heres-what-to-know-about-the-case/