Investigation Opened into Death of Stephen Smith in Murdaugh Country

On June 22, 2021, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) announced the opening of an investigation into the death of Stephen Smith. This development came two weeks after Alex Murdaugh, a member of the Murdaugh legal dynasty, discovered the bodies of his son Paul and wife Maggie who had been fatally shot at the dog kennels of their family's expansive Moselle property.

Sandy Smith, Stephen Smith's mother, had been tirelessly fighting to prevent her son's case from fading into obscurity. She had even written letters to high-level politicians and the FBI. The news of the investigation into Stephen Smith's death brought her immense joy and relief.

"That was the happiest day of my life," Sandy Smith shares in an exclusive interview with "48 Hours" contributor and CBS News correspondent Nikki Battiste. The full story, titled "Stephen Smith: A Death in Murdaugh Country," will be featured on an all-new episode of "48 Hours" airing on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 10/9c on CBS and available for streaming on Paramount+.

Investigation into Stephen Smith's Death Takes New Turn

For nearly a decade, Sandy Smith has refused to let her son's case grow cold. In the early morning hours of July 8, 2015, Stephen Smith's body was discovered on a rural road in South Carolina's Lowcountry. This is where three generations of the Murdaugh family had occupied the top solicitor's office and enjoyed a century of power and influence, particularly among local law enforcement. Stephen's death was quickly ruled a hit-and-run by the medical examiner, a conclusion that neither Sandy Smith nor the investigators with the South Carolina Highway Patrol believed at the time.

"I wanted a second opinion," Sandy Smith tells Battiste.

With a new high-profile legal team now in her corner, she's finally getting it. A few days after Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter announced they were representing Smith pro bono, SLED chief Mark Keel publicly acknowledged SLED was treating Stephen Smith's death as a homicide. And thanks to more than $130,000 in GoFundMe donations from Sandy Smith's supporters, Bland and Richter were able to arrange an exhumation of Stephen Smith's body in order to conduct an independent autopsy.

When Battiste asks Sandy Smith, "What do you think it took for Stephen's case to finally get the attention it deserves, that you wanted?" Smith doesn't mince words. "Somebody else had to die," she says, referring to Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.

Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of the double murders of his wife and son after a sensational six-week trial watched around the world. Bland and Richter, who were already representing several of Murdaugh's victims of alleged multimillion-dollar financial scams, offered to represent Sandy Smith pro bono. "This is a woman that has fought this battle alone since 2015 … screaming as loud as she could … with not a lot of people listening," says Bland.

Following the death of Stephen Smith, rumors of Murdaugh involvement quickly spread throughout the Lowcountry. Michael DeWitt Jr., editor of the Hampton County Guardian and author of "The Fall of the House of Murdaugh," heard these rumors from various sources. According to DeWitt, the rumors suggested that one of the Murdaugh children was in a vehicle with other boys and that someone in the vehicle struck Smith with a baseball bat, resulting in his death. Similar accounts were given to Highway Patrol investigators during recorded interviews. The name Murdaugh, particularly Buster Murdaugh, appears frequently in the original case file obtained by "48 Hours" through public records requests.

Buster Murdaugh, the oldest son of Alex Murdaugh, had not spoken to Highway Patrol investigators or publicly addressed the allegations until two weeks after his father's conviction. In a statement released by his father's attorney, Jim Griffin, Buster Murdaugh denied the rumors, describing them as "baseless." He stated, "I unequivocally deny any involvement [in Stephen Smith's] death." Buster Murdaugh reiterated this denial during a televised interview on Fox Nation several months later. Additionally, he provided an alibi for the time of Smith's death, stating that he was with his mother and brother at their beach house.

"We are aware of no evidence today that would suggest that any Murdaugh played any role in Stephen Smith's death or played any role in trying to cover up the investigation into his death," says Richter.

Despite this, the Murdaughs and the case of Stephen Smith remain connected through the findings of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Richter, speaking to "48 Hours," acknowledges that a new thread was opened up into Stephen Smith during the Murdaugh murder investigation.

While the investigation into the Murdaugh murders has been kept under wraps by SLED, speculation regarding the evidence that led them to Stephen Smith has been rampant. DeWitt suggests that the evidence must be significant enough for the state's highest police organization to initiate its own investigation.

Considering the importance of cellphone evidence in Alex Murdaugh's trial, Bland and Richter believe that evidence from Stephen's tablet or phone, which was discovered in his front pocket, could also play a crucial role in this case. However, Sandy Smith claims that she had already requested the FBI to unlock Stephen's phone back in 2016.

Battiste inquires, "Do you know if anyone was able to read Stephen's text messages or determine his whereabouts based on cellphone evidence?"

Sandy Smith responds, "According to the FBI agent, there was a lot of interesting information on the phone that needed to be examined." However, she states that neither local nor state authorities pursued the matter further, and Stephen's case eventually went cold. "There's something on that phone that nobody wants to be revealed," she confides in Battiste.