STAR TRIAL WITNESS IN ALEX MURDAUGH DOUBLE MURDER CASE NOW PROBING BIZARRE DEATH OF BUSTER MURDAUGH'S FORMER CLASSMATE STEPHEN SMITH

Summary

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: STAR TRIAL WITNESS IN ALEX MURDAUGH DOUBLE MURDER CASE NOW PROBING BIZARRE DEATH OF BUSTER MURDAUGH'S FORMER CLASSMATE STEPHEN SMITH
Release Date: March 21, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on renewed investigation into the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, a former classmate of Buster Murdaugh, and the possible missed opportunities in the original probe. Host Nancy Grace is joined by forensic investigator Dr. Kenny Kinsey (noted star witness in the Murdaugh double murder trial) and Dale Carson, ex-FBI agent and legal analyst, to discuss new revelations, theories, and the intriguing connections – both rumored and real – to the prominent Murdaugh family. The episode grapples with speculation, forensic details, and the persistent question: Was Stephen Smith’s death truly a hit-and-run, or something much more sinister?

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction – The Kinsey Connection and Smith’s Case

• Nancy Grace highlights that Kenny Kinsey, star prosecution witness in the Murdaugh murders trial, is privately probing Stephen Smith’s unsolved death ([02:35]).
  • Quote: “After reviewing the evidence, [Kinsey] believes many, many chances to solve Stephen Smith’s case were missed early on.” ([02:35])
• Stephen Smith was a “teen nursing student, former classmate of Buster Murdaugh,” found dead in 2015 on a rural road near Moselle, the Murdaughs’ hunting lodge ([02:35]-[04:01]).

The Scene of the Crime & Early Theories

• Initial findings:
  • Smith’s body was found on Sandy Run Road at 3AM by a stranger ([04:50]).
  • Authorities originally ruled it as a hit-and-run – 7 1/2 inch skull fracture; no skid marks, drag marks, or car debris found ([04:50]).
  • Smith was openly gay, raising hate crime concerns ([04:50]).
• Nancy Grace: “Buster Murdaugh is in no way implicated in Stephen Smith’s death.” ([04:01])

New Suspects & Forensic Questions

• Podcast Host (Nancy Grace or co-host) reveals two persons of interest (POIs), teenagers at the time and living near Moselle ([04:50]).
  • They allegedly “were out late at night and hit Stephen Smith, then tried to cover it up” ([04:50]).
• Dale Carson elaborates on forensic expectations:
  • Looking for specific injuries: “spiral fractures below the knee,” evidence of “dirt dump” (clumps dislodged from a car’s wheel well upon impact, often at the strike point) ([07:04], [08:16]).
  • No such physical or vehicular evidence found at scene ([08:28]).
  • Carson notes, “If you don’t find clumps of dirt and debris at the strike point… that’s telling.” ([08:28])
• Question arises: Could physical evidence suggest murder by something other than a car, e.g., a bat? ([16:14])

The Night of Stephen’s Death – New Evidence Emerges

• Smith’s boyfriend says he last spoke by phone with Stephen at 3:37am, just half an hour before the body was found ([10:18]).
  • Smith allegedly feared he was being followed.
  • Boyfriend later reports hearing “big mud tires” in the background ([24:22]).
• Carson: In rural South Carolina, people can distinguish truck tires or muffler sounds—suggesting witness reliability ([25:38]).
  • Quote: “Absolutely. In the rural south… you can certainly hear from the tires and it makes a tremendous racket.” ([25:38])

Revisiting the “Hit & Run” vs. Blunt Force Trauma

• Carson introduces speculation about “mailbox baseball”—teens swinging bats from trucks at road signs/mailboxes.
  • Could Smith have been assaulted in a similar way? ([15:18]–[16:14])
• Counterpoint: Pathologist’s 2nd autopsy finds the fatal injury “consistent with being struck by an object attached to a vehicle traveling at high speed…like one of those wide side mirrors” ([35:46]).
  • Dr. Michelle Dupree (pathology expert): “[Smith’s] injury…is consistent with being struck by an object attached to a vehicle... Something like one of those wide side mirrors, say on the side of a truck.” ([35:46])
  • But no physical evidence of glass or debris at scene raises doubts ([27:33]).

Unresolved Murdaugh Connections & Possible Cover-Up

• One suspect (POI #2, alleged driver) may have patched a broken side mirror shortly after the incident ([20:19]).
• Rumors (unverified): Randy Murdaugh encouraged reporting of the driver’s guilt, but motivations are questioned ([20:19], [28:35]).
  • Nancy Grace speculates whether the Murdaughs were inserting themselves to influence the narrative ([28:35]).
• Dale Carson: Suggests patterns of “contrivance” and potential cover-up among powerful local families ([27:44]).
  • Quote: “That the entire process is contrived by a family in charge…And when you contrive something, you’ve got to make a reason for it.” ([27:44])

The Challenge of Justice & Lingering Questions

• Nancy Grace underscores the ongoing mystery: Despite much speculation, “I personally never saw evidence connecting Stephen Smith’s death to anybody in the Murdaugh family.” ([35:46])
• Authorities now offer $50,000 reward for information.
  • Quote: “A 19-year-old teen simply walking by the side of the road minding his own business. We wait as justice unfolds.” ([35:46])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Kenny Kinsey: "Memories fade. People leave this earth. Those were missed opportunities. You don’t ever get that back." ([19:34])
• Dale Carson:
  • “You ride down the road in your truck with a baseball bat…Typically, the passenger strikes the mailbox to great amazement. The thing gets destroyed.” ([15:18])
  • “If a mirror strikes an individual...one of those mirrors is going to leave glass at the strike point. And we didn’t find any glass.” ([27:33])
• Nancy Grace:
  • “There’s a difference between a high-speed fracture and a low-speed fracture. You can tell whether the back of a mirror hit his forehead or whether it was something else.” ([34:41])
  • “I personally never saw evidence connecting Stephen Smith’s death to anybody in the Murdaugh family.” ([35:46])

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Important Timestamps

• [02:35] – Introduction to Kinsey’s involvement and case background
• [04:50] – Forensic analysis and breakdown of the accident scene
• [07:04] – Dale Carson details injury expectations in vehicular hits
• [10:18] – Smith’s boyfriend provides timeline and states Smith feared he was being followed
• [15:18] – Dale Carson introduces mailbox baseball analogy for blunt force trauma
• [20:19] – New POIs, alleged cover-up, and possible (rumored) Murdaugh connection
• [25:38] – Discussion of rural sound recognition and witness reliability
• [27:33] – Forensic doubts over “hit by a mirror” theory
• [35:46] – Dr. Dupree’s forensic findings, summary of current status, Nancy’s closing thoughts

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Summary & Takeaways

• The episode explores the complexities and contradictions in the Stephen Smith death investigation: forensic confusion, rumors of a cover-up, the implications of local power dynamics, and the dangers faced by marginalized individuals.
• While initial investigation declared Smith’s death a hit-and-run, lack of physical evidence and new witness information cast significant doubts.
• Despite popular speculation, including internet rumors, there is still no direct evidence connecting the Murdaugh family to Stephen’s death. The focus is now on two former local teens.
• The newly performed autopsy and statements from pathologists seem to support the “side mirror” theory, but unanswered questions remain.
• The case represents the challenges of rural justice, social prejudice, and the need for persistent investigative pressure, embodied in witnesses like Kinsey and experts like Carson.

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For listeners and true crime followers, this episode is packed with forensic insight, local intrigue, and a vivid sense of the frustrations and dangers in seeking the truth beneath power and rumor.

Transcript

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[Nancy Grace]

A star witness in the Alex Murdock double murder trial, now probing the mysterious death of Buster Murdaugh's former classmate, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. That's right, A star witness in the Alex Murdock double murder trial is now all on their own investigating the death of a young man found in the road deceased. Stephen Smith insisting, quote, someone has a good idea who did this crime. I'm Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for, for being with us. It's Kenny Kinsey, an incredible witness on the stand. A forensic investigator, Kinsey testified for the prosecution in the double murder trial of Alex and Murdog. He said on Ann Emerson's criminally obsessed podcast that after reviewing the evidence, he believes many, many chances to solve Stephen Smith's case were missed early on. Now as you recall, Stephen Smith as a teen nursing student, former classmate of Buster Murdaugh, he was found dead in the middle of a rural highway there

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

in Hampton County, South Carolina, very near

[Nancy Grace]

the Murdaugh's hunting lodge known as Moselle. What do we know about Smith's death? Was it murder? Segment two. Buster Murdog is in no way implicated in Stephen Smith's death. Now Smith, openly gay, was walking along Sandy Run Road after his car broke down. A driver called 911 later to report Steven's body. He had a 7 1/2 inch skull fracture. Now authorities initially thought this was a hit and run. That determination now subject to challenge. What happened?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

As we all know, Stephen Smith, a young teen, openly gay in a rural area in South Carolina, body found by a a stranger, a passersby about 3 o' clock in the morning. Ish, very dark road. There is no, there are no skid marks there. We find no abrasions on his body to suggest he was hit and then dragged along the asphalt. There is no sign of plastic, glass, metal, anything from a car. This is a major, major development. And joining me right now, high profile lawyer out of Jacksonville, Dale Carson, author of Arrest Proof Yourself, former FBI agent with the Feds. Dale, thank you for being with us. This is another thing I've learned I want you to analyze. We learn that According to sources, two PoIs have been named and they are not Buster Murdoch. Now is there going to be a Murdoch connection? Maybe, but tangentially and I'll get to that, these two individuals were teens themselves at the time, lived near Moselle. The hunting lodge was not far From Moselle, about eight to 11 minutes on the road where Stephen Smith's body was found, which trigger all sorts of speculation they also lived near there. Now this is what we're learning. Dale Carson, According to sources, these two POIs teens themselves at the time were out late at night and Hit Stephen Smith, then tried to cover it up. What do you make of what we're learning right now, and how difficult is it to get an order of exhumation and then actually autopsy an already embalmed body?

[Dale Carson]

Well, of course, what we're looking for here is injuries consistent with a hit and run vehicular homicide. That's what we're looking for because that's where everything was initially focused. And you're looking for things that will be patently evident in the exhumed autopsy. You're looking for spiral fractures below the knee. You're looking for places most individuals who are walking in the roadway and are struck by a vehicle. And I've handled a number of these cases as a cop in Miami. You get fractures below the legs, in addition to that, below the knee, rather. And in addition to that, you're going to have what I call a dirt dump. Now, this is rural South Carolina, and a dirt dump is where your car strikes something. And when it does, all the material that is up in the wheel wells and on the frame dropped onto the ground. So typically, it's a strike point. You're gonna find dirt if you don't find anything else.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But what do you mean dirt on a paved road?

[Dale Carson]

Sure, sure. You're gonna find clumps of mud that have become dislodged from the wheel wells. Remember, this is the rural south, but

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

it's still on a dirt road. It's still on a paved road.

[Dale Carson]

That's all right. You're gonna find clumps at the strike point. Now, if you don't find clumps of dirt and debris at the. At the strike point where the bumper of the truck or car has hit the individual fractured below the knee. And the result is that strike impacts the car. When our truck, when it impacts it, you have massive amounts of dirt that come out of the car. If you hit the brakes real hard on your car, you're going to cause us to. When you drive down the road and you hit a bump and in the road and you see all the oil that's right there, that's from the car hitting that bump, Gravity pulling the oil that's around the engine or other parts onto the ground. So you see those spots? That's what I'm talking about.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Wait, I'm letting all this sink in. Look, I'm a J.D. i'm not an auto mechanic, but I hear what you're saying, and it makes perfect sense to me. Keep going. I want to hear every word.

[Dale Carson]

So. So you find these spiral Fractures, particularly where the individual is walking and the direction of travel. And so if he's facing a car, which typically.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Slow down. For Pete's sake, man.

[Dale Carson]

What if you're facing a car and you're, you're walking down the road, you run out of gas. Which by the way, brings up another interesting point. You run out of gas, why would you take the gas cap off your tank and look into it?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, yes, yes. Hey, I want to tell you something else I learned. I can't wait for you to hear this. So I've been doing a little bit of digging and apparently Stephen Smith, he had a one night stand before the death, but not in the hours leading

[Nancy Grace]

up to the death.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He also had a boyfriend. And the boyfriend says that he contacted Stephen Smith as late as 3:37am and that was less than a half an hour before the body is found. And he also says that Stephen Smith believed someone was following him.

[Dale Carson]

Well, I look back in the 70s in Miami when I was a cop down there, rolling individuals. Rolling as in injuring drunks and gays was the order of the day.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I mean, that's in the 70s, man.

[Dale Carson]

I know. My point is that behavior still exists today.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's really hard for me to embrace that because who cares if you're gay or not gay? It's all I can do to keep our car in the middle of the road. In other words, to keep my family, to keep the children in school, to keep up with their assignments, the scouts, the this, the work, the blah, the this. I can't worry about what somebody else is doing. I don't have the energy. I can't. It's very hard for me to take in gay hatred. But I will tell you this. I don't know if I've told you this. Del Carson, one of the first cases I worked trying to hold it on appeal, which we did, by the way, was one of the most vicious gay men.

[Dale Carson]

What holding on appeal means holding the appeal.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That means thank you. You're right. You get a conviction at trial. Then like we see happening in Murdaugh right now, the defendant has nothing to do all day but sit in jail and think, wow, how can I get this thing reversed on appeal? They go to jailhouse lawyers. Murdoch is a lawyer. He's going to live in the law library. He's going to scheme and gnash his teeth and switch his tail 24 7, 365, trying to come up with an appealable ground. So you know you're in for it when you get a homicide conviction, a murder conviction, they will say anything, including turning on their own defense lawyers, who probably did a pretty good job and claiming they're ineffective. That always happens on appeal. And the defense lawyer typically goes along with it, goes, yeah, I'm ineffective. I was awful at trial to try to help the client. Of course, the appellate courts know this, so they're like, yeah, right, you're ineffective. Long story short, again, in that case, once you get the conviction, you got to hold it. You got to hold it on appeal. That's what that means. And you're right, I did need to explain that. You got to make sure that out of all the myriad of counts the defense puts up as to why the case should be reversed, all the imaginary slights and unconstitutional practices in court. And then this juror fell asleep and the judge did this. And they go on and on. You got to hold it, and you got to be ready to get questions by the appellate court. And this was to the Georgia Supreme Court that I argued this case. And I don't know if it's like this in your jurisdiction, but here at the lectern, you've got the whole court in front of you. They're all looking at you two. Do your argument. There is a green light, a yellow light, and a red light on the lectern. Green means go, yellow means you're running out of time. Red means if you don't sit down right now, we'll have the bailiff remove you and you'll be kicked out of the courtroom. Yes, just like a traffic light.

[Dale Carson]

Not that way in Florida, thank God.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

This case was about a series of young black men, males that were raped, anally raped, and then shot in the head, almost always with.38 caliber in the back of the head, a little bit to the right side, which means a right handed killer. Anyway, we got the guy convicted, the guy. And I was trying to hold it on appeal. So, yes, I have dealt with horrible hatred toward gay men. And I had more after that, but that was the first one. It's really hard for me to imagine this hatred, but it exists. So you got to factor that in as well. Dale Carson, about why Stephen Smith was killed.

[Dale Carson]

Well, there's more. If you go down a rural highway, you'll see.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What's with you in rural. It's always rural with you. What do you have a thing against?

[Dale Carson]

Okay, our country? You ride down a country road, you're going to see mailboxes on the sides of the road, and some of them will be destroyed. You know how that happens?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I think you're about to sell me.

[Dale Carson]

Okay, you ride down the road in your truck and you have a baseball bat, which these boys were in baseball teams, right? And you reach out of the window, the passenger does typically and strikes the mailbox to great amazement. The thing gets destroyed. Destroyed. And the boys cheer. All right, so yeah, obviously they don't

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

have enough to do.

[Dale Carson]

Well, obviously they're destructive and they like to do those kind of things. So you'll see big concrete mailboxes which cannot be destroyed in that fashion. The point is, we're gonna see whether that blunt force trauma came from a car where it fractured, caused abrasions to the skin and things in primary and secondary exposure.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I got some more info for you while you continue to tell me about assaulting mailboxes.

[Dale Carson]

All right, so, so, so if those other factors don't exist in the post mortem and there aren't fractured legs, then what about riding down the road, seeing the guy, you come around back, you don't like him, and you take one of those baths and you hit him with it and it of course kills you.

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[Nancy Grace]

According to Witness Kenzie quote, memories fade. People leave this earth. Those were missed opportunities. You don't ever get that back. And he's right about that. The investigation into Stephen Smith's death has been reopened. And this is days after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot dead there in Colleton county at the family's hunting lodge, Moselle. Now at that time, sled South Carolina law enforcement division said it uncovered info related to Steven's death while investigating the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. But they never really did provide any details. What do we know about Stephen's death?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Now I know the two names of the POI's persons of interest, but I'm going to call them number one and number two. Okay, number one and number two. I'm going to let number one be the non driver and number two be the driver. Number two is the driver. Okay, so this is what we understand. One of the two came over to the tipster, an anonymous tipster who I think I may know who it is. But anyway, the anonymous tipster says one of the two POIs persons of interest come over to tipster's house, told tipster that number two, the driver was drunk and hit something, that he went back the next day to see what he had hit, which is alive. Course see what he hit the next day and saw a lot of Police out there. Then he learned by media that someone had been killed, and that's why police were there. The tipster said person one, not the driver, was visibly distraught, crying. And when he got through telling his story, walked outside the house and threw up. Two, the driver may have tried to cover up evidence, having his mirror fixed on his vehicle, patched up one of the mirrors on his truck. There were rumors, and there is somewhat of a Murdoch connection, only allegedly that Randy Murdaugh got another witness to call cops and rat out number two, the driver. Now, my question to you is, all this happened back in 2015. You've got a tipster telling an agent POI 1 came over, ratted out POI 2, person of interest 2. POI 1 was so upset about it, he threw up. Just describing what happened. What in the hay has been going on since 2015, Dale Carson.

[Dale Carson]

Well, look, that's fairly straightforward, at least for me. If only a truck mirror, one of those extended mirrors on the side of your truck, hits somebody, if that happens, there might not be leg fractures, okay? And that's a really good explanation for why was actually struck with a bat.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I got something else for you before I forget it, because, you know, up here, my head. I'll go to the next thing. I got to tell you one more thing. Throw this into your analysis. Dale Carson. How do I say this? Okay. Have you ever seen Aristocats? Wait, no, wait. Or is it 101 Dalmatians? Okay, there are two hound dogs. Sydney, could you please look this up? There are two hound dogs, and one is Napoleon, and he's in charge, much like Barney Fife. And in the distance, he hears a car. Wait, yes, he hears a car, and it's Egbert the butler. Oh, so that means it's Aristocrat, Aristocats and Eggbar the butler is riding a motorcycle with sidecar and at a distance. Napoleon. Was it the. The dog's name, Napoleon. Okay, who's the other dog? I just want to know. Out of curiosity. Please look it up.

[Dale Carson]

Oh, no.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Anyway, wait a minute. So I'm going somewhere with this.

[Dale Carson]

Wait, wait.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Napoleon holds up his ear, straight up he goes, huh? It's a motorcycle. It's got a sidecar, blah, blah. And he can hear what the vehicle is a mile away and identify it. Do you know, like, for instance, my husband is always late to supper, and the three of us are sitting there, and what we do is we lay our heads down on the table and act like we're asleep and we're all going, but this is how we know when, when to start fake snoring because we can tell the way he opens the door that it's him. We can hear his car, we can recognize his vehicle, and we know how he opens the door unlike anybody else. And then we immediately fake sleep. What I'm saying is there's a witness in this case, it's the then boyfriend who is communicating back and forth with Steve, Stephen Smith, that night, less than half an hour before Smith is killed. And he says he hears, quote, big mud tires. Now if I hear one tire versus another tire, I don't know that I could tell a difference. But it can be done. Dale Carson. It can be done.

[Dale Carson]

Absolutely. In the rural south.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Well, Lafayette, that was the other dog's name. Go ahead.

[Dale Carson]

So in, in, in my area of the city in Florida, you don't hear off the road tires very much, but in the country areas you do. And certainly you could know a muffler sound from a car. You can certainly hear from the tires and it makes a tremendous racket. So they're elevated cars, trucks rather. So if they're elevated. Well, the mirror on a car wouldn't just hit somebody in the back of the head or the front of the head, which is where the strike was on Smith. So the entire matter seems to be contrived. It's contrived. So if you had to make an explanation for somebody who was actually struck with a bat by ne' er do wells riding around in a car and finding a gay guy walking alone in the middle of a road, what are

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

you so hell bent on them using a bat? I mean, I've just told you that according to this tipster, and granted that's not a completely credible source, but it's a tipster who's got facts that suggest Stephen Smith was hit by a truck by the side mirror, which then had to be fixed I. E taped up. What, what is it with you in the bat?

[Dale Carson]

What I'm. What I'm suggesting to you is there's

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

a difference, is for me to just walk down the crooked path of Dale Carson land. Well, I'm figure out you've hit now so far you've hit a couple of mailboxes with a bat. Now you go back to the 70s where people hit gay people with a bat. Can we deal with the facts as well we know them in this case

[Dale Carson]

well, well, well, as you may believe them to be. But if a mirror strikes an individual, one of those mirrors is going to leave glass at the strike point. And we didn't Find any glass.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You're right.

[Dale Carson]

Saying you're right, that the entire process is contrived by a family in charge of what really happened. And when you contrive something, you got to make a reason for it. And that reason has got to be consistent with the apparent fact. So you have one, which is an hit and run, it's an accident. Horrible. It happens with people who are drinking and driving. And it's wrong. But another thing's altogether there. If there's a relationship that somebody doesn't want revealed and you have an opportunity to get rid of that problem, and you do so as consistent with the behaviors of certain well known families in that area, you got to contrive it. So the first thing you're going to do is call victim's mother and say, look, I'll represent you for free. Not for a fee, but for free. Why would they do that?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Well, hold on just a moment. I'm going to go into your conspiracy theory riddled mind for just one moment. Hold on, wait a minute. I'm going with you on this. Just a moment. Dale Carson. Let me get my thought, let me marshal my thoughts. Because according to the father of POI person of interest number one, the stepfather of person of interest number one, not the driver, number one tells stepfather what happened, that number two hit Stephen Smith and killed him. The father, the stepfather of number one, says that Randy Murdaugh got him, the stepfather to tell the story to cops. What is Randy Murdoch doing up in the middle of this if in fact this is true? We don't know it's true. I mean, and number two, the driver apparently has a history of dui, domestic violence, just a potpourri of offenses. He just, he just smells, you know, he's just got a whole, as I said, trash bag full of offenses, none of them rising to a felony that I know of. But he's just a. He's just a cesspool brewing with all his offenses. And boom, now we got this. So how does Randy Murdaugh get injected into this?

[Dale Carson]

Well, you know, in individuals who don't want the truth of a matter known often do things to prevent that truth from being revealed. I mean, that's just human nature.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Wait, are you one of those people that think LBJ murdered jfk?

[Dale Carson]

Did he?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, okay, thank goodness you're not into that one. But you're definitely seeing a conspiracy here. And you're roping in the Murdogs that they are pointing to number one and number two, but it's really them.

[Dale Carson]

Is that what you're saying, well, it's somebody else. Whether it is an actual Murdog is another matter altogether. But clearly the exhumation is going to provide some evidence as to what happened. And I have seen a number of hit and run traffic fatalities and I have never seen somebody hit by just a mirror. I mean, that's unusual.

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[Martha Stewart]

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[Narrator for Serious Fun / Paul Newman Tribute]

Kids need space to run wild. But for children living with serious illnesses, that kind of freedom can be hard to find. That's why serious fun exists. Serious fun is a network of camps founded by legendary actor and philanthropist Paul Newman. Staffed by medical professionals who create a safe place for kids to, as Paul put it, raise a little hell. With expert care built in, kids get to play, explore, and feel free to be themselves. These camps are always free of charge to campers and their families, which is where your support can really make a difference. To learn how you can help more children with medical challenges experience the joy, freedom and belonging that every child deserves, visit seriousfun.org crime stories with Nancy Grace.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Apparently we're going to find out from the independent autopsy. Stephen Smith had bruising to one side of his body. But the, the fatal, the cause of the death cod was a blow to the head of some sort.

[Dale Carson]

Well, it was originally thought it was a gunshot.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's right.

[Dale Carson]

And so you gotta look at the photographs, you gotta look at the actual fracture. You know, there's a difference between a high speed fracture and a low speed fracture. It's called brissens and that is a term that's used with the military to describe the ability of an explosive to move things. And there are different speed. So if the truck was going five miles an hour versus 50 miles an hour or a bat was traveling at 60 miles an hour, there's a difference. And you can tell whether the back of a mirror hit his forehead or whether it was something else. I mean, I just see him walking down the road. A truck passes him. And this is information that's available in some of the information I've read in the media. Somebody sees him, they dislike him, they turn the truck around. He thinks it's somebody that knows him, is going to rescue him from his car is out of gas. They come by quickly and they intentionally injure him.

[Nancy Grace]

As we all know, there was a huge battle to exhume Stephen Smith's body. And it was a second autopsy was performed. Our friend pathologist, Dr. Michelle Dupree oversaw that second autopsy. She says Smith's injury, that horrific blood of the skull is consistent with being struck by an object attached to a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed. Something like one of those wide side mirrors, say on the side of a truck. She says, and I quote, scientifically, medically and forensically, we know what happened, but we don't know who, who did it. A lot of speculation had circulated around Stephen Smith's death, trying to tie it to members of the Murdoch family. That never happened. I personally never saw evidence connecting Stephen Smith's death to anybody in the Murdoch family. Authorities now offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of, in the case of Stephen Smith's death, a 19 year old teen simply walking by the side of the road minding his own business. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace signing off.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Goodbye friend.

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[Martha Stewart]

from the Martha Stewart Podcast. Ever wonder how to make hosting look effortless? Here's a secret. When prepping for cooking and baking, get ahead of the mess with new Reynolds Kitchens countertop prep paper. Just lightly wet the counter so the paper grips. Lay it down and drips and spills stay on the paper, not on your counter. Cleanup is as simple as lifting it away to reveal clean counters. Effortless it is thanks to Reynolds Kitchens Countertop Prep Paper. Wet it, set it, prep it, done. Available in the Reynolds Wrap aisle at Walmart.

[Narrator for Serious Fun / Paul Newman Tribute]

Today, kids need space to run wild. But for children living with serious illnesses, that kind of freedom can be hard to find. That's why serious Fun exists. Serious Fun is a network of camps founded by legendary actor and philanthropist Paul Newman, staffed by medical professionals who create a safe place for kids to, as Paul put it, raise a little hell. With expert care built in, kids get to play, explore and feel free to be themselves. These camps are always free of charge to campers and their families, which is where your support can really make a difference. To learn how you can help more children with medical challenges experience the joy, freedom and belonging that every child deserves, visit seriousfun.org this is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem?

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