Criminally Obsessed: "A Good Idea Who Committed This"

Murdaugh Witness Investigates Stephen Smith Cold Case

Release Date: March 10, 2026
Host: Anne Emerson
Guest: Kenny Kinsey (Forensic Investigator for Sandy Smith’s legal team)
Topic: The long-unsolved 2015 death of Stephen Smith in rural South Carolina and its tangled connections with the Murdaugh family saga, law enforcement missteps, and renewed forensic investigations.

Episode Overview

This episode delves deep into the Stephen Smith case, a mysterious and controversial death originally ruled a hit-and-run in 2015 but reclassified as a homicide after discoveries during the high-profile Murdaugh murder investigation. Host Anne Emerson is joined by forensic investigator Kenny Kinsey—an expert hired by the Smith family’s legal team—to break down what went wrong in the original and subsequent investigations, recount emerging forensic evidence, and discuss why the case remains unsolved after nearly 11 years. The episode is marked by candid insights into law enforcement communication breakdowns, local rumors, and what evidence actually exists.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Initial Investigation & Its Early Failures

• Multiple Agencies, Conflicted Theories: Troopers believed from the start that Stephen Smith was murdered, pointing to a lack of road rash and specific injuries inconsistent with a vehicle impact. The highway patrol, local police, and state police all became involved, but a pathologist controversially ruled the death a hit and run against trooper objections.
  • Notable quote:
    • Tommy Moore (Trooper): “I definitely think he was. He was murdered. There’s two things that come to my mind. Either he was murdered there or he was murdered elsewhere and dropped there.” [05:11]
    • Moore further detailed efforts to persuade his superiors and other agencies, only to be stonewalled: “I felt like the brass... should have stood up and went to sled and said, ‘This is not a hit and run. Y’all are asking us to investigate something that is not a hit and run.’” [05:26]
• Communication Breakdown and Missed Opportunities: Kinsey and Emerson agree that failures in interagency cooperation at the site resulted in crucial missed opportunities—a theme that threads through the episode.
  • Kenny Kinsey: “Once you hear that word [gunshot], other agencies say, well, that's not ours. It's not an accident. It was intentional.” [06:00]
  • Anne Emerson: “So the missed opportunity happened at the point where basically the highway patrol walks off and says over to you.” [11:01]
• Long-term Consequences: Delays in autopsy and lost critical witness statements are seen as especially damaging, with Kinsey emphasizing that memories fade over time and evidence becomes harder to interpret or recover.

Forensic Reinvestigation After the Murdaugh Murders

• The Case Reopens: The death of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh shakes loose new information, prompting SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) to reopen Smith’s case in 2021. The case gains renewed public attention, and Smith's body is later exhumed for a second autopsy in 2023.
  • Anne Emerson: “It was a couple of weeks later that Sandy Smith gets a call out of the blue from SLED... this started a whole hornet’s nest of activity.” [02:09]
• False Tips & Rumors: Kinsey describes being deluged by false leads, some outlandish and impossible to verify, yet every claim had to be checked out, further burdening investigators.
  • Kinsey: “Some of them were outright outrageous... but you can’t just discount them.” [02:38]
• Consensus Among Experts: The second autopsy, led by multiple reputable forensic experts, largely confirmed Kinsey’s analysis and the original pathologist’s findings, although details remain sealed.
  • Kinsey: “All of our reports mirrored one another, and we never spoke. We never got together and compared notes. So I’m pretty sure we’re going down the right path.” [11:22]
  • Dr. Michelle Dupree (quoted by Anne Emerson): “We had a forensic anthropologist in the autopsy suite... we were actually able to do a complete and thorough second autopsy.” [15:53]

Theories, Evidence, and the Elusive ‘Who’

• Clarifying Cause of Death: Both hosts and guest are clear—Smith’s injuries are not consistent with being struck by an appendage protruding from a vehicle (e.g., a truck mirror). There is strong evidence for homicide, but not for a gunshot wound, as was initially suspected.
  • Kinsey: “Just by Stephen’s wounds, I don’t see the possibility [of being hit by something sticking out of a car].” [17:25]
• Who and Why Remain Unanswered: While the ‘how’ is now clearer, the ‘who’ and ‘why’ are still elusive. Kinsey notes missed interviews and un-investigated leads, blaming the passage of time and lost witness motivation.
  • Kinsey: “I believe they’ve got a good idea who committed this... Everyone wants it to be tied to the Murdaugh family, and I can only speak from my analysis. I saw nothing that would make me even draw an inference that that’s to be true.” [19:09]
  • Kinsey: “There are names associated with that investigation... did not get interviewed, period. Credible information.” [21:15]
• Murdoch Family Rumors Addressed: Buster Murdaugh’s denial of involvement is read in full, and Kinsey is clear he sees no evidence linking the family.
  • Kinsey: "If you ask Kenny Kinsey, I'm going to say there's no evidence that I've seen that would support that in any shape, form or fashion." [20:58]
• Missed Opportunities & Community Silence: Eric Bland, attorney for the Smith family, is quoted lamenting the silence in Hampton County: “I think there’s six people that absolutely know exactly what happened to Stephen, but they’re just not willing to talk.” [22:37]

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• The Frayed Connection Between Agencies:
  • Kinsey: “It represents good old small town, small county law enforcement investigations... When that case went off the road into the weeds, it was because, you know, on the scene it was established that Stephen had perished from a gunshot wound... once you hear that word, then, you know, other agencies say, 'well, that’s not ours'.” [06:00]
• Medical Support for Homicide, Not Accident:
  • Tommy Moore: “Can you tell me medically why you’re ruling this a hit and run? Because he was in the road. And I said, ma’am, that’s not a medical reason. I knew at some point, they did an X-ray of his head and there was no bullet... You’re talking to a wall. They’ve already made their minds up.” [08:37]
• Consensus Among Experts and the Second Autopsy:
  • Kinsey: "I feel like I got the answers. I validated what needed to be validated... knowing that two medical doctors, at least two afterwards, their findings were in line with my findings, then I know we're... going down the right path." [13:57]
• On Rumors and the Murdaugh Connection:
  • Kinsey: “Everyone wants it to be tied to the Murdoch family. And I can only speak from my analysis. I saw nothing that would make me even draw an inference that that’s to be true.” [19:09]

Notable Timestamps

• 00:00 – 02:09: Overview of the Stephen Smith case and its connection to the Murdaugh investigation.
• 02:38 – 04:37: Kinsey describes filtering false tips and the exhausting process of handling rumors in high-profile cases.
• 05:11 – 05:57: Trooper Tommy Moore shares scene observations and describes law enforcement friction.
• 06:00 – 07:20: Kinsey discusses jurisdictional confusion and the consequences for homicide investigations.
• 08:37 – 09:16: Tommy Moore gives his account of the ruling and the tension with the pathologist’s findings.
• 13:57 – 15:06: Kinsey discusses the process and validation achieved during the second autopsy.
• 16:43 – 17:39: Anne and Kinsey clarify the currently understood cause of death and the limits of vehicle-involvement theories.
• 19:09 – 21:33: Kinsey weighs in on potential suspects and the lack of evidence against the Murdaugh family, and details neglected leads in the investigation.
• 22:37: Eric Bland is quoted on the ongoing "tone of silence" and the community’s reluctance to come forward.

Conclusion & Call to Action

The episode closes with a reflection on the eleven-year journey for answers, highlighting the persistent silence among those “who absolutely know what happened,” and voicing hope that community members will step forward, especially given the $50,000 reward for information. The hosts and guests voice strong support for Sandy Smith and advocate for continued pressure on law enforcement and the public to finally bring closure to Stephen’s family.

For listeners looking for clarity amidst chaos, this episode brings hard truths and a nuanced understanding of small-town justice, the limits of forensic science after lost time, and the real human grief at the center of unsolved cases.