Murdaugh Country Mystery: What The Hell Happened To Stephen Smith?

Summary

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Criminally Obsessed — Episode Summary

Episode Title:

Murdaugh Country Mystery: What The Hell Happened To Stephen Smith?

Host:

Anne Emerson

Guest:

Valerie Bauerlein, Wall Street Journal reporter & author of The Devil at His Elbow: Alec Murdoch and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty

Release Date:

March 25, 2026

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Overview

This episode dives deep into the enduring mystery of Stephen Smith's death, a case from 2015 that remains unsolved and is closely interwoven with the saga of the Murdoch family in South Carolina. Host Anne Emerson and guest Valerie Bauerlein untangle the facts, rumors, and investigative missteps that have surrounded Stephen Smith’s case for over a decade, and explore why the case is still resonating in the shadow of the Murdoch family's prominence and the wider national conversation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why the Stephen Smith Case Haunts Investigators

• Valerie explains her ongoing fascination with the case (01:19)
  • Despite the many "threads" in the Murdoch saga, Stephen Smith’s unresolved death stands out due to its core mystery and the pain of uncertainty for the family.
  • “There is a young man who was killed and left for dead 11 years ago and we still don't know what happened to him.” (Valerie Bauerlein, 01:26)

2. Failures in the Initial Investigation

• Forensic investigator Kenny Kinsey (star witness in Alec Murdoch’s trial) discusses missed investigative opportunities (02:49—04:00)
  • Multiple agencies showed up, but unclear cause/manner of death led to confusion and lack of coordination.
  • Notable Quote: “There’s a lot of missed opportunities, especially when you’re not sure of cause and manner of death… you don’t get that back.” (Kenny Kinsey, 02:49)
• Consensus emerges that the golden hours for evidence collection were lost, leaving gaps that have never been filled (04:01—04:18).

3. Rumors, Small-Town Power, and the Murdoch Family’s Influence

• The Murdoch family’s name appears in case files "dozens and dozens of times," though no direct evidence links them to Stephen Smith’s death (04:48—06:00).
• Both Anne and Valerie emphasize the challenge of addressing persistent rumors without fueling unfounded speculation.
• Notable Quote: “If I had a nickel for the number of times I was pulled aside in Hampton County and someone I trust said, ‘I’m going to tell you exactly what happened to Stephen Smith’… it was always a different story.” (Valerie Bauerlein, 05:25)

4. Details from the Scene: Physical Evidence and Terrain

• Scene described as remote, with few landmarks, complicating immediate response and investigation. The Murdoch family’s local influence is palpable, even historically (07:10—07:45).
• References to "errors of omission" — not outright malfeasance, but a tendency to pass off responsibility and seek the simplest explanation to avoid complexity (08:49—09:47).

5. Tommy Moore: Victim, Officer, and Witness

• Tommy Moore, a financial victim of Alec Murdoch and a responding trooper at the scene, recalled immediate suspicions:
  • “He just took my money and he knew what that money was for.” (Tommy Moore, 10:54)
  • “The way the body was positioned… so many issues that looked nefarious.” (Anne Emerson, 11:05)
• Culture of fear and power imbalance: Moore admitted to feeling intimidated by the Murdoch family’s reach (11:26—12:34).

6. Murdoch Family Presence after the Death

• Randy Murdoch (Alec’s brother) called Stephen’s father and showed up at the scene, which, while arguably routine in a small southern town, added another layer of suspicion (12:34—15:23).
  • Valerie notes no evidence of direct involvement but acknowledges the "weirdness" of repeated Murdoch presence in the reports.

7. Boat Crash Parallel (Mallory Beach) and Influence

• Historical context: when the Murdoch family stepped in after the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach; patterns of intervention and subtle manipulation highlighted (13:26—14:54).
• Small-town dynamics: Power, reputation, and fear contaminate investigations and local narratives.

8. Dealing with Rumors and Theories

• Both host and guest are careful, citing forensic expert Kenny Kinsey:
  • “Everyone wants it to be tied to the Murdoch family. I saw nothing that would make me even draw an inference that that's to be true.” (Kenny Kinsey, 17:53)
• Emphasis on the Murdoch legacy of fear: “He wanted to be feared. He [Buster] cultivated some of that rumor as well.” (Valerie Bauerlein, 18:24—19:41)

9. What Happened: Piecing Together the Physical Evidence

• Most plausible current theory: Stephen was struck by something protruding from a truck, not a classic hit-and-run or homicide with a weapon (23:06—24:33).
  • Notable Quote: “He was hit by something protruding from a big truck, probably not at high speeds… but I do think there are more than one person that knows what happened that night.” (Valerie Bauerlein, 24:25—25:01)

10. Investigative Dead-Ends & Forensic Disputes

• Disagreements among investigators and pathologists led to confusion and delays (25:44—27:04).
• The early investigation “took a major left turn” due to clashes of opinion and jurisdictional tug-of-war.

11. Case Goes Cold, Then Revives amid Murdoch Saga

• The case went essentially cold until Alec Murdoch’s high-profile murder case brought new scrutiny (28:19—29:14).
• There was confusion over whether new information or simply renewed attention reactivated the Stephen Smith investigation (29:59—30:37).

12. Family Impact and the Role of Sexuality

• Stephen’s mother, Sandy Smith, remained the driving force; dismay at insensitive treatment by investigators, including being asked for a DNA sample late at night (31:16—31:58).
• Discussion of whether Stephen’s being openly gay affected the investigation or the crime itself—consensus: possibly a factor in community and investigative attitudes, but limited evidence of direct impact (31:58—33:09).

13. Phone Record and “Big Truck” Theory

• Mark Burkhart, Stephen’s boyfriend, recalls Stephen walking and hearing truck noises before call dropped (34:04–34:36).
• No hard identification of vehicle; prevalence of trucks in region makes leads elusive.

14. Modern Investigative Challenges

• Limitation of 2015 data: No granular cellphone tower records, complicating reconstruction of that night (34:53–35:34).

15. Exhumation and New Findings

• Exhumation of Stephen’s body confirmed original autopsy findings: he died where he was found, killed by a blunt object consistent with "one big blow" (35:34—36:31).

16. Prospects for Closing the Case

• SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) remains tight-lipped ("a black box").
• Potential path to closure: someone coming forward, or cumulative legal pressure on persons of interest (37:31–38:37).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “There are more than one person that knows what happened that night. And eventually, I think we will know too.” (Valerie Bauerlein, 25:01)
• “Everyone wants it to be tied to the Murdoch family…I saw nothing that would make me even draw an inference that that's to be true.” (Kenny Kinsey, 17:53)
• “It’s hard to keep secrets for a really long time.” (Valerie Bauerlein, 24:33)
• “I just would do anything for this mom to find out what happened to her son that she loves so much.” (Anne Emerson, 39:27)

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Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Topic | |--------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:01–01:19 | Introduction to the Smith case and Valerie’s fascination | | 02:49–04:00 | Forensic expert Kenny Kinsey on missed opportunities | | 04:48–06:00 | Murdoch family in the investigative record and rumor management | | 09:47–12:34 | Tommy Moore’s accounts and intimidation by the Murdoch family | | 12:34–15:23 | Randy Murdoch’s role post-incident | | 17:53–18:24 | Expert opinion: no evidence tying Murdochs to Stephen Smith | | 23:06–24:33 | Working theory: Hit by something protruding from a truck | | 28:19–29:59 | Investigation going cold, restarting after Murdoch murders | | 31:16–31:58 | Sandy Smith’s experience with investigators | | 34:04–34:36 | Mark Burkhart recounts last call with Stephen | | 35:34–36:31 | Exhumation findings align with earlier autopsy | | 37:31–38:37 | What would close the case: someone coming forward | | 40:00–41:01 | SLED statement: ongoing investigation, frustration with secrecy |

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Tone and Approach

• Compassionate, methodical, and truth-seeking.
• Both Anne and Valerie balance empathy for the Smith family with a rigorous commitment to objective investigation.
• Emphasize the need for patience, clarity, and the long arc of justice in complicated, high-profile cases.

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Conclusion

The question of "What the hell happened to Stephen Smith?" remains painfully unresolved. This episode brings nuanced insight, expert opinions, and firsthand perspectives to a case marked by investigative blunders, powerful local dynamics, and the indomitable love of a mother. Both the host and guest maintain careful skepticism in the face of rumors, focusing on what can and cannot be known—and holding out hope that someone will eventually break the silence.

Listeners are left with the sense that resolve is possible, but only if someone with firsthand knowledge comes forward, or if persistent inquiry and legal developments finally bear fruit.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Criminally Obsessed. I'm Anne Emerson. If the Murdoch family saga is a knot that we are still untangling, this is one thread I am never letting go of. It's the unsolved homicide of Stephen Smith. He was found dead in the middle of a rural South Carolina road back in 2015. Fast forward to today and Stephen Smith's case is still on Wall Street Journal reporter Valerie Bowerline's mind Stevens case is definitely a significant part of her book the Devil at His Elbow. Alec Murdoch and the fall Southern Dynasty. It's been more than a decade since Stephen died and there's still no answers. I wanted to ask her point blank, what the hell happened to Stephen Smith? Like and subscribe to Criminally Obsessed so you never miss an update. Ah, thank you so much for joining me, Valerie. It is such is so great to see your face and to get to talk to you. I feel like I've heard you say before that know in, in previous interviews and just talking about this whole Murdoch saga that the Steven Smith case is the one story that you really, you really can't let go of. Like it's really something that still sticks with you. Yes, we, we still stay intrigued with Murdoch, but that Stephen Smith thread is really hard to let go of.

[B]

It's true. And I think, you know, I, I, I was thinking about this the other day. I was trying to count my mind, how many ancillary cases are there to Murdoch that are still ongoing? There are all these, these threads that are still on, you know, we're still pulling on. But the big one is Stephen Smith because there is a young man who was killed and Left for dead 11 years ago and we still don't know what happened to him. I've talked to so many people all over the country, you know, in New York and Tennessee and, and the one question, there are two questions I always get. And one is what is the latest with Stephen Smith? And the other is how is Buster doing? And we know those are related too, because Buster Murdoch, Alec's older son, has filed a series of defamation lawsuits over people the perception that he was tied somehow to his death. So I think for sure this is the one serious core mystery we don't know the answer to. I just will say in all candor, this book is 400 and some pages. The Stephen Smith chapters were by far the hardest. Right. Because it is so, it is so hard to actually get a real beat on what happened. I listened to your interview with Kenny Kenzie, which was fascinating and, and everyone should Listen to it.

[A]

She's talking about forensic investigator Kenny Kenzie. He was a star witness in the Alec Murdoch murder trial, and he's now independently investigating the Stephen Smith cold case. I'll link my interview with him below, but here's a clip.

[C]

There's a lot of missed opportunities, especially when you're not sure of cause and manner of death. There's a lot of missed opportunities that go away that you'll never get back in that time.

[A]

And is that what happened to Stephen?

[C]

In my opinion, it is. You know, you had a sheriff's office on scene, you had a coroner's office on scene, and then you had highway patrol on scene. And highway patrol, typically, it's. It's not their job to investigate intentional homicides.

[A]

Right.

[C]

And once it was, you know, presented that Stephen perished from a gunshot wound, I know if I was a trooper, I would pack my stuff up or I would go to a assisting function, and that's where it went. And it wasn't corrected until, you know, sometime later. By then, you've missed opportunities you've missed interviewing people you've missed locating people you've missed be on the lookouts for. And you don't get that back. You just can't. It's really hard to get that back.

[B]

And he makes the point that so many things fell through the cracks early on, and once that, that golden few hours of time to investigate is gone, you really can't get it back. And so mistakes early on that we still can't solve for, you know?

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I think. And it's very intentional that you include Stephen, of course, because you can't talk about the Murdoch saga, and I call it the saga just because of what you just said. There's so many parts to these chapters, to these, to this family and the story, the Stephen Smith. It feels very intentional for you to include Stephen in these chapters and not in order. It's not like it's just one thing. It's like you put it. You put it throughout the book.

[B]

Well, it is it and it. And it kind of is. It's intrinsic to the story. But what's so fascinating, I was reading some of the filings in Buster Murdoch's defamation lawsuit and, and Netflix's response, you know, that one of the complaints is that there. There was an inference that Buster was somehow involved in the killing of Stephen Smith with some of the recreations. And Netflix is saying in their most recent filing, look, y', all, in fairness, if you look at the mate report, the Highway Patrol volumes report The Murdoch's names are in there dozens and dozens of times. It's not. It was not all a mirage. There were reasons that, that, that their name appeared there. There's no evidence that they had anything to do with the death of Stephen Smith. There are some questionable things that happened afterwards. So you want to be delicate about it, fair about it, and not cast aspersions on anyone, but you can't ignore it either. All that is to say, if I had a nickel for the number of times I was pulled aside in Hampton county and someone I trust and like said, I'm going to tell you exactly what happened to Steven Smith. If I had a nickel. And it was always a different story. It was very hard. So the, the rumors, you have to handle them delicately, but you can't ignore them, you know, so it was. It was really hard.

[A]

I don't think you can either. I poured over those case files myself. I. I looked at every single thing. I did my own podcasts. And you've interviewed everybody you know, she's right. I have interviewed a whole lot of people involved in this case. If you haven't heard it yet, my podcast on the Murdoch saga is called the Murdoch Murders, Money and Mystery. I'll link it in our notes. I understand it was an investigation, and that's where we have to be so careful, because it was important for them to go through every single rumor that came across, you know, all the gossip that was out there. But the investigation itself, as you just talked about, is, is so tough because anything that goes on this many years is going to be tough. What really bothered you about the initial part of this investigation?

[B]

I think that one thing I didn't appreciate and you've been out there many times. I've been out the Sandy Run road many times. How remote it is. You remember the. The tow truck driver that calls 911 or the truck driver that calls 91 1.

[A]

Hear his voice right now. You can hear it. Play a clip for our viewers. This was a truck driver who called 911 on July 8, 2015 to laying dead in the middle of the road.

[B]

Hampton County 901. Where's your emergency? I just going down the wrong Crockettville Road.

[C]

I see somebody laying out.

[B]

What road are you? What's the name of the highway that you're on? I know it's Crockettville Road. Just know it's Crockettville Road. And is it in the road or on the side of the road? In the roadway? In the room. Yeah. Okay. I ain't moving or nothing like that. But somebody going to hit him and stop, huh? Somebody won't hit him. All right. We're getting also headed out that way. He's from there and he can't tell you where he is because there's no landmarks, there's no farmhouses, there's no country churches. He's like, well, it's the cr. I know what is Crockettville Road, which was. And I mentioned this in the book, but the Crockerville Road was actually paved by Randolph Murdoch senior. He was a. Alex great grandfather was a do Gooder and a local leader who wanted to help pave roads out of Hampton and Varnville out to Crockettville, this little tiny town. So you, you know, the Murdochs are. Are everywhere. But to your question, I think that some of the things that happened early on. Kenny Kinsey addressed this with you. He said there. I loved his expression. All sorts of the effect that everybody had enough fish in their own barrel to wash. It was like, oh, this is a. This is hit and run. Yeah, this is. And it's true. And I found that we mentioned briefly about the Scott Spivey case in Ory county where there's been significant police misconduct, but there's also been in my view a willingness to say, oh, this seems, you know, this is. This is complicated.

[A]

This ain't my problem.

[B]

What's the simplest way to make this complicated case go away? And I think in a place and we were in a different time 2015 Ellic is at when in July 2015 when when Stephen Smith, this young man and Sandy Smith talked about it, they family with. With no money and no status. And Alec Murdoch was one of the most well regarded lawyers in the state. Very high, high up in the Trial Lawyers association and the family was very powerful. And so from the jump when you start hearing the Murdoch's name with this very remote crime scene where nobody's really in charge for a while. Does this sound familiar? Like Mozel as well. So there were a lot of things that just were, I think errors of omission more than anything or wanting to not handle this complicated situation that made it virtually not impossible. I think it will be solved, but it made it very, very hard to solve in any sort of timely way.

[A]

We did an interview as well with Tommy Moore, who happened to be not only a financial victim of Alec Murdoch because of his own personal injury that he had during one of our big snowstorms, two of which we've had in like 50 years, but also he was the responding one of the responding officers with the troopers to the Stephen Smith. Just so you know who Tommy Moore is, back in 2018, Tommy was sitting in a South Carolina highway patrol car when he got hit. He says it felt like an electric shock. The impact broke his neck. After he was misdiagnosed, he reached out to Alec Murdoch's law firm. Alec Murdoch ended up stealing the money that was supposed to be for Tommy Moore's medical expenses. I did an exclusive interview with Tommy Moore back in 2022 literally the day before he gave his victim impact statement in court. We'll make sure that interview is linked in our notes. And as you heard, Tommy also happened to be part of the 2015 investigation into Stephen Smith's death during his time with the highway patrol. Here's a clip of my conversation with Tommy.

[B]

He just took my money and he knew what that money was for. He knew that I was making monthly payments to all these different people.

[C]

So I was strapped for money.

[A]

Also say when he responded to the scene of Stephen Smith's death he immediately said this was not. This doesn't make sense. This doesn't work. The you know the way the body was positioned, the way Stephen was lying in the. In the road. So many issues that looked nefarious. Right that it looked suspicious.

[B]

It looks suspicious and there are reasons that there were. You know Tommy Moore felt that way. But I remember. Don't you remember when he testified in. In the. The hearing about whether Alec Murdoch was going to get bond very early on and it was just striking the Hutz father of Alec Murdoch to steal from a lieutenant. I think was a lieutenant at the time in the highway patrol. He's investigating a wreck in a snowstorm and he gets hit and he has a back injury and has to have a workers comp claim and he hires Alec and Ale steals from him and the. And he told the judge in this hearing, he said would I be surprised if someone from related to Alec Murdoch showed up on my doorstep tonight armed? No, I would not. Isn't that incredible? So he tells you something about what was bubbling along in the background. The culture of fear that was. That was present around that family for. For right or wrong back in the day. But no. I think we. We saw a similar. Similar thing again at Moselle. You're talking about a remote crime scene. Things don't look exactly like they're supposed to. They're. Why are. Where are the guns? There's two guns used. They're complicated crime scene where it takes a long time for the right people to get in the right places makes it really hard.

[A]

We know that Murdoch showed up at the scene and spoke with Steven's father to. Well, and he. Well, what we've been told. Right, yeah. And what you also investigated was that a Murdoch had showed up to the scene, but also that he had called Steven's father. Right. To see if he needed representation, literally within 24 hours. Do you think that was strange?

[B]

Well, it was, it was. I think it's also important to remember this is a really, really, really small town. Really small town. And Randy, my reporting showed, had a prior relationship with Stephen Smith's father. From a. From a. From a case.

[A]

Right. Randolph. Randy Murdaugh IV is Alec's older brother. He's a lawyer with Parker Law Group, which is Alex former law firm. He specializes in injury and death cases

[B]

and similarly with the Mallory beach death.

[A]

All right, guys, I gotta take a second here. If you don't already know about the boat crash and the death of Mallory beach, it's really important to this story. On February 24, 2019, Paul Murdoch and five friends hopped on a boat after a party. Police say Paul, who was only 19 years old, was very drunk and driving at the dangerously high speeds when he slammed his boat into a bridge piling near Paris Island. That's the Marine Corps Recruit training facility in South Carolina. Mallory beach was thrown from the boat and her body wasn't found for several days. Two others, Connor Cook and Morgan Dowdy, were seriously injured. Alec Murdoch and his father showed up at the hospital shortly after the crash. Paul was later indicted on three felony charges, including boating under the influence, but he was murdered before the case ever got to trial.

[B]

There was a phone call that came into Mallory's mom, Renee, within a day or two of her being missing. And it was from Randy Murdoch. And she. And it. And it. And it struck her as strange. And she told me she was eager to get off the phone. She didn't understand why he was calling. But in fairness, he had also represented Mallory and a fender bender a couple years earlier. So these are people that know one another. Yes, it did. It did strike me as strange that it wasn't just Paul Murdoch's name that appears in these rumors or. Or Buster, the older brother, but also Randy Elliot's brother. So. But I think also you got to understand the context. It is a small town.

[A]

Right. And that's what I talked about. That too, because I, you know, I've said that as well, that why wouldn't, you know, a powerful personal, personal injury lawyer call. When a case like this happened, it was on one of their roadways. And you know who else is going to handle it in that community as effectively as somebody coming out of that law firm? Steven's mom, Sandy mentioned that the Murdoch showed up at the scene too.

[B]

Another state trooper was out and they were out there walking the scene. I don't remember which one it was. And here comes the Murdaughs. And they knew they were there to make look at stuff, find out what was going on. But they, they told them they had to leave. They wouldn't let them cross over. And I feel like I, I've spent a ton of time, several years learning everything I could about this family and there are, I have found no evidence that Randy Murdock was involved in any nefarious way in this case or, or any other, I think. And he's been quite clear that his relationship with his brother is ruptured. And, and, and he has been the point person cleaning up a lot of the, the blast radius from Alex crimes. So I just want to be clear that there's no, you know, but it is weird that his name's in the report so many times. Right. So that was the needle that we needed to thread. You want to be fair but you also want to say it wasn't as happened and this happened and it wasn't just our friend Michael DeWitt, the editor of the Hampton County Guardian went out on a limb and published an op ed about someone in this community knows what happened here and there are rumors that this prominent family is involved. It wasn't, it was rumors but there was, you know, it was one of those things like is it signal or noise and we still don't completely know the answer to that.

[A]

Yeah, it's just, it's so indicative of such a small town too. And so much fear and so much fear based as well. You know, I, it always will haunt me when I heard Anthony Cook, who was the boyfriend of Mallory beach, if you're watching, I've got Mallory and Anthony on the screen now immediately after the boat crashed with Paul Murdoch. When he said, when he said, you know, he's a Murdoch, you know, and, and basically good luck. Good luck. You all know Alec Murdoch, that's his son. Good luck. And you could feel the fear out of that whole scenario as well. So we've seen it before is what I'm saying. There is like that is part of it. But I agree with like there is absolutely no connection whatsoever from what I found either. I just found it to Be a really small town and power is where power is. You know. Here's what Kenny had to say about this in our interview.

[C]

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. Now I haven't seen everything. I'm not the do all, catch all. I don't know. But if you ask Kenny Kansas, I'm going to say there's no evidence that I've seen that would support that in any shape, form or fashion.

[B]

Well, and this a part of the book. You know, I was working the book Since October of 21 and Alec wasn't charged in the homicides till July of 22. So almost the first year I spent under trying to understand the history. I'd been to Hampton county as a, as a younger reporter, but trying to understand the history and the history of this family and that. Do you know the name Alec Murdoch? Good luck. That is a. And a kind of a fear with 100 years behind it there. The number of suspicious deaths that have occurred in the orbit of this family goes back a long, long time. And some of them, there may be nothing to it but, but some of the family members, especially Alex grandfather, old Buster who was the solicitor from 1940 to 1986, like Roosevelt to Reagan, he was really effectively the law for 100 miles for 50 some 50 years. He wanted to be feared. He's like, it's not, it's not bad if they're talking about you in that way. So he cultivated some of that rumor as well. And, and Ellic often said that he wanted, he wished he'd been born in his grandfather's time. He wanted to be like old Buster. So that being feared was part of it. That was particularly for Alec.

[A]

Well, and Alec kept that solicitor's badge on his car and put some blue lights on his truck.

[B]

Because when you think about it, I remember sitting there in, in the courtroom and you were there too when Creighton Waters is cross exam examining Alec Murdoch on the stand and he puts out what looked like little brown bags that you carried your lunch to in elementary school. And I was like, what is that? And it was not just Ellix solicitor badge as a volunteer solicitor, but it was old Busters, the one that had almost the brass had wiped off from use. And he went into the ER that night. It's. It's in, it's in. I've got a whole scene at the er. It is not just Paul Murdoch and Alec Murdoch and Randolph Murdoch's scene the Grant the Third.

[A]

Paul was making a scene at the er. He was yelling and sexually harassing the nurse. Nurses. I'm going to play a clip from my podcast about the boat crash. It'll give you an idea of what was going on that night at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. I'll link it in the caption. Paul's father, Alec and grandfather had arrived. Alec immediately told law enforcement his son Paul would not make any statements because he was drunk. Not only that, despite the fact that Mallory is missing, the lawyers tell DNR they're going to need a warrant to search the boat the teens had been in, which Alec owned. Meanwhile, security at the front desk is called to assist the nurses with Paul. When one guard got back to the er, he says he overheard Paul's grandfather tell the boy to just shut the up. Another security guard said Paul's grandfather was very aggravated with him and at one point said out loud, paul is drunk as Cooter Brown. Now that's a reference to a story of a coward who stayed drunk throughout the Civil War so he wouldn't be called up to fight. Hospital security told officers that they kept on rerouting Alec back into his son's room. There are multiple accounts by the hospital staff that Alec was trying to get into the other kids rooms. The triage nurse says Alec was looking at the ER tracking board which lists all the patients rooms. He was walking up and down the hallways and in and out of the lobby. She says he seemed to be trying to orchestrate everyone to get on the same page. Both the triage nurse and a security guard say they overhear Alec talking on the phone to someone. He says, she's gone, baby. She's gone. Don't worry about her. And tells the person on the other line he loves them. The staff assumed it's his wife. The charge nurse would tell investigators that she warns Paul's father, Alec, to go back to his son's room or leave the er. In her report, she said she could smell alcohol on Alec's breath. It's well into the early morning hours at this point, the hospital staff said Morgan, Paul's girlfriend. She explicitly told them to keep Alec out of her room. But the ER text says Alec approached Connor on the way to his CT scan. He'd broken his jaw and would soon be on his way to Musc for surgery.

[B]

But old bluster's badge. It's four generations of Murdoch's exercising that soft power there. And so I think that is the the petri dish. You have to swim in to understand what was happening with Stephen Smith's death. And still is to some degree.

[A]

I think I know. And I just have to ask you like what in the hell do you think happened to Stephen Smith?

[B]

You know, you were talking about going from break covering breaking news and going from scene to scene. I was a night cops reporter for three years when I was starting out and it was a terrific job because you see people at the most important day of their life often the saddest day of their life and tell their stories. But I knew from that experience covering homicides and plane crashes and everything sometimes the most logical explanation turns out to be the explanation. And I kind of think that's where we've come the Occam's Razor here. We've come back to understand it was not as simple as a hit and run. But what what can you know what Kenny Kinsey said.

[A]

Here's that clip from our interview. But we have a good idea that he was hit by by a truck or, or by a large vehicle. He got hit.

[C]

Something connected to a vehicle. Yes ma'.

[B]

Am.

[A]

And maybe it was the, the side mirror. It could have been on the side of the car. Right on the side of the truck.

[C]

Yes ma'.

[B]

Am.

[A]

Something something. Do you. Is there is that theory that something could have been sticking out of the the car. Is that still a valid thing for some.

[C]

It's not in my opinion.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Viable just for just from the physics

[B]

of it in in Yalls conversation is is what I think is the most likely scenario. He was hit by something protruding from a big truck.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Probably not at high speeds. And we don't know what it is. And there have been some credible theories that have been brought forth. But like I said before if I had a nickel for every reliable piece of information I had been told. But I do think the other thing that and you've been doing this a long time. I've been doing this a long time. It's hard to keep secrets for a really long time. And there are more than one person that knows what happened that night. And eventually I think we will know too. Yeah. Don't you? What do you think?

[A]

Oh I totally do. I mean that's exactly where I'm at. I, I, I feel like what is the easiest path to get to on this on this investigation. Homicide investigation. But is exactly where you're headed. I think that it's, I think the, the evidence points to that. I think that because they didn't hear what they wanted to hear, to begin with, after the first autopsy, you know, when they. With Aaron Pres, there was some butting of heads and some egos were flying around the room that it created a lot more confusion and, and, and questions as well. Do you know what I mean? Oh, for sure.

[B]

There was, there was, there was that like, well, you know, this is what my analysis says. Well, you're wrong. Well, and then, you know, they retreat to corners and in cross jurisdiction issues, whether, you know, got a medical examiner in Charleston, you've got sled and Columbia and the highway patrol coming in. It' the locals, it. It's hard to. To. To. Once there's. Once there's kind of bruised elbows, it's hard to kind of, you know.

[A]

Didn't you feel that. Didn't you feel that when you were reading it? I think at one point, Dr. Presnell says in the original autopsy of Stephen Smith, just right after the accident, you know, we got to set the scene. I mean, you've got like the, the Tommy Moore, you know, the trooper who's out there saying, well, I don't know, looks like he definitely. Something bad happened to him. And he, you know. Yeah, it doesn't look good. You know, it looks like he was. He was hit or something happened to him. It was a homicide. You know, this was purposeful. But Presnell is just trying to get to the bottom of it. And then she says Dr. Presnell is looking at it and he's like, well, if you don't agree with me, come back and tell me what it is. Like, show me the evidence of what happened to this person. And that just. I feel like that was where this investigation took a major left turn.

[B]

Well, I think that. I think that's the case. And we. Again, we saw this recently with the Scott Spivey case. There was a. The pathologist from Charleston was on the stand for a considerable amount of time talking about what she saw when she examined Scott Spivey's body, full stop. And, and the lawyers are saying, well, what about the evidence that shows this? And she's like, y', all, I didn't. That's not my job. I look up for what the body is telling me about what happened here. And, and I think similarly, Dr. Prisonell was. But, but, you know, and can. Can you mention with you a couple weeks ago. But he said, you know, he. He feels like her findings have been vindicated in many regards. But I tried to, because I was going to use her findings. And we, we. If. If we're going to use anything that you wrote or have involved with. I'm going to try to get in touch with you. And I tried very hard to get in touch with her, and she did not want to talk. So a person who is a professional with a long career can get, it's, it's hard. Like, like everything that Ella touches, in some regards, becomes sticky and tough. But I also think, in fairness, Tommy Moore and those troopers, they see these things every day. You also have to give great deference. So I think it's one of those where just the tumblers, the tumblers fell in a way that nothing clicked into place, you know, nothing.

[A]

Okay, so that takes us to where, you know, this case went just cold. It went cold until the Murdoch murders. Would you say that's, that's true?

[B]

Oh, I think, yes, I think it was. I mean, I think the evidence supports that it was completely forgotten except for Sandy Smith. He was still trying to get attention drawn to it, but I think it was pretty well in the Nobody's problem, nobody's responsibility to solve. And it sat there. So that was what was so confusing. You remember in that summer, a month or so after the homicides, or a couple weeks after the homicide, sled says, this is a, this is a homicide involving Steven Smith. Or we were taking a look at this, but then there was confusion, like, no, it was never closed. Oh, you know, we were always looking at it. So. Because the status was that it was just kind of my senses, it was sitting there and with no action on it. So.

[A]

No, I know. And it, it was, I remember, kind of okay with the Murdoch saga. Anybody that followed it knows that, like, not only during the six weeks that we were sitting in that trial up until that time, because I also started working on my podcast in October 2021. So it was a few months, you know, that's when we first published it. We actually had started as soon as the murders had kind of happened, because we were local news, we were in it. But, you know, I remember hearing that and I remember looking at a colleague of mine, Drew Tripp, who also works with us at Criminally Obsessed, and was like, Stephen Smith. Like, why would they open an investigation based on information that they learned during the investigation into the Murdoch murders? Like, what, what, what?

[B]

Oh, I, you know, I, I, we all chased those because there was, there was, there was a device of, of Stevens that Sandy had provided some investigators. And was there something on it? Did it, did it break the case open? Was there. And were there incriminating photographs that were, that were Found there were, there was all this information, like, okay, wait, there's new information. What is it? And as it turns out, it was. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my, my sense was, oh, this is never, we need to clarify that this was never solved or closed. You know, more so than I think the new information was, oh, this is tied to this case in some way. I mean.

[A]

No, I agree and I think that, I think you're right. But I, I think it's interesting that the timing was like two weeks after, I mean, Sandy, we, we interviewed Sandy right after that happened. Happen. And the, when we talked to Sandy and Steven's sister, twin sister, Stephanie, they were overjoyed that they were going to try and figure something out. Here's Stephanie. It's been six years since he died. Does it feel like six years to you? No, it feels like yesterday. It's just every day, you know, I have to relive it. But at the same time, like, like, well, what does this mean?

[B]

Well, then didn't they come to. It was, it was overjoyed. But then also same old, same old. Because she felt like when they came to her house late at night, the investigators came to her house late and I. To take a DNA sample was it. And I think she felt very insulted by that. Like, oh, wow, finally there's going to be someone taking a look at my son's homicide. But because you've been so. You made so much noise about the family, we're also going to treat you like as with suspicion. And I, you know, and I, I saw Sandy. She came to an event not too long ago when we got a chance to catch up. It's still as, as much of a household name really around America that Stephen Smith is. We don't know, a lot more now than we did a couple years ago.

[A]

Yeah, well, and one thing that also stuck out to me too was how, and in what way could have, have Stephen's sexuality played a role in this? Do you think you've gotten any closer to being able to, you know, as all of these people come up to you and ask you at all of these events, how his. How. Because he was openly gay. I mean, he was. And his mom was so supportive and his twin sister was so supportive of his choices and lifestyle and, and who he was, was as a human being, you know, do you worry that that still is a part of this investigation? Right.

[B]

I mean, though he was open about. It was a different time in a very small town. And so I think to whatever degree his personal Life affected the view of him that was probably involved in how it might have been treated a little bit. But I don't, I, I don't know what other role it might have played. You know, his, in his, his. The guy who identified himself as his boyfriend was, was cleared pretty quickly. And so, I don't know, you know, what, what role am I played?

[A]

Well, the, what I guess bothered me was the reports about hearing a large truck that was at that gas station. There was. And, and you write about it as well. And I had tried to look into it as best I could.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it was, you know, know which large truck. Like, I mean, oh my gosh, like you live in a place where trucks are mainly what people drive because if you don't, then you probably can't get down half the roads. So there was that.

[B]

But no, I can't, I can't tell you the number time. You go by the, the pmp, the law firm for, for the Murdoch firm. I mean there, you know, if there, if there's 16 vehicles in the parking lot, 15 of them are white trucks. You know, that's just what people drive. But those mud, those mud tires do make a distinct slapping noise that, that, that the young man, the man that Stephen was on the phone with that night described.

[A]

Let's listen to that phone call from Mark Burkhart. He said he was Steven's boyfriend at the time. I asked him on one of the calls, are you walking? Because he already told me he was out of gas. He was running out of gas. That one of the calls before. And, and I says, are you walking? Cuz I hear cars going by.

[B]

And he, his answer to me was no. And then the call dropped.

[A]

I couldn't come get him. And that was what I was saying. I didn't have enough gas and he

[B]

didn't want me to come with the

[A]

gas that was in the car.

[B]

So. Yeah, I don't know.

[A]

I know. Well, and we don't have to speculate. We're reporters. So we're still like, we're still investigating reporters.

[B]

We want to know. Right, And I know.

[A]

No, I do want to know. I think it is chapter two with everybody else. I got to, got to close this chapter at some point. I got to know.

[B]

Well, it's, you know, I was going through the timeline. You remember the timeline that Peter Rafsky made and put the state closed their, their case with Peter Badowski, this young sled agent on the stand going through line by line by line. Here is every beat of every second of Alec Murdoch's the day that they died. We have such granular data available about every move we make today. That was not the case then. And that's why, you know, you have. You have some of the same agents taking a look at this case, as I understand, but not with the benefit of being able to tell you, you know, how many phones were pinging off the tower in Crockettville that night. You know, we just don't have that type of city to. To rely on.

[A]

Well, and then we. We had this really kind of a turning point when we found out that we were going to go ahead and have an exhumation of Stephen Smith's body. Were you following all of that news as it was coming out?

[B]

I was, yeah. It's. It's fascinating. Right. What are we going to learn? And what we learned is somewhat limited, but supports Dr. Presnell's findings. Right. The. The original finding that he died where he was found and that he was hit with some sort of. Of blunt object. Just one big blow, I think that's what. But there was a. There was a sense that there would be some. Some revelation that might change the landscape. And. And instead it affirmed what we knew, which was. Which is. You know, and I think Kenny addressed this, too. Was. Was. Was assuring in a way, because his. He said that his findings that he had made in his own independent investigation dovetailed with what these other professional autopsies had found.

[A]

Well, and I think, like you said, this is a. This is a long time to keep a secret.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it would be nearly impossible, I would say, to hit somebody on a small. That without knowing, unless you're just three sheets to the wind, I guess, that you hit something. Right. And that would be a person. I would think it would be very hard. And plus the damage on a car, too. So there's like, all these things that I know they're trying to follow up with, but when we talk to Sled, we're still not. We're not. We're still not being told. Like I. We talked to Sled yesterday.

[B]

I think one of the things. And credit where credit is due, Sled is sledding can be about a black box. And that's. And that is. That is in keeping with Chief Markiel what he. His. His philosophy of law enforcement is. But no, they. They are. They are keeping things very close to the vest, for sure.

[A]

Well, what do you think in the end? What is it going to take to close this case, to solve this?

[B]

I think in the end, it's Going to take someone being willing to say what they knew. And it's as simple as that. I mean, we're to a point when, you know, in a circumstantial case or a case with kind of questionable physical evidence and no confession, I mean, we. We need someone to come forward, in my view, and say what happened, whether that's under a significant amount of pressure. And we know that, you know, Sled has identified a couple of young men that they are considered people of interest. And one of those guys has been in and out of trouble with the law for the last several years. And so whether that is a accumulation of pressure that's applied as these infractions pile up, I don't know. But. But there's also some reporting out there. An independent journalist, Jim Seidel of Crime and Cast, has been following this case pretty closely and advancing some theories and. And saying he has some important interviews. The Smith family has. Has. Has been critical of that work. So it really. There is a lot of work that's ongoing. But I just. I think it's going to take someone saying on the record what they knew.

[A]

Yeah, I think so, too. And it's heartbreaking for Sandy. And I have had some conversations with hers, too, because I've been kind of circling. I've spoken with Eric Bland, her. Her attorney who represented her with us. I've talked to Ken Kinsey. I've spoken with you, you know, to. To try and get a handle on this. And I've spoken to Sandy in the past. We did an interview with her and Tommy Moore so she could actually have some closure with that moment where she felt like that they had handed it, you know, that it had gone into the. The deep, dark hole of. Of where lost cases go, you know, and she was able to hear from Tommy how badly he had wanted to keep this alive. So having said that, I just would do anything for this mom to find out what happened to her son that she loves so much.

[B]

Much.

[A]

So I. Hopefully, you know, us even talking about it'll. I'll get us maybe a step closer.

[B]

Well, I think there's some. Like I said, there's so many people who have asked me, when will we know what's the latest?

[A]

We're asking, too, all the time. When we asked about Updates on Monday, March 16, here's how SLED responded to us. Respectfully, Sled's investigation is active and ongoing at this time. More information may be available in the future as the case continues. As always, you're welcome to check back in for updates.

[B]

And every time I'm like, I think we're close, I'm wrong. So, you know, so I. I don't want to say that I think we're closed, but I think we will know sooner or later what happened.

[A]

T. I hope we're close, too. I really do. I was trying to read between the same line I always get from sled, which is an active and open investigation.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We'll put it up for the viewers so they can see what the language that I have to, like, deal with over and over again in. In South Carolina, like you said, Chief Keel over there at the law enforcement's like, this is a black box.

[B]

He sets the tone. And I think that's. I think that's. That's. That's his philosophy, and it's worked for. For him. And. But, yeah, it is. It's hard to know what's going. And the grand jury, this, the state grand jury in South Carolina is its own entity that is not replicated in all other states, and they are very strictly veiled in secrecy. So it's hard to know what information about this case has been presented and when to those jurors.

[A]

I really believe someday we'll find out what happened to Steven and for his mom, Sandy, for his family, his friends, the community. Reporters like Valerie me will never stop pushing for answers. We've got more to talk about with Valerie in our next episode, including an update she thinks is coming soon. Like, and subscribe so you don't miss it, and we'll see you next time.