Buster Murdaugh Denies "Baseless Rumors" Connecting Him to Stephen Smith's Hit-and-Run Death
Buster Murdaugh, the oldest son of disgraced attorney and convicted murderer, Alex Murdaugh, is speaking out in response to claims that he was involved in the death of Stephen Smith, who died in 2015. Smith was 19 when his body was discovered on a road in Hampton County, South Carolina, nearly 15 miles away from the home that Murdaugh lived in with his family. On Monday, March 20, Jim Griffin, a lawyer representing Murdaugh, took to Twitter with a statement directly from the 26-year-old.
"I have tried my best to ignore the vicious rumors about my involvement in Stephen Smith's tragic death that continue to be published in the media as I grieve over the brutal murders of my mother and brother. I love them so much and miss them terribly," he said. Murdaugh, who has steered clear of documentaries about the tragedy that struck his family, claims he stayed out of the public eye because he wants to "live in private" while he copes with "their deaths" and his father's incarceration.
— Jim Griffin (@lawyergriffin) March 20, 2023
On March 2, Murdaugh's father was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife, Maggie, and their youngest son Paul. The disgraced attorney was also charged with several other crimes separate from the double homicide, including insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, filing a false police report, misappropriating insurance settlement funds, and two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.
"This has gone on far too long. These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false," Murdaugh continued. "I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family."
On March 17, Sandy Smith announced her plans to have her son's body exhumed for an independent autopsy to determine what truly happened to him. "It's Stephen's year," Smith told NBC News. She launched a GoFundMe page with hopes of raising enough money to pay for her son's body to be exhumed. She thanked supporters for "not allowing Stephen's story to be swept under a rug." Smith's GoFundMe surpassed its original goal of $15,000, and at the time of publishing, it has raised $81,275.
According to investigators, Smith was hit by a car while standing outside of his car after it had run out of gas. According to The Island Packet, a "defensive wound" was found on Smith's hand, and a homicide investigation was launched. That was stalled when a medical examiner claimed that Smith's death was caused after he was struck in the head by a car mirror as part of a hit and run, but there was no glass nor debris found near Smith's body, or in the immediate area, The Island Packet claimed.
Investigators reportedly received tips claiming that Murdaugh may have been connected to the crime. Murdaugh's father's connections coming as a well-connected legal family fueled speculation that there was foul play involved and that the Murdaugh family used its influence to prevent true justice from being served.
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