• 3:57:43 a.m. Hampton County Communications: A man called 911 to report seeing a white male lying in the middle of Sandy Run Road.
• 4:07 a.m. HCSO: Michael Bridges, of the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office, responds to scene first (although there are conflicting reports about what time he arrived).
• 5:15 a.m. SCHP: J.L.Booker, of SCHP, was notified by Lt. Bruce Brock, also of SCHP, of the incident.
• 5:18 a.m. SCHP: Booker notifies Cpl. Michael E. Duncan of the incident.
• 5:37 a.m. SCHP: Sgt. Moore, of SCHP, gets a call from Cpl. M.D. Allen, of the SCHP, telling him about a possible hit and run on Sandy Run Road. Allen tells Duncan that “the only injuries to the victim were around the head area.”
• 6:00 a.m. SCHP: Duncan, on the way to the scene, calls Booker said he was “told it appeared to be a homicide and SLED was taking it over.” Booker says he was “advised there was a possible gunshot wound to the victim’s head.
• 6:08 a.m. SCHP: Moore is advised by Allen that MAIT is en route and that Allen is almost at the scene. Moore leaves his home and heads to Sandy Run Road. Allen informs Moore that it is a homicide, not a hit and run. Moore tells him to make sure that the coroner and HCSO are also ruling it a homicide.
• 6:12 a.m. SLED: SLED Crime Scene was requested by Chief Deputy Billy Jarrell, HCSO, to assist in the investigation of a possible homicide in Hampton County.”
• James B. Tallon III and Brittany Burke, both of SLED, respond to the scene.
• The note said that “Chief Jarrell, Inv. Perry Singleton and several other personnel from HCSO were on scene.”
• 6:25 a.m. SCHP: Moore arrives at the scene and speaks with Hampton County Coroner Ernie Washington, who tells him it is a homicide.
• Washington points to wound on Smith’s head and calls it a gunshot wound, showing Moore the “entry point.”
• Hampton County deputy coroner Kelly Greene showed Moore photos of the body and pointed to an “entry point” on Smith’s head and also to a defensive wound on Smith’s hand.
• Moore asked Greene “if they were sure it was a homicide and their response was yes.”
• Moore advises MAIT they’re no longer needed. Moore then Walked the scene and saw no evidence of any car parts or pieces and then
• had all units clear the scene.”
• 8:25 a.m. SLED: Tallon and Burke arrive at the scene. Tallon notes that “an EMS worker stated that a projectile wound was located on the victim’s head … the HCCO moved the victim prior to SLED Crime Scene arrival.”
• “Upon entering the scene, agents observed that the scene was secured by HCSO personnel and yellow barrier tape,” the SLED agent wrote. “The victim was covered with a sheet.”
• A hole in the skull was located above the victim’s right eye, SLED agents wrote. “It was still unclear at this time if this hole was caused by a projectile. The victim’s right arm was covered in blood and agents were unable to see any injuries.”**

July 17, 2015 interview Sandy Smith told investigators that “The only people he talked about was he was hanging around … the guy named Kash,” “That was really his only friends in Hampton.” that Patel and her son had taken a trip to Hilton Head Island shortly before his death.

“The guy named Kash that owns the (gas station) right there in Varnville,” “Stephen used to talk about him, they … they were all friends. It was a group of them and they would go have parties or something.”

• Stephen was living with his father at the time but was periodically visiting Sandy.
• She is the secondary fingerprint to get into Stephen’s phone.
• They don’t want to damage anything on the phone by using software to get in the phone as opposed to unlocking the correct way.
• Marc Bickhardt told her Saturday of this week that his thumb print was in the phone as well.
• Marc has been following her around when she comes to Hampton.
• Marc showed up at the Shell she was at & stared at her.
• She was taking her daughter to the ER & Marc was circling the parking lot.
• She had never met Marc before that Saturday & Stephen never talked about him.
• Stephen was hanging out around his only friend Cash.
• She did hear that Stephen went to the beach (Hilton Head beach) with Marc when Stephen sprained his ankle.
• She doesn’t know when Stephen sprained his ankle but thinks it was after his birthday. Told Duncan that Stephanie would know better.
• Stephen wasn’t doing anything illegal.
• He was hanging out at Bobcat Landing after school.
• She thought it was strange that Stephen was coming to her house every day, every afternoon.
• He hadn’t been doing that until “lately”
• She was fussing at Stephen because he only had a permit not a drivers license & he had to take 70 to get to her house from Orangeburg & 70 is a very dangerous road.
• He would stay at her house & he would stay there until approximately 1am studying.
• He would take the back road home from her house. Possibly to avoid Hampton.
• This made her mothers intuition go off because that was abnormal for him.
• Also that he wasn’t studying like he normally did.
• He was even playing hooky from school & previously he had never missed school.
• This all started a couple weeks before his death.
• The night he died he was taking selfies of himself in her jacuzzi. The night of 7/7/2015.
• Marc told Sandy that Stephen had been on Craigslist.
• Around Stephen’s birthday they left Sandy’s house to go to Charleston to a club & that guy was there. Stephanie said Stephen did NOT dance with Marc that night because he was staring at Stephen & therefore Stephanie didn’t leave Stephen’s side.
• “Everybody keeps coming up to me and saying it was Murdaugh boys. Whoever they are.”
• She called David Rattle?? today because she was in town yesterday & a guy named James Eddy?? said that he saw this guy that morning in a different vehicle, speeding.
• Then, when the sirens started coming right before they got to where Stephen was, he slowed down.
• James said when he got to Exxon, that guy was coming out as James was going in & the guy was all sweaty & jittery.
• The description James gave sounded like Marc, but James didn’t specifically say Marc.
• Stephen told Sandy he would send naked selfies.
• Stephen & Sandy used to joke & say that when “all these grants & stuff run out” that he was gonna be a stripper & work for an escort service to make money to pay for his schooling.
• The only person who had issues with Stephen that she knows of (& they eventually became friends) was this guy that made him feel uncomfortable.
• His name was James & he works at Bi-lo in Hampton. He still works there. Stephen & James went to first responder class together.
• James’ last name is possibly “Sanders”.
• “Short black guy.”

Note: Patel was referenced by Laffitte in a February 24, 2022 deposition conducted by Amy Hill, a Columbia, S.C. attorney appointed to help oversee Murdaugh’s financial assets in connection with a pending civil case. According to Laffitte, he and Murdaugh would cash checks at the gas station owned by Patel’s family. “If I needed $1,000 to cash at 10:00 (p.m.) at night, I’d say, hey, Kash, I need you to cash a check for me for $1,000,” Laffitte said during the deposition. “He would do it.”

Rowell apparently did not record this interview, like all of the other interviews

He noted that the man at Bi-Lo said “him and Stephen had a relationship for a while but has not seen him in a while.”

Duncan noted “there is no video from the store,” but didn’t say what he was looking for on video.

This is the last mention of the man from Bi-Lo in the investigation files.

• One black Nike short sleeve shirt: No automotive paint found
• One pair of khaki Unionbay cargo shorts: No automotive paint found
• Cutting taken from item 3: No automotive paint found
• One pair of blue Airspeed Footwear shoes: No automotive paint found
• Debris collected from items 2-4: “Several single-layer metallic blue paint chips were found. Due to the condition of the sample, no make, model and year information was able to be obtained.
• These paint chips are suitable for comparison should a standard become available.”

SCHP: Duncan contacts Johnson. Arranges to pick up the iPhone “on Tuesday”

SCHP: Duncan contacts Sandy Smith to get help unlocking the phone. Sandy tells him she was the secondary fingerprint. She tells him she can meet with him Tuesday in Orangeburg

SCHP: James receives a message to call Moskal in reference to discussing trace evidence located on the deceased clothes in this case. Moskal tells him that he found around 10 1mm single-layer blue paint chips and advised that he needed more paint layer evidence to pinpoint a particular vehicle. Moskal tells James that the PDQ database tells him that the paint could be from an industrial tool, dumpster or sign post. Moskal notes that Toyota used this paint on its vehicles from 1982-1988.

Editor’s Note on the paint chips: 1mm is very small — the width of a pencil tip. And keep in mind, chain of custody appeared to be broken on the clothes when they were left alone at the funeral home in a bag. So it’s hard to say where those paint chips came from

Note: this is odd, because in another SLED report it says that Duncan signed a chain of custody form on August 4 and and transferred the phone with J. Conelly of the SCHP on I-95 on August 5.

• SCHP: Meets with Sandy Smith and Stephen’s relative in Orangeburg. “Unable to unlock the phone.”
• SCHP: Duncan contacts one of Stephen’s friends.
• Said she talked to him around 7 or 8 p.m. the night he died
• Just talking about school. He didn’t say where he was at or what he was doing
• “He was very likeable. Not to my knowledge did anyone not like him.”
• ” I heard it was a hit and run and that it wasn’t.”
• She didn’t hear of any other rumors as to what happened

• 8:30 a.m. SCHP: Duncan meets with Lance Cpl. Conley and is given the iPad
• 9:42 a.m. SCHP: Duncan interviews Cpl. David Rowell
• SCHP put a billboard up on Sandy Run Road asking for tips in Stephen Smith’s case.
• “We haven’t really found anything that would indicate to us that it’s vehicle involved,” Rowell said
• SCHP: Duncan notes he returned iPad to Stephen’s sister.

11:15 a.m. SCHP: Duncan calls Stephen’s friend — who we will call “Britney.”

• Duncan says Stephen’s relative called him to say that she saw Britney at church and Britney had information about Stephen’s death. Duncan asked her to email him this information.
• Britney tells him that “another friend of mine” had texted her and asked her “Were Buster and Stephen together?”
• She told the friend “No. Not that I knew of. Why?”
• He responded that he had heard it.
• She asked the friend from whom and he said he didn’t know, just that he’d heard it.
• Duncan responds, “OK so he didn’t have anything to base that upon except for more or less a rumor, is that correct?”
• Duncan asks Britney whether she had ever heard of Stephen and Buster being together before this.
• She says she had not.
• Duncan asks to make sure that this was the first she had heard the rumor and Britney says yes
• Duncan asks Britney whether she knew Stephen was gay. She says “I did”
• Duncan asks her whether she had heard any rumors about Stephen’s death that she “just knew wasn’t true other than what we’ve been talking about.” She says no. “That’s the only thing that I heard”
• Duncan asks her if anything curious happened at his funeral or afterward that stuck out as unusual to her. She says not that she’s aware of.
• She says a boy named (we will called him “Jack“) told her about the rumor, and then
• DUNCAN’S NOTES: “Contacted (“Britney”) in reference to Stephen Smith death…. States a boy named (” Jack”) ask if Stephen and Buster Murdaugh ever had any type of relationship.”

SCHP: Duncan calls Jack and leaves a message

10:35 a.m. SCHP: Jack calls Duncan.

• Duncan tells Jack that he knows he sent a text to Britney.
• Jack knows Stephen (he confirms)
• Duncan asked if Buster Murdaugh had any relationship with Stephen. Said he had heard it.
• Jack said “I’ve heard the rumor.”
• Do you know any info if that’s true or not? “Not at all.
• When asked if he knows anything about about Stephen’s death, Jack says “No sir, not at all.”
• Jack said that’s the only rumor he’s heard in relation to Stephen’s death.
• Editor’s note: While doing a basic background search on Jack, we noticed that he was facing two different lawsuits from the Murdaugh’s law firm. Attorney John E. Parker — a powerful, well-known firm partner — filed two car accident lawsuits against Jack in late July 2015. They were both dismissed in 2016.
• SCHP: Duncan notes that he continues to look through information downloaded from Smith’s iPad. “Still trying to get a timeline. No new information.” The iPad “was at Orangeburg Tech the night before his death according to breadcrumbs file.”
• SCHP: According to the chain of custody report, investigator Todd Proctor transferred the rape kit to another person (see below) at a location that says “TR 6a” on August 11 ,2015.

SCHP: Duncan calls Mike. It goes straight to voicemail. Leaves message

SCHP: Duncan speaks to Sandy Smith. She gives him the phone number of “a person that may know some information.”

SCHP: Duncan calls “Ben”. Leaves message

SCHP: Duncan calls a woman because Sandy Smith said she might have information about Smith’s death. Phone rings four times. No voicemail. He never calls back

SCHP: Stephen’s relative told Duncan that a man told her there was a green Jeep following Stephen on the he died or the day before. There is no note of Duncan ever trying to contact this man.

12:42 p.m. SCHP: Duncan interviews a man — “Ben” — over the phone. Sandy Smith told Duncan the previous day that he had information on Stephen’s death.

Ben worked at Hardee’s in Hampton

He went to school with Stephen, but never hung out with him outside of school

He said a white man in his 30s and 40s came looking for him and Ben called the police and told them about it. And then his coworker said he was looking for him again. He said he knew Ben from hanging out with Stephen and him before.

When asked if he’s heard any rumors about Stephen’s death, he said he heard that “he was running in the woods from somebody.”

He then said he thought he was running from an older guy. (“Maybe it was some guy he was messing with and nobody knew and Stephen was going to bring him out”).

SCHP: Lance Cpl. Conley interviews a man Hilton Head after Sandy Smith found a day pass for a Hilton Head gated community with his name on it.

• He was older and recently divorced.
• He met Stephen online, but said “no money exchanged.”
• He said he doesn’t t do “this kind of thing very often.
• He said they hooked up on June 28, but it was a one-night stand.
• He said he texted him a few times after that and didn’t realize he had passed away until Sandy contacted him.

SLED: The crime scene investigation summary from James B. Tallon III is issued.

SLED mailed crime scene photos to Inv. Perry Singleton of HCSO and Coroner Ernie Washington.

• 9:21 a.m. SCHP: Proctor meets up with Kevin.
• Kevin says he first heard Stephen was shot but then heard it was a hit and run.
• He says recently, in the past week, week and a half, he heard that two or three people were riding around 601 and saw Stephen on the side of the road and were messing around with him, “stuck something out the window”
• Kevin says he heard it was Buster Murdaugh. “Kind of out of character to who I knew.”
• He says the person who told him this, though, said that Buster was on drugs
• Kevin says “I hate to only be able to give you hearsay. I hate it because the main thing is whether that is the case or not the case, there is still somebody who lost a child, lost a brother, lost a family member and that’s just not right.”
• Proctor asks him who Kevin heard this from. “A fellow named (Jack’s real name).”
• Kevin says that Jack told him that Buster and (a man who we will call “Trevor”) tried to sell him cocaine at a party at Moselle
• Kevin says that Trevor just moved to Oklahoma, which he says is weird.
• “It’s just weird to me,” Kevin says. “All this, it could be a very strange coincidence but it’s just weird to me”
• Trevor was “bad on drugs,” according to Kevin.
• Proctor asks Kevin whether he thinks Trevor was in the car. Kevin says it “fits the mold”
• “There’s some part inside me that says there’s a possibility,” he says of Kevin being in the car.
• Proctor asks about Trevor moving. Kevin says he found this out through Facebook.
• Kevin gives Proctor the run-down of where he got the heard the rumor from.
• Kevin says doesn’t understand why law enforcement hasn’t gone straight to (name of guy who appears to be source of the rumor).
• Proctor says he heard that Buster and the guys were coming back from a baseball game.
• Kevin says Buster and whoever was with him were coming from the Murdaughs’ house in Moselle on 601.
• Proctor asks whether Kevin knows if Buster was driving.
• “I would imagine so,” Kevin says, adding that Kevin usually was the one to drive when his friends were driving around.
• Kevin says Buster used to drive a Suburban, but would sometimes drive a black F-150 or an F-250.
• Kevin says he has no idea who else was in the car.

On Dec. 15, the SCHP received a tip from Darrell Williams, who says his stepson Patrick Wilson told him that Shawn Connelly “struck and killed Stephen Smith.”

At the time, Patrick Wilson was being represented by attorney Cory Fleming, who was Alex Murdaugh’s best friend, for multiple attempted murder charges. Those charges were later dropped by the solicitor’s office, where Alex worked as a volunteer solicitor and Randolph Murdaugh, Alex’s father, worked as a part-time prosecutor.

Mr. Williams stated that the reason that he was passing this information on was because Randy Murdaugh told him to call,” Proctor wrote in his report.

On December 21, 2015, Duncan interviewed Nick Ginn of the Hampton Police department about what Darrell Williams had told Ginn regarding Patrick Wilson. According to Ginn, Wilson told Williams that Shawn Connelly was drunk and had hit something that night. Ginn said Connelly came back the next day, saw cops and learned through the media somebody had been killed. He said Shawn called Patrick crying and told him what happened. Soon after Stephen’s death, two lawsuits were filed against Shawn Connelly (who was a teenager at the time) by the Murdaugh law firm.

On December 21, 2015, Duncan interviewed Nick Ginn of the Hampton Police department about what Darrell Williams had told Ginn regarding Patrick Wilson. According to Ginn, Wilson told Williams that Shawn Connelly was drunk and had hit something that night. Ginn said Connelly came back the next day, saw cops and learned through the media somebody had been killed. He said Shawn called Patrick crying and told him what happened. Soon after Stephen’s death, two lawsuits were filed against Shawn Connelly (who was a teenager at the time) by the Murdaugh law firm.

On December 21, 2015, Duncan interviewed Nick Ginn of the Hampton Police department about what Darrell Williams had told Ginn regarding Patrick Wilson. According to Ginn, Wilson told Williams that Shawn Connelly was drunk and had hit something that night. Ginn said Connelly came back the next day, saw cops and learned through the media somebody had been killed. He said Shawn called Patrick crying and told him what happened. Soon after Stephen’s death, two lawsuits were filed against Shawn Connelly (who was a teenager at the time) by the Murdaugh law firm.

On December 21, 2015, Duncan interviewed Nick Ginn of the Hampton Police department about what Darrell Williams had told Ginn regarding Patrick Wilson. According to Ginn, Wilson told Williams that Shawn Connelly was drunk and had hit something that night. Ginn said Connelly came back the next day, saw cops and learned through the media somebody had been killed. He said Shawn called Patrick crying and told him what happened. Soon after Stephen’s death, two lawsuits were filed against Shawn Connelly (who was a teenager at the time) by the Murdaugh law firm.

On December 21, 2015, Duncan interviewed Nick Ginn of the Hampton Police department about what Darrell Williams had told Ginn regarding Patrick Wilson. According to Ginn, Wilson told Williams that Shawn Connelly was drunk and had hit something that night. Ginn said Connelly came back the next day, saw cops and learned through the media somebody had been killed. He said Shawn called Patrick crying and told him what happened. Soon after Stephen’s death, two lawsuits were filed against Shawn Connelly (who was a teenager at the time) by the Murdaugh law firm.

“The Murdaughs are probably the most prominent family in Hampton County,” Sandy Smith wrote to the FBI. “Stephen had on more than one occasion mentioned to friends and his twin sister that he was involved romantically with someone from a prominent family in the county who was hiding his sexuality. He said it would shock people to know this person was gay. We suspect this could be the young man Stephen was referring to, though he never named him.” Letter

 During that investigation, the Murdaugh name — a powerful local family known for their longstanding law firm — was mentioned dozens of times as possibly being connected to Smith’s death. However, no member of the Murdaugh family was ever questioned, and no charges were filed.

In June 2021, nearly six years after Smith was found dead, South Carolina’s top law enforcement agency announced that they were reopening the investigation into his death. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) revealed that the investigation was launched “based upon information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.” However, SLED did not specify what information had led to the reopening of the investigation.

The former South Carolina Highway Patrol investigator Todd Proctor told Fox News that it looked like Stephen’s body was placed in the middle of the road.

As SLED begins its probe into Stephen’s death, it’s important to look back on the 2015 investigation to see what went awry.

On March 21, 2023, Smith’s death was officially ruled a homicide by SLED. “SLED officials have revealed that they did not need to exhume Stephen Smith’s body to convince them that his death was a homicide. However, they will be present and participate in any exhumation of Stephen’s body to gather more evidence,” the Bland Richter Law Firm said in a statement.

March 2023, Smith’s family announced that they’d raised enough money through a GoFundMe campaign to have the deceased exhumed and a new autopsy conducted. Less than two weeks later, Smith’s body was exhumed and given a second autopsy, according to Sandy Smith’s attorney Eric Bland.

On April 4, 2023, the second autopsy was declared “a success” by forensic expert Dr. Kenneth Kinsey, who told NewsNation that investigators “did collect evidence, it was very good documentation, and everybody was upbeat about the information that was collected.”