News Tries
- For years, rumors circulated all through the county that Stephen Smith’s loss of life was linked to the Murdoff household.
- With the highlight waning on Alex Murdo, the Smith household feels it is time to shed some new gentle on their homicide case.
- On March 10, Sandy Smith organized a GoFundMe web page to assist with the search and post-mortem of Stephen Smith. In a single week, the fund raised over $41k.
Within the wake of the double homicide of Richard “Alex” Murdoff, the household of a South Carolina teen found dead in 2015 is launching a renewed marketing campaign to uncover the reality in a years-old “cold case.” funds have been raised for an exhumation and independent autopsymentioned the lady’s mom.
From January 23 till its conclusion on March 2—when Murdoff’s trial attracted the world’s media and public consideration—when Murdoff was found responsible of murdering his spouse and son—Sandy Smith impatiently awaited its conclusion. However she has been ready for eight years.
The physique of her son, Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old nursing pupil, was found mendacity in the center of a rural street in Hampton County, not removed from the hospital. Murdaugh’s property in Colton County on July 8, 2015. He died of blunt force trauma to the head, but there was controversy surrounding the matter from the start.
At first, authorities ruled the death a hit-and-run, but investigators later deemed it a homicide based on evidence at the scene.
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For years, rumors circulated throughout the county that the case was linked to the Murdog family. The name came up dozens of times in witness statements to the police, yet the case went cold and to this day there have been no arrests or official confirmation whether the case is in fact Murdaf’s.
The unsolved murder mystery found new life in July 2021, when the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division launched a new investigation into Smith’s murder, “based on information gathered during the double murder investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdoff.”
With the spotlight waning on Alex Murdo, the Smith family feels it’s time to shed some new light on their murder case. A GoFundMe campaign has been started to raise funds for an exhumation and independent autopsy of Stephen Smith’s remains.
Opinion:Why did Alex Murdoff escape the death penalty? Maybe it’s because he’s white and rich.
GoFundMe raised over $41K in just one week
On March 10, Sandy Smith organized a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the excavation and independent autopsy.
The fundraising goal was $15,000 — but in just one week, that page says it has raised $41,034.
According to the GoFundMe page, if Smith’s body is exhumed, the Smith family does not want the state to perform the autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where such studies are typically conducted in the region. Are.
“We feel it is important to seek a new target – an independent exhumation and autopsy,” Page tells WebMD. “While the state may elect to and fund an exhumation and new autopsy, it is our understanding that it will be performed at MUSC, where her death was initially classified as a hit-and-run, There was no evidence to support it.”
“We need a fresh, unbiased look at her body and an accurate determination of her cause of death based on the facts. There was no debris in the road, and her injuries were not consistent with a hit-and-run.”
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The site also states that the autopsy alone is expected to cost $7,000. In addition, “a private medical examiner must be present from the start of the excavation through the examination period at a cost of approximately $750 per hour.”
Thanks to recent generous donors, it now appears to be possible.
“The family of Stephen N. Smith is incredibly grateful for the love and support we have received from Standing for Stephen and the entire community. You have been monumental in shedding light on Stephen’s story and the lack of justice,” stated Smith’s page .
“Thank you for not allowing Stephen’s story to be swept under a rug. We will be pursuing the dig immediately and will provide updates along the way.”
#StandingForStephen gives way to #JusticeForStephen
When media reports of the Murdo cases began sweeping the country, it sparked a movement for justice and support for LGBTQ teens like Smith called #StandingForStephen. That movement raised thousands and helped the Smith family build a monument at their son’s grave.
#StandingForStephen has now been replaced by a new initiative #JusticeForStephen.
The effort appears to have begun during the height of the Murdaugh murder trial. In February, Smith began posting about it on his Facebook page, revealing plans to exhume his son’s body for further investigation.
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Smith household releases assertion following Alex Murdo verdict
Within the days following the double homicide of Alex Murdo, the Smith household launched the next assertion: