The death of a South Carolina man who was found on a rural road around 15 miles from the home of now-convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has been investigated as a homicide, a state law enforcement agency said Tuesday.
Lawyers of the family of Stephen Smith, 19, said the homicide investigation was a major development. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said it has been investigating it since 2021.
“SLED is investigating Stephen Smith’s 2015 death as a homicide and been investigating this since 2021,” agency spokesperson Renée Wunderlich said Tuesday.
No one has been arrested or charged in Smith's death. His body was found on a rural road in Hampton County around 4 a.m. on July 8, 2015, around 15 miles from the Murdaugh home.
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Alex Murdaugh, an attorney from a prominent South Carolina family, was convicted on March 2 of murder and other counts in the killings of his wife, Maggie, and their youngest son, 22-year-old Paul.
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