Timeline: The mysterious death of Stephen Smith in Murdaugh country
CBSN
While investigating the murders of Alex Murdaugh's wife Maggie and son Paul in June 2021, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) stumbled across a clue in another mysterious death — that of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old who'd been found dead on July 8, 2015. His death was ruled a hit and run even though investigators at the scene found no evidence of one, and the case had gone cold until SLED's discovery after the Murdaugh murders brought it back to life. SLED announced it would be renewing the investigation into Smith's death, sparking new theories and reviving old rumors.
SLED has never said what it found that led them back to Stephen Smith, but through reports and interviews found in the 2015 case file 48 Hours pieced together what happened in the original investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The story of Stephen Smith's death begins with his final conversation with his mother, just a week before his death.
