Stephen Smith's death was declared a homicide following new evidence uncovered during the investigation into the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, for which family patriarch Alex Murdaugh was found guilty, according to state authorities.
The family of Stephen Smith, whose 2015 death was thrust into the spotlight during the investigation of Alex Murdaugh in connection with the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul, is offering a $35,000 reward for information leading to an arrest following the exhumation and new autopsy of Smith’s body over the weekend.
“This is a trying time for the Smith family, this weekend in particular,” said Smith family lawyer Eric Bland, of Bland Richter law firm.
The family conducted an independently funded autopsy, thanks to donations raised through a GoFundMe that will also go toward reward money, the law firm said. Bland told Inside Edition in an earlier interview that they hoped their own “properly credentialed criminal forensic expert” will identify a cause of death.
Smith was 19 years old and openly gay when he was found dead along the side of a country road near the Murdaugh estate eight years ago. He was rumored to have had a relationship with Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, according to a Netflix documentary.
While the official cause of death was originally recorded as a blunt force trauma due to a hit-and-run, South Carolina State Police said earlier this month that new evidence uncovered during Murdaugh’s investigation is now ruling Smith’s death a homicide.
“Stephen, for many years, I could only imagine, was not so at peace in his grave,” Bland said announcing the exhumation.
Buster unequivocally denied any wrongdoing. "These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false,” he said in a statement. “I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family."
