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The eldest son of lawyer Alex Murdaugh demands that he be separated from the death of a young man run over in 2015

2023-03-20T16:39:02.714Z


"These unfounded rumors about my involvement with Stephen [Smith] and his death are false," he says. The family of the dead young man will exhume the body for another autopsy.


Catie Beck, Dennis Romero and Julianne McShane -

NBC News

Buster Murdaugh, eldest son of former lawyer and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh, asked that his name not be used in media coverage of the death of Stephen Smith, whose body was found in 2015 on a rural road in Hampton County, South Carolina.

The 26-year-old has not been linked to the death of Smith, who was 19 when he was found three miles from his car, which ran out of gas 15 miles from the Murdaugh family home.

[What is known about Buster, the only living son of the lawyer convicted of double murder Alex Murdaugh]

"These unfounded rumors about my involvement with Stephen and his death are false," he said in a statement on Monday, "I strongly deny any involvement in his death, my heart goes out to his family," and "I ask the media to stop publishing immediately these defamatory comments and rumors".

It has been reported that Murdaugh and Smith attended high school together in South Carolina, but this has not been verified by NBC News, Noticias Telemundo's sister network.

Buster Murdaugh, at his father's trial on February 22. Joshua Boucher / AP

Una autopsia realizada en 2015 por médicos de la Universidad de Carolina del Sur concluyó que Smith fue atropellado por un vehículo. Como evidencia citaron que el joven tenía el tronco encefálico estirado, abrasiones y contusiones irregulares y sangre en las vías respiratorias. El informe descartó la posibilidad de disparos, señalando la falta de proyectiles o fragmentos de bala en el cuerpo.

El periódico The Island Packet reportó que algunos investigadores no médicos creían que Smith presentaba una herida defensiva, un elemento que pudo llevar a las autoridades a considerar el caso como un posible homicidio.

[Exhumarán el cadáver del adolescente que fue atropellado cerca de la finca de Alex Murdaugh]

La publicación se basó en un informe de los primeros investigadores del caso en el que se reportó que no existían pruebas en la escena —como cristales rotos, restos de carrocería, señales de tráfico rotas— que indicaran que fue atropellado por el conductor de un vehículo que luego se diera a la fuga. 

Los médicos que hicieron la autopsia no estuvieron de acuerdo con esta versión; hasta ahora no se ha hallado el auto supuestamente implicado ni a la persona que lo conducía.

Sandy Smith, madre del joven, confirmó el viernes que usará el dinero recaudado en una campaña de donaciones en internet para exhumar el cuerpo de su hijo y someterlo a un examen médico independiente, pues no cree en la versión del atropello y fuga.

Jurados que sentenciaron a Murdaugh revelan que no lo percibieron "genuino" cuando lloró en la corte

March 7, 202300:59

“We need a new and impartial review of his body and an accurate determination of his cause of death based on the facts,” he wrote on his GoFundMe page.

Smith's death was included in a South Carolina Division of Law Enforcement investigation into the June killings of Buster Murdaugh's mother, Margaret, 52, and his younger brother, Paul, 22. of 2021.

["We Didn't Believe Her Crying": Jurors Who Convicted Alex Murdaugh Explain Why They Did]

On March 2, Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of two counts of murder for the shooting deaths of his wife and youngest son on a family property.

The next day,

he was sentenced to life in prison without parole

.

He has already announced that he will appeal.

Prosecutors say he committed the killings to garner sympathy and divert attention from an investigation into financial irregularities, with allegations of stealing from customers.

This video was key to securing the conviction of Alex Murdaugh for the double murder of his wife and son

March 3, 202302:11

Buster testified Monday that he is harassed by the media,

following him on his road trips, parking in front of his home and photographing him at his home on Hilton Head Island, according to incident reports from Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

“I have done everything possible to ignore the vicious rumors about my involvement in the tragic death of Stephen Smith that continue to be published in the media while I suffer from the brutal murders of my mother and brother,” he said in the statement, “the I love you very much and I miss you terribly."

At a press conference on Monday about the effort to exhume Smith's body, Ronnie Richter, one of the attorneys working on the case, was asked about Buster's statement.

[Influential lawyer Alex Murdaugh is found guilty of murdering his wife and youngest son in South Carolina]

“We haven't mentioned Buster's name once.

This is not about Buster Murdaugh, this is about Stephen Smith

,” Richter stated.

"There is no reason to talk about Buster Murdaugh and there is no comment to be made."

Richter's partner, Eric Bland, added: “As we sit here today, Buster is a victim: he lost his mother, his brother and now his father is in jail.

Buster, as we know, has nothing to do with this, and whatever is mentioned in the records, that's what investigators are going to look at, but we're not aware of Buster or the Murdaughs having anything to do with this right now. .

We start with fresh eyes.”

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2023-03-20

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