In a letter to the FBI in 2016, Stephen Smith’s mother mentioned Buster Murdaugh as a possible suspect in her son’s suspicious death, and she also mentioned their alleged secret romantic relationship.
Sandy Smith, in a letter published by Fit News on Monday, accused local authorities of “covering up crucial evidence” to protect Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son.
Stephen, 19, was discovered dead on July 8, 2015 near the 1,700-acre Moselle estate, where Alex would murder Maggie and Paul Murdaugh six years later.
Initially, police stated that the death “appeared to be a homicide,” but ultimately determined that he was the victim of a hit-and-run.
The grieving mother, who has long contested the death sentence, stated that the Murdaugh family was involved in Stephen’s death almost immediately.
Sandy wrote that the first call her family received after the murder was from authorities informing them of Stephen’s death.
The second response arrived very quickly the same morning from attorney Randolph Murdaugh. In fact, he called my ex-cell husband’s phone while we waited for positive identification at the police station. He indicated that he was interested in acting as a liaison between the family and investigators pro bono.”
The Smith family accepted the offer from Alex Murdaugh’s brother, despite their confusion as to how Randolph discovered the death so quickly. However, Randolph allegedly abandoned his family in the weeks that followed.
The letter states that within days of Stephen’s death, multiple teenagers approached his twin sister Stephanie and accused Buster and Paul of murder.
Christopher, the older brother of Stephen, was informed by a classmate that he witnessed Buster kill Stephen with a baseball bat.
Sandy wrote, “He claimed it was because Stephen was gay.”
“According to the witness, they were out vandalising mailboxes when they encountered Stephen and Buster, who seized the opportunity.”
The mother believed Buster, now 26, was carrying on a secret romantic relationship with her son — a rumor repeated by former classmates and explored on a Netflix documentary.
Stephen had alluded to dating “someone from a prominent family in the county who was hiding his sexuality,” but never revealed their name, his mom said.
The letter states that Buster, who on Monday “categorically” denied “malicious rumours” that he was involved in the murder, abandoned the car he was allegedly driving the night of the murder, which police were unable to recover.
Sandy cited additional inconsistencies in the police investigation and accused officers of “deliberately” derailing the investigation.
Sandy stated, without elaboration, that in September 2015 he was approached by a man claiming to have knowledge of a decades-old criminal case that was swept under the rug to protect a different member of the Murdaugh family.
“This came as no surprise to me. I see history repeating itself with my son — no one here is trying to solve our case.”
Officials announced Tuesday they are investigating Stephen’s death as a homicide and plan to look for the teen’s killer after exhuming the body for more clues.