re: Murdaugh Saga continues...

Today's FitsNews article:

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On September 28, 2016 – a little over fourteen months after her son’s murder – Sandy Smith wrote a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters in Washington, D.C. seeking the agency’s assistance in her son’s case.

In her letter to the FBI (.pdf) – one of the first case files we are releasing – Smith noted “it has been apparent from the first week of this investigation that authorities are covering up critical evidence, and we no longer know who to trust.”

“This investigation is being deliberately derailed,” Smith wrote.

Smith made it clear in her letter the primary suspect in her son’s death was Buster Murdaugh – and that the Murdaugh family was attempting to cover up his involvement in the crime.

“The first call my family received after the murder was from authorities notifying us of Stephen’s death,” Smith wrote. “The second came very quickly the same morning from solicitor Randolph Murdaugh. In fact, he called my ex-husband’s cell phone as we waited in the police station for a positive identification. He said he heard of the case and was interested in working pro bono as a liaison between the family and investigators.”

“Stephen’s father accepted the offer, although we were unsure why Mr. Murdaugh wanted to help us,” Smith continued. “We also weren’t sure how he found out so quickly – even before it was confirmed to be our son.”

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According to Sandy Smith, “surprisingly, after just a few interactions, Mr. Murdaugh stopped returning our calls.”

Shortly thereafter, Smith’s twin sister – 26-year-old Stephanie Joyner – was approached “multiple times by peers” who indicated the Murdaughs were somehow involved in her brother’s death.

Joyner, readers will recall, has a child with Yemassee, S.C. police chief Greg Alexander – an alleged Murdaugh family “fixer” who is said to be the focus of an ongoing statewide grand jury investigation related to the family.

“As a family, it was suspicious to us since he had taken such an immediate interest in the case and then became unreachable so quickly,” Smith wrote in her letter to the FBI.

Several weeks later, Smith said an unnamed witness told yet another member of her family that he was present when Stephen was murdered – and that the killer was Buster Murdaugh. According to this witness, Buster Murdaugh allegedly “beat Stephen to death with a baseball bat … because Stephen was gay.”

“The witness said they were out smashing mailboxes when they came upon Stephen, and Buster seized the opportunity,” Smith wrote in her letter. “The young man (said) that Buster threatened to kill him if he ever spoke up. This information was given to investigators but nothing has come of it.”

Smith also reported an “alleged conversation” between a schoolmate of Buster’s littler brother, Paul, and school officials.

“I was told (the schoolmate) claimed to have knowledge of the murder and implicated Buster as the murderer,” she wrote.

Again, though, Sandy Smith claimed in her letter to the feds that was “no further follow-up” on this information.

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“The Murdaughs are probably the most prominent family in Hampton County,” Sandy Smith wrote to the FBI. “Stephen had on more than one occasion mentioned to friends and his twin sister that he was involved romantically with someone from a prominent family in the county who was hiding his sexuality. He said it would shock people to know this person was gay. We suspect this could be the young man Stephen was referring to, though he never named him.”

Sandy Smith went on to accuse Buster Murdaugh of getting rid of his “old vehicle” following the murder – which according to her was “critical” because she and others believed “there (was) DNA in Buster’s old vehicle.”

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Smith’s twin sister – 26-year-old Stephanie Joyner – was approached “multiple times by peers” who indicated the Murdaughs were somehow involved in her brother’s death. Joyner, readers will recall, has a child with Yemassee, S.C. police chief Greg Alexander – an alleged Murdaugh family “fixer” who is said to be the focus of an ongoing statewide grand jury investigation related to the family.

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Wow. That’s a twist worthy of this crazy crime saga.

Check out the Prosecutor's podcast (great podcast btw) on the Murdaugh murder episode part 4 in the middle of it they give a TLDR of the things that do not add up. Pretty likely this was not a hit and run, there is also a good bit of evidence pointing to someone in the Murdaugh orbit at the very least having some serious "Skin in the game" but i'd guess at this point it’s unlikely enough evidence will be gathered to actually convict anyone. Quick summary:

-Kid would have had to be walking down the center of the road in the middle of the night. Doesn’t make sense.
-There was blunt force trauma to the head but ZERO other evidence of any injuries or even abrasions on the body and the shoes where still on. Makes a hit and run almost impossible.
-Gas cap to the kids car was left open to stage this like he was going to look for gas, but his wallet and phone were still in the car? you're not walking away from the car without your phone and wallet.
-No signs of braking at all. Even people who end up hitting and running almost always slam on breaks right before they hit someone or right after.
- No car or side mirror debris anywhere on site at all.
-Immediately after it happened Randy Murdaugh (Alex’s brother and law partner) called Smith’s mother and offered to represent her for free and ask for all his electronics and passwords.
- Murdaugh law firm investigators were on the scene as soon as the cops were and were snooping around.
-rumors that Smith was in a relationship of some sort with an in the closet "prominent local man" and had a fishing trip planned with him.

Almost impossible it was a simple hit and run. Seems much more likely that someone beat the shite out of this kid with a baseball bat and dumped the body. There is a lot of smoke that the Murdaugh’s were trying to control the investigation most likely to protect someone. Everything beyond that seems to be speculation, but not unreasonable speculation.

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I watched the documentary on HBO MAX awhile back, but I haven't really followed the trial much. Anyway, in the documentary, it starts off with the son who was driving a boat with several friends in it and they were drinking. One of the girls, the girlfriend of one of the guys who were in the boat, never came up and her body was later found right?

So that was ruled an accident? And the son who was driving the boat is the one that got killed right?

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you left out the important part where the boat crashed into a bridge pier.

Looks like Bus Bus had to make a statement:

LINK

i think the big thing everyone is wondering about is:

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While investigating the deaths of Buster’s mother and younger brother, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced it uncovered new information about Stephen’s death.

Read more at: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article273360075.html#storylink=cpy

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Hampton County Coroner Ernie Washington referred to Smith's head wound as a "gunshot wound," pointed to the

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I recall, from the HBO doc, that a SC highway patrolman, who was on the scene said it was blunt force trauma and not a hit and run. I don’t remember the specifics, but this officer said that usually the HP would investigate a hit and run, but the state somehow took the case from them.

Fact that this investigation was re-opened based on things they found investigating Maggie and Paul means a Murdaugh is almost certainly involved.

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The kid had a bullet hole in his head What dumbasses downvoted this? Stephen had a gunshot wound to the head

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Was it shown in the autopsy report?

My understanding was that there wasn’t a gunshot wound