The death of a South Carolina man who was found on a rural road around 15 miles from the home of now-convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has been investigated as a homicide, a state law enforcement agency said Tuesday.
Lawyers of the family of Stephen Smith, 19, said the homicide investigation was a major development. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said it has been investigating it since 2021.
“SLED is investigating Stephen Smith’s 2015 death as a homicide and been investigating this since 2021,” agency spokesperson Renée Wunderlich said Tuesday.
No one has been arrested or charged in Smith's death. His body was found on a rural road in Hampton County around 4 a.m. on July 8, 2015, around 15 miles from the Murdaugh home.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
Alex Murdaugh, an attorney from a prominent South Carolina family, was convicted on March 2 of murder and other counts in the killings of his wife, Maggie, and their youngest son, 22-year-old Paul.
Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.
