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1:06

I don't know who killed

1:08

Steven Smith. But. We

1:10

recently obtained thousands of files that

1:13

tell us more about who Steven

1:15

was in, what is life looked

1:17

like around the time he died.

1:20

The. More we find out about

1:22

Stevens life, the closer we get

1:25

to answering the big questions about

1:27

his death. My. Name is

1:29

merely matney. This is True

1:32

Sunlight a podcast exposing crime

1:34

and corruption previously known as

1:36

the Murdoch Murders podcast. True.

1:38

Sunlight is a Lunar shark production

1:40

written with journalists. Lives Pharaoh. This

2:01

past weekend marked five years since

2:03

the boat crash that killed Mallory

2:05

Beach. Five years since

2:07

the beginning of the end of the

2:09

Murdoch dynasty. Five years

2:11

of investigating. Five years of

2:14

people awakening to the fact that if

2:16

they don't speak up now, nothing will

2:18

ever change. Five years

2:20

of a fight to change South

2:22

Carolina's justice system. That fight that

2:24

was joined by millions around the

2:26

world. Five years of

2:28

peeling back layers that just

2:31

kept getting worse. Five

2:33

years. And we

2:35

are still not done with this

2:38

nightmare. In the

2:40

last week, I've been stuck in the

2:42

past flipping through on this day photos

2:44

on my phone because of the amount

2:47

of significant events that took place on

2:49

this week. Eight years ago

2:51

this week, I moved to Hilton Head to

2:53

start my life in South Carolina. Five

2:56

years ago this week, Mallory Beach was killed

2:58

in a boating accident that changed life as

3:00

we know it in the Low Country. On

3:03

one year ago this week, Alec Murdoch was

3:06

convicted of murder. A moment

3:08

few Low Country locals ever imagined

3:10

seeing in their lifetime. A Murdoch

3:12

held to account in his own

3:15

home court. It was

3:17

a big deal. And side

3:19

note, Soak Up The Sun premium members

3:21

are invited to join the Luna Shark

3:23

team this week as we look back

3:25

through some of the most memorable moments

3:28

from Alec Murdoch's double homicide trial. The

3:30

broadcast and chat will start at 11am

3:33

Eastern on Thursday, February 29th.

3:36

And even after all of this

3:38

time has passed, as much as

3:40

things change, they still stay the

3:42

same. A screenshot from

3:44

five years ago today just reminded me

3:46

of that. It was from a source

3:48

who received a text in the days

3:51

after Mallory Beach was killed and no

3:53

one had been arrested. The text said,

3:55

quote, DNR and the Sheriff's office is

3:57

going to protect this family at all

3:59

costs. Going viral is

4:01

the only way Mallory gets justice.

4:04

These were the types of messages

4:07

that were flooding our phones that

4:09

week, sounding the alarm that we

4:11

heard so clearly. And five years

4:13

later, has the system really changed?

4:16

On Saturday, which was a five-year

4:18

anniversary of Mallory Beach's death, Beach

4:20

family attorney Mark Tenzli tweeted, five

4:22

years ago today, Mallory Beach lost

4:25

her life. Five years

4:27

ago today, her family waited for

4:29

her body to be found, while

4:31

some people in law enforcement tried

4:33

to help Elick. Five years later,

4:35

those people still have badges and

4:37

SC is still second and DUI

4:40

related deaths. Do better,

4:42

demand more. Mark

4:44

is right. We

4:46

must do better and we must

4:48

demand more if we really

4:50

want to change the system. Some

4:52

of the members of law enforcement

4:55

who appeared to have helped Elick

4:57

and Randolph in their apparent mission

4:59

to steer the investigation away from

5:01

Paul, not only still carry badges,

5:03

but some have even switched agencies.

5:05

Some have been promoted and awarded.

5:08

These are men who chose to

5:10

look the other way, chose to

5:12

not write down what they were

5:14

hearing, chose to intentionally bungal elements

5:16

of their investigations. Men

5:19

who allowed the Murdoch family behind

5:21

the crime scene tape, who thought

5:23

about the needs of the Murdoch

5:25

family above the needs of the

5:27

Beach family, who forgot to turn

5:29

on their body cameras or who

5:32

allowed body camera footage to disappear.

5:34

They all collect salaries paid to

5:36

them by taxpayers and

5:38

they all will collect retirement

5:40

paid to them by taxpayers

5:43

and they get to continue to use

5:45

their authority to make life and death

5:47

decisions about the taxpayers who pay them

5:50

even though they have proven to us

5:53

that some people don't matter as much

5:55

when people like the Murdochs are involved.

5:59

Nothing changes. Nothing

6:01

gets better. The

6:03

world saw what Elick and Randolph tried

6:06

to do in the boat crash case.

6:08

They saw how Elick abused his badge

6:10

by waving it around the hospital by

6:12

letting it hang obscenely out of his

6:14

pocket so it was visible to law

6:17

enforcement and to anyone who dared to

6:19

question him when he tried to enter the

6:21

other kid's room. The

6:23

civil cases that emerged from the boat

6:25

crash in the investigation into Maggie and

6:28

Paul's murders showed us all what an

6:30

investigation looks like when it involves a

6:32

member of the Murdoch family. And

6:35

five years later, we are still seeing

6:37

so many similarities between the boat crash

6:40

and the Steven Smith case. In

6:42

both cases, law enforcement failed to

6:45

do their jobs to preserve key

6:47

evidence in the initial investigation.

6:50

And yet, in both cases,

6:52

law enforcement has not been held to account

6:54

for that. Before

6:59

we get into our recent reporting on

7:01

the Steven Smith case, let's talk about

7:03

a few updates from Sled that I

7:05

don't think we've reported on before. I

7:07

say I don't think we've reported on

7:09

before because honestly, I don't remember and

7:11

we need to make this clear. When

7:14

we were going through old notes this past week,

7:16

we were reminded of this information and

7:19

it was one of those things that

7:21

we were both like, I vaguely remember

7:23

this. This happens a lot when

7:25

you've been covering a case for this long,

7:28

not to mention a case that has included

7:30

two and a half solid years of breaking

7:32

news and outrageous twists and turns. So

7:35

according to our sources, Sled has

7:37

accounted for every piece of evidence

7:39

meaning nothing is missing including the

7:41

rape kit that seemed to disappear

7:43

in the thin air according to

7:45

the case file. Also

7:47

Sled has cracked Steven's phone and

7:50

his iPad. All of this

7:52

is encouraging. As we said

7:54

in our last episode about Steven, we're

7:56

going to keep telling the story of

7:58

who Steven was. while focusing

8:00

on individual pieces of evidence. This

8:03

week, we're going to start sharing

8:05

everything we're learning from an initial

8:08

download of Steven's iPad and phone.

8:11

But first, we want to give an

8:13

update on the investigation that was started

8:15

last year by Sandy and her attorneys.

8:19

This week on Cup of Justice, we

8:21

talked to Dr. Kenny Kinsey, the beloved

8:24

crime scene expert who helped put Alec

8:26

Murdoch behind bars for murdering Maggie and

8:28

Paul. If you haven't already listened

8:30

to it, I highly recommend you do because it

8:33

was a really great conversation. Obviously,

8:36

we discussed the trial and how it

8:38

was the messy crime scene that Alec

8:40

left behind at Moselle that night in

8:43

June 2021 that

8:45

ended up giving him away, along

8:47

with Alec's long list of relentless

8:49

lies. But more importantly, we

8:52

talked to Dr. Kinsey about the Steven

8:54

Smith case and his role in trying

8:56

to get it solved once and for

8:58

all. And we talked to him

9:00

about what he found when he launched

9:02

his investigation last March after he was

9:05

hired by Sandy Smith and her attorneys

9:07

at Bland Richter to investigate the circumstances

9:09

surrounding Steven's death. One

9:11

of the elements Dr. Kinsey looked at was

9:14

why Steven was found where he was

9:16

on Sandy Run Road. This was a

9:18

crucial question to get answered, or at

9:21

least to get the potential answers, narrowed

9:23

down to just a few. And

9:25

Dr. Kinsey was able to do that.

9:28

To that end, there were four basic

9:30

questions that he sought to answer. The

9:33

first was, was Steven killed

9:35

at a location other than where his

9:37

remains were found? The next

9:40

was, was his body manipulated

9:42

or moved in any way after

9:44

the fatal injury but before

9:46

his death? There was

9:48

also what caused the fatal

9:51

injury to Steven, and did Steven

9:53

have defensive wounds on his arms?

9:56

So there was a thought out there that Steven

9:58

might not have been injured. where his body

10:00

was found. The way his body was

10:02

positioned, it almost looked like two people could have picked

10:05

him up by his arms and legs and simply

10:07

placed him in the road to make it look like

10:09

he had been hit by a vehicle. For

10:12

instance, there are people who have

10:14

said that Steven was at a party that

10:16

night and that he was hit in the

10:18

head there and then transported to Sandy Run

10:20

Road to fabricate an accident scene. According

10:23

to Dr. Kinsey's report, Steven's body

10:25

showed no signs of defensive wounds.

10:27

As you know from the initial

10:29

autopsy report, Steven's right shoulder was

10:31

dislocated and it's still not clear

10:33

what caused that, but as far

10:36

as the scratches found on Steven's

10:38

arm, Dr. Kinsey believes

10:40

that the lack of consistency in the

10:42

pattern on his arms would indicate that

10:44

Steven got those marks from when his

10:46

arms hit the road. The

10:48

slight momentum from falling to the ground would be the

10:50

cause of that. Early on, when

10:53

we first started looking into this case

10:55

in 2019, we could see that there

10:57

was no trail of blood, nothing that

10:59

would obviously indicate that Steven's body had

11:01

been moved, but we were told

11:03

by an investigator friend of ours that the

11:05

large pool of blood had the potential to

11:07

cover up a short trail if, say, Steven

11:09

were removed from the bed of a pickup

11:11

truck and placed on the road directly behind

11:14

it. But Dr. Kinsey was able to

11:16

rule this out. He said

11:18

he believed that Steven died in the

11:20

place he was found because of a

11:22

blood pattern on Steven's face that showed

11:24

he was still breathing for an unknown

11:27

length of time after he was injured.

11:29

Time and distance would have altered

11:32

that pattern. For instance, if Steven

11:34

had been moved, there likely would

11:36

have been a visible disruption in

11:38

how those droplets presented. In

11:40

Cup of Justice, Dr. Kinsey also indicated

11:43

that a human only has so much

11:45

blood, so adults, for instance, have an

11:47

average of 10 and a half pints.

11:49

After Steven's heart stopped beating, he would

11:52

have continued to lose blood through gravity

11:54

if he had been transported. As

11:56

it was explained to us by another source, if

11:58

Steven had been moved, he likely would have

12:01

bled out before getting to Sandy Run Road and

12:03

the pooling of blood would not have been

12:05

as significant. Now in looking at

12:07

the likelihood of Steven walking the route that

12:09

he appears to have taken from his car,

12:12

Dr. Kinsey went on quite a

12:14

hike. He started at

12:16

the location where Steven's car was found nearly

12:19

three miles away on Bamberg Highway and

12:21

looked at all the ways Steven could have gotten

12:23

to the point where his body was found. In

12:26

his report, he notes that there were initial reports

12:28

that Steven may have traveled through the wooded area

12:30

on the night of his death. I

12:33

hate to split hairs here, but that isn't quite

12:35

the case. Or rather, I want

12:37

to make sure that we're clear on

12:39

what investigators were specifically told in 2015.

12:43

There weren't reports that Steven would have walked

12:45

through the woods in the sense that he

12:47

would have skipped the roadway altogether in favor

12:49

of picking his way through dense pine trees

12:51

to get home from where his car was.

12:54

It was more that he would have ducked into

12:56

the woods and hidden or walked into the woods

12:59

at that point on Sandy Run Road until

13:01

it was safe to come back out. The

13:03

main point is this. His family

13:05

has been clear that Steven would not have

13:07

been in the middle of the road if

13:09

a car was coming in either direction. They

13:12

say he would have moved immediately when he saw

13:14

the car coming in the distance. As

13:17

Dr. Kinsey notes in his report, despite a

13:19

slight curve in the road, at the point

13:21

where Steven died, he would have been able

13:24

to see a car coming for two-tenths of

13:26

a mile in either direction. In

13:28

his report, Dr. Kinsey notes that when he was there

13:30

in April 2023, the crops just west

13:34

of Steven's body were not in season, and

13:36

the woods that had been to the east

13:38

of Steven's body had now been clear-cut. We

13:40

looked at Highway Patrol photos from the night

13:43

Steven was killed and from the next day,

13:45

and you can see that to the west

13:47

of his body the field was filled with

13:49

tall corn stalks, and to the east, there

13:51

were rows of neatly planted pine trees with

13:53

some undergrowth. According To those photos,

13:55

visibility looks about the same then as it did

13:58

in the spring of 2023. Meaning.

14:01

See. Then would have been able to

14:03

see a car coming for quite some

14:05

time in either direction. If he were

14:08

simply walk down the road to get home, he would

14:10

have had plenty of time to get out of harm's

14:12

way. It's also super quiet on

14:14

that road, which means he likely would

14:16

have heard of Yoko coming in either

14:18

direction. A. Look at the

14:20

road shows that there's enough flat

14:22

grassy earth on either side to

14:24

walk on. Instead. Of

14:26

the middle of the road. Oh. Look

14:28

at the highway Patrol photos from Twenty Fifteen

14:31

shows us that the grass had not been

14:33

recently mode on either side. But. It

14:35

wasn't prohibitively tall either. The

14:37

grass was also an even meaning it was

14:39

shorter the closer you got to the road.

14:42

There. Appeared to be enough for him to

14:44

walk and not fear and encounter with a

14:46

hidden snake. Also. We.

14:49

Asked know Steve and had his I phone

14:51

with him that night. Flashlights,

14:53

Were standard on ice on starting in

14:55

twenty thirteen. We. Don't know what version

14:57

of the I phone Steven had with him that

14:59

night, but we do know that the phone he

15:01

got was from Mark. Big heart. For. At

15:04

the time indicated to investigators that the

15:06

phone with new. We'll. Unpack

15:08

the Mark the cart cell phone situation

15:10

in a later episode because there's a

15:12

lot going on there. I. Should

15:14

also remind you hear that Stevens

15:16

toxicology report so that he had no

15:19

drugs or alcohol in his system that

15:21

night. This is important. Especially

15:23

because recently they've seen a lot

15:26

of rumors out there that Steven

15:28

intentionally walked in front of a

15:30

moving vehicle. It is so

15:32

clear that the people are repeating those

15:34

rumors. Do not know this case nor

15:36

do they know much about see them

15:38

at all. And.

15:41

Will be right back. Hey.

15:45

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15:47

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17:48

okay back to the woods there were

17:51

two mentions in the case file about

17:53

steven and the woods the first was

17:55

on july seventeenth two thousand and fifteen

17:58

when his twin sister stephanie still with

18:00

South Carolina Highway Patrol Corporal

18:02

Michael Duncan please excuse his

18:04

homophobia. I'm

18:30

not sure that he got beat or anything that

18:32

it had to have been at least three people

18:35

and he had to have known them

18:37

people because you know he wouldn't

18:39

you know randomly hop in the car with somebody

18:42

you know he wouldn't he would run

18:44

in the woods for a couple miles until

18:46

he found my house before. So

18:48

if he was walking down the road for instance

18:50

let me make sure I understand what you're saying

18:52

if he's walking down because he ran out of

18:54

gas or whatever or the car broke down whatever

18:57

it been walking down the road if he saw

18:59

a car come up I

19:01

mean and on this road you can see

19:03

good business he wouldn't just stand there in

19:05

the road. No he would hurry up

19:07

and hop in the woods and if it passed

19:10

he would jump back out and if he felt

19:12

that they were you know slowing down or something

19:14

he would get farther in the woods and

19:16

keep walking until he thought it

19:18

was safe enough to come out. The second

19:21

mention was from a young man from

19:23

Stevens High School who Steven apparently used

19:25

to hook up with. He told Corporal

19:28

Duncan that he hadn't seen Steven in more

19:30

than a year but that he'd heard

19:32

some things. This interview is from August

19:34

27, 2015. And

19:38

now let me ask you this have you

19:41

heard anything strange about how Steven died or

19:43

any rumors or anything like that? Have

19:46

you heard anything off the street whether it

19:49

be about Mark or anybody else? What

19:53

I heard was they said he was

19:55

running for somebody. He said he

19:57

was running for somebody. Yeah he was running in the

19:59

woods. from a guy like he

20:01

was running from somebody in the woods.

20:05

Now, did you hear that from Stephen's

20:07

mama? No, I heard this

20:09

from my classmates. Okay, all right. And

20:11

did they even describe who it may have been?

20:14

Yeah, they said it was an older guy

20:17

who was running across. And me, it's like

20:19

me trying to figure out who he was

20:21

running across, and me, it was like

20:23

maybe it was some guy who was messing with that

20:27

nobody knew us and I guess Stephen was going to

20:29

bring him out or something like that. That's what we

20:31

thought. Okay. The last

20:34

part might have been hard to hear. The

20:36

young man told Corporal Duncan that he and

20:38

his friends had heard Stephen was being chased

20:40

by an older man in the woods and

20:42

that they were trying to figure out who

20:44

the older man was because they

20:47

thought it could have been someone who Stephen

20:49

had been messing around with, who was worried

20:51

he would be outed. Dr.

20:53

Kinsey described the area between where Stephen's

20:55

car was found that night and where

20:58

his body was found nearly three miles

21:00

away as very unforgiving. According to his

21:02

report, if Stephen were to have entered

21:05

the woods near his car and tried

21:07

to get home that way, he

21:09

would have soon encountered an eight-foot

21:12

high steel hog fence that would

21:14

have all but prohibited his passage

21:16

to a cut-through road. He

21:18

would have had to climb the fence and because

21:20

of the overgrowth and the fact that he was

21:22

wearing shorts that night, he would have been all

21:25

cut up. Speaking of

21:27

that cut-through road, it's called

21:29

Corbin Road. This road would have

21:31

been a little longer of a walk but it

21:33

would have kept Stephen off the main road. However,

21:36

it's a long dirt road that according to

21:38

Dr. Kinsey is very desolate. He said he

21:40

saw no evidence of lighting that would have

21:42

been on that road in 2015, meaning

21:46

the best route for Stephen to have taken

21:48

that night from where his car was found

21:50

seems to be to walk down

21:52

Bamberg Highway and then to take that right

21:54

on Sandy Run Road where he was found.

21:57

As to what caused Stephen's fatal injury, can the police be

21:59

arrested? consistent with the findings of

22:01

the second autopsy, Dr. Kinsey

22:04

believes that Steven was killed by something

22:06

protruding off a high-speed

22:08

vehicle. He also believes that the

22:10

person who hit Steven would have been aware of

22:13

hitting him and that they chose to leave the

22:15

scene without making an attempt to help Steven. Remember

22:18

where Steven's wound was? It was on the

22:20

right side of his forehead. So if you

22:23

place your hand on the right side of

22:25

your forehead right now and then visualize

22:27

yourself walking along the yellow

22:29

line in the middle of a road,

22:32

it's very difficult to understand how this

22:34

happened. The injury of

22:36

Steven's forehead was the point of initial

22:38

impact. When he was hit, he fell to

22:40

the ground and he hit the back of his head on

22:42

the concrete. What do you notice

22:44

when you visualize standing on the yellow line

22:46

with your hand on the right side of

22:48

your forehead? The car to your

22:50

right would be coming up behind you, meaning

22:53

it would have hit you from behind at first.

22:57

And what about the car passing you on your left? The

23:00

car you're facing. That

23:02

would hit you on the left side of

23:04

your forehead. This is the complicating factor

23:06

here. How did a vehicle hit

23:08

Steven on the right side of his forehead?

23:11

We now know that Steven was hit by

23:14

something that either was or wasn't a part

23:16

of a moving vehicle or maybe

23:18

it was something protruding off of the moving vehicle

23:20

and we know he was killed where his body

23:22

was found. He was not moved from

23:24

that location. So explain that.

23:27

The way Dr. Kinsey explains it is that the driver

23:29

of the vehicle would have had to cross over into

23:32

the opposing lane prior to hitting Steven.

23:35

If that's the case, Steven would

23:37

have been hit by something on the passenger

23:39

side of that vehicle, right? Okay. Now,

23:42

Steven's walk home looks a lot different,

23:44

right? Was he running from

23:46

someone? Were there people in a vehicle

23:48

messing with him? Did he run

23:51

into the road and attempt to turn away from the

23:53

vehicle? Or was he walking in the

23:55

middle of the road, refusing to move out of the

23:57

way of an oncoming vehicle and got clipped when the

23:59

vehicle hit him? vehicle attempted to swerve out of the way.

24:02

If that were the case, why wouldn't

24:04

the person have stopped? It wouldn't

24:06

have been their fault, right? Okay, maybe

24:08

the driver had been drinking. Why

24:10

not tell the police later, after they

24:12

can no longer prove you were drinking? Why

24:14

not tell the police now, after

24:16

knowing that the Smith family has been

24:19

suffering for this long without answers? Why

24:21

not unburden your soul now? But

24:24

here's the thing. Everything we know

24:26

about Stephen, everything we're continuing

24:28

to learn about Stephen, tells us no.

24:30

This is not a person who would

24:33

intentionally get in the way of a

24:35

moving vehicle. This is not a

24:37

person who would not have sought safety when he

24:39

saw a car headed toward him. This

24:41

was a man who was used to walking

24:44

these long highways in Hampton County in the

24:46

dark, who knew how to navigate

24:48

these roads, and who, from all

24:50

indications, would have called his sister or a friend

24:52

to help him when he ran out of gas.

24:55

He was also a man with a bright

24:57

future ahead of him and a large group

24:59

of friends who adored him. Liz

25:07

and I have spent the past two weeks

25:09

going through a CD that Sandy gave us.

25:12

That CD contains some content that

25:14

the Highway Patrol says is from

25:17

Stephen's phone and iPad. Years

25:19

ago, the Highway Patrol mailed

25:21

Sandy this CD. Frustrated

25:23

after the investigation had gone nowhere for

25:26

years, she put it to the side

25:28

and was unprepared to go through all

25:30

of it. Some things are

25:32

just too painful. Sandy shared

25:34

the CD with us because she

25:36

knows, unlike others, we won't post

25:38

the entirety of the file online

25:40

with zero regard to the privacy

25:42

of her son and to her family. We

25:45

trust that we will be thoughtful with

25:47

the evidence and not do anything

25:49

to compromise the case. Smith.

26:01

She handed over everything she

26:03

had in the investigation to

26:05

Savage's investigator Steve Peterson including

26:08

the CD because at the

26:10

time Sandy trusted him and

26:12

she knew the attorney-client relationship

26:14

meant the CD would remain

26:17

confidential. Now there

26:19

are a lot of red flags from the get-go with

26:21

Steve Peterson and Andy Savage's short

26:23

involvement in this case. In

26:26

a few months that Savage worked

26:28

as Sandy's attorney he essentially did

26:30

three things for Sandy. One

26:33

he hired a PI who

26:35

allegedly conducted a quick investigation

26:37

an investigation which sources

26:40

who were interviewed during that

26:42

investigation told us had an

26:45

extremely narrow focus. Two

26:48

he silenced Sandy during a

26:50

time when her son's case

26:52

needed momentum in the public's

26:54

attention. He told Sandy

26:56

she wasn't allowed to speak to the

26:58

media without his permission. Not

27:01

only that he told her he

27:03

would stop representing her for free if she

27:05

were to speak with the media. And

27:08

third he made a statement

27:10

to the media that appeared to attempt to

27:12

clear the name of the Murdoch's in the

27:14

case and he made this statement

27:16

before telling Sandy that he was going to

27:18

say that to the media and

27:20

before informing her of

27:22

how he came to that conclusion. Specifically

27:25

Andy Savage told ABC

27:28

13 that quote there are

27:30

suspects we have in sight that

27:32

are unconnected to Murdoch. The

27:34

focus any and the media have

27:36

on Murdoch may be unfounded. He

27:39

said that he was basing this statement on

27:41

a work done by his private investigators. Then

27:44

he went on to clarify that he

27:46

was referring specifically to Paul Murdoch. Meaning

27:49

that the suspects were unconnected to

27:51

Paul Murdoch which is a

27:54

strange delineation given that Paul had just

27:56

been killed a few months earlier. Also

27:59

suspicious. these two? Peterson,

28:01

the PI, has continued to appear

28:04

on every TV and YouTube show

28:06

that'll have him to speak about

28:08

the case as if he were

28:10

an insider with insider knowledge. When

28:13

in reality, he hasn't been a

28:15

part of this case since 2021.

28:18

Sandy has repeatedly told him to

28:20

stop speaking about this case as

28:22

his confusing statements and shoddy

28:25

conclusions are constantly causing chaos

28:27

in the investigation. Oh, and

28:31

remember this jailhouse phone call

28:33

where Alex specifically mentioned Andy

28:35

Savage? When you're listening, try

28:37

to pay attention to Alex

28:39

wording when there's some over-seek

28:41

from Buster. There

29:25

was something came

29:27

out not long ago talking about how there's been

29:29

a breakthrough in

29:31

evidence to

29:36

do with like the

29:38

homicides and Sled would even come out and

29:41

issue a statement saying that there has

29:44

been no further evidence like gathered.

29:51

So personally, I would not count on Sled to to

29:54

help him anyway. Did

29:57

you catch that? Alex says that

29:59

did Sled ever come out and say

30:01

there's no connection?" And Buster says

30:03

no, and then Elick says,

30:05

even though they told Andy Savage

30:08

that. Weird, huh? How

30:10

would Elick know what fled told

30:13

Andy Savage? It's not something

30:15

he read. Andy said that

30:17

the PI hadn't found the connection,

30:19

not that fled hadn't. Maybe

30:21

it got relayed to Elick wrong, or maybe

30:23

Elick misunderstood what he was being told. Still,

30:27

hearing the name Andy Savage come out

30:29

of Elick Murdoch's mouth, around

30:31

the same time that Sandy was wondering why the

30:33

heck this man was brought into her life in

30:35

the first place, out of nowhere,

30:37

to help her, is strange to

30:39

us. I say all of this to

30:42

say that the CD is another

30:44

piece of broken evidence in this case.

30:46

It appears that years ago, Highway Patrol

30:48

downloaded photos and screenshots from Steven's phone

30:50

and iPad, which is news to us.

30:53

The download, unfortunately, does not contain the parts

30:55

of the phone and iPad that we need

30:58

the most, and that would be the phone

31:00

calls, the messages, the location data, etc. It

31:03

is not a forensic download by any means.

31:05

We also don't know if anyone deleted certain

31:07

images at any point from the CD. However,

31:11

the CD contained thousands of images, and

31:13

these thousands of images all have a

31:15

file number attached to them. It's

31:18

not clear at what point they were assigned

31:20

these numbers, but the numbers do appear to

31:22

be sequential, with lots of gaps in the

31:24

sequence. Meaning, photos

31:26

do appear to be missing, but we don't know

31:29

why or at what point that occurred. Were

31:31

they deleted back when Steven was using his

31:33

phone, tablet, or after that? Given

31:36

how irregular this investigation has been,

31:38

we have to ask those questions.

31:43

We'll be right back. We're

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finally getting back into our fitness routine

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after an exhausting holiday season. And do

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This episode is brought to you by FX's Shogun,

32:58

the official podcast. Each

33:01

of you host and Leo Sheeda is joined by

33:03

the creators, cast and crew in this

33:05

exclusive community podcast. They dive

33:07

deep into the twists and turns of the

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plot, go behind the scenes and explore the

33:12

real life history that informs a limited series

33:14

based on James Clouvel's best-selling novel.

33:17

Search FX's Shogun wherever you listen

33:19

to podcasts. Liz

33:26

and I have been investigating Stephen

33:28

Smith's murder for almost five years

33:30

now and it just

33:32

occurred to both of us how

33:34

little we really know about

33:37

Stephen until we've poured through the

33:39

images on the CD we were given. We've

33:42

talked to dozens of people who knew Stephen

33:44

over the years but the

33:47

images on his phone told me

33:49

about a person I really related

33:51

to. A person who

33:54

in another world 19 year

33:56

old Mandy would have been great friends with. a

34:00

fantastic sense of humor. School

34:02

and reading were at the center of his world.

34:05

He was often frustrated with the cost

34:07

of college which is evident in

34:09

the many memes he saved on his phone

34:12

like this one that said, How

34:15

to pay for college in 1983,

34:18

work part-time and summers, maybe take

34:20

out minimal loans. How

34:22

to pay for college in 2013, which one of your organs is the

34:26

most valuable. What to do with

34:28

your degree in 1983, work in your field. What to

34:33

do with your degree in 2013,

34:36

cry. Stephen was

34:38

an independent thinker. Here are a

34:40

few important quotes I found saved

34:43

on his phone. It

34:45

is better to be hated for what you

34:47

are than loved for what you are not.

34:50

Andre Gede, I

34:52

used to think the worst thing in life was to

34:54

end up all alone. It's not. The

34:57

worst thing in life is to end up with

34:59

people that make you feel all alone. Robert

35:01

Williams, you have to be

35:04

odd to be number one. Dr.

35:06

Seuss. Then there

35:09

are quotes like this one

35:11

that related to Stephen's situation

35:13

so much. It shook

35:15

me when I saw it. Years

35:17

of love have been forgot in the

35:20

hatred of a minute. Edgar

35:22

Allan Poe. Stephen

35:25

read a lot way

35:27

more than I did when I was 19. We

35:30

saw hundreds of screenshots from books

35:32

he was reading on his iPad,

35:34

often with his favorite sentences highlighted

35:36

and new words bookmarked so

35:38

he would remember them in his

35:40

vocabulary. Sandy has always

35:43

said Stephen was studious, determined

35:45

to study his way out of

35:47

his small town of Hampton, South

35:49

Carolina. He had a clear plan

35:51

for his future, even in

35:53

high school, to become a nurse

35:55

long enough to afford medical school, then

35:58

eventually becoming Dr. Stephen. I

36:01

never realized how serious Steven was

36:03

and how smart he was until

36:06

I spoke with Ms. Michelle, a

36:08

former teacher at Wade Hampton who

36:11

I met at a brewery years ago. Ms.

36:14

Michelle taught health science in

36:16

Steven's junior year from 2012 to 2013.

36:21

Among her many students over the years,

36:24

Steven always stuck out in the best

36:26

of ways. Here is

36:29

Ms. Michelle. Oh

36:31

my gosh. Okay. He

36:34

was very mature. He was

36:36

focused. He was very much in line

36:38

with telling you, this is my plan

36:40

because some students, well even adults sometimes

36:42

really don't have an idea of what

36:44

they want to do. But he was

36:46

very focused on going to nursing school

36:49

and becoming an RN and then

36:52

later exploring different paths of going

36:54

from there. So he was very focused, serious,

36:57

humble, but also goofy and funny. But

36:59

he knew when to turn it off

37:01

and turn it on. So you can't

37:03

be serious all the time. He was

37:05

always prepared. He was, you know, you

37:07

never had to worry about him not

37:09

having what he needed or his textbook

37:11

or being prepared for a quiz or

37:13

a test. He was one of those

37:15

you picked up on very quickly as

37:18

a teacher that he was wise beyond

37:20

his years. And also that

37:22

he, very smart, very

37:24

smart that, you know, he might

37:26

play it off sometimes, but I

37:28

just contributed that to his focus

37:31

on wanting to go to the

37:33

next level and also that he

37:35

enjoyed reading. Unfortunately, you

37:37

just don't see students reading

37:39

for leisure time like you

37:41

used to. And thinking

37:43

back and reflecting on this, this was

37:46

the transition time of

37:49

iPads and cell phones had a

37:51

place, but they were not as

37:53

dependent on them like they are now. So

37:56

you would see an actual paperback book,

37:58

you know, that he was carrying. around

38:00

or you know that and

38:03

that'll something I was going to

38:05

share too that this class I

38:07

always also shared with the students that you

38:10

may not want to go in the health field and that's

38:12

okay. This class is just to

38:14

explore it so you had some students

38:16

that just needed they needed

38:18

a class to fill in their schedule and

38:21

then you had some students like Steven that

38:23

this was a means to an end you

38:25

needed this class to go

38:27

to the next level. Michelle

38:29

was also in charge of

38:32

Health Occupation Students of America,

38:34

HOSA, essentially a science club for

38:36

students who are interested in future

38:39

health careers from EMTs to doctors.

38:41

Every year South Carolina HOSA

38:43

students competed in a state

38:46

conference. Michelle remembers the

38:48

year that Steven competed vividly.

38:50

Every March there was a state

38:53

conference and you

38:55

could send students from your chapter and

38:57

we had a chapter and we would meet either

38:59

before school or after school and

39:02

some of the competitions were academic

39:04

and that's what Steven was interested

39:06

in which was medical terminology and

39:09

so of course you to go

39:11

on this trip it was a big

39:13

deal because you had to make a

39:15

deposit you had to make sure the

39:17

students were vested in wanting to participate

39:21

they had to have no

39:23

disciplinary actions and their

39:26

teachers had to be okay with letting them out of

39:28

school for two and a half days because they

39:30

were going to miss their other classes so

39:32

so it was a combination of different things

39:35

but the year he went there were about

39:37

I'm trying to think about ten to twelve

39:39

but just really really good kids and

39:41

they're different grades nine through twelve he

39:45

participated in the medical terminology

39:47

competition which was a test

39:50

and you're balancing your

39:52

regular high school load of academics but you're

39:54

also having to study on your own and

39:56

that's what we would do at meetings is

39:58

do prep for the competition. I

40:01

just, this always stuck out in my mind.

40:03

Steven would always come to me for

40:05

extra study aids. And that's what I

40:07

was referring to earlier. Now so much

40:09

of it's electronic, but back then we

40:11

would have these little tubs of big

40:13

index cards and put them on a little

40:16

silver ring and just flip the cards over

40:18

and over and over because it was, it was

40:20

a lot of memorization. And then

40:22

you would have to take the terms

40:24

and match them to the body parts

40:27

and the body systems. And that

40:29

sounds easy, but when it's in

40:31

Latin and Greek, you could just be,

40:33

like I said, speaking a different language. But

40:35

some kids were going, hey, I'm going on

40:37

a trip. But for Steven, you could tell

40:39

he was very serious, but he was going to have

40:41

a good time too. While Steven

40:44

was a jokester, he was also very

40:46

nice about it. Michelle remembered

40:48

a great example from that weekend

40:50

of the HOSA competition that perfectly

40:53

described Steven's kind sense of humor.

40:56

I remember we went to a Mexican restaurant.

40:59

It's in North Charleston at the convention center.

41:01

So we could walk everywhere. And

41:03

there were some restaurants across the street. So

41:06

and me being nervous, of course,

41:08

I'm like, you know, y'all are not used

41:10

to crossing busy highways. Let's make sure we,

41:13

you know, hit the button so we can

41:15

go across. We're not going to jaywalk. But

41:18

we went to a Mexican restaurant

41:20

and the other sponsors

41:22

and I sat at a booth and of course

41:24

let the students sit at a nice big

41:26

table. And I have a couple of

41:28

pictures from that night. But they, of

41:30

course, and Steven was the root

41:32

of this. Steven or another young

41:35

man, I cannot remember. But

41:37

they thought it'd be funny to tell the

41:39

wait staff that it was my birthday. And

41:41

of course, it was not my birthday. So

41:43

out came the sombrero and the music. And

41:46

they just really thought that was hilarious. And, you

41:48

know, of course, it was, you know, I went

41:50

along with it and ate the

41:53

ice cream. Everything. But they

41:55

were just real tickled that they pulled that

41:57

off. Even as a high schooler,

41:59

Steven lived. by the work hard play

42:01

hard mentality. As much as

42:03

he joked around that night at dinner, Michelle

42:05

remembers after dinner he went straight to his

42:08

hotel room to study for the competition. The

42:11

competition was really important for kids like Steven

42:13

who grew up in a small town and

42:15

learned in a small school district that didn't

42:17

have a lot of funding. It

42:19

was their chance to shine and

42:21

show themselves and their community that

42:24

they could compete with the kids from

42:26

the bigger, fancier schools. And

42:28

they could go on to do bigger things than

42:30

what their hometown had to offer them. What

42:34

I always told the students and I

42:37

hope they took it to heart was

42:39

health science just like any other academic

42:41

class was there's a series of standards

42:43

that come out from the State Department

42:46

of Education and I always

42:48

told them it doesn't matter what

42:50

our classroom looked like. You

42:52

are just as smart because you are mastering

42:55

these skills like everybody else in the state.

42:57

But me telling them that was one thing.

43:00

The students actually participating in these

43:02

competitions and competing against the big

43:04

schools from the bigger cities in

43:06

South Carolina and seeing that they were

43:08

on the same level and it's just

43:10

like a parent trying to tell a child you know

43:13

you can do this but they could see for

43:15

themselves that they could do it. So it was a

43:17

real confidence booster and also they

43:19

had to dress up. They had to

43:21

be professionally dressed and so Steven

43:24

was in his suit and he

43:26

looked very sharp and so

43:28

it was just neat to see the pride but

43:30

of that group that year Steven was the only

43:33

one that mastered the test so you go to

43:35

the next level. And so the

43:37

ones that exceeded the second level go

43:39

on to the national which he did

43:41

not but that was okay because it

43:43

showed him what he could do. His

43:46

schedule at Orangeburg Tech was tough

43:49

and from the photos and screenshots

43:51

it was clear to us that

43:53

school was his priority. There

43:55

were hundreds of photos of things like

43:58

notes on a whiteboard in his plaque. screenshots

44:01

of his assignments, photos of

44:03

pages in his textbooks, photos

44:06

upon photos of anatomy sketches

44:09

and anatomy models, and

44:11

screenshots of his schedule which

44:13

was packed. In the

44:15

fall semester of 2014, which

44:18

was his first semester in college, he

44:20

had general psychology at 8am on Mondays

44:23

and Wednesdays. After that he

44:25

had developmental math. During the

44:27

day he had medical vocab and anatomy.

44:30

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, his days

44:32

started at 9.30 with anatomy and

44:34

physiology with clinical labs later that

44:36

afternoon along with a college skills requisite.

44:40

I was super proud of him going

44:42

to Armsburg Tech and just

44:45

to give a little background on

44:47

the technical college system. Being

44:50

an RN in the state of South Carolina,

44:52

some people know this, some people don't, but

44:54

a two-year technical college degree you

44:57

can get an associate degree of

44:59

nursing or you can go to

45:01

a four-year college and get a

45:03

bachelor's of science of nursing. Regardless

45:05

of the academic path you choose,

45:08

both sets have to take the

45:10

national exam which is called

45:12

the NCLEX, National Counsel

45:14

Licensure Exam. It's

45:17

not like you just wake up and say, you know,

45:19

I think I want to be a nurse, I'm going

45:22

to go down to the technical college and take some

45:24

classes. You have to be accepted to the school

45:26

first, but then you have to be accepted in

45:28

the program. Since you're doing

45:30

so much hands-on with patients

45:32

in the healthcare system, they

45:34

only take X amount of

45:36

students. I'm not sure what

45:38

his class was, his mission

45:41

class was. It may have

45:43

been 50, it may have been 100, but that's it. Getting

45:47

the Lester, a very real reality in

45:49

that. The fact that he went right out

45:51

of high school because in nursing programs you find

45:53

a lot of second-career people that have worked in

45:55

the healthcare field and decided to go back. The

45:58

fact that he went straight in. was

46:00

really a testament to his academics

46:03

and his maturity. The two-year degree is

46:05

comprehensive. I mean, you're doing four years

46:07

worth of work in two years and

46:09

a lot of hands-on and a lot

46:12

of early mornings and late

46:14

nights. And so to know that

46:16

he was committed to that is

46:19

extraordinary. One

46:21

thing Michelle told me that really stuck out

46:23

about Stephen, he had a

46:25

lot of close friends. He was

46:27

very confident in himself and

46:30

often had a pack-leader mentality. He

46:32

was by no means a loner

46:34

in school. This is again important

46:37

as people continue to spread baseless

46:39

rumors that Stephen would have intentionally

46:41

walked into a moving vehicle. Well,

46:45

I'm observing from the teacher's standpoint,

46:47

but in the classroom, you always

46:49

have the students that stick out

46:51

in the leadership role. And

46:54

the neat thing about that medical

46:56

terminology class was that I

46:58

had freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and

47:00

seniors, but he easily

47:03

established himself as someone

47:05

that other kids, hey, what's the

47:08

answer to this? How do we do this? And

47:11

I was always putting them in small groups or

47:14

pairing them off and mixing them

47:16

up. And yes, he was a

47:19

beloved member of our class. It's almost

47:21

like a little community that you

47:23

create with every class and every

47:25

class has a personality. And

47:28

he had one of his near dear good

47:30

friends in there. When he

47:33

passed, I went to the funeral

47:36

and I remember I sat with

47:38

another teacher. There were some teachers

47:40

there and I walked out and

47:42

I ran smack dab into his

47:44

good friend in there and I

47:46

was fine. Well, I said, no,

47:48

you're never fine. But I

47:51

was holding myself together, but the

47:54

minute I saw her, I said,

47:56

you were his friend. And I

47:58

just lost it. I just

48:00

lost it. And another young man that had

48:02

been on the trip, I said,

48:04

y'all were his friends. Y'all were his friends.

48:06

But I never, yes,

48:09

they loved him. And you

48:12

know, you see students in

48:15

the cafeteria out in the courtyard

48:17

and all, but he always had

48:19

a group of kids with him. Steven

48:25

was loved by so many.

48:28

This has been evident in

48:30

every bit of information we

48:32

have reported on Steven so far. But

48:35

even though he was loved, no

48:37

one has had the courage to

48:39

come forward with information about how

48:41

he died. Even after all

48:44

of these years later, even

48:46

after so much has changed in

48:48

Hampton County. We are

48:50

asking that more of Steven's friends

48:53

come forward. Even if you don't

48:55

have information about Steven's death, telling

48:57

us about his life is equally

48:59

as important and can open doors

49:01

that we wouldn't think about in

49:03

this investigation. If you

49:05

knew Steven personally, especially around the

49:07

time he died and would be

49:10

willing to talk with us, please

49:12

visit answersforsteven.com or

49:15

email mandyatlunasharkmedia.com. We

49:18

know that those who knew Steven

49:21

miss him all of the time and

49:23

think about him and the future he

49:25

could have had all of the time.

49:27

Like his teacher, Ms. Michelle said. And

49:31

that picture I was telling you about with the

49:34

Mexican restaurant, I mean,

49:36

it's just a snapshot of time from

49:38

that evening where there are, and in

49:40

this restaurant, it was almost like a

49:42

dining room table and they're all sitting

49:44

around that table. And you

49:46

look at them and I'm like, okay,

49:48

that one's a firefighter in Charleston.

49:51

That one is going

49:54

on to do such and such. This

49:56

one is working. And just seeing they're

49:58

doing their grownup things. And then

50:00

the part that's missing is, yeah, Steven didn't get

50:02

to live his dream. This

50:07

is perhaps the most stunning and

50:09

saddening conclusion that has haunted us

50:11

as we've learned about Steven in

50:14

the past few weeks. What potential

50:16

this man could have had if

50:18

something different happened on July 8th,

50:22

What places he could have gone? The

50:24

lives he could have saved? The

50:27

people he could have helped? The

50:29

difference he would have made?

50:32

His life mattered. It

50:34

was worth a whole lot more than the

50:36

local press and the community gave him

50:38

at the time of his death. Steven

50:41

had a full and complicated

50:43

life as most 19 year

50:46

olds do. He had just reached

50:48

the end of his first full year

50:50

out of high school when the newness

50:52

of independence was still fresh and fun

50:54

and when you're starting to get a

50:56

glimpse of what being an adult is

50:59

going to entail. The files we have

51:01

from Steven's iPhone and iPad tell that

51:03

story and we are going to share

51:05

more of what is on there as

51:07

we continue to look at what is

51:10

known and not known about his life

51:12

and his death. Obviously Steven's sexuality

51:14

was no secret and could end

51:16

up playing a role in the

51:19

why of his death. But

51:21

even so it is clear that

51:23

Steven was living his truth proudly.

51:26

And even though the CD doesn't

51:28

tell the full story of Steven's

51:31

life it gives us a lot

51:33

of insight. The thousands of files

51:35

on Steven's phone and iPad include

51:37

screenshots of conversations and photos of

51:39

men he was interested in and

51:42

of men who were interested in

51:44

him. There are

51:46

a lot of memes and photos

51:48

that knowing how he ended up

51:51

dying could now be considered uncanny.

51:54

And there are even photos of his

51:56

little yellow car when he was considering

51:59

buying it. And in the

52:01

background, we could see the big

52:03

PMPED building looming because of

52:05

course. We'll talk more

52:07

about all of this. We'll

52:09

talk more about all of this in an

52:11

upcoming episode. We do want to mention

52:13

that there were no overt connections to

52:16

the Murdoch family and any of the

52:18

photos that we have gone through so far.

52:21

We want to remind those who know

52:23

what happened to Stephen Smith that now

52:25

is the time to talk to Sled.

52:28

Remember, there is a $30,000 reward. Remember,

52:32

most importantly, that coming forward would

52:34

mean the world to his family

52:37

who deserve the peace of knowing what

52:39

happened to Stephen. Remember, small

52:42

details solve big investigations.

52:46

Stay tuned, stay pesky and

52:49

stay in the sunlight. And

53:28

we'll talk about the interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky.

53:35

Ohio, ready for some quick mental health

53:37

facts? Let's go. Nearly two

53:39

million Ohioans live with a mental health condition.

53:42

In the US, more than 50% of

53:44

people will be diagnosed with a mental illness

53:46

in their lifetime. Depression is

53:48

a leading cause of disability

53:50

worldwide. So why are some

53:53

of us still stigmatizing people living with a

53:55

mental health condition? We know all of

53:57

this. Let's listen to the facts and

53:59

beat the stigma. I'll I'll challenge where

54:01

you know about mental health a be the. Dot

54:03

org.