A FORENSIC pathologist has claimed that a teen linked to the infamous Murdaugh family died from a single blow to the forehead and wasn’t dumped at the scene despite rumors saying otherwise.

Stephen Smith, 19, was found dead on a county road near the Murdaugh family estate in South Carolina in July 2015 with a severe fracture to his skull.

His death was ruled a hit-and-run before it was reclassified as a homicide in 2021 when new evidence was brought forward as police investigated the shooting deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

Michelle DuPre has performed more than 3,000 autopsies and believes that Smith was killed by a blow to his head.

In an interview with 48 Hours, DuPre said Smith was likely killed on the road where he was found due to the location and size of the fracture, however, she doesn’t believe he was struck head-on.

Using a foam head, she drew where the fracture would have been on Smith’s forehead.

“That’s 7½ inches almost,” she said.

Smith also suffered another fracture to the back of his head as it hit the street, “splitting his skull,” said DuPre.

Several rumors and theories have been made surrounding Smith, who was openly gay.

There were speculations that Smith was in a relationship with Buster Murdagh, the eldest and only surviving son of disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh who was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murders of his wife and younger son.

Another theory accused Buster and his friends of beating Smith to death with a baseball bat in a homophobic attack, however, all of these rumors have been denied by Buster.

“I never had anything to do with his murder and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level of any regard,” he said in an interview for the documentary, The Fall of the House of Murdaugh.

DuPre doesn’t believe the baseball bat theory either, saying Smith’s injuries don’t match.

“Those type of injuries would cause something that we call pattern injuries and we don’t see that here,” she said. “This is a linear fracture.”

There were no other signs of fracture on any other part of Smith’s body, said Dupre.

However, there was a bit of road rash, but DuPre said that was to be “expected.”

A MOTHER’S FIGHT

Smith’s mother, Sandy, has asked for a second opinion on her son’s death for years, saying all she wants is the “peace in knowing what happened to my son.”

“He’s my world and I’ll fight ’til the end,” she told 48 Hours.

In March, she began raising funds for an exhumation and an independent autopsy, according to a GoFundMe page.

Sandy explained that she wanted an examination separate from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

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“While the state can elect and fund an exhumation and new autopsy, it is our understanding that it would be carried out at MUSC, where his death was initially classified as hit-and-run despite no evidence to support it,” she said.

At the beginning of April 2023, Smith’s body was exhumed and re-examined.

Sandy also spoke about her son at a Victims Matter Rally in May.

“Stephen was buried in his medical scrubs because he was on track to become a doctor and so that he could help others,” Sandy said in an emotional speech outside of the South Carolina Statehouse.

“But he never got that chance because someone killed him.”

Sandy also thanked the people who stood by her in the search to find out what happened to her son.

“I am thankful to have so many wonderful people helping me get justice for Stephen,” she said.

PERSONS OF INTEREST

Earlier this year, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) identified two persons of interest, Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly, in Smith’s death.

“Both Wilson and Connelly lived in the area near where Stephen Smith’s body was found, and there is information obtained by SLED investigators which has reportedly drawn a sharper focus on them as potential suspects,” reported FitsNews at the time.

Roughly five months after Smith’s death, Wilson’s stepfather, Darrell Williams, told investigators that Wilson was driving a car when he “struck and killed Stephen Smith,” according to the outlet.

At the time of Smith’s death, Wilson and Connelly were teenagers – the two also lived in the area where his body was found.

MORE CRIMES

Alex Murdaugh, 55, pleaded guilty to 100 financial crimes just one week before he was set to go to trial for stealing from the family of his late housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.

The legal woes continued for Murdaugh as clients of his family’s long-respected legal practice began to come forward to accuse him of embezzlement and fraud.

Two months ago, he pleaded guilty to 22 federal financial crimes and agreed to submit to a polygraph.

However, there were still 100 charges on the state level waiting for him – some filed by Satterfiled’s family.

The longtime housekeeper mysteriously died after a fall in 2018.

Murdaugh appeared disheveled as he appeared in court earlier this month shackled and dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

He agreed to a guilty plea after telling the court that he thought about the charges for a long time.

Prosecutors suggested adding an additional 27 years to his sentence but then asked the judge to notify all victims before sentencing Murdaugh.

His sentencing date for these latest charges is set for November 28.