Nearly 15 years after Michelle Parker disappeared following an appearance with her then-fiancé on The People’s Court, Dale Smith Jr. has been charged with her murder.
Smith was arrested on a second-degree murder charge in connection with Parker’s death, according to court records filed in Orange County, Florida.
Smith’s attorney, Rajan Joshi, said his client maintains his innocence. “We’re going to go forward with defending him,” Joshi told WESH 2 News.
Joshi did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Oxygen.
“Smith was the last known person to see or hear from Michelle on Nov. 17, 2011, after she dropped their children off at his home,” Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said during an Oct. 14 press conference. He said investigators had spent the past year expanding their team and taking a fresh, focused look at the evidence.
What Happened on The People’s Court Episode featuring Michelle Parker?
Three hours before dropping off her 3-year-old twins, surveillance footage showed Parker in the drive-thru of a Casselberry fast-food restaurant. Police said she was last seen wearing jeans and a blue Florida Gators hoodie; she also had an angel-wing tattoo on her back.
Earlier that day, Parker and Smith appeared in a previously recorded episode of The People’s Court over a dispute involving a $5,000 engagement ring.
During an argument, Parker threw the ring from a balcony. Smith ran down nine flights of stairs to look for it, but when he failed to find the ring, he sued Parker for its value.
“He gets pretty malicious and vindictive,” Parker told the judge on the show. “He’s a mean person, especially when he’s been drinking.”
The judge ultimately ordered Parker to pay Smith $2,500, representing half of the ring’s value.
Michelle Parker Goes Missing After Appearance on The People’s Court
That evening, Parker was reported missing after she failed to appear for her bartending job in Sanford, Fox News reported in 2017.
Police later found her car abandoned in a nearby residential community. The decal advertising her tanning business had been scraped from the window, while her cellphone was discovered submerged in a lake south of Orlando.
Smith was identified as a primary suspect in 2011, but investigators did not arrest him because they lacked probable cause, an Orlando detective told Fox News.
Smith also declined to take a polygraph examination.
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“If in fact someone were to take the test and fail, they are stigmatized,” his attorney at the time, Mark NeJame, said during a 2011 news conference, according to WFTV 9. “If they pass, the investigation continues.”
Investigators continued searching for Parker over the years. Smith denied involvement in her disappearance, although police said his account changed repeatedly.
“The suspect was interviewed more than once and since then has taken part in depositions related to this case,” Orlando Police Detective Phillip McMican said at the Oct. 14 press conference. “Very specific questions were asked of him numerous times over the years where he gave different answers to those same questions.”
How Was Dale Smith Jr. Arrested?
Police said advances in digital forensics, including the ability to recover data from electronic devices, helped lead to Smith’s arrest.
“Whatever evidence they re-tested is something we want to take a look at,” Joshi told WESH 2 News. “I plan to go through the case with a fine-tooth comb, leave no stones unturned, and talk to every witness that there is, depose them, and get down to it.”
Authorities said Smith appeared surprised when he was arrested at his place of business on Oct. 14, an encounter captured on video by the Orlando Police Department.
“The arrest came out of nowhere,” Joshi later told WESH 2 News. “Obviously, neither of us were expecting it.”
Police wrote in the video caption that while Parker has not yet been located, “all evidence leads to Dale Smith Jr as the person responsible for Michelle’s murder.”
Parker’s mother said she always suspected that Smith was involved in her disappearance.
“I knew. We all knew,” Yvonne Stewart told WESH 2 News. “It’s like the happiest day, because she deserves this.”
She added, “I just knew that one day, everything dark would come into the light.”
Parker’s twins are now 18 and she also has a 26-year-old child, according to the outlet.
“It’s not easy to lose a child this way,” Stewart told WESH 2 News. “Her children didn’t deserve to lose a mother this way.”