Share and Follow
Exclusives / TV
Who killed Minnie Smith? ‘The Real Murders of Orange County’ explores the shocking 2005 murder that has confusing clues.
In an upcoming episode of the true-crime Oxygen series the Real Murders of Orange County, the victim appeared to have been sexually assaulted, but no DNA was found on the body.
The 2005 murder of 66-year-old Minnie Smith in Cypress, CA. People first believed that it was a robbery gone wrong. The painstaking investigation, however, uncovers a killer much closer to home.
Orange County murder shocks Minnie’s family
In an exclusive clip shared with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Minnie’s son Bennie Thomas recounts the haunting moment when he saw his mother’s body. “When I saw her in that bag, it was a trying time for me,” he shares in a confessional interview. “And I have to give, not have to, but will give God all the credit for even getting me to this part.”
Bennie’s voice begins the quiver, “By placing good people around me.” He shakes his head unable to continue.
Conflicting clues puzzle Orange County detectives
More questions than answers emerge during the autopsy. For instance, the coroner is unable to establish a specific timeline for when Minnie died. “He said she could have died any time between 5:30 in the morning and 5:30 at night,” an investigator shared in an interview. “That’s a 12-hour window.”
Minnie also has “multiple blunt force injuries.” One injury was above Minnie’s left eye, and the last one was to the back of her skull. Additionally, Minnie had a defensive wound on the back of her arm, which means she attempted to block a blow.
Read Related Also: Penelope Disick, 10, cooks homemade lunch for Kourtney Kardashian after brother Mason, 13, resurfaces on social media
One theory is she was awakened by the first blow and then tried to prevent being struck again. The coroner also determined that the wound was inflicted by someone who was right-handed because of the way it appeared on the body.
What was most surprising was that there was no evidence of sexual assault or any DNA. “This was surprising because of the way her nightgown was pulled up and she was naked from the waist down,” an investigator reports.
Also, the fact Minnie’s hands were bound behind her back suggested that this was done postmortem since she had defensive wounds.
Who killed Minnie Smith?
The lack of DNA and the fact her hands were bound after she was killed were huge red flags for the detectives. Later in the investigation, detectives learned that Minnie was “bludgeoned in the head and face with a metal fireplace log roller,” according to the OC Register.
Was this truly a botched robbery or could someone close to Minnie be guilty of the murder? The case’s shocking twists and turns lead investigators down a path that brings them to a shocking conclusion and ultimately an arrest.
So who killed Minnie Smith and why? Tune in to the Real Murders of Orange County on Tuesday, June 27th at 9 pm ET/PT on Oxygen.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘1931209583834020’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
