Body of teenager found dead near Murdaugh property to be exhumed

Two weeks after South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh was convicted in the brutal murders of his wife and son, the body of a teenager who was found dead on a country road near the murder scene six years earlier is now set to be exhumed.

Sandy Smith confirmed that the remains of her son Stephen, 19 at the time of his death, will undergo a private autopsy after a GoFundMe campaign raised $43,000 to pay for exhumation.

But the two killings were not the only deaths in the Murdaugh family circle as legions of online investigators attracted to the trial, along with numerous documentary makers, looked at other cases involving the clan.

After Murdaugh was arrested on murder charges, agents with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or Sled, said their investigation had triggered reviews into the other mysterious deaths with a connection to the Murdaugh family.

Other deaths in the orbit of the once-powerful Murdaugh family that are now being more closely examined include that of family housekeeper Gloria Satterfield and 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who died in a boating accident in 2019 connected to slain Murdaugh son Paul.

Last week, attorneys for convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh announced they plan to appeal his convictions and life sentences in the deaths of his wife and son in June 2021. The notice to appeal did not include arguments.