On June 14th, 2024, Richard Alexander Murdaugh, Jr., also known as Buster Murdaugh and the son of South Carolina convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh, filed a defamation lawsuit against media who he alleges made statements about Buster Murdaugh in connection to the death of Stephen Smith.

Buster’s father, Alex Murdaugh, was convicted of killing his wife and son as well as financial crimes against clients he represented as an attorney. Buster is Alex Murdaugh’s only surviving child and has never been publicly suspected or charged in a crime by authorities, related or unrelated to his father.

Amid the investigations surrounding Alex, Buster Murdaugh faced his own name being brought up in connection to a completely different criminal investigation. The crimes of Alex Murdaugh brought to light a wave of hidden truths in South Carolina and the questionable death of Stephen Smith became a topic of conversation as locals claimed that Buster Murdaugh was implicated in Stephen Smith’s death.

In 2015 a man who was driving in his vehicle noticed a body on the side of the road and called authorities to report what he saw. Authorities responded and found the body of a young blonde haired man named Stephen Smith. His death would later be determined a hit and run accident until the crimes of Alex Murdaugh began to surface. Bloggers and podcasters presented the facts about Stephen Smith’s case in conjunction with the crimes of Alex Murdaugh.

The claims that Buster is connected to Stephen’s death have always been denied by Buster Murdaugh and currently the factual basis of the claims does not appear to have a great significance in relation to Stephen Smith’s death. He has spoken to media about the claims after multiple podcasts, documentaries, and social media posts have continued to associate his name with the investigation into the death of Stephen Smith.

Stephen’s case deserves a second look and allegedly South Carolina law enforcement is indeed giving it a second look and has admitted that perhaps the full story is not yet known. His case also deserves factual investigation, reporting and advocacy. Using the Murdaugh name to further his case is not a necessary action. There is a vast community of advocates who are passionate about cases like Stephen Smith’s unsolved and unsettling death.

The crimes of Alex Murdaugh rightfully attracted a lot of attention from local citizens, national and international media, trial watchers and advocates for justice. From the murders of Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son to the horrific crimes he committed against people who trusted him with the legal proceedings that involved devastating circumstances in which families were relying on their financial personal injury settlements in order to take care of their family were left empty handed by Alex Murdaugh. Not because he didn’t win in court, but because he pocketed the money. Buster Murdaugh has never been connected to any of Alex Murdaugh’s crimes or any unrelated crimes. Many of the media platforms that reported the details of Alex Murdaugh’s crimes later began reporting on Stephen Smith’s unsolved investigation. The overall narrative and depictions of Buster at times appeared targeted and defamatory. No other names in the Stephen Smith case have ever been reported on with the same narratives or depictions.

The media defamation lawsuit was filed against Blackfin Inc., Warner Bros., Discovery Inc., Warner Media Entertainment Pages Inc., Campfire Studios Inc., The Cinemart Llc., Netflix Inc., Gannett Co. Inc., and Michael M. Dewitt Jr.

The comments about the lawsuit commonly focus on what the discovery process will look like and how dauntingly uncomfortable it might be. Comments have also surfaced by the Smith family attorney about how Buster might might feel about being deposed for questioning about Stephen Smith. It is highly unlikely that Buster’s legal counsel has not thoroughly informed him of what to expect, especially from media attorney’s. However, Buster has already spoken multiple times about where he was at the time of Stephen’s death and if he had any connection to Stephen. It seems far fetched that this round of questioning would be any more daunting than the last several years have been.

There is a burden to prove the defamation itself and how it caused harm. Considering the fallout of the claims made against him, it would be reasonable to think that Buster could certainly prove the harmful nature of the defamation if in fact he can prove the defamation in court. Hampton County is very favorable towards plaintiff’s in civil lawsuits. I would even say one of the most favorable in the nation. This lawsuit does have a possibility of being moved to a federal court, for now it has been filed in Hampton County.

Updates to the lawsuit will be added on the timeline below.

View the documents:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/richard-murdaugh-106400822?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link