Stephen Smith's Boyfriend Received Death Threats Days After Buster Murdaugh's Classmate's Homicide: Police Report
April 12 2023, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Just days after Stephen Smith was mysteriously found dead on a desolate South Carolina roadway, his boyfriend received a series of terrifying death threats possibly linked to the murder, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Marc Bickhardt was the last person to communicate with Smith on the night of July 2015 when his lifeless body was found near the Hampton County home of Alex Murdaugh – the son of a prominent lawyer who was recently convicted of murdering his wife and son.
Bickhardt told investigators the 19-year-old called to tell him that he ran out of gas and felt he was being followed before hearing “big mud tires” approaching his friend.
“They're like coming toward him or going past because they sounded loud — and they were getting louder. And that, I believe, was the last time I talked to him," Bickhardt told investigators.
Five days later, Bickhardt called the Hampton Police Department to report a series of harassing phone calls originating from the Cayman Islands.
“The calls informed the victim that he would die the same way Smith did, and the victim believes that (Smith’s) death was a homicide,” states the police incident report obtained by RadarOnline.com.
“The victim stated that the calls began last week after his friend’s funeral," the report said.
The police reports do not indicate if officers followed up on the complaint or if the information was passed along to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) which recently labeled Smith’s death a homicide and has re-opened the investigation.
Smith’s death was bizarrely ruled a hit-and-run by the county medical examiner even though investigators from the South Carolina Highway Patrol didn’t see any skid marks or car debris on the roadway. They also couldn’t figure out how Smith suffered a severe head injury.
Investigators began re-examining Smith’s death shortly after Maggie Murdaugh, 52 and her 22-year-old son Paul were found brutally murdered on their family owned 1770-acre hunting lodge on June 7, 2021. Investigators claimed evidence uncovered during the double murder probe led to their decision.
Alex Murdaugh, 54, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for murders in a sensational trial in March.
Smith, who is openly gay, was found a short distance from the hunting lodge and investigators were told by various witnesses that his former classmate and rumored lover, Buster Murdaugh was allegedly involved.
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Despite being mentioned on investigator’s notes dozens of times, Buster, 26, has vehemently denied any involvement in Smith’s death.
Even the lawyer for Smith’s mother, Eric Bland, dismissed Buster as a suspect and hinted the death could be a hate crime.
“We have no direct knowledge that any Murdaugh was involved in any shape or form in Stephen's murder," Bland told Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, Smith’s remains were exhumed for a second autopsy and investigators have named two persons of interest in his death.
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