Who are Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly? Officials identify suspects in Stephen Smith’s death 

A recent report stated that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) named two suspects in the 2015 death of Stephen Smith. Stephen was found dead on July 8, 2015, on a remote South Carolina road near the Murdaugh property.

As per Fox News, the suspects in Stephen Smith’s homicide were identified as Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly, who at the time of the incident, reportedly lived near the crime scene.

According to a local news site, Fits News, while people in the South Carolina community suspected that Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son Buster Murdaugh was connected to Smith's death, officials have not found any evidence that would link the Murdaugh family with the investigations.

As per the publication, the investigators shifted their focus onto Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly, who were both teenagers at the time of the incident, after the agents obtained information connecting the duo to Smith’s death.

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Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly's link to Stephen Smith's death explored

As per the local publication, five months after Stephen Smith’s death, investigators reportedly received a tip from Patrick Wilson’s step-father, Darrell Williams, who said that his stepson had revealed that Shawn Connelly was driving a vehicle that struck and killed Smith.

Darell Williams later told investigators that Randy Murdaugh had asked him to call the investigators with information that later went cold for undisclosed reasons.

Stephen Smith was found dead under mysterious circumstances on a remote South Carolina road near the Murdaugh hunting estate where Alex Murdaugh murdered Maggie and Paul Murdaugh in 2021. Authorities at the time said that the 19-year-old, who had suffered blunt force trauma to the head, was the victim of a hit-and-run despite evidence pointing towards homicide.

However, in 2021, during the investigations into Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s deaths, authorities reportedly uncovered evidence suggesting foul play, prompting them to reopen the case.

At the time, people including Smith's mother suspected that Buster was connected to the incident due to the Murdaugh Family's history of being involved in multiple mysterious deaths in the community, including their housekeeper Gloria Satterfield who, according to Murdaughs, died after tripping over their four dogs on the steps of the family’s hunting estate in 2018.

However, years after the initial investigation, SLED agents zeroed in on Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly as potential suspects in the Smith's case.

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The recent report comes amid increased media scrutiny on Buster Murdaugh’s potential involvement in Stephen Smith’s death though he was not named as a suspect.

The media fervour was compounded by the release of a recent Netflix documentary, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, which claimed that Buster Murdaugh was rumoured to have been involved in the death. The documentary also insinuated that Buster was romantically involved with Smith, who was gay.

However, on Monday, March 20, 2023, Buster Murdaugh, 26, publicly denied any connection to the killing, stating that due to defamatory statements by the media, his name has become synonymous with Smith's death, prompting him to finally speak out in his defense.

Meanwhile, SLED agents, who are yet to disclose additional information on the suspects, continue to investigate the case.