Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, on Monday “unequivocally” denied “vicious rumors” that he was involved in the death of a gay former classmate he was linked to romantically.
Buster Murdaugh, 26, spoke out for the first time as the body of Stephen Smith, 19, is due to be exhumed nearly eight years after he was mysteriously found dead in the road near the South Carolina home where Alex later gunned down his wife, Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22.
“I have tried my best to ignore the vicious rumors about my involvement in Stephen Smith’s tragic death that continue to be published in the media as I grieve over the brutal murders of my mother and brother,” Buster Murdaugh said in a statement.
“I love them so much and miss them terribly,” he said of the relatives for whose brutal murders his dad is serving two life sentences.
“I haven’t spoken up until now because I want to live in private while I cope with their deaths and my father’s incarceration,” he continued, complaining about being “harassed” over his family’s ever-deepening scandals.
“This has gone on far too long,” Buster said.
“These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false,” he said of the former high school classmate whom friends told cops and a recent Netflix special said Murdaugh had dated.
“I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family,” Murdaugh said, asking people to stop spreading the “rumors.”
Smith’s death in July 2015 close to the Murdaughs’ Moselle estate — where Alex gunned down his wife and son — was initially ruled a hit-and-run.
It was reopened just weeks after the slayings of Maggie and Paul “based upon information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation,” officials said at the time.
It later emerged that one of Alex Murdaugh’s brothers had called Smith’s parents about the death even before they heard from local law enforcement.
No member of the Murdaugh family has been directly linked to Smith’s death.
However, a Netflix special, “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal,” said “multiple” locals had discussed rumors that Buster was romantically involved with Smith, a claim some close to the family made on camera.
“There were so many rumors swirling around that Buster and Stephen were intimate together,” confirmed Morgan Doughty, 23, who dated Buster’s brother, Paul, and was close to the family.
“Being gay in the Murdaugh family would have been looked down upon,” she said.
Smith’s mom, Sandy Smith, told the “Today” show Monday that she hopes an independent autopsy on her son’s exhumed body will finally get some answers as to how he died.
“As a mother, there’s questions that I need to ask. And there’s questions I need answers to,” she said, stressing that she has no idea who could be responsible.
“I want to know why you did it, and I want to find out who you are,” she added, saying it would only help bring “peace, not closure” because “he’s forever gone.”
Sources told FitsNews that “significant progress” has been made in the investigation into Smith’s death, while stressing it does not appear to be focused directly on any of the Murdaughs.
