Nancy Grace suggests scene of teen's death near Murdaugh estate may have been 'staged': 'Very unusual'

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Nancy Grace on Stephen Smith case: 'I want justice'

Fox Nation host Nancy Grace discusses the renewed investigation into the death of Buster Murdaugh's high school classmate.

Fox Nation host Nancy Grace says the renewed investigation into the 2015 death of a South Carolina teen near the Murdaugh estate is a "long time coming" as evidence suggests a "staged" crime scene.

Grace joined "America's Newsroom" Tuesday after new lawyers representing the family of Stephen Smith, a high school classmate of Buster Murdaugh, said they "don't accept" the 19-year-old's original cause of death.

"A stranger calls 911 to report a body in the very middle of the road, which I find very unusual, almost as if it is staged there," Grace said. "The first responder said it looks like he was shot in the head. They thought that was a could cause of death. But then, according to the autopsy, we've been told the code was changed to vehicular homicide simply because the body was found on the road. I have driven that road at night in the pitch dark. Let me tell you something: If a car was coming, you could see the headlights."

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Stephen Smith's mother Sandy Smith says she has raised enough money to exhume her son's body. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital/ Facebook)

The South Carolina State Highway Patrol initially said Smith died in a hit-and-run, but his family is skeptical and believes that there may be more to the story. Their attorneys now plan to petition the court for an exhumation and a new autopsy.

"It's going to be hard to open an investigation up after eight years, but it has to start with an exhumation of his body and an independent determination of the true cause of death, which we don't accept to be vehicular manslaughter," Ronnie Richter, partner at Bland Richter LLP, said in a Monday press conference.

Richter announced Sunday evening that the South Carolina firm would be representing Smith's family in their effort to get new answers in the case after a Colleton County jury found Alex Murdaugh guilty in the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul.

Buster Murdaugh said in a Monday statement shared by his family's attorney that he "unequivocally" denies any involvement in Smith's death.

"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 wrote, adding that he has been "targeted and harassed" by members of the media and the public.

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Grace cautioned against putting the "cart before the horse" with implicating the Murdaugh family in the Smith case.

"First let's get the body exhumed, have a private autopsy, and then decide," she advised.

Grace added she does not believe Buster Murdaugh had any involvement in the death.

"When you don't know a horse, look at his track record," Grace said, pointing to the Mallory Beach and Gloria Satterfield cases. "Is this any different?… If anyone had tried to shape a case it would be Alex Murdaugh." 

"This is about Stephen Smith," Richter said Monday. "It's about trying to get answers to questions that his mother desperately needs answers for. So there's no reason to discuss Buster at all, and there's no comment to make back to Buster at all. We're going to find out, God willing or willing, what was Stephen Smith's true cause of death?"

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Officials initially said Smith's car broke down before the hit-and-run, but Smith's mother said her son would have "walked through the woods" on his way home if his car wasn't working instead of walking along the side of the road. She also said her son would not have left his wallet in the broken-down vehicle, as investigators determined in 2015.

"I want justice for this boy's mother," Grace said.

Fox News' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.