Stephen Smith's mom claims cell phone data may be key to solving cold case murder of South Carolina teen linked to Murdaugh family

July 8, 2015: Teenager Stephen Smith dies

Smith was found on the side of the road. 

Police officially rule his death a hit-and-run but he had suffered blunt force trauma to the head. 

His mother has since shared her belief that she thinks he was killed in a hate-crime because he was gay.

Case notes obtained by DailyMail.com revealed Paul's older brother Buster was named multiple times in the investigation. 

Police wanted to know more about his relationship with Stephen. 

Stephen's mother said he had been having a 'fling'. 

In a deposition years later, one of Paul's friends said the family had 'covered' other killings up. 

He mentioned Smith's death.  

February 2, 2018: Murdaugh family housekeeper Gloria Satterfield dies

Gloria died after 'falling' down the stairs in the family house

The family gave her family $500,000 in a wrongful death settlement but it's unclear why her death was ruled to be their fault. 

Alex Murdaugh was listed as the defendant in the lawsuit. 

Satterfield was only 57 when she died. 

She left behind a husband and children. 

Her death was also mentioned in the deposition by Paul Murdaugh's friend.  

February 23, 2019: Mallory Beach dies being thrown from boat driven by Paul Murdaugh

Paul was charged afterwards because he'd been drinking and was behaving 'belligerently' that night. 

He had been released on bond.  

One of the six teens on board testified that they were scared to speak about the Murdaugh family because they knew how to 'cover things up'. 

The boy named Stephen Smith and the housekeeper, and claimed Paul pushed Beach from the boat.

June 7, 2021: Paul and Maggie are murdered 

The mother and son were found shot dead at the family home in Islandton, South Carolina. 

Alex Murdaugh says he found them at the home. 

The medical examiner said the pair had been dead for an hour at most when he discovered them. 

It was later revealed Alex waited an hour to call 911 about their deaths. 

June 10, 2021:  Alex's 81-year-old father Randolph Murdaugh III dies 'naturally' and 'peacefully' at home

Alex Murdaugh's alibi for the night of his wife and son's murder was that he was visiting his ailing father in the hospital.

The father died just three days later, following a battle with cancer. 

September 3, 2021: Alex resigns from his law firm amid claims he misused funds

The firm has hired a forensic investigator to go through the accounts.

September 4, 2021: Alex calls 911 claiming he's been shot in the head in a drive-by

He only had 'surface' wounds and was also able to call his brother.

September 6, 2021: Alex resigns from law firm

In a statement he says: 'I'm resigning from my law firm and entering rehab after a long battle that has been exacerbated these murders.' 

September 14, 2021: Police arrest alleged hitman in Alex's shooting

Police said Alex Murdaugh orchestrated his own shooting in a botched assisted suicide scheme, designed so his surviving son can collect a $10 million life insurance payment.  

Curtis Edward Smith, 61, was arrested on charges of assisted suicide, assault and battery, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. 

Smith, from Walterboro, South Carolina, is a former client of Murdaugh, who represented him in minor traffic matters as well as a 2015 lawsuit that Smith filed against a forest management company. 

According to police, Murdaugh paid him to shoot him in the head and kill him, making it look like a random, drive-by attack.  

September 15, 2021: Police open criminal investigation into Satterfield's 2018 death

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) announced it is investigating the 2018 death of Gloria Satterfield and the subsequent handling of her estate.

Satterfield, 57, had been the Murdaugh housekeeper and nanny for around 25 years when she suffered a fatal brain injury following a mystery fall inside the Murdaugh family home. 

She died several weeks later on February 26, 2018.

SLED said that hit had opened a criminal investigation inter Satterfield's death based on a request from the Hampton County Coroner, as well as 'information gathered during the course of our other ongoing investigations involving Alex Murdaugh.'  

September 16, 2021: Alex turns himself into police over insurance fraud scheme

Murdaugh handed himself over to police in connection to the insurance fraud scheme, where he arranged his own killing so that his surviving son could collect $10 million payout.

He faces charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report.

November 29, 2021: Murdaugh faces 27 new counts after an indictment for an alleged $4.8 million in financial crimes 

Murdaugh was indicted on 27 additional charges, with prosecutors saying he stole nearly $5million in settlement money he had obtained for his dead housekeeper, an injured state trooper and other people, as well as fees meant for his law firm.

December 6, 2021: Satterfield's family sues Bank of America for allowing Murdaugh to stash life insurance money meant for them 

The bank was added as a defendant in the lawsuit against Murdaugh, who is accused of bilking the sons of Gloria Ann Satterfield out of life insurance money after the housekeeper's mysterious death.

Statterfield's sons say the bank looked the other way when it allowed Murdaugh to set up a fake account and transfer the insurance payouts to himself and a cousin.

June 28, 2022: Alex Murdaugh and Curtis Smith are charged with drug trafficking

Murdaugh is accused of writing 437 checks worth $2.4 million that Curtis Smith - the man he hired to murder him - cashed over eight years, until September 2021.

Smith kept some of the money for himself and used the rest for wide-ranging illegal activities, according to indictments unsealed on June 28.

That illegal activity included a 'distribution network' for the painkiller oxycodone, according to prosecutors. 

Both men were charged with possessing, manufacturing or distributing narcotics.

July 21, 2022: Palmetto State Bank CEO is charged with bank fraud for 'helping Murdaugh steal money from his clients'

A federal grand jury indicted Russell Lafitte, the former Palmetto State Bank CEO, for allegedly conspiring with Murdaugh to steal $8.5 million from his client's settlements.

He is charged with bank fraud, wire fraud and misapplication of bank funds.

November 8, 2022: Laffitte faces federal trial

Laffitte's federal trial on the bank fraud charges began November 8.

The Associated Press reported that defense lawyers, Bart Daniel and Matt Austin, argue Murdaugh manipulated people and lied to Laffitte. 

They say he was just a pawn following Murdaugh's instructions and didn't willfully participate in the alleged fraud. 

August 2023: Laffite is sentenced to seven years in prison

Banker Russell Laffitte was sentenced to seven years in prison in early August for helping the disgraced attorney steal millions from his clients and law firm. 

Prosecutors said he schemed with Murdaugh to swindle two sisters out of money they received after their mother and brother were killed in an accident in 2005.

Even though Laffitte was paid over $400,000 for watching over the sister's money, they attempted to embezzle $990,000 for Murdaugh and $355,000 for Laffitte.

August 15, 2023: Cory Fleming is sentenced to 46 months for helping to defraud sons of Murdaugh housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield 

Fleming received nearly four years in prison and was ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution for his involvement to defraud Satterfield's sons  

Murdaugh and Fleming planned to persuade the Satterfields to hire Fleming to represent them and submit a claim against Murdaugh after her death

The pair then set up fake accounts and siphoned off the payout, and then produced fake distribution sheets to get the payout approved by a judge