and gave him a hug and just broke it down. >> reporter: when the verdict was announced, buster put his head if his hands. but a bystander outside the court suggested there was even more trouble ahead as alex murdaugh was escorted away by police. he was apparently referring to the 2015 death of buster's high school classmate stephen smith. smith's body was found on a rural road a few miles from the murdaugh's sprawling property. it was ruled a hit and run according to the pathology report, but smith's mother doesn't believe it. >> it was more than one person that done this. and somebody knows. and they sent him up on that road to make it look like a hit and run and i think he was beaten to death. >> reporter: authorities reopened the case in 2021 while investigating the murders of maggie and paul. although they have not officially named anyone in the murdaugh family as a suspect.