Buster Murdaugh denies involvement in Stephen Smith's death amid renewed scrutiny.

Buster Murdaugh, who recently lost his mother and brother to murder and whose father is serving a life sentence for their deaths, has denied rumors linking him to the 2015 death of his high school classmate Stephen Smith. Murdaugh has asked the media to stop publishing "defamatory comments and rumors" and said he has been "targeted and harassed" by the media and followers of his family's story. Smith's case was reopened following the deaths of Murdaugh's family members, but no member of the Murdaugh family has been named as a suspect in Smith's case.