CC News Network©: PART 2, the Exclusive Interview with Patrick Wilson from Hampton County, SC
In an exclusive interview with CC News Network, Patrick Wilson opened up to CC News Network for the first time to any news outlet about his legal troubles and his connection to the Stephen Smith case. During the early August, 2024 interview, Wilson discussed his interactions with law enforcement, his version of events surrounding Smith’s death, and his longstanding friendship with the Murdaugh family and many of the 2019 boat crash victims.
Shawn Connelly and Patrick Wilson: Renewed Scrutiny in 2023
Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly were teenagers at the time of Smith’s death, both living just miles apart, right in-between from where Smith’s body was found. Connelly, in particular, has a troubled past. His history with local law enforcement included having open alcohol tickets, and numerous traffic violations. Records obtained by CC News Network revealed that Connelly had also been involved in a number of other legal issues over the years, including hunting violations, criminal trespassing, fishing without a license, and one where he unlawfully killed an antlerless deer.
Despite the numerous infractions, neither Connelly, nor Wilson were pursued, but not seriously pursued by investigators during the initial investigation. However, when the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), reopened the case, their names quickly resurfaced. Investigators took a fresh look at the tip from Darrell Williams.
Wilson and Connelly had been close friends with Paul Murdaugh, they also shared additional connections to the Murdaugh family. According to Wilson, his great-grandmother, Lucy Altman, lived near the Moselle property on Prince Williams Rd and Swamp Cross Rd. This is who Patrick lived with in 2015 when he was in high school.
The Former Home of Patrick Wilson in Brunson, SC – Photo: CC News Network
His familial ties extended even further: Miley Altman, who was dating Wilson and Paul’s other good friend, Connor Cook, at the time of the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach. Miley Altman and Patrick Wilson are cousins, blood relatives.
Other close friends of Wilson and Connelly include Anthony Cook, Mallory Beach‘s boyfriend at the time of the boat crash. Connor, Miley, and the Beach family were paid out from various financial settlements stemming from the 2019 boast crash and their lawsuits in which they filed.
In the exclusive interview with CC News Network, Patrick Wilson opened up about his complicated legal history, including his attempted murder charge from April 2015. We are the first and only news media outlet that Wilson has ever spoken with, or since.
Wilson recalled visiting his good friend, Paul Murdaugh’s father, Alex Murdaugh, for legal advice on the attempted murder charge. At the time, Alex Murdaugh was a well-known and powerful attorney from the law firm PMPED in Hampton, SC. Wilson recounted when he and his great-grandmother, Lucy Altman, met with Alex at PMPED. “He was a civil attorney, so he recommended another attorney named Cory Fleming for my defense.” This is the same Corey Fleming that Alex recommended to Connor Cook after the boat crash. “Mr. Alex Murdaugh, Paul’s dad, said that he would be the best one for me, (Fleming) Said he recommended him,” Cook stated under oath. It’s also the same Corey Fleming that Alex recommended to the Gloria Satterfield family, after she died after a fall on the Murdaugh property.
Cory Fleming, a longtime friend of Alex Murdaugh, was closely tied to Murdaugh through both personal and professional connections. Fleming represented the family of Murdaugh’s former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, in a wrongful death settlement but later admitted to helping Murdaugh misappropriate millions of dollars from the settlement. Their deep relationship, including being college roommates, played a key role in the fraudulent schemes that have since been exposed in Murdaugh’s broader legal scandals.
Wilson’s attempted murder charge was then reduced to assault and battery in the 1st degree, and eventually nothing was pursued by the state. The case against Wilson and was legally filed as “Nolle Prosequi Indicted” by the state in February 2018 by the Fourteenth Solicitor’s Office. Nolle Prosequi Indicted means that the Solicitor’s office just declined to prosecute Wilson, and the case is still is available to prosecute if they choose to. At that time, Alex Murdaugh served as a volunteer prosecutor for the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, though he was never a full-time employee. He had unofficial prosecutorial powers through his role as a volunteer, which allowed him to carry a badge and work on cases intermittently. It is not known as to whether or not Murdaugh had any prosecutorial input into Wilson’s case.
Wilson also discussed a recent 2024 arrest for assault and possession of stolen property in Greenville County, South Carolina. Employed as a maintenance man at a local hotel, Wilson found himself in legal trouble after a physical altercation with a guest, an incident that added to his mounting legal woes. Wilson spoke about the stolen property case, “I don’t even know how I got involved in this case. They found a stolen trailer on a relatives property, and somehow they arrested me for it,” Wilson recounted. The possession of stolen property case is still pending, and the assault charge has disappeared from SC Court Cases completely.
Wilson’s Legal Troubles, Legal Actions Against Connelly and the Murdaugh’s Role in Civil Lawsuits
Randy Murdaugh’s involvement with the individuals tied to the Smith case didn’t stop with Darrell Williams’ tip, as we discussed our 1st article about Wilson. Shortly after Stephen Smith’s death, Randy, and another attorney at PMPED filed a lawsuits against Shawn Connelly on behalf of their clients involved in motor vehicle accidents with Connelly. Both cases were dismissed. One judge in these lawsuits had serious connections to the Murdaugh family, Judge Perry Buckner. According to reports, Buckner was questioned by the FBI in an anti-corruption investigation, and questions involved the Murdaugh’s, and Buckner’s relationship with Becky Hill, the embattled former Clerk of Courts for Colleton County. Buckner retired from the bench in 2020 and was commended by the South Carolina General Assembly for his many years of service. It was adopted by the House on September 22, 2020.
Interesting to note, one of the sponsors of the House Bill was Representative Justin Bamberg, attorney and politician serving as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 90th district. Representative Bamberg is also one of Becky Hill’s attorneys. Representative Bamberg also sits on all powerful House Judiciary Committee, which plays a significant role in the judicial selection process. South Carolina uses a legislative election process to select judges, instead of electing them by the people.
For further context, Connelly also had 11 traffic, civil, and/or criminal complaints in 2015 and 2016, and all were in Hampton County. During that same time frame. Patrick Wilson was also stopped by police and charged seven times in both Hampton and Colleton Counties. That’s a total of 18 times that Wilson and Connelly were stopped by police in just 2015 and 2016, when they were 17 and 18 years old.
When I asked Wilson in our exclusive interview, what was going on during this time to have so many violations between him and Connelly, he responded, “I was doing a lot of drugs and drinking, and didn’t care about the speed limit. If the speed limit was 35, I’d do 60 MPH in my truck.” Wilson also noted that he had a large lifted truck with 35-inch tires on it.
During this period, Wilson also transferred to a private school, having been expelled from public high school for skipping too much school.
Buster Murdaugh and the Persistent Stephen Smith Rumors
Throughout the Stephen Smith investigation, rumors and allegations about the Murdaugh family’s direct involvement in Stephen Smith’s death persisted. Specifically, Buster Murdaugh, Alex’s surviving son, was long suspected by some locals, and according to the SCHP MAIT report of having a connection to Smith.
Wilson alleges that he believed the two shared a secret relationship, and there were rumors and allegations that Smith’s murder was an attempt to cover up this alleged affair. Wilson also alleges that Smith was planning to “Out Buster,” at an upcoming party.
Wilson even provided us the names of two other individuals he heard allegedly helped Buster that night with Smith. Patrick told us, “Buster was in town on July 7th, 2015. He had a baseball game that night.”
However, we investigated these claims and could not find any record of Buster playing in a game any night, and Wilson could not recall the name of the team or where Buster allegedly played.
These allegations only echo what has been previously reported during the Smith investigation, but they have also been reported as untrue by law enforcement.
Despite his denials, Buster’s name continued to be a focus of public speculation as SLED ramped up its investigation. In 2023, one law enforcement source told FitsNews that SLED had found evidence exonerating the Murdaugh family from direct involvement in Smith’s death, though no official statements have been released to this effect.
Interesting to note, when SLED interviewed Buster after the deaths of his mother and brother, they did ask him about the Stephen Smith case and any threats or ties that Buster had experienced lately, up to the time of the murders of Paul and Maggie. What did SLED know at the time that they were trying to draw a connection of Stephen Smith to the deaths of Paul and Maggie? SLED isn’t saying. We’d like to know.
Buster’s Lawsuits
Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr., better known as Buster Murdaugh, has filed a defamation lawsuit against several parties for allegedly connecting him to the death of Stephen Smith and defaming him in the process of creating content for their media companies.
The lawsuit names defendants including Blackfin, Inc., Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., Warner Media Entertainment Pages, Inc., Campfire Studio, Inc., The Cinemart LLC, Netflix, Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., and local Hampton journalist Michael M. DeWitt Jr.
Buster’s claims focus on various documentaries and articles that, he alleges, falsely linked him to Smith’s death as part of the broader Murdaugh family saga, resulting in damage to his reputation and significant emotional distress.
With all the allegations made by others, including Patrick Wilson, our investigation couldn’t link Buster Murdaugh to the death of Stephen Smith at all.
A CC News Network Exclusive! Patrick Wilson and Shawn Connelly’s Alibi for July 7th and 8th, 2015
Wilson told us that on Tuesday July 7th, and well into Wednesday July 8th, 2015, he and Shawn Connelly went on a bender, by consuming beer, cocaine, and marijuana. The night began and ended at Wilson’s dad’s home, David Wilson who lived just minutes from where Patrick resided with his great-grandmother, Lucy Altman. All three partied all Tuesday night at Wilson’s dad’s house, and Patrick Wilson claims they never left his dad’s home until the morning of July 8th, 2015, after sunrise.
On the morning of July 8th, 2015, after the sun had come up, Wilson said they ran out of drugs and left the house to get more for the first time on what was now Wednesday morning, July 8th, and Smith’s body had already been found by law enforcement. Wilson says Connelly drove his blue Chevy Z71 pickup truck, and during their drive to get more drugs, they encountered a police license check conducted by local law enforcement. Wilson identified the officer who spoke to them as Officer Craig Smith. At the time, Officer Smith was a sergeant for the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office and was the supervisor of the HCSO Road Patrol Division.
Sergeant Smith checked their IDs and their vehicle. Wilson added, “He, (Sergeant Smith), jumped into the back of Connelly’s truck and open a closed cooler that contained moonshine. He (Sergeant Smith), took it out of the cooler and got down from the truck.” Patrick went on to say that despite being drunk, high, and underage with illegal alcohol in their vehicle, Sergeant Smith allowed them to pass through the ID check without any issue on the morning of July 8th, 2015. At this time, Connelly only had a speeding ticket, seatbelt violation and the antlerless deer arrest to his name.
When asked what happened next, Wilson said, “We went and got more drugs and came back to my dad’s. But we took a different way home, mainly on dirt roads to avoid the cops.”
According to Wilson, he and Connelly learned of Stephen Smith’s death later that day on July 8th, 2015.
We asked Wilson if it was possible that he and Shawn, while drunk and high, decided on a whim to go out hog hunting—high on marijuana and cocaine—with high-powered rifles out the window of Connelly’s lifted pickup truck, as they had done many times in the past. We speculated that they might have been driving to Shawn’s house to possibly get his rifle, passing through the stop sign at the “T” intersection onto Sandy Run Road towards Wilson’s house. In this scenario, they could have accidentally swerved into, straight on, or away from Stephen Smith, who may have been flagging them down in the early morning hours, when Smith was just a couple of steps into the road.
Given their impaired state, they might not have realized whether they had hit a person, dog, or deer with the passenger-side view mirror, the same mirror that Wilson said he shot out just a few short weeks earlier. They could have then continued on to Connelly’s house to grab his rifle and proceed to hog hunt, just as Wilson says they had done hundreds of times before.
When asked about this theory, Wilson responded, “No, we were at my dad’s house all night partying. We didn’t leave until after the sun had come up.” Besides, we wouldn’t have driven down Sandy Run where Stephen was found hit, we would have taken the dirt roads or Benton (Rd) to Joe Miley (Rd)—it’s quicker,” Wilson proclaimed.
It’s important to note that all during our interview with Wilson, he kept referring to Stephen Smith as being, “Hit.” Even though the story he told me was that Buster had allegedly killed Stephen. I asked Patrick about this continued Freudian Slip, referring to Stephen being “hit,” instead of killed by a baseball bat. In what seemed like a moment of confusion, Patrick fumbled a bit, but responded by saying, “Well that’s just what all the news has said how Stephen died.”
However, in late August of this year, I went to Hampton County to investigate the scene of Stephen Smith’s death. We located the former trailer home of Patrick Wilson and the home of Shawn Connelly. During our investigation, we timed our drives from Wilson’s former home on Prince Williams Road, turning left onto Sandy Run Road, and continuing to Connelly’s house, which is also off Sandy Run Road.
I compared these times to the routes Wilson mentioned, including the dirt road route and the way from Benton Road to Joe Miley Road, eventually back to Sandy Run Road. The quickest route we found, each time we timed it, was leaving Wilson’s former home on Prince Williams Road, turning left onto Sandy Run Road, and heading toward Connelly’s house. This exact route is 22% faster than Wilson’s routes he provided us.
Stephen Smith was found dead on the road just 1/3rd of a mile (0.4 miles) away from the Prince Williams Road intersection. If a truck was out that night, and it had accelerated quickly, it could likely have reached speeds between 40 to 50 mph in that short 0.4-mile distance. Or is it possible that they were hog hunting, the way people do it down there is to drive slower, headlights off, drive about 20-25 MPH with their windows down, shining red or green colored spot lights out the truck searching for feral hogs, with their rifle at the ready. Just as Wilson explained he’s done hundreds of times.
The “T” Intersection at Prince Williams Rd and Sandy Run Rd in Brunson, SC. Stephen Smith was found dead just 0.4 miles from this stop sign.
Based on the image of Connelly’s lifted truck at the time, which appears to be a Chevrolet Z71 or similar model, and factoring in the lift and large tires, the height of the side-view mirrors could be estimated to be around 5 to 6 feet (approximately 60 to 72 inches) from the ground. Stephen Smith was reported to be approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall. This information comes from various reports following his death in 2015, which mentioned his height in connection with the investigation.
We asked several people in the medical field about Smith’s head wound and they all said that it is possible that if the side-view mirror of a truck like the one in the image hit a person in the forehead, it could create a curved mark like Stephen had on his forehead. The design of many side-view towing mirrors, especially those on larger trucks with blunted or rounded edges, can cause a distinct curved or crescent-shaped injury upon impact.
If the gash was deep in the middle, it could indicate the point of initial contact, where the force was greatest. The blunted edges of the mirror could potentially create a more superficial curved mark around the central deep gash, depending on how the mirror struck the head (e.g., glancing blow versus a more direct hit). The height of the mirrors (as estimated around 5 to 6 feet) could also align with where such an injury might occur on a person approximately 5’7″ tall, such as Stephen Smith.
This type of injury is consistent with blunt-force trauma, where an object with a curved or rounded surface creates a distinctive crescent-shaped pattern on the skin, particularly on the forehead. Dr. Erin Presnell, the pathologist who conducted Stephen Smith’s 2015 autopsy, concluded that his cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, likely from being struck by a motor vehicle. In her report, she speculated that the fatal injury could have been caused by the side-view mirror of a passing vehicle.
Shawn Connelly’s Chevy Z71 Pickup, with towing mirrors from 2015. It’s metallic blue. Soon after the summer of 2015, Connelly replaced the large tow mirrors that Wilson said he shot up, to standard sized sideview mirrors for a Chevy Z71.
The body of Stephen Smith on Sandy Run Rd, just 0.4 miles from the Prince Williams Rd intersection, and on the way to Connelly’s house.
The other test we conducted at the Stephen Smith site was to measure the distance across the road. Although Smith appears to be in the middle of the road in the picture, his feet are slightly inside the yellow line.
I stood on the exact white line on Sandy Run Rd, on the side of the road closest to Stephen’s body. It took me approximately three steps to reach the middle of the road. Given where Smith’s feet were, it would have taken him only 2 to 2.5 steps from the side of the road to end up there.
The measurement of the width of that road from the white line to the edge of the middle yellow line was measured to be 8 feet 6 inches wide. This means that the MAIT Report is wrong. In South Carolina, the standard width of rural roads can vary depending on the type of road and its intended usage. However, typical two-lane rural roads in South Carolina generally have the following dimensions:
- Lane Width: 9 to 12 feet per lane, with 10-12 feet being the most common.
- Clearly, Sandy Run Rd is a much smaller road than the standard. The 2015 MAIT report states the road is 10 feet wide. It is not 10 feet, the MAIT report is incorrect in this particular measurement.
It’s so narrow, that most vehicles that passed by me while I were there drove down the middle of the road. If Smith had been hit by a driver’s side-view tow mirror, there should have been tire tracks in the grass on the opposite side of where Smith’s body was found.
Why was Stephen Smith in the Middle of the Road?
My exclusive investigation at the Smith site showed that the distance from the white line to the yellow line is just three human steps, or less than 9 feet. Sandy Smith, Stephen’s mother, says she believes Stephen would have hidden in the grass or corn field if cars were coming. However, if a truck was out hog hunting at 3 am in Hampton County, it’s quite typical for some hog hunters to drive slower than normal speed, use bright spotlights or night vision, and fire high-powered rifles—just like the one Patrick Wilson said he used when he and Shawn Connelly hunted out of Shawn’s truck so many times. Wilson specifically mentioned using a 9MM high-powered rifle when he shot into Connelly’s side-view mirror.
However, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), the only way to hunt feral hogs at night is on registered properties, feral hogs, coyotes, or armadillos may be hunted at night with artificial lights and nigh vision devices using any legal firearm, bow, or crossbow. It is also unlawful to hunt feral hogs, coyotes, or armadillos at night within 300 yards of a residence without the permission of the occupant. This yardage restriction does not apply to the landowner hunting their own property, or under the authority of a DNR-issued depredation permit. There are homes all over Sandy Run Rd.
It’s interesting to note, records show that Connelly has repeatedly disregarded SCDNR laws & regulations, having been criminally charged with hunting, killing, taking or possessing antlerless deer unlawfully in January 2015, trespassing / Entry on another’s pasture or other lands after notice in 2021, and Hunting, fishing, or taking fish or wildlife without license, tag or stamp in possession in 2022.
So, is it possible that Stephen may have seen a slower-moving vehicle driving down the middle of the road, shining spotlights into the fields surrounding Sandy Run Road? If so, would he have stepped 2 to 2.5 steps into the road, assuming the people in the truck were actually looking for him and would slow down or stop for him when they saw him step out? Or would Stephen see this slow moving truck and go hide in the nearby cornfield when the truck and people inside may see him anyway with their spotlights?
It’s been reported that Stephen was left handed and that his left arm and hand had injuries, and a partially dislocated right shoulder. Is it possible that he waved to an oncoming vehicle that was driving slower than normal on that road? How about if the people in the truck were illegally hog hunting at night—possibly drunk or high—and focusing on where their spotlight was and not the road in front of them. Add in driving down the middle of Sandy Run Rd at 3 a.m. at slower than normal speeds. It’s quite possible that Stephen could have taken those 2 – 3 steps out to wave them down, and could have been accidentally hit by an elevated side-view tow mirror of a truck being driven slower, illegally hunting for hogs.
This is the second article in a four-part series diving deep into the investigation of Stephen Smith’s death and our exclusive interview with Patrick Wilson. Stay tuned to CC News Network for all updates on Stephen Smith as they become available. CC News network is committed to uncovering the truth behind this case—and we believe we have made significant progress in solving this and another high-profile case that directly ties into both the Smith investigation and the 2019 boat crash.
The next two articles will further explain:
- Why Stephen’s car was on the side of the road.
- The boat crash connection.
- The deaths of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.
- The death of Gloria Satterfield.
- The drugs, drinking, car accidents and fights by Paul, and what the friend group thought of it all.
- The Nautilus lawsuit.
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