Ex-fiancé arrested for murder of missing Florida mother 15 years after disappearance

Dale Smith Jr. was arrested Wednesday for the murder of Michelle Parker, who vanished in 2011 after appearing on 'The People's Court'. Her body has not been found.

Florida man charged with murder of 'People's Court' woman missing since 2011

Dale Smith Jr., 55, was taken into custody at his business on Wednesday, charged with second-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of Michelle Parker, Orlando police announced. Parker, a 33-year-old mother of three, was reported missing in November 2011 and has not been found, abcnews.com reports.

"While Michelle has not yet been located, all evidence leads to Dale Smith Jr. as the person responsible for Michelle's murder," Orlando police said in a statement.

Parker vanished after dropping off her and Smith's 3-year-old twins at his home on 17 November 2011. Her car was discovered the following day with the decal for her tanning business scraped from the window. Her cellphone was later recovered from a lake south of Orlando.

The disappearance came shortly after a pre-recorded episode of the reality court show "The People's Court" — featuring both Parker and Smith — aired on television. Smith had brought a claim against Parker for $5,000 over a lost engagement ring, alleging she had thrown it at him during an argument at an Atlanta hotel, causing it to fall from a balcony. The show's judge, Marilyn Milian, found both parties partly at fault and ruled that Parker owed Smith $2,500 for her half of the ring.

During the episode, Parker described Smith as "pretty malicious and vindictive," adding: "He's a mean person, especially when he's been drinking."

Smith had long been named a suspect in the case and was the last known person to see or hear from Parker. Over the past year, investigators "reexamined testimony and conflicting statements made by the suspect and used advanced digital forensics to uncover and analyze additional evidence," Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

The chief declined to detail the specific findings, citing concerns about compromising the prosecution, but credited advances in technology with enabling the arrest. "The things we couldn't do 15 years ago that we can do now allowed us to close this case," he said.

Orlando Police Detective Phillip McMican told reporters that the new evidence was developed through digital forensics applied to vehicles, electronic devices, phones and computers. On Smith's statements over the years, McMican said that "very specific questions were asked of him numerous times, where he gave different answers to those same questions."

The arrest warrant and supporting affidavit in the case have been sealed.

Smith has entered a not guilty plea. He appeared in court on Thursday, where his attorney, Rajan Joshi, sought bail, arguing that the allegations contained in the 46-page affidavit did not meet the legal threshold required to deny pretrial release. The state opposed bail, and Smith remains held without bond.

Joshi told ABC News that his client has maintained his innocence since Parker's disappearance. "When he was originally questioned, when this initially happened, he was very cooperative with law enforcement. He let them search his house. He talked to them. He came in voluntarily without a lawyer, gave an interview," the attorney said. "It was clear that law enforcement was only looking at him as the sole suspect. That's when his friends urged him to get an attorney, and that's when he contacted me. This is 15 years ago."

Joshi said the defence is focused on filing a bond motion to secure Smith's release ahead of trial.

State Attorney Monique Worrell said during Wednesday's briefing that the second-degree murder charge could be upgraded depending on what the evidence supports.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)