Florida Man Arrested for 2011 Murder of Ex-Fiancée Who Vanished After 'The People's Court'
Dale Smith II, 55, was charged with second-degree murder in the 2011 disappearance of Michelle Parker, 33, after new cellphone data analysis placed him at the scene.
Ex-Fiancé Arrested 13 Years After 'The People's Court' Appearance Preceded Woman's Disappearance
Dale Smith II, 55, has been arrested on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the 2011 disappearance of Michelle Parker, 33, Orlando police announced earlier this month. A 46-page affidavit, reviewed by Law & Crime, details how newly available cellphone location data helped investigators finally build a case against the man long suspected in Parker's death.
Parker vanished on Nov. 17, 2011, after dropping her twin children off at Smith's home. She was declared dead in 2013. Her body has never been recovered.
Cellphone Data Contradicts Suspect's Account
Smith had long maintained that Parker was at his home for only about ten minutes the evening she disappeared. Enhanced analysis of cellphone location data — technology not available 15 years ago — told a different story. According to investigators, the data placed Parker at the residence for more than an hour, giving Smith ample time to kill her.
Investigators further allege that after Parker's death, Smith used her phone to send a text message to her brother claiming she was at a nearby shopping center. In reality, the phone was more than ten miles away. "The victim was likely already dead," cops said in the affidavit.
A Relationship Marked by Abuse and Conflict
The affidavit documents a volatile relationship between the former couple. Multiple witnesses told police that Smith was physically abusive toward Parker, who would often bear visible marks from the alleged abuse. One friend recounted that during an argument before Parker's disappearance, Smith told her, "Oh, your time is coming."
Text messages recovered in the weeks leading up to her disappearance paint a picture of escalating tension. Two weeks before she vanished, Parker sent Smith a message threatening to seek full custody of their children. "Mourn for ur kids too! U lost em," she wrote, according to the affidavit. "They'll b goin with me a—hole."
Days later, Smith accused her in a text of seeing other men. Three days after that, the two were exchanging messages about Smith's apparent offer to pay Parker $2,000 to have sex "one last time." Parker declined, according to investigators. Smith also texted Parker that he was "sexually frustrated" before she arrived to drop off the children, and that he liked "rough sex," the affidavit states.
'The People's Court' Episode Aired the Day She Went Missing
Parker and Smith had been engaged before a string of arguments ended the relationship. Smith sued his ex-fiancée, alleging she had thrown her engagement ring off the balcony of a ninth-floor hotel room during a convention in Georgia. He rushed downstairs to search for it but could not find it.
The dispute landed the pair on "The People's Court," where Judge Marilyn Milian ordered Parker to pay $2,500. The episode aired on the day Parker disappeared. During the show, Parker accused Smith of being physically abusive and unfaithful. She said she had tried to hold the relationship together for the sake of their twins, who were three years old at the time.
According to Law & Crime, the affidavit reveals that Parker was deeply anxious about the show's fallout. A friend told investigators that Parker described herself as a "nervous wreck" in the days before her death. "She said the judge on the show was very insulting and she knew it would not sit well with the suspect because everyone would see it," investigators wrote. "The victim found it embarrassing."
Detectives concluded that Smith may have been motivated by jealousy over Parker dating other men, anger over the television episode, or her threat to take away his children. Investigators did not specify a precise cause of death.
Inconsistent Statements Across Years of Investigation
Orlando Police Detective Phil McMican told reporters at a press conference that Smith gave contradictory answers during depositions in a related civil lawsuit. "Very specific questions were asked of him numerous times over the years, where he gave different answers to those same questions," McMican said.
In one deposition, Smith stated that Parker had arrived at his home roughly an hour earlier than he had initially told police — a significant discrepancy that investigators flagged in the affidavit.
Arrest Made Days Before Planned Flight to Colombia
In the days following Parker's disappearance, police recovered her Hummer in a parking lot near where she was last seen. Her phone was found under a bridge several weeks later.
Officers took Smith into custody on Oct. 14, days before he was scheduled to board a flight to Colombia. He remains held at the Orange County Jail without bond.
Source: Law & Crime