Michelle Parker’s ex-fiancé, accused of her murder 15 years after she went missing, bought a plane ticket to Colombia just days before his arrest, prosecutors claimed in a new Orange County court filing.
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The suspect’s son also asked police about the case two weeks before his father’s scheduled flight, the filing states.
The allegations in the court document come as news organizations, including the Orlando Sentinel, seek to unseal a 46-page affidavit outlining the investigation against Dale Smith Jr., the longtime prime suspect in Parker’s disappearance and presumed death who was charged last week with her murder. He pleaded not guilty Thursday.
The claim about his plans to leave the United States was included in a motion filed by the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office seeking to keep the arrest affidavit sealed until at least Monday, when Orlando police investigators are expected to have concluded witness interviews.
Releasing the affidavit beforehand would be “a serious and imminent threat to the fair, impartial and orderly administration of justice,” prosecutors said.
“The Orlando Police Department strategically decided to refrain from doing certain witnesses’ interviews until after the Defendant was taken into custody so as to not incentive the Defendant to flee prosecution,” prosecutors argued in their motion, filed Monday night.
Police plan two out-of-state interviews with witnesses this coming weekend, the document said.
On Monday afternoon, attorneys representing the Sentinel and TV news stations WFTV and WKMG filed a motion seeking an expedited hearing to unseal the affidavit. No hearing had been scheduled as of Tuesday afternoon.
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According to the latest filing, Smith’s son visited OPD on Oct. 2, “inquiring about the status of the case and whether his father was still a suspect.” On Oct 13, investigators said they learned Smith purchased a roundtrip flight to Colombia set to depart Oct. 16 and return Oct. 19.
He was arrested the next day. The document did not provide any details on why Smith might have planned to travel to South America.
Smith, 55, is charged with second-degree murder in Parker’s disappearance. Parker, who was 33 when she went missing in 2011, is presumed dead after her SUV and cellphone were found abandoned in the early weeks of the search.
She was last seen dropping off the twin children she shared with Smith at his apartment shortly after the airing of an episode of “The People’s Court,” in which she accused him of abuse while they argued over a missing engagement ring.
Parker’s body has never been recovered. In addition to the twins, who remained in Smith’s custody following her disappearance, she is survived by her eldest son, of a different father.
Orlando police Chief Eric Smith, who is not related to the suspect, said the arrest hinged on new location and communications data uncovered using digital forensics unavailable at the beginning of the investigation. However, few specifics have been released.
Rajan Joshi, Dale Smith’s attorney, questioned the latest developments in the investigation, including texts he told the Sentinel don’t offer “anything incriminating.” Dale Smith is in the Orange County Jail without bond, and Joshi is expected to file a motion seeking to secure his release ahead of the pending trial.
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