Dateline: In A Lonely Place - 5 harrowing details about the Chris Smith's murder case, revisited

On December 14th, 2018, Dateline released yet another intriguing and devastating true crime case that left the viewers shocked. Dateline: In A Lonely Place shows the case of entrepreneur Chris Smith’s harrowing murder. Chris Smith, a successful business owner, met with a sudden change of fate in June 2010.

He had a successful career, but Chris sought adventure. Hence, when he suddenly disappeared in June 2010, initially, his family members were not worried. Chris had sent them an email explaining where he went.

In the email, he mentioned that he would be going on a three-week sailing trip to the Galapagos Islands and Costa Rica. Before departing on his journey, he also broke up with his then-girlfriend. However, what his family did not know was that the email that they received was not from Chris at all.

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Dateline: In A Lonely Place - 5 harrowing details about the Chris Smith's murder case

Chris’s strange online behaviour

Right after he disappeared, Chris began communicating with his family via email. In the emails, he would explain his experiences. In the Dateline episode, Chris’s family discusses Chris’s desire for adventure. He was also quite abrupt in his decisions.

Given this nature of Chris, his family did not question his trip. In the Dateline episode, Chris’ family also mentioned how he only operated via email. However, slowly, the type of emails Chris began to send his family began to be suspicious. Chris's brother began to be suspicious of Chris’s activity. When the last email came, his family grew even more concerned.

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Fake Online persona

After growing suspicious, Chris’ father finally reached out to the U.S. Department of State. He wanted to know about the well-being of his son. However, what he found out shook his family. In the Dateline episode, it is shown that the authorities found out that Chris did not leave the United States at all.

He grew suspicious and went to ask Chris’s business partner, Edward Shin, about his son’s whereabouts. During the investigation, Shin revealed that Chris sold his part of the business to Shin. However, as the case progressed, Shin’s ruse began to come forward.

After Shin was told that he would be arrested for Chris’s murder, he confessed to killing Chris. The string of emails that Chris’ family received for months was not from Chris at all. It was Shin who was pretending to be Chris to keep up with the ruse.

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Chris’ Murder

Initially, during the trial, Edward Shin claimed that he murdered Chris in self-defence. The two of them were having a heated argument, which led to Chris hitting his head on the corner of the desk.

In the Dateline episode, details about the crime scene were revealed. At the crime scene, blood spatters were found along with a huge stain.

After the DNA results came in, it was found out that the blood stains were indeed Chris's. The motive behind Chris’s murder was Shin's greed for money.

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Missing Body

Though Smith confessed to the murder, a question still remains. What happened to Chris’s body? In the Dateline episode, it was revealed that Chris’s body was never found.

Shin even refused to reveal the details. This created a lack of closure for the family.

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Past criminal activities

Before murdering Chris, Shin had a past of many criminal activities. He even had staged his own kidnapping for a ransom. During this, he also tried to get a ransom by threatening through emails.

His greed for money led him to cause such a heinous crime. It eventually led to a devastating outcome for Chris and his family.

Shin received a life sentence for the murder of Chris Smith and does not have a chance at parole.

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