Dale Smith Jr. Was arrested and charged with murder Wednesday in the 2011 disappearance of his ex-fiancée Michelle Parker.
Smith, 40 at the time, had been the prime suspect since the early days of the investigation into Parker, 33, who vanished on Nov. 17, 2011. The arrest came after a judge unsealed a 46-page arrest affidavit Monday that detailed explosive text messages, witness statements and forensic evidence prosecutors say ties him to her death.
Roughly two weeks before Parker disappeared, Smith told a former friend outside his condo, “I wish someone would kill this b–ch,” according to the affidavit. The friend came forward to detectives in April, revealing the alleged remark that prosecutors now cite as evidence of premeditation.
The court papers lay bare a relationship in its final, toxic days. On Nov. 10, 2011, Smith texted Parker offering her $2,000 to sleep with him. Parker rejected the proposition outright.
“Thought about your offer … & will have to decline,” she texted back. “I’d rather have a personal legal loan, than feel like a whore. I can’t do it. I won’t!!!! It’s not ethical, or right.”
Smith attempted to soften the offer, claiming he wasn’t trying to make her “feel like a whore” and simply wanted “one last time to be with you.” Parker refused again.
“Having sex for the exchange of $$$ makes me a high dollar prostitute! I can’t do it for the $$, against my morals,” she wrote.
Just seven days later, Parker dropped off her then-3-year-old twins at Smith’s gated condo complex and was never heard from again.
The disappearance came on the same day their episode of “The People’s Court” aired, showing the couple fighting over their pricey engagement ring. Roughly 40 minutes before the episode broadcast, Smith texted Parker: “I’m sexually frustrated lol.”
She responded furiously: “that’s your f–king fault! U were never frustrated b4, even while with me… & [half] the time it wasn’t me u were f–king.”
Parker arrived at Smith’s home at 3:16 p.m., according to re-analyzed cell phone data, and stayed for over an hour. At 4:18 p.m., both of their phones traveled together westward toward Lake Conway. Dive teams later retrieved Parker’s phone from the lake, where digital forensics revealed all text messages up to 4:27 p.m. Had been manually deleted.
Investigators contend Smith was enraged by the episode’s portrayal of their dispute and allegedly choked Parker to death in a fit of rage, then dumped her body somewhere in the Orlando area. Photos taken the next day show scratches across his mouth and lips, a bruised forearm and scrapes to his elbows — injuries believed to be defensive wounds inflicted by Parker as she fought for her life. It remains unclear why authorities did not pursue probing Smith’s wounds at the time.
Another former fiancée of Smith told detectives earlier this year that he routinely choked her to the point of passing out with his bare hands or a belt during sex and during arguments, and threatened to make her disappear.
Inconsistencies in Smith’s timeline have fueled suspicion for years. He initially told police in a Nov. 18, 2011 interview that Parker arrived at his condo and stayed for just 10 minutes. The cell data directly contradicts this account. Records also show Smith never once called or texted Parker after her disappearance, despite telling investigators he hoped she was just “laying low.”
A judge issued a gag order against Smith’s attorney as the affidavit was unsealed.