Minnie Smith was looking forward to Christmas when she met a grisly demise.
On Dec. 15, 2005, the doting matriarch was found dead on the bedroom floor of her California home. The 66-year-old had been beaten repeatedly with a metal fireplace tool, which fractured her face and skull.
Her hands were tied tightly behind her back with a coat-hanger wire, and duct tape was wrapped around her ankles. She had a defensive wound on her forearm, indicating she had been trying to block a blow. She also suffered burns to her toes.
“I saw what happened to her,” Susan Kang, who was the Public Affairs Council for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, told Fox News Digital. “I saw the crime scene photos. And I remember very distinctly the wrapped Christmas presents. It was only 10 days before Christmas.”
Smith’s death is being examined on Oxygen’s true-crime docuseries “The Real Murders of Orange County.” The show, which explores some of the most shocking slayings to rock the wealthy Southern California community, features interviews with investigators connected to the cases, as well as loved ones and legal experts. Smith’s son, Bennie Thomas, was among those who participated in the upcoming episode.
Kang said she connected to Smith and wanted to shine a spotlight on her story.
“This is somebody that should have never faced the fate that she met,” said Kang. “I thought that Minnie Smith was somebody that should not be forgotten.”
On the surface, it appeared that Smith was the victim of a botched robbery. The killer had ransacked the home, found a floor safe in the closet and emptied it. A diamond-encrusted Cadillac emblem, a gold medallion, a diamond ring and a liquor bottle were missing. But investigators were scratching their heads. Many other valuables were still intact, including the gifts.
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The firearms in Smith’s home were also present. The special revealed…
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