Newly unsealed court documents are shedding light on the events that preceded Michelle Parker’s disappearance in 2011.
According to an affidavit, Parker’s former fiancé, Dale Smith Jr., offered her $2,000 for sex about two weeks before she vanished. Parker rejected the offer. Smith was arrested years later on a second-degree murder charge in connection with her presumed death.
“Ok, wasn’t trying to make you feel like a whore,” Smith wrote in a Nov. 10, 2011, text message, according to the affidavit. “Sorry I was just gonna help you out, all I wanted was one last time to be with you, sorry you feel that way, that wasn’t my intention. I don’t think you’re a whore, and I don’t think you would be one either by doing that, but its ok, no big deal.”
Parker disappeared on Nov. 17, 2011—the same day she and Smith appeared in a recorded episode of The People’s Court over a dispute involving a $5,000 engagement ring.
The affidavit says Parker was last seen after dropping off the couple’s twins at Smith’s Orlando condominium.
Her body has never been found. Several years after her disappearance, a judge declared Parker legally dead.
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The document also includes photographs taken the following day that show scratches and abrasions on Smith. Investigators believe the injuries may have been defensive wounds caused by Parker.
“It is believed the suspect killed the victim in his house after days of offensive messages, declining sex for cash, the embarrassing People’s Court episode airing, and threatening to restrict his access to his children,” the affidavit states. “It is believed the suspect choked the victim to death, likely resulting in the scratches and abrasions observed on him while the victim fought back.”
Although Smith was identified as a primary suspect in 2011, police did not arrest him at the time because they lacked probable cause, an Orlando detective told Fox News.
Authorities ultimately arrested him 15 years later, citing advances in digital forensic technology and evidence recovered from electronic devices.
Smith’s defense attorney, Rajan Joshi, has previously defended his client.
“He maintains his innocence,” Joshi told WESH 2 News. “We’re going to go forward with defending him.”
Joshi did not immediately respond to Oxygen’s request for comment.
