Handsome businessman Chris Smith seemed to have it all: a successful business, a beautiful girlfriend, and a laid-back California lifestyle.
But in the summer of 2010, Chris appeared to leave his old life behind, sold his business investments, broke up with his girlfriend over text, and went on a cruise around the world. Date: Unforgettable.
For six months, Chris’ family received a stream of emails from the jet-setter detailing his adventures traveling from exotic location to exotic location with the Playboy Playmate.
But when email communication suddenly stopped, Chris’ family contacted the US State Department to investigate their son’s whereabouts and discovered the horrifying truth. Chris had never left the US, his tragic fate having been meted out a few months earlier to a cunning and ruthless killer who then assumed the dead man’s identity and deceived Chris’ family for months.
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“It’s been a year of fantasy house for a family, a thoughtful, caring family,” correspondent Keith Morrison said.
Who is Chris Smith?
Chris was a fiercely independent and creative thinker who loved the outdoors and surfing.
“He was someone who thought anything was possible,” recalled his brother, Paul Smith.
After attending community college, Chris became a successful advertising-focused entrepreneur in California’s thriving tech industry.
By 2009, Chris had moved to Laguna Beach, California for his next adventure, where he teamed up with Ed Shin to start the lead generation company 800XChange.
In many ways, the business partners seemed like polar opposites: Chris was a laid-back single guy who spent his free time riding the next wave, while Singh was a married father of four and a faithful church-goer.
Still, with their help, the business flourished. Chris began dating a beautiful woman and confessed to his family that he thought she might be his “soul mate.”
Chris Smith’s email to his family
Then, in June 2010, Chris seemed to suddenly change course: He broke up with his girlfriend via text message and emailed his family to say he was selling his share of the business and leaving on a three-week sailing trip to the Galapagos Islands and Costa Rica.
Chris’ family was surprised but he was known for being impulsive and, according to Paul, had been “very stressed” in the weeks before making the life-changing decision.
“Whatever decision he made, I wanted the best for him,” Paul said.
Chris emailed his family to say he’d gone on a trip with a Playboy Playmate, but the details were strange to them. After a few weeks, Chris emailed them to say he’d decided to extend his trip and travel through South America before heading to Africa.
In his final email, sent on December 26, 2010, Chris told his family he was embarking on a risky plan to sell the Krugerrands to a dealer in Rwanda who would pay him a “30% markup.”
“This is the only place [expletive] Like real currency,” he wrote.
Paul admitted he began to suspect something was wrong, believing his brother had “lost his mind” by carrying out such a dangerous plan.
Chris’ father, Steve, a former police officer, felt the same way and when the emails stopped coming, he contacted the US State Department to try to use his son’s passport to track his movements.
However, Steve was stunned to discover that Chris’ passport had never been used and there was no evidence he had ever left the United States.
Steve drove to Laguna Beach to talk to Singh, who told him that Chris had left the country on a fake passport, but Steve felt something was wrong and decided to report his son missing to the Laguna Beach Police Department.
Detectives spoke with Singh, who said he wanted Chris out of the business and agreed to sell his share in the business to Singh before he left for the trip. Singh said he had been in contact with Chris via email and had been sending money to India as part of regular payments for his share in the business.
“I don’t know where he is,” he claimed. “I think he’s on the other side of the world, to be honest.”
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A crime scene is discovered
Mr Singh’s claims began to unravel when private investigator Joe Dal was asked by the estate manager to look into the situation. This is where the 800XChange office used to be.
The company had closed down several months earlier, leaving behind a large amount of unpaid invoices.
Daru walked into the office and was surprised to find what appeared to be bloodstains on the light switches and door frame.
He called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, who called crime scene investigators.
More bloodstains were found on the concrete beneath the carpet, including a large dark stain, which DNA testing later determined belonged to Chris.
Detectives also discovered that at the time of Chris’ disappearance, Singh was on probation for embezzling from another company, and faced prison time unless he paid $700,000 in restitution in that case.
“Ed Shinn is in a desperate situation, he is repaying significant debts from a criminal case and he has a wife and four children,” former sergeant Ray Wert told Morrison.
Ed Shin’s Confession
Orange County detectives took Singh in for questioning.
Singh initially denied knowing anything about Chris’ death, but after detectives told him he was being arrested for first-degree murder, he changed his testimony: He claimed he killed Chris in self-defense after a delusional Chris attacked him in his office. Singh claimed Chris fell and hit his head on a desk, causing his death.
He later admitted that he had been impersonating Chris online for months in order to mislead his family.
But the prosecution did not believe Shin’s story and was convinced that he had murdered Chris in cold blood after he began to suspect that Chris was stealing from the company.
“This case is about greed in its most heinous and despicable form,” prosecutor Matt Murphy said. “He killed a really good person for money so he could gamble in Las Vegas, but then he would lie about his identity online and torture a family like this, it’s horrible.”
In 2018, Singh suggested to jurors that he had beaten or stabbed Chris to death in Singh’s office before disposing of his body. Singh has not disclosed the location of the body.
In an attempt to evade tracking, just minutes after killing Chris, Singh sent an email to a lawyer posing as the murdered business partner and falsely claiming that he had agreed to sell his company shares to Singh.Singh had complete control over the business and was able to siphon off the funds he needed.
But Mr Singh’s lawyers again argued that Chris was killed in self-defence after he attacked Mr Singh in his office.
It took the jury less than an hour to find him guilty of first-degree murder for financial gain.
Singh, who is currently serving a life sentence, has refused to provide any information about the whereabouts of Chris’ body.
“A man has some secrets he’s willing to give his life for,” Singh told Morrison ominously from inside his cell.
