ORLANDO, Fla. (Court TV) — Prosecutors fighting to keep court records sealed in the killing of a man’s ex-fiance now say the defendant had a ticket to leave the United States when he was arrested.
Dale Smith Jr. appears in court on Oct. 15, 2026. (Court TV)
Dale Smith Jr., 55, appeared briefly in court last week after he was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Michelle Parker, 33. Parker, who shared children with the defendant and had previously been engaged to marry him, disappeared on Nov. 17, 2011.
Smith’s arrest affidavit, which details the evidence prosecutors have to connect him to the crime, was sealed by the court after he was taken into custody. Multiple media outlets filed a motion to unseal it, prompting prosecutors to move to keep it sealed.
“There is a serious and imminent threat to the fair, impartial and orderly administration of justice if the affidavit is released before several witness interviews are complete,” Assistant State Attorney William Jay wrote in the motion. Jay said that investigators decided not to conduct certain witness interviews before Smith’s arrest, “so as not to incentivize the Defendant to flee prosecution.”
Parker was last seen alive dropping off her children with the defendant; earlier that day, the couple appeared on “The People’s Court” to settle a dispute over an engagement ring valued at $5,000. Parker described her ex as “malicious and vindictive” in the episode, in which she also admitted to throwing the ring off a hotel balcony during an argument.
Investigators have been tight-lipped about any timelines in the case, but Jay said in his motion that on Oct. 2, 2026, Smith’s son came to the Orlando Police Department to ask about the status of his mother’s case and whether his father was still a suspect. Days later, on Oct. 13, officers “learned that the Defendant had purchased an airline ticket to Colombia” leaving on Oct. 16. The ticket had a return date of Oct. 19, but Jay noted it “could be easily canceled.” The flight departed a day after Smith’s arrest.
The motion, as written, misspells the country’s name — it appears as “Columbia” — but Smith’s attorney confirmed to WKMG that his client did have plans to leave the country. “I’ve got copies of his passport right here, stamped with all the times he’s gone and come back,” attorney Rajan Joshi said. “He’s romantically involved with somebody in Colombia and he was planning to go on Friday like he always does, come back on Sunday. It was any other visit to Colombia.”
In an interview with Law&Crime’s Chris Stewart, Parker’s stepmother said she believes Parker was killed because she was ready to leave the relationship. “At the end of the day, she couldn’t be swayed anymore. She dropped the twins off, and I mean, speculation in my mind is that he tried to see if she would come around and give in and she said, ‘No, I’m done,’ and his narcissistic, controlling personality said, ‘Well, if I can’t have you, nobody will,’ and took her out of the picture,” she said.
Jay said officers are scheduled to complete the witness interviews on Oct. 25 and that there is no objection to unsealing the document once those interviews are complete.
Parker’s father and stepmother told Stewart that they have had no contact with their grandchildren, who were in Smith’s custody, since 2011.
