Phone Data and Texts Lead to Murder Charge in 2011 Disappearance of Woman After TV Court Taping

A renewed review of cell phone data and text messages has resulted in a murder charge against a Florida man accused of killing his ex-fiancée in 2011, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.

Dale Smith Jr., 55, of Orlando, was taken into custody Oct. 14 and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Michelle Parker, police said. Parker's body has never been found. She was 33 when she was last seen alive on Nov. 17, 2011. Smith was 40 at the time, and the two shared custody of twins.

That afternoon, at about 2 p.m., the pair appeared for a taping of the television show "The People's Court" to resolve a dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring that Parker allegedly threw off a balcony. The episode itself was filmed in June 2011. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the judge ruled that both parties were responsible for the ring and ordered them to split the $5,000 in damages.

Smith told investigators that Parker dropped the children off at his home on Nov. 17, 2011, and left roughly 10 minutes later, police said. Surveillance cameras, however, appeared to show her Hummer at his residence for at least an hour. The affidavit states that cameras captured Parker arriving at Smith's building at about 3:18 p.m., and that at about 4:18 p.m. the phones belonging to both the victim and the suspect left his home.

By 4:32 p.m., the affidavit says, both phones were still moving west. That route conflicted with Parker's plans, since she was supposed to travel north to pick up her oldest son, who was waiting for her.

Parker's brother, Dustin Erickson, also texted her that afternoon to ask where she was. Her phone replied, "Waterford," the affidavit says. That is the common local name for the Waterford Lakes Town Center shopping mall, about 12 miles northeast of Smith's home. But the affidavit says Parker's phone never traveled east or north toward the mall, and that, according to Erickson, she had no reason to mislead him about her location.

Smith has previously said he did not know where Parker went after she dropped off the children. He told investigators he believed she was "laying low" after the "People's Court" episode aired, according to the affidavit. The document also notes that, based on his phone records, he never called or messaged her again after Nov. 17, 2011.

Police said Smith has a history of domestic violence. Detectives interviewed Jill Van Mechelen, another of his ex-fiancées, whom he knew before he met Parker. According to the affidavit, Van Mechelen said Smith would strangle her during episodes of physical violence and threatened to kill her and her father. She reported that he told her on multiple occasions he would kill them and make them disappear.

Smith's attorney declined to comment on Wednesday, citing a court gag order.