Man accused of fatally choking ex on same day they appeared on ‘The People’s Court’: Arrest warrant

Authorities allege a Florida man choked his former fiancée to death shortly after they appeared in an “embarrassing” episode of the reality show “The People’s Court” that aired following days of heated messages and threats from the mother to restrict access to their twins, according to a newly unsealed affidavit.

Michelle Parker, a 33-year-old mother of three, vanished in 2011 hours shortly after the pre-taped episode of “The People’s Court” aired featuring a dispute about her engagement ring, according to police. Her body has never been found and she is presumed dead, according to police.

Her former fiancé, 55-year-old Dale Smith Jr., was arrested earlier this month and charged with second-degree murder in connection with her presumed death, Orlando police said. He has pleaded not guilty and maintains his innocence, his lawyer said.

According to the 46-page arrest warrant affidavit for his arrest, which was released Tuesday after an Orange County judge ordered it unsealed, authorities believe Smith choked Parker to death when she came to his house on Nov. 17, 2011, to drop off their 3-year-old twins.

Her sister reported her missing that night, after Parker never showed up for her shift at the bar where she worked or returned to the home she shared with her mother, according to the affidavit.

While being interviewed by detectives the following day, Smith was photographed with “recent scratches and abrasions that detectives now believe are defensive wounds from the victim,” the affidavit stated.

He had scratches near his mouth and on his lower lip and on his left wrist, as well as abrasions on the back of both of his elbows, according to the affidavit.

“There are no records of detectives asking what the above injuries were from,” the affidavit stated.

Smith was named the only suspect in Parker’s disappearance during a news conference on Nov. 28, 2011, according to the affidavit. Police allege in the affidavit that Smith has “a violent history” and “cannot handle stressful situations.”

During the preliminary investigation, detectives “learned of a history of domestic violence between the victim and suspect, none of which was ever documented by law enforcement,” with Parker’s family and friends describing their relationship “as tumultuous, with the suspect oftentimes being violent and controlling toward the victim,” the affidavit stated. Police also learned Smith was found guilty in 2001 of domestic violence against his wife at the time, according to the affidavit.

Smith was arrested on Oct. 14, nearly 15 years after Parker disappeared, with Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith saying investigators “reexamined testimony and conflicting statements made by the suspect and used advanced digital forensics to uncover and analyze additional evidence.”

According to the affidavit, this year, an Orlando Police Department homicide analyst reviewed the original cellular data records obtained in 2011 and “recognized there was additional data in the records that had not been analyzed.”

“It is likely this data was not readable to detectives in 2011. The data revealed more precise location and user data, to include messages, for the suspect’s and victims’ phones,” the affidavit stated.

In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, Parker sent what police described as “several offensive messages to the suspect.” According to the affidavit, she texted that she hated him and threatened that his visitation rights would be taken away.

“My kids are better off with out u n their life,” she texted him in one instance on Nov. 3, 2011, according to the affidavit.

Later, in text messages, Parker accused Smith of trying to bribe her for sex, according to the affidavit. “Thought about your offer…. & will have to decline. I’d rather have a personal legal loan, than feel like a whore,” she allegedly texted him on Nov. 10, 2011, according to the affidavit.

Smith denied offering to have sex in exchange for money, saying he simply wanted to spend time with her, the texts included in the affidavit show.

Two days before she disappeared, the two discussed custody of their twins during the upcoming weekends and holidays, during which Parker texted, “Ur so——- impossible! Everything is about YOU your still so ——- selfish!” according to the affidavit.

During his initial interview with police, Smith said he didn’t know what happened to Parker but “thought she was ‘laying low’ after the People’s Court show aired” and that he believed she was embarrassed by it, and that he wanted her to come home safe for the sake of their kids.

“[H]owever, according to his phone records, he never called or messaged her ever again after November 17, 2011,” the affidavit stated, noting that in the nearly seven weeks prior to Parker’s disappearance, the two exchanged 1,013 text messages and 21 voice calls, according to the affidavit.

“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 stated.

Citing cellular data, investigators allege that Smith lied to police about how long Parker was at his home to drop off the twins. According to the affidavit, he testified that she arrived at his house around 4 p.m. and was gone 10 minutes later. Her phone usage “proves the victim arrived at the suspect’s house at 15:18 hours, stayed there for over an hour, and the victim does not respond to anyone ever again,” the affidavit stated.

According to the affidavit, investigators reviewed surveillance video against the new cellular data and, based on that evidence, they allege that Smith deleted messages off Parker’s phone from until 4:27 p.m. on Nov. 17, 2011, then threw it into Lake Conway, where the phone was later recovered.

They also allege that cellular records and video evidence show that Smith lied to police about when he said he left his home and the route he took to his parents’ house after getting the twins on Nov. 17, 2011.

Smith remains held without bond following his initial court appearance on Oct. 15.

His attorney, Rajan Joshi, told ABC News that Smith has maintained his innocence since Parker’s disappearance.

“When he was originally questioned, when this initially happened, he was very cooperative with law enforcement. He let them search his house. He talked to them. He came in voluntarily without a lawyer, gave an interview,” Joshi said following Smith’s arrest. “It was clear that law enforcement was only looking at him as the sole suspect.”

The judge this week granted a motion limiting what the state and defense can say about the case.

According to the affidavit, Smith and Parker taped the episode of “The People’s Court” in June 2011, and it aired on Nov. 17, 2011, at 2 p.m., just prior to Parker arriving at Smith’s house.

“Both the raw footage and the aired footage were not flattering to either the suspect or the victim,” the affidavit stated.

Smith was seeking $5,000 over a lost engagement ring, saying in the episode that Parker had thrown the ring at him during an argument at an Atlanta hotel and it went over a balcony.

During the episode, the exes discussed their on-again, off-again relationship and contentious co-parenting situation for their twins. Parker, who had an older child from a prior relationship, described Smith as “pretty malicious and vindictive.”

The show’s judge, Marilyn Milian, found both were at fault and that Parker owed Smith $2,500 for her half of the ring.

According to the affidavit, this was not the first time Smith had issues regarding an engagement ring.

A woman who was previously engaged to Smith told police that after their engagement failed in 2006, she “refused to return the engagement ring and the suspect sued her through a courtroom television show,” according to the affidavit.

After that, the woman “advised the suspect told her he would make her disappear,” according to the affidavit.