Oddly True Crime - Episode Nine: The Murder Confession Haunted by a Ghost — Brian Charles Smith

Sometimes, the past has a way of catching up with you… and in the case of Brian Charles Smith, it took decades, guilt, and a ghost to bring a murder to light.

In 2015, Utah authorities received a shocking confession. A man named Brian Charles Smith walked into a sheriff’s office and admitted to a murder committed in 1977. At first, detectives were skeptical — why confess to a crime nearly 40 years old?

Smith had an answer that sent chills down their spines:“The victim’s ghost wouldn’t leave me alone.”

The Murder

The victim was LeRoy Ortiz, a hitchhiker whom Smith had picked up in 1977. Smith described driving him to a remote area in the Utah desert, shooting him in the head, and leaving the body behind.

What made the confession immediately credible? Smith recalled specific details that only the original investigators knew:

• The exact location where the body was discovered

• Personal items missing from the scene

• Unique aspects of the victim’s injuries

Despite the decades that had passed, his story aligned perfectly with the cold case evidence.

Haunted by the Past

For nearly 40 years, Smith claimed he was haunted by Ortiz’s spirit. He described:

• Nightly visitations at the foot of his bed

• Reflections in mirrors of the victim’s face

• Nightmares and whispers demanding he tell the truth

This supernatural torment eventually led him to confess. Smith stated plainly, “He wouldn’t leave me alone.”

A Murder Solved by Guilt (and Maybe a Ghost)

Smith’s confession ended a cold case and brought justice to Ortiz’s family. But it also left investigators and true crime enthusiasts wondering:

Was it guilt alone that drove Smith to finally confess, or did something far stranger follow him all these years?

The Brian Charles Smith case reminds us that sometimes, the past doesn’t stay buried… and in the world of Oddly True Crime, the bizarre often hides a very real human story.