Bradenton man sentenced after strangling, burying man at homeless camp
A judge has sentenced a Bradenton man to life in prison after strangling another man to death and burying the body at a homeless camp, according to court records.
Stephen Astbury, 61, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a weapon in the 2023 killing of Charles Smith, court records say. Judge Frederick Mercurio sentenced Astbury to life in prison during a May 28 hearing at the Manatee County Judicial Center in downtown Bradenton.
Astbury is not eligible for parole, court records show. An attorney representing Astbury did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
Detectives began investigating the case in December 2023 after a witness told the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office that Astbury and another man, Douglas Gray, killed Smith, 64, 10 days earlier and buried the body at a homeless camp where they were staying near the 3700 block of 14th Street West, according to an arrest report.
Smith was living out of his car at the time of the murder, but he also sometimes slept at the homeless camp, according to court records.
The witness told investigators that Astbury and Gray asked him to help move Smith’s body after the killing, but he refused, the report says. He also said the men gave him Smith’s credit card and asked him to test whether it still worked. The witness told detectives he used the card to make two purchases but declined to withdraw cash.
Sentence in homeless camp murder
Investigators said Gray later sold Smith’s 2003 Oldsmobile for about $400 and told them he gave the proceeds to Astbury. During the same interview, Gray led detectives to where Smith’s body had been buried, according to the arrest report.
Deputies arrested Astbury in December 2023 on an unrelated charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. According to the arrest report in that case, Astbury struck another man in the head with a metal pipe multiple times during an argument over money at the same homeless camp, threatened to kill him and prevented him from leaving.
The attack allegedly left the victim with black eyes, a split lip and a loosened tooth. Court records show Astbury later pleaded no contest and was sentenced to five-and-a-half-year years in prison, to be served concurrently with his life sentence in the murder case.
Astbury was later charged with second-degree murder in Smith’s death.
During an autopsy, two ligature marks were allegedly discovered around Smith’s neck, as well as a crushed larynx, fractured hyoid bone and fractured ribs, according to an arrest report.
Another witness allegedly told investigators they saw the attack begin with Astbury punching Smith while he slept in her tent, according to the report. That witness said she fled from her tent as the attack continued.
That witness was allegedly shown two different photo lineups and was able to point Astbury and Gray out as the men who strangled Smith, according to the arrest report.
During an interview, Gray allegedly told investigators he sat on Smith’s feet and legs while Astbury strangled him, according to the arrest report. He also told detectives that Astbury stomped on Smith’s throat, court records say.
Deputies arrested Gray days later and also charged him with second-degree murder, the Bradenton Herald previously reported. His case remains open, and he is next scheduled to appear in court on June 12.
