Who robbed TV pastor Mike Murdock?

Answer 1

Trey Smith is the man who committed the safe robbery on the TV pastor Mike Murdock in 1999. Mike Murdock is a common fundraiser with Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, Daystar Television (named Daystar after the reference in Isaiah to Lucifer before he became Satan).

Some speculate that portions of the funding behind Daystar television may have come from "ill-gained" profits as a result of Mike Murdock's claims following the safe robbery.

Details of the Mike Murdock / Trey Smith safe robbery

Trey Smith (Brian "Trey" Smith) was born in Houston, Texas. His childhood bestfriend was Jason Murdock, only son of the TV minister Mike Murdock.

While growing up, both boys decided to enroll at Christ for the Nations, a large Christian seminary school located in Dallas, Texas. It was during this time that Trey Smith felt his life became very dark, particularly through private interactions with Jason's father, Mike Murdock. This would ultimately lead to the safe robbery described in Trey Smith's book, Thieves.

Smith initially went to Mexico following the safe robbery. It was there that he claims to have "grown-up fast." Smith's claim of the contents of the Murdock safe is very different from the minister's claim in the police report filed in 1999. Trey Smith wrote the bulk of Thieves in a Colorado jail on notebook paper while serving time for unrelated charges. Smith says that, "Things just progressed; like boiling a frog. Under the Murdock mindset I had allowed in.... darkness and comprimise had become my nature. Believe me, you're head has to be really screwed up when ripping off a TV pastor seems like a good idea. That moment changed everything in my life. And, although I blamed Mike (Murdock) for a lot of years, it wasn't his fault. My own choices are what created the train wreck of a life that you read in Thieves. One of the best decisions I ever made was to stop blaming the past... take in a deep breath.... and kick the demons of hollow emptiness out of my life. I did that in a jail cell...."

Thieves is currently Trey Smith's best known material, the draw being that it is a true and unusual story. It was produced on virtually no budget and (although it is not an expose, but a narrative written in the fashion of a novel) most of its initial support was from volunteers who felt they had been effected negatively by "mega-ministries pastors.".