Reward increases to $13,500 for most-wanted murder suspect last seen in San Antonio

Margaret Lorrain Smith is charged with capital murder for hiring a man to kill her husband

(Left: Margaret Lorrain Smith in 2008; center and right: how she might look today) (DPS)

SAN ANTONIO – The reward for a murder suspect who was last seen in San Antonio has increased to a combined $13,500 for the month of September.

Margaret Lorrain Smith is a Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive and police are seeking information from the public that leads to her arrest.

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Texas Crime Stoppers has temporarily increased its reward for Smith to $8,500. There is also a reward of $5,000 from the Brazoria County Crime Stoppers for information that leads to Smith’s arrest.

Smith was indicted on capital murder charges after investigators say she hired a man to kill her husband George Smith on Aug. 6, 2007, in Surfside Beach.

According to police, she left her husband sitting in the sand as a man she hired, Dylan Laughrey, beat George to death with a metal object. Laughrey was convicted of capital murder in 2008 and will be in prison the rest of his life without the possibility of parole.

Police said Smith has been on the run since Aug. 11, 2009, when she fled the Brazoria County area while she was out on bond prior to the start of her trial.

Smith was last seen on video in August 2009 at a San Antonio-area Walmart where she was spotted getting into a maroon, four-door sedan, believed to possibly be a Lincoln Continental.

Smith is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs roughly 185 pounds. She has a mole on the bottom of her right eyelid and is said to frequently dye her dark, curly hair or wear a wig.

Police said she typically goes by the names Margaret or Lorrain.

So far this year, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and other agencies have arrested 16 of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives and Sex Offenders and paid out $20,500 in rewards.

Tips can be submitted via the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), through the DPS website, or via Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link.

All tips are anonymous and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using their real name.