The details surrounding how Zach Smith allegedly terrorized Courtney Smith are horrifying
By Keith Farner
Published:
Planting a web cam underneath a couch, and cornering Courtney Smith in a laundry room are among the descriptions and allegations outlined in a narrative of Smith’s request in Delaware County, Ohio for a protective order against her ex-husband, Zach Smith.
Those details were released in a report by Deadspin, which summarizes the events, particularly in the last month as reporter Brett McMurphy has documented.
About the webcam, Courtney Smith wrote, “He was using this to watch and listen to me and my children. He went hacked my email accounts, my wifi and even remotely accessed my laptop. He would stalk me himself or send others to do the stalking.”
Later, once the divorce was final, the ex-wife said Zach Smith would contact any male he thought she was dating and send that person threatening messages through social media. Zach Smith also allegedly stalked her home at 1:30 a.m., while intoxicated, and looked through her backdoors and attempted to enter through the back sliding doors.
Last week, in an interview with ESPN, Zach Smith recalled a conversation he had with coach Urban Meyer.
“He looked at me said, ‘Zach, if you hit her, you are fired immediately.’ I looked at him and said, ‘Coach, if I hit her I wouldn’t come in here. I know how you feel about that. If I hit her, I wouldn’t even come to work. I would know it’s over.” I never hit her.”
Deadspin reported that a judge granted Courtney Smith’s request, but Zach Smith is challenging the protection order. Zach Smith’s lawyer and Smith have claimed everything Courtney Smith said is false.
The next hearing on the protection order is scheduled for September.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
