He also said he didnt anticipate the woman being freed anytime soon. The couple decided to marry when Susan discovered that she was pregnant. A former state Republican Party executive committee member and Christian Coalition leader, Russell sobbed while jurors watched a videotape of him playing with Alex. Hulsen had a more sympathetic attitude toward Smith, saying she wasnt one to judge. Findlay admitted seeing Smith three times on that fateful day, and that she had been overwrought. On the ninth day of the search, Susan and David appeared on all three national network morning news programs, declaring their innocence and pleading for the return of their children, Alex and Michael. As the car was pulled from the water, the bodies of Michael and Alex were visible through the side windows. Published on July 9, 2021 11:53 AM. Howd that go? When Susan Smith's story was first broadcast to the public she appeared to be a distraught mother desperate for the return of her two children. Susan and David Smith were separated at the time and have since divorced. Susan and David married on March 15, 1991, and the couple moved into Davids great-grandmothers house. Smith was accused of being racist for blaming an invented Black man for her crimes. She knows that her parole date is four years away and she cant get parole if she isnt being good., In 2020, Melissa Moore, a crime correspondent for The Dr. Oz Show, said that while communicating with Smith in prison, she realized Smith was a joy to talk to, saying, If she did not commit those crimes, she would be your best friend.. But as police soon began to realize, the story didn't add up. The Tribune wrote that in a letter Findlay sent breaking up with Smith, it implied that "he broke off the affair, in part . Though the then-teenager reported the ongoing sexual abuse twice to her high school counselor the first of which resulted in a brief separation between her stepfather, Beverly "Bev" Russell, Jr., who was a "prominent" member of the South Carolina Republican party, per TIME, and the state's Christian Coalition organization the charges were dropped. Ms. Smith remained stoic during Russells half-hour on the witness stand, but he was choked with emotion. At home, however, he was molesting his 15-year-old stepdaughter, fondling her breasts and genitals. Browse from a variety of styles, sets, and sizes of women's wear for every fit and occasion. However, Smith was seeing other men too. Dr. Rekers explores the facts and offers fascinating psychological explanations to help the public . She was sentenced to life in prison and won't be eligible for . Her stepfatherbegan sexually abusing her during her high school years, per the outlet. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. They assisted police by printing out thousands of missing posters and distributing photos of the kids; tying yellow ribbons around mailboxes and telephones; and scouting wooded areas on horseback. Social Services did very little, and after some family counseling, Bev was welcomed back into the home. The jury deliberated for only two and a half hours, at which point they declared Susan Smith guilty of two counts of murder. According to the . Judge William Howard passed a box of tissues to a juror who wept during testimony from Walter Garner, who often cared for the boys with his wife, Barbara, and daughter, Donna Garner. Donna Garner is Ms. Smiths closest friend. He urged a jury Thursday to spare her life, saying he bore some of the responsibility for Ms. Smiths crime. The story became international news, even landing on the cover of PEOPLE. Eventually, Christie realized that Susan was a master manipulator and they grew apart. The couple were very co-dependent on one another, the early days of their marriage being filled with comforting one another over their losses. Later, another prison worker, Alfred Rowe, pleaded guilty to an illegal sexual relationship with Smith. This horrified Tom even more. As Susan Smith and Findlay talked on the phone, David Smith jumped out of the closet. I was not in my right mind.". And because of this, Smith has become one of the more divisive and reviled criminals in the pantheon of American true crime, her name a sort of short-hand for the dark, obsessive lengths anyone will go to get what they think they want. In 2000, an imprisoned Smith became embroiled in controversy again after allegedly having sex with a prison guard named Houston Cagle. She and David finally filed for divorce in September of 1994, and Smith put all her attention on Tom. "I've seen Susan do everything. The inconsistencies grew more and more, and on the eighth day, Susan changed her written statement, when police confronted her with a new reason, why her version of the supposed abduction didnt add up. Although the high-pressure jobs have contributed to the breakup of some marriages, they are considered among the best in Union. What Is Chris Watts Life in Prison Like? Susan was found guilty of killing Michael, 3, and Alexander, 14 months, and sentenced to life in prison. 4,617 17 Nov 01, 2008 #1 SUSAN SMITH'S LETTER TO TOM FINDLAY Dear Tom, Just a note to say thank you for everything. Susan Smith slept with two corrections officers in 2000 and 2001, both the officers were convicted and Susan was shifted to another prison. They portray the drownings as a failed suicide. The last time was in August, he said, two months before she drowned her only children. As a $17,000-a-year secretary to Cary Findlay, Smith worked for one of Union's wealthiest people. Defense attorney David Bruck declined to preview his presentation. While on the other hand, the prosecution showed the jury the devious and manipulative side of Susan Smith, whose only major concern was her own desires. When the murders occurred, Smiththen married to a man named David Smithwas involved in an extramarital relationship with a wealthy man who reportedly didnt want kids. David felt his wife was materialistic, and disapproved of how often she sought her mothers financial aid. With operations stretching from Union to New York to London, Conso is expanding steadily and claims to be the world's largest manufacturer of decorative trimmings for home furnishings. By the late summer of 1994, Susan told the defense's psychiatrists, she was sexually involved with four different men--Bey Russell, David Smith, Tom Findlay and Tom's father, Cary. Initially, there was an outpouring of support for the young mother whose sons had been kidnapped by a mysterious carjacker. Her estranged husband, David Smith, appeared on The Oprah Show five years later in an emotional interview. Findlay testified as a prosecution witness, but his sympathetic testimony may have helped the defense. 2. Smith was cited as having strange reactions for a grieving mother, being overly concerned about her appearance before going on television, and even sometimes asking about Tom Findlay. Ss for the crimes that put her in prison in the first place, she broke her decades-long silence in 2015 via a letter to South Carolinas The State. Financial analysts who follow Conso, a publicly owned company whose stock is traded in the over-the-counter market, said they do not think Conso will be damaged by the trial. Susan Smith in Findlay, OH 20 results - Susan Smith may also have lived outside of Findlay, such as Upper Sandusky, Ada and 2 other cities in Ohio. Convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, Susan Smith was sentenced to life in prison. Bev was temporarily forced to move out of the family house. "I had to put my light against the window, and peered in," Mr. Morrow testified yesterday in the murder trial of Susan Smith. Findlay, 28, short and balding with a pleasant face, has been the shadowy figure at the center of the Susan Smith mystery. Susan Smith, a mother from South Carolina, was convicted of murdering her two sons by drowning them in South Carolina Lake. And is there a possibility that she could set foot into the world again one day as a free woman? TO BE HONEST WITH YOU THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I WISHED THAT SHE WOULD DIE IN JAIL, HOWEVER, IF SHE MAKES PAROLE, MY ADVICE TO HER IS THAT SHE WOULD NOT RECEIVE A WARM WELCOME IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 'I took David's threats seriously.' Investigators testified Wednesday. Excerpts from a letter Susan Smith wrote to Tom Findlay on Oct. 17, and his reply, written the same day and given to her Oct. 18. That 28-year-old witness, Tom Findlay, also wrote that he was afraid that their backgrounds -- he was a child of privilege, she a child of a mill worker who committed suicide when his wife left. What Made a Mother Kill Her Young Son by Dropping Him Off a Bridge? Doctors diagnosed her with an adjustment disorder and blamed her behavior on stress. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Smith was seeing a co-worker from the local grocery store and she was having an affair with a married man. They both came from families tormented by tragedy. While the police and FBI continued their search, Susan and David stayed with their families. Thomas S. England/Getty ImagesDavid Smith Sr. mourning his grandsons at John D. Long Lake. Halleck said that she had sex with Tom Findlay, 28, the textile heir, but that he was not the main focus of her life. She then reported her car stolen and her children missing, even pretending that a Black man had carjacked her and abducted her sons. Tom Findleythe son of the owner of the company where Smith worked as a secretarywho didn't want children. Smith took the breakup badly and attempted a second suicide taking both Tylenol and aspirin together. If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 18007997233 or TTY 18007873224. Resides in Danville, VA. Susan was born on April 2, 1939 in Mansfield, Ohio to William D. and Helen R. (Robinson) Gibson. The version Susan Smith told was a Southern gothic nightmare come true on the evening news. He pleaded guilty and spent three months in jail. In addition to Findlay, several other Conso Products employees testified. At least 10 Conso employees were subpoenaed as possible witnesses, and five have testified in the trial. He sent her a lot of money.. Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury: Who made the most money from their fight? Smith hid it well. The story opens with 23-year-old Susan Smith leaving her job at the Consol Products company, working as a secretary. Even the media took off the sketch of the carjacker after a while. She reddened slightly and stared back at him. Tom Findlay, her lover and the boss' son in the office where she worked as a secretary and earned $17,000 a year, had written her the now-infamous letter telling her he was not ready to be a father. Smith was reprimanded by her mom for making the issue public. Susan navigated that grief by keeping his coin collection and an audio recording of her fathers voice, but tried to kill herself at 13. Newly resurfaced . He also admitted sexually assaulting Smith when she was 16, but said that she and her mother never pressed charges. Meanwhile, she and her older brothers were moving into the home of their new stepfather (Bev) with their mom. Susan Leigh Smith (nee' Vaughan) was an American killer who was responsible for the murders of her two children, Michael Daniel, and Alexander Tyler Smith, on October 24, 1994. ``If I had known at the time what the results of my sins would be, I would have mustered the strength to behave according to my responsibility, he wrote. Susan Smith had two of her own intimate relationships starting in the summer of 1998. From the moment Susan reported her kids missing, a nationwide search began for her car. Her sentence was thirty years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after the thirty years are up. romance just days before Smith committed the crimes. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. She told me David knew about a relationship she had had and was going to make it public, Findlay said. Putnam was the first FBI agent to be charged in a homicide. 2. Susan Smith. And David Smith threatened to reveal her sexual relationship with her stepfather, Beverly Russell, she told Findlay two days before the children were killed. Smith was willingly sleeping with Bev, and also began sleeping with Tom Findlay. Though shes eligible for parole in just a few short years, it remains unclear whether Smith will be able to convince a parole board to release her, given the severity of her crimes and her prior record of infractions in prison. David was already engaged to another woman, but he broke it off to pursue a relationship with Smith. Under South Carolina law, Smith will be eligible for parole in 30 years, although the notorious nature of her crime makes it unlikely she will ever be released. Susan J. Despite the animosity in the marriage both parents were seen as devoted to the children. Back in the 1990s, Susan Smith claimed a Black man kidnapped her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander. According to the magazine, however, the cards are stacked against her: aside from her status as a murderer, her criminal record which was obtained by People contained information which revealed Smith had "been disciplined at least five times for various infractions." When it comes to true crime, some of the cases that seem to shock people the most are also the most incomprehensible. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty ImagesThe funeral of Susan Smiths kids, Michael and Alexander. All Filters. As the car was removed from the lake, the bodies of two children remained in their car seats, grossly deformed from being underwater too long. She says, You never know what someone is going through. However, she had a change of heart during filming when she received more details about Smiths crimes. As deeply depressed as she was that Tom had ended their relationship, she was still sexually involved with David - and with her step-father, Bev Russell. In this (thankfully) small pool, there are still those that stand out in the minds of the public and perhaps one of the most well-known in the U.S. is convicted murderer Susan Smith, who, per A&E, was found guilty in 1995 for intentionally killing both of her sons. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds. After graduating from high school, she then met David Smith, the man who would become the father of her two children. She is serving a life sentence in Leath Correctional institute in North Carolina after she eventually confessed to the murder of her children. She said that she was living in what she called a veil of tears, not wanting to live without a mother. Print length 304 pages Language English Publisher Authors Book Nook Publication date January 1, 2000 Dimensions Michael and Alex Smith were buried together in the same casket on November 6, 1994. The idea that she would kill her . But the rich, handsome 27-years-old broke things off with her in October writing Smith a letter clarifying he wasn't ready for a relationship involving kids. In 2000, Smith was disciplined for having sex four times with 50-year-old prison guard Houston Cagle. She is eligible for parole in 2024. [4] A letter. She met him on the internet. Smith, 23, is charged with two counts of murder in the Oct. 25 killings of Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months. On November 3rd, Sheriff Wells made a shocking announcement: Susan Smith has been arrested and will be charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of her children Michael, 3 and Alexander, 14 months.. Susan Smith was sentenced to life in prison. Her trial began soon after. I could never express in words how much you mean to me. Shes behaving herself these days, the source said. Smiths defense attorney David Bruck argued that her actions were rooted in mental illness spurred by the suicide of her father, sexual abuses, and emotional rejections. The defense told the jurors that shed been sexually molested for years as a child, dealt with the suicide of her father at the age of 6, and tried to kill herself twice as a teenager. The thing that hurts me the most is that people think that I hurt my children in order to be with a man. Until front-office secretary Susan Smith killed her two sons, Conso Products Co. hummed quietly along, rolling out decorative trimmings for chairs, sofas and drapes. The 19-year-old bride was already two months pregnant with her first son Michael, while her 20-year-old groom lost a brother to Crohns disease and had his father attempt suicide within a year. Tom Findlay, according to the Chicago Tribune. Reader discretion is advised. According to a prison source who talked to People last year, Smith is currently on a better path at Leath in anticipation of her possible 2024 parole. In her written confession, Susan Smith claimed that she was suicidal on the evening of October 25th. bore some of the responsibility of the crime, He also expressed disappointment with her sentence, local and national African American communities, said that while communicating with Smith in prison. One of the revelers, Susan. On October 5, 1994, an unassuming 23-year-old woman named Susan Smith seized the national spotlight when she called police to report that her two children had been kidnapped by an anonymous Black man during a carjacking. At that point, says Rowe, "She could not longer get the male attention that she used as a drug.". On Nov. 3, amid an intensive search, she confessed. During the Smith case, Conso's strategy has been relatively straightforward: Cooperate with authorities, keep the Findlays out of the spotlight, and designate Cooney and personnel manager Sharon O'Dell to speak for the company. Susan Smith may also have lived outside of Union, such as Clover, Spartanburg and 2 other cities in South Carolina. Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. This book is a quest for understanding -- for those close to Susan and for others. Susan Sarandon has seemed like a mature star for decades, but when she first got her start, back in 1970, her first role called for her to lie naked in a bathtub in "Joe." Ostensibly, one for the remainder of her life. A Look Back At Susan Smith The South Carolina Mom Who Killed Her 2 Young Sons . A questionnaire asked potential jurors whether they had ever worked at Conso or had a financial stake in it. Susan Smith Trial: 1995 . She ran to a nearby house acting frantic. As for Susan Smith, whatever we learn and eventually come to understand about the motivations behind her horrible crime, she will always remain . A divorced father of three, Russell was a thriving stockbroker, and a member of both South Carolinas Republican community and the Christian Coalition. Closing arguments in the trials penalty phase were to begin today, with jury deliberations possibly starting this afternoon. Not that it justifies a single thing, but her life wasn't easy. [Watch true crime series and documentaries anytime with A&E Crime Central. . Later, she got out of the car, released the brake, and let it roll down the ramp into the lake. She does not deserve to walk on the earth in which she denied her children. ``And yet we love Susan, too. Everything came to a head on October 5, 1994, when Smith took her sons out for a ride on a South Carolina night. On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith trapped her 3-year-old son Michael and 14-month old son Alex in her car and rolled them into John D. Long Lake in Union County. Tragedy struck in 1977 when her father, Harry Ray, committed suicide. As she approached John D. Long Lake, she rolled her car straight into the water, then fled the scene and left her two children to drown. On the second day of the search, Susan Smith took a lie detector test and failed. . In her final year of high school, she received the Friendliest Female award and was known for her cheerful disposition. Weeks after the birth of the second child, Alexander, the couple called it quits once more. On Thursday, November 3rd, Susan told the police that her children were not alright and fell to the floor sobbing. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? On Oct. 25, they had a particularly upsetting conversation. Susan Smith, now 50, is keeping herself down now and following the rules in jail. Susan Smith told the police that the car and the children were at the bottom of John Ds long lake. David (who had advocated for a death sentence), intends to testify at every parole hearing his ex-wife has to ensure she never gets out. He claimed Smith was a murderous manipulator who killed her children to regain Findlays affections. Susan told her high school guidance counselor and her mother about the abuse in 1987 when she was 16. When it was revealed that she was lying, anger arose in both local and national African American communities. Susan Smith, born Susan Leigh Vaughan on September 26, 1971, in Union, South Carolina. When her mother Linda married Beverly C. Russell Jr., it seemed the familys luck was looking up. One of the revelers, Susan Brown, still works at Conso. The Susan Smith I know is very caring, very loving, a good friend to everyone, not just me, he said. I was not in my right mind.. Start your free 7-day trial. Susan made a second attempt to kill herself after a married man ended the affair they had. Five weeks after the divorce, Smiths father killed himself. Yet, like many institutions in this close-knit town, Conso is deeply intertwined with the people of the community, who cross paths at work, at church and at their children's Saturday morning baseball games. Warning: The following contains disturbing descriptions of violence. Susan D Smith, 44. When Susan Smiths ex-boyfriend Tom Findlay climbed onto the witness stand Wednesday afternoon, he glanced quickly at her and smiled kindly. [2] The catch? ], On July 22, 1995, Smith was convicted of both boys murders and sentenced to life in prison. In March 1988, Russell admitted sexually assaulting Ms. Smith when she was 16, but she and her mother decided not to press charges. There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. The prosecution claimed that since she killed her children it was easy for her to gain the sympathy of her former boyfriend Tom Findly. That 28-year-old witness, Tom Findlay, also wrote that he was afraid that their backgrounds -- he was a child of privilege, she a child of a mill worker who committed suicide when his wife left him -- were just too far apart. (The racial undertones of Smith's story, which was later proven to be wholly fabricated, were also covered by newspapers like The New York Times.) I could never express in words how much you mean to me. People Magazine. Snort, booty bump, swallow, shoot. Online Exclusive Wife of Former Prison Guard Who Had Affair With Child Killer Susan Smith Speaks Out The wife of a former prison guard is speaking out about his past sexual affair behind bars. Browse 35 susan smith criminal stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. She pleaded for the safe return of her boys, 14-month-old Alexander and. Mayor Jane Castors partner vowed not to lobby the city. Distraught, Smith got her children into her car and began to drive toward her mothers house. 28 year old Tom Findlay had no idea when he began a relationship with Susan Smith, who worked within his father's company, that his name would be irrevocably linked with a tragedy that horrified the state, the nation, and many around the world. She was a leader in her schools Civitan Club, which was for volunteering to help around the community, and in her senior yearbook she was titled friendliest female. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty ImagesSusan Smith was convicted of murdering her children on July 22, 1995. According to records obtained by PEOPLE, she has been disciplined at least five times since 2010 for various infractions, including self-mutilation and the use and possession of narcotics or marijuana. Findlay painted a picture of Susan Smith as a good friend and caring mother who was also suicidal and unstable. Susan Smith, then 23, claims that a black man hijacked her car and drove away with her children inside. Everything to Know About the Sarah Lawrence Sex Cult Leader, The True Story Behind Hulu's 'Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence', Susan Smith, in Jail for Killing Her 2 Kids, Tells New Boyfriend She Wants To 'Start Fresh' if She's Paroled, Texas Woman Accused of Strangling Best Friend, Then Stealing Her Newborn Girl Expected to Plead Guilty, Susan Smith, Serving Life Term for Killing Her 2 Kids in 1994, Sends 'Romantic' Letters to New Boyfriend, Susan Smith, in Jail for Killing Her Kids, 'Is Talking Marriage' with New Boyfriend After Release, Everything to Know About 'Real Housewives' Star Jen Shah's Fraud Case. Another former cellmate, Stephanie Hulsey, says inmates were able to procure pills for other inmates by stashing them in their upper cheeks to avoid detection by guards. But eventually, her lies came crashing down and the horrible truth about what happened to Susan Smiths children was revealed. And we know in her right mind she would never have hurt those kids., Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Susan Smith, a mother from South Carolina, was convicted of murdering her two sons by drowning them in South Carolina Lake. Her behavior behind bars has only made her more infamous, as shes been caught smoking marijuana and sleeping with a correctional officer. Tom Findlay is the son of Cary Findlay, president of the company. On that occasion, Mr. Findlay said, Mr. Smith threatened to hurt him if he ever called again. Revelations about her activity are made in Friday's episode of Lifetime's Cellmate Secrets, narrated by Angie Harmon, which airs tonight at 10 ET/9 CT. (An exclusive clip is shown below.). But the rich, handsome 27-years-old broke things off with her in October writing Smith a letter clarifying he wasnt ready for a relationship involving kids. Findlay, who The New York Times described at the time of Smith's trial as "the son of a rich industrialist," was indeed connected to the place Smith herself worked. Is serving a life sentence in Leath Correctional institute in North Carolina after eventually! Wear for every fit and occasion the responsibility for ms. Smiths crime psychological explanations to help public... An imprisoned Smith became embroiled in controversy again after allegedly having sex with a Correctional officer David with... About a relationship she had a more sympathetic attitude toward Smith, a mother smoking marijuana sleeping. 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