All the conspiracies surrounding Nicola Bulleys disappearance and death, Who killed Jeffrey Epstein? Susan Smith falsely accused a black man of carjacking her children in 1994 Andrew Smith, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. 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." It drew countless visitors who wanted to take pictures or leave flowers for the boys, and in 1996, its grim reputation darkened even more when seven people (including four kids) drowned there, after stopping to look at the two kids memorials. She pleaded for the safe return of her boys, 14-month-old Alexander and. Tom Findleythe son of the owner of the company where Smith worked as a secretarywho didn't want children. 2. But the Union, South Carolina moms dramatic story turned out to be a tall taleand nine days after those initial claims, Smith admitted there had been no assailant and no kidnapping. Hours later, she called emergency services, frantic, and alleged that an unknown Black man had kidnapped three-year-old Michael and Alex, who had only celebrated his first birthday two months prior. Smith believed that getting rid of her children was the only way to please her new lover, Tom Findleythe son of the owner of the company where Smith worked as a secretarywho didnt want children. The lake where Smith killed Michael and Alex went on to become a macabre tourist attraction. Susan Smith - Victim or Murderer tells the story of the crime that has captured the interest of the American people. In her letter to The State, she wrote, I am not the monster society thinks I am, I am far from it., Something went very wrong that night. Weeks after the birth of the second child, Alexander, the couple called it quits once more. In 2015, she broke the silence with a letter written to the State Newspaper. The married man, likely worried about his mistress getting pregnant again and being told he was the father, ended their affair. Susan Smith (born Susan Vaughan) led a troubled childhood, though nobody at her high school would have noticed. As the car was pulled from the water, the bodies of Michael and Alex were visible through the side windows. 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. Susan Smith and 6 Other Women Who Have Murdered Their Children. Murder of Susan Smith. Meanwhile, David had no idea that she suffered from depression and dependent personality disorder. Susan J. (Guess he hasnt seen the game tapes), US Supreme Court refuses to block Florida execution of Donald Dillbeck, Red-hot USF women close out home schedule with explosive offensive showing. The jury deliberated for only two and a half hours, at which point they declared Susan Smith guilty of two counts of murder. That is so far from the truth. 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. It comes with the possibility of parole one that she'll be eligible for in 2024, per the New York Post. As the diver's testimony took the jury under the lake and inside the car, people in the courtroom gasped, some bowed their heads, and Mrs. Smith, charged with murder for drowning her sons by allowing her car to roll down a boat ramp and into the lake, chewed her nails and sobbed without making a sound. Ive seen her do it all, Christie says. In her final year of high school, she received the Friendliest Female award and was known for her cheerful disposition. Susan Smith 's former cellmates and a prison guard who had sex with her are speaking out about the infamous woman's checkered time behind bars . They portray the drownings as a failed suicide. Smith hid it well. The statement of Tom Findlay, graphic arts manager of Conso Products Company in Union, released Friday by Sharon O'Dell, human resources director for the company: "I am devastated by this tragedy. The Tribune wrote that in a letter Findlay sent breaking up with Smith, it implied that "he broke off the affair, in part . The case attracted international attention because of her false claim that a black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking, but instead Susan Smith and her children, Alex and Michael. She is now working as a ward keeper assistant and interacts sparingly with other guards and inmates. "I've seen Susan do everything. On Nov. 3, amid an intensive search, she confessed. Tom Findlay, according to the Chicago Tribune. Susan Smith's most intense extramarital affair was with a newfound employee at Conso Products in 1993. In November 2020, Jon Ozmint, former director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, told the New York Post that Smith will always be a manipulative person, its who she is.. While the authorities searched for her two young sons, Susan Smith watched herself lie to the nation on a taped television newscast, and even smiled at the television screen, a counselor who. Ostensibly, one for the remainder of her life. Susan Smith, the mother who drowned her two sons in a lake in 1994 has been sending romantic letters to her boyfriends from the South Carolina prison where she is serving a life sentence. The ex-husband of convicted child-killer SusanSmith has remarried and has two new children.David Smith appeared on C-N-N's "Larry King Live," last night. Even the media took off the sketch of the carjacker after a while. He holds dual bachelor's degrees from Pace University and a master's degree from New York University. But testimony in Smith's murder trial has thrust Union County's biggest employer into the national spotlight. But one of the problems complicating the search was the description Susan Smith had provided. According to aTIME, Smith attempted suicide when she was 13, though her mother and Smith's stepfather "refused" to hospitalize her. Smith's incarceration has been marred by disciplinary infractions involving drug use and sex with prison employees. Christie Smith, her former cellmate, says Smith paid her to procure drugs. They married on March 15th in 1991 due to Smith being pregnant. "I am far from it. While he was on the stand, jurors heard two intimate letters, one Smith wrote to Findlay and one he wrote in return. Her sentence was thirty years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after the thirty years are up. 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. The Susan Smith I know is very caring, very loving, a good friend to everyone, not just me, he said. All Filters. And David Smith threatened to reveal her sexual relationship with her stepfather, Beverly Russell, she told Findlay two days before the children were killed. Susan Smith: 20 Years Later. "This is an incredibly sad tale," Norwood said. Discover amazing horror stories, conspiracy theories, Murder Mysteries, Alien Life, Unsolved Mysteries, latest breakthrough Science news, and much more on Bugged Space ! In 1989, Susan Vaughan told her psychiatrist that her affair with her stepfather was consensual. They mentioned that her children had become a major handicap in Susans choice to get what she wants. Her stepfatherbegan sexually abusing her during her high school years, per the outlet. 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. Well send you all the relevant quizzes, articles, polls, and news you could want to your inbox. A divorced father of three, Russell was a thriving stockbroker, and a member of both South Carolinas Republican community and the Christian Coalition. The residents did their part too. Susan hadnt been a model prisoner, as she has been disciplined five times for offenses, including for drug uses. Divorced now and selling the brick ranch house where Smith grew up, the 54-year-old mother and grandmother who has been portrayed as cold, controlling and hard-edged is showing her emotional. Published on July 9, 2021 11:53 AM. Garner, who has known Ms. Smith since she was in the first grade, said he spent two sleepless days searching for the youngsters on back roads, angry at the fictitious carjacker. "I am not the monster society thinks I am," she wrote. I was not in my right mind.. romance just days before Smith committed the crimes. According to Alfred Rowe, who pleaded guilty in 2001 to having sex with Smith and was sentenced to five years probation, Smith's drug use escalated when she switched prisons from Camille Graham Correctional Center in Columbia, S.C., to Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood. The mom of two made headlines at. 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. The thing that hurts me the most is that people think that I hurt my children in order to be with a man. When she was spared the death penalty, her husband stated on the courthouse steps, Ill never forget what Susan has done, and Ill never forget Michael and Alex. He also expressed disappointment with her sentence: Me and my family, of course, are disappointed that the death penalty wasnt the verdict.. They got married after only about a year of dating. Convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, Susan Smith was sentenced to life in prison. Eventually, Christie realized that Susan was a master manipulator and they grew apart. But Cooney said the hilltop estate has been on the market for 18 months. Before Susan Smith had taken more than a few steps up a boat ramp after rolling her car into the lake with her two children strapped inside, she was already wondering what people would think of. [4] According to aPeople report in 2020, a source inside the prison said that Smith is "behaving herself these days." 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. Her trial began soon after. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Smith was willingly sleeping with Bev, and also began sleeping with Tom Findlay. Findlay recalled Smith being upset because David knew, or so she thought, some information that he was going to make public that upset her. Its unclear just what this was, while it would later be revealed that Smith had continued having sexual relations with her former stepfather. The relationship was by no means, normal and the couple was once again separated three weeks after the birth of their second child. However, after a nine-day . [.] All Rights Reserved. For. Almost as soon as they were wed, the Smiths would begin relentlessly arguing and cheating on each other. Before the couple got a divorce the two still slept with each other on and off. Russell was one of several relatives and friends to testify on behalf of Ms. Smith, who was convicted Saturday of rolling her car into a lake Oct. 25 with 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex strapped in their car seats. UNION, S.C. (AP) _ Years after admitting he molested his stepdaughter Susan Smith when she was 16, Beverly Russell testified that they had consensual sex two months before she drowned her sons. Working part-time at a Winn-Dixie supermarket, Susan was overwhelmed after an older, married co-worker broke off an affair with her, and swallowed an overdose of aspirin in an attempt at self-harm. In her free time she writes, cuddles with kitties, makes YouTube videos, and pretends she knows how to paint. While the police and FBI continued their search, Susan and David stayed with their families. She tried anything she could think of to get him back. Linda confronted her husband about it. However, as she later confessed, there was no such crime. 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. Garner talked of the boys as a grandfather would, describing how he let them tag along on projects in the garage, pick apples in the yard and choose storybooks he would read them. [2] Obituary. She thought he tapped her phones and followed her. Jurors in Susan Smith's murder trial heard the words written by an ex-boyfriend that prosecutors say drove the young mother to kill her two sons: ``I just don't want children.'' In a letter to Smith written a week before 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex were drowned in a lake, Tom Findlay described her as ``intelligent, beautiful, sensitive, understanding.'' Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury: Who made the most money from their fight? Susan Smith, leaving court in this photo, was convicted on July 22, 1995 of murdering her two sons, 3-year-old Michael Daniel Smith and 14-month-old Alexander Tyler Smith. Only time will tell if this will aid in keeping her behind bars for good. "They were her world," he said. Tom Findlay, Susan Smith's ex-lover, started a new life in Birmingham, Ala. Cary Findlay, who is Tom Findlay's father and Susan Smith's former employer, let his mansion become a. On the third day of the search, there seemed to be a breakthrough. THE CASE OF SUSAN SMITH: THEORY TO APPLICATION 1 The case of Susan Smith began on October 25, 1994. Susan Knick Smith, 67. But their own family would prove to be an unhappy one as well. I was not myself," she continued. The newlyweds soon started to have fights, and as a result they were separated seven months after their marriage. "I was a good mother and I loved my boys. She told her mother and Social Services what was being done to her. My main purpose was to bring her pills. 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. Three hours later, she decided that if Findlay didnt want kids, she was going to get her own children out of the picture. This Friday, the world will hear from David Smith again, 16 years after his ex-wife, Susan Smith, drowned their sons, Michael and Alex, in John D. Long Lake in Union County. She attended and graduated from Lexington High School in 1957. David and Susan Smith had a rocky relationship plagued by mutual infidelity. And for that she was sentenced to life in prison -- with the chance of parole. Her mother Linda, weeks after her divorce, took up a new relationship. Dr. Rekers explores the facts and offers fascinating psychological explanations to help the public . A Look Back At Susan Smith The South Carolina Mom Who Killed Her 2 Young Sons . 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. Her father killed himself when she was just six years old, and she tried to follow suit at age 13. She ran to a nearby house acting frantic. If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit RAINN.org for additional resources. There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. David felt his wife was materialistic, and disapproved of how often she sought her mothers financial aid. . She then reported her car stolen and her children missing, even pretending that a Black man had carjacked her and abducted her sons. The composite drawing of the carjacker was so generic that it raised suspicion. Susan will have a chance of parole in November 2024, and at that point shell have been behind the bars for 30 years. Tom had caught Smith in a hot tub while making out with someone elses husband at a party. He said they had sex. A car matching the description of Susans Mazda was spotted in North Carolina, but it was not her car. During her trial, her defense tried to present Susan Smith as a woman with a troubled past. You can also find more information, resources, and support at www.thehotline.org. 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.. Back in the 1990s, Susan Smith claimed a Black man kidnapped her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander. Findlay painted a picture of Susan Smith as a good friend and caring mother who was also suicidal and unstable. It was later revealed that he had molested Susan when she was a teenager. In an attempt to get a quick confession, police confronted Smith and accused her of being involved in the disappearance of Michael and Alex. It has been hard to listen to lie after lie and not be able to defend myself, the letter read. But more than the physical pleasure, he said, she loved feeling close, being held. Those children had a right to enjoy life, and she had no right to take life from them! Shes very pleasant, very nonconfrontational, very upbeat, always trying to look on the bright side of things. "Conso is an outlet for fantasy," said Mike Stevens, a commercial printer who does work for Conso. Christie Smith claims that while at Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood County, South Carolina, she witnessed Susans drug habit first hand. 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. The man she wrote about was a graphic artist named Tom Findlay, who enthralled the court with details of a stormy relationship that came to a head on October 25, 1994. . What Is Chris Watts Life in Prison Like? Did Prince Andrew fly on Jeffrey Epsteins plane Lolita Express? But she changed her mind, and began driving aimlessly. As NYT summarized, Smith eventually confessed to taking her children to a nearby lake and intentionally "rolling her car down a boat ramp and into the "body of water. Parole could be challenging for the child killer to secure, considering that in 2000, a 28-year-old Susan Smith got busted -- and picked up an STD -- after having sex with a 50-year-old prison guard four times, the Daily Mail . I feel no sorrow for her at all! Plagued by lifelong trauma, she married David Smith at 19 to start a family of her own. He claimed Smith was a murderous manipulator who killed her children to regain Findlays affections. But as police soon began to realize, the story didn't add up. That disclosure concerned Mrs. Smith's estranged husband, David Smith, who, because of his grief over the loss of his sons, is expected to be one of the state's most compelling witnesses. The notorious married mom who coldheartedly drowned her two adorable tots in 1994 has used cash from sleazy suitors and demented murder groupies to pay off prison pals to transform her into the cellblock . Never miss a story by signing up for the newsletter now. Susan Smith, a mother from South Carolina, was convicted of murdering her two sons by drowning them in South Carolina Lake. Susan Smith was convicted of murdering her children on July 22, 1995. ", Florida migrant flights lawsuit dismissed in wake of Legislature passing law, Editorial Cartoons for Thursday from Times Wire Services, Bucs new coordinator is confident! Donna Garner is Ms. Smiths closest friend. Rowe received five years of probation in 2001. The man she wrote about was a graphic artist named Tom Findlay, who enthralled the court with details of a stormy relationship that came to a head on October 25, 1994. He also said he didnt anticipate the woman being freed anytime soon. "Like I told you before, there are some things about you that aren't suited for me, and yes, I mean your children," said the letter, written on Oct. 17, just eight days before Mrs. Smith drowned her children. Reprint. (Cary Findlay . As for Susan Smith, whatever we learn and eventually come to understand about the motivations behind her horrible crime, she will always remain . (AP/Wide World Photos) Findlay admitted seeing Smith three times on that fateful day, and that she had been overwrought. The last time was in August, he said, two months before she drowned her only children. He urged a jury Thursday to spare her life, saying he bore some of the responsibility for Ms. Smith's crime. Prosecutors say she killed her sons to remove an obstacle to a love affair with her wealthy boss son. Doctors diagnosed her with an adjustment disorder and blamed her behavior on stress. She was heartbroken because Tom Findlay, her ex-boyfriend, had recently broken up with her. Earlier in the day, the jury heard Mrs. Smith's former lover, the son of a wealthy mill owner, confirm that he had written the letter telling Mrs. Smith that he did not want a relationship that included children. However, Susan Smith had been followed by troubles from a very young age. Susan Smith's former cellmates and a prison guard who had sex with her are speaking out about the infamous woman's checkered time behind bars. Leaving them strapped into their car seats, she drove her car into John D. Long Lake, where they drowned to death. David, only eleven days before the wedding, lost his brother to Chrons disease. The motive behind Susan Smiths murdering her children was indeed a shocking one. He got on the phone and screamed at Findlay: Dont you talk with my wife, you son of a bitch. Print length 239 pages Language English Publisher Pinnacle Publication date August 1, 1996 Dimensions 4.25 x 0.75 x 7 inches ISBN-10 Findlay painted a picture of Susan Smith as a good friend and caring mother who was also suicidal and unstable. The police became suspicious of the inconsistencies in Smiths story, and facts that didnt line up. He said they had sex. Per NBC, their marriage was marred by periods of separation, which ended in a final, though unofficial, split and laid the groundwork for what was to come. 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. Lived In Pittsburgh PA, Upper . Smith first made headlines on Oct. 25, 1994, when she told police she had been carjacked by a Black man who had taken off with her two young sons still in her car. 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." Susan took a lie detector test and failed. As the murder trial of Susan Smith begins this week in Union, Judge William L. Howard Jr., who is barring all cameras from the courtroom, has indicated that the proceedings will not come to. Later, she got out of the car, released the brake, and let it roll down the ramp into the lake. Susan Smith was sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors said Susan drowned her boys because she wanted to be with a local wealthy bachelor, Tom Findlay. 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. While the crime itself was unspeakable as is, the aftermath of the murders of Smith's children, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, created an almost unprecedented media frenzy at the time, a good part of it perpetrated by Smith herself. ``To see unfolded before my eyes the principle of reaping and sowing, to lose Michael and Alex, to see you and (your mother) Linda crushed. 'He told me, 'Watch your back,'' Findlay said. Warning: The following contains disturbing descriptions of violence. At thirteen Smith attempted suicide, though nobody knew. The prosecution claimed that since she killed her children it was easy for her to gain the sympathy of her former boyfriend Tom Findly. 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. TOM FINDLAY'S TESTIMONY: But then, she purposefully rolled her car into John D. Long Lake in Union County, South Carolina, and left them to die. Findlay wrote: If you want to catch a nice guy like me one day, you have to act like a nice girl. And you know, nice girls dont sleep with married men. Findlay, a slight, balding graphic designer, appeared to exchange a quick half-smile with Smith from the stand during a break in his testimony about their brief fling, which he said began. One of the revelers, Susan. 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. People Magazine. Shop today Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. The mom did it, the question was soon becoming more obvious as the search continued. As Susan Smith and Findlay talked on the phone, David Smith jumped out of the closet. 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. The friend she said she was going to visit was not at her home that evening.